1st Christmas

I would have never thought that my little girl would be confined to that huge cast on her very first Christmas. I didn't know how she was going to open her gifts when she couldn't sit up without the help of a beanbag, wagon, and/or plenty of pillows. What did I know? I knew I was going to do everything in my power to make sure she had the best first Christmas I could possibly give her. I wanted to make things as normal as possible for her. I was so obsessed with everything having to be perfect for her.

I decided against all odds to try on the Christmas dress that I had gotten her before her surgery. It was a size 12 months (had a onesie to wear underneath), and spica babies need their clothes at least twice the size they were wearing before the cast. I can say from experience that Savannah's cast was much bigger than I had anticipated, and she needed bigger clothes. You can imagine how suprised I was that her dress actually fit her. She looked precious and the cast barely showed. I put a white bow in her hair, and it was the first time I felt like I had a normal baby since her surgery. She looked perfect, just beautiful.

We plopped her on her beanbag and used the boppy pillow to prop her up even more. I sat beside her and we opened up gifts. She was really content with the situation, and she squealed at some of her presents. She got a lot of books and baby einstein videos, a play gym that can be adjusted for play laying down, sitting up, etc, and she got a leapfrog activity table. She loved the activity table although she is unable to use it the way it was designed. We had to adapt it to her situation by taking the legs off it. That thing was/is a huge hit. She also got a radio flyer rocking horse from my mom and dad. We gave that to her early so she could enjoy it before her surgery.

We went to my mother's house for Christmas dinner. It was so nice to be able to get out and do something normal for Christmas. Savannah enjoyed being able to get out about as much as we did. Mom cooked the best holiday meal she's ever cooked, and we had a great time.

We ended Savannah's first Christmas with a trip around the neighborhood to look at all the lights. Her special carseat lifts her up high enough she could actually see the lights ( a bonus to having a big bulky carseat). She squealed with excitement until she finally wore herself out.

I wish that we could have gotten her more for Christmas, but she got a lot of her gifts early because of her surgery. I know that she will not remember this Christmas, but I hope that when she sees all the pictures and hears all the stories, she will know that I did everything I could to make her first Christmas special.