#34 Owen's First Christmas!

Owen loving the camera! What a ham.

Owen inspecting my new lens cap.

Owen's arrival spurred a lot of discussions between Ryan and I about Christmas and what place we want it to have in our family. Neither Ryan nor I are Christian and Christmas, after all, is primarily a Christian holiday. We contemplated not celebrating it at all and we contemplated going full throttle. In the end we decided to celebrate the holiday, of course, on our own terms by highlighting things we felt were the most important. Throughout our discussions a few themes kept recurring: Giving was important to us, but not necessarily to each other or to others that have too much already, but to people who have little and truly need more. We want Owen to always be aware of the privilege into which he was born, and to understand his ability to help people who have less. Tradition was important to us, too. We decided that we wanted some constants in our celebration of the holiday---things that we could come back to year after year. Finally, spending quality time with friends and family was also important.

Owen playing with his new toy (still wrapped).

So, given the above explanation, our Christmas looked something like this:

Curious Owen.

A couple of weeks before Christmas, we chose two babies from the Angel Tree at my work. Children Owen's age who requested only long sleved onesies for warmth. We took Owen shopping for these children's gifts and, of course at this age the conversation is relatively meaningless, simply explained to him that he has so much.

Of course Gus was not forgotten. He also scored a little bone shaped pillow and a bone shaped fleece bed.

Ryan and I spent Christmas Eve braving retail hell in order to procure child-proofing items. Owen is now crawling in earnest, and targets only electrical cords, outlets, sharp objects, and stairs. We raided Home Depot for a smattering of child safety items, and then spent the evening straightening the house and installing our child-proof bootie. Initially, we had planned to head out to Scott and Aimee's for some celebrating, but unfortnately the weather kept us home.

Our Christmas tree and gifts for Owen from his grandparents and Aunt, Uncle, and Cousins Campbell.

Owen 'opening' a present.

I had heard a fabulous story on NPR one morning on my way to work about a family's Christmas tradition where a collection of Christmas books was brought out every year after Thanksgiving and read throughout the season. Ryan and I decided to emulate this, so we purchased one new Christmas book, adding it to one my mom purchased for Owen last Christmas while I was pregnant, and officially started our collection. We finished the evening by reading Christmas books to Owen and watching a movie once he went to bed.

Owen and Ryan reading on Christmas Eve.

Owen hating his hat.

No Christmas is complete with out a traditional food, so for breakfast I made an apple Dutch baby that was delicious! I think they look so festive and are super easy to make; I find it the perfect Christmas morning food. We opened presents in the morning, listened to classic Christmas music (like Blue Christmas by Elvis, among others), and looked through our Christmas books again. Later in the afternoon we headed north to Scott and Aimee's where we chatted, ate, and played games. All in all, a fantastic Christmas!

Photos of the Apple Dutch Baby. I got a new lens for Christmas and I was playing with it all morning :)