Happy Holidays!

Well, at the moment both men in the house are napping. We went to the Schweinfurt Christmas market today. For those of you have never been, it's all these little shacks set up in the market place in the center of town selling just about everything from bratwurst and roasted almonds, to kitchen gadgets, socks and anything else the Germans just can't get enough of. There really isn't a lot of Christmas items, it's just a bunch of random stuff really. There are much better markets around Germany compared to Schweinfurt's, but this one's local. The main reason we went downtown today was for Tom to go Christmas shopping for Jack. There's this great German toy store called Teddy Bear that has a ton of Haba toys and hand painted wooden toys. The store is really cute! So Tom got Jack a few really cool toys. We also met up with Meagan. She very kindly let us park in her garage since we would have had to wait at least a half hour for any type of parking space. Downtown was insanely packed. So we tooled around town with Meagan and Jack, ate some brats and the highlight....a Nutella crepe with bananas. YUMMMMM!!!! That's is the best thing going at the Christmas market.
Jack did really well while we shopped. He was all bundled up, mittens and all. There was a scary German lady who was stalking him in one store. She kept shoving a stuffed monkey in his face, but he handled her. That's my boy! He's been going through a little fussy phase this past week. He all of a sudden decided that he no longer likes taking a bottle. This poses a little problem since I REFUSE to breastfeed in public. I'm sorry, but I'm just one of those people that can't do it! The other problem with Jack not taking a bottle is leaving him with a babysitter (Meagan) for a few hours. Tom and I had a Hail and Farewell on Thursday night. This was the last social event for Task Force Guardian (Tom's Rear-D Command) so we both wanted to be there. Tom got him to take a bottle right before we left @ 5:30pm, but that was it. Bath time is around 7:30, then he eats and goes to sleep. He wouldn't take a bottle for Meagan so he tuckered himself out and fell asleep without eating. Talk about a stubborn kid! Wonder who he gets that from?? The weird thing is last Saturday Tom had him all day while I was shopping in Poland and he took a bottle for each feeding - no problem. So in a matter of 5 days he completely changed his mind about how he wanted to be fed. It blows my mind. I'm thinking Meagan was missing her earplugs that night. The other battle we're fighting now is him napping in his crib instead of his swing. He has no problem going to sleep in his crib at night, and he's sleeping through the night without any issues. He just will NOT sleep in his crib during the day. We pull the shades down, we play the mobile, we make the crib vibrate, we do the "pick up/put down" method....and we're striking out. I'm up for suggestions from all you other moms out there....any advice?? He naps in his swing, his car seat, even in the exersaucer, but not in his crib. Otherwise all is well. Jack hit the 4 month mark yesterday. We have his 4 month well baby appointment next Friday so I'll keep you all posted with how he's growing. He's busting out of his 3 month clothes so I know he's at least longer. Well...until next time! Happy Holidays!