A Trip of Firsts

Well, this is turning out to be a trip of firsts for little Rusty! Let me fill you in! On this trip he has had his:

• His first actual Christmas! We enjoyed a wonderful Christmas Eve service at my sister's church, followed by an evening of appies, games, our great tradition of sharing what we are thankful for followed by the Christmas story, and a yummy breakfast together on Christmas morning!
• First road trip. As you know from before, he did great! We now have many more toys to entertain him on his return trip thanks to my family! Books, teethers that play music, and much more!
• First real giggles! It was his Christmas gift to all of us! Last night we were all just sitting around the table talking and laughing. His Uncle Neil was holding him on the table and his Uncle Jamey was sitting across from him. Jamey started pounding the table and making a sort of "Kapow" sound. Rusty LOVED it and started giggling so loud. Then he would giggle in anticipation of the movement! After that Jamey was bumping fists with Rusty and he loved that just as much! We loved hearing his first REAL giggles, and we even got them on camera.

• First complete roll over! He just did it this morning! We were sitting watching tv as he was playing on his play mat. He's been trying to really roll over for days, and suddenly Kevin said, "Oh, there he goes!" Sure enough, Rusty had rolled from his back onto his stomach! Then he rolled from his stomach onto his back. He's growing up right before our eyes.
  
• First swim! My parents got a hotel room for Christmas Eve and took my two nephews there to stay for the night and the rest of us stayed at my sister's house. The hotel had a nice pool so Rusty got his first chance to swim! He really enjoyed, kicking his legs and bopping around in Daddy's arms.

We have had a lot of exciting things happen so far, and we still have many days to come! We're excited for the next few days as we meet my little brother's girlfriend for the first time, hope for my little sister to have her baby, and just enjoy more family time together!