The first Zachary Christmas

The first Christmas. I've been told a lot that the first Christmas with your child is cherishable beyond belief. Well, aside from family craziness, the little Z's first Christmas was very enjoyable indeed. He got rather spoiled from various sources, but not overboard... we were careful about that. I've seen kids with tons of toys and all manner of things. We want Zach to value his toys and possessions, not to just throw toys at him to keep him occupied. I'm amazed at the abilities of some toys today... wheels that will teach him the alphabet, balls that will teach colours, little houses that teach 20 different actions in 4 different languages. It'll be interesting to see how these types of toys affect this generation.

But I digress...

I think the most humbling moment for me, as a parent, was when I was wrapping gifts the other day and when it came to "To" I'd put Zach, or some cute moniker, and then I got to the "From" and wrote down "Daddy"... and it struck me that it was the first time I'd done that in the "from" area. Gotta admit, that was pretty cool.

Our little friend is only 4.5 months old for his first Christmas. This has a couple of bonuses.

First, we don't need to wait until he's asleep to wrap gifts. Second, he doesn't really care what he gets. I was told often, and it's quite true, he'll be quite content with tissue paper or a box. As true as that might be, how many parents, new or otherwise want to be the parent that only gets their kid a tissue or a box for Christmas?

Many a picture was taken... he got to be with both sets of grandparents who absolutely delighted in shopping for him and being with him on his first Christmas. Stories will be written of the first Christmas and we'll tease him about how he was sooooo cute in all his "Baby's first Christmas" clothes, hats, and bibs.

He had a good day... by which I mean in a generally good mood all day long. Enjoyed his book that made a crinkle sound and the teething (4 at once at current count) didn't distress him too much. Him having a good day made our day great.

The first of many Christmas's to come... the insanity of family gatherings, the wonder in a child's eye. Hark the herald indeed.