1st Night of Hanukkah

Friday was Finley's first First Night of Hanukkah. In the past, we've hosted a big Hanukkah party for friends, but this year we decided that while we could probably pull off the party--if I had to spend half of it feeding Finley in his room--it wouldn't have been that much fun. Instead, Josh, Sangwha and Eliot came over to celebrate with us. A perfect compromise in my opinion.

Finley and I shopped for lakte ingredients, made cookies (not from scratch, I must confess), and set the holiday table.

Sangwha brought over a tasty chicken/onion dish and salad fixings. I apologize for not taking any photos of the potato shredding and latke frying process, but Finley was mildly involved as he hung in my beco front carrier during the beginning of the cooking process. As domestic stereotypes prevailed, Sangwha and I bustled in the kitchen for a while and Josh and Dan hung out in the living room. Thankfully the stereotypes were slightly modernized as Eliot slept in Josh's arms and Finley in Dan's.

Soon it was time for prayers and candle lighting. Since it was not only the first night of Hanukkah but also Friday night (Shabbat), there were many prayers and several candles to light. We sung the Hanukkah prayers and lit the candle on the menorah (and flipped the adorable wooden menorah given to Finley at his bris). Then, I sung the shabbat prayer and lit those two candles. Finally, Dan did the rest of the shabbat prayers, had some wine, and then said the prayer over the challah. Phew! Now we could eat :)

Dinner was delicious and the babies were somewhat accommodating. Eliot hung out in Fin's swing for a while and when Finley woke up he hung out in the Beco. I don't think I dropped any food on him...but I can't be sure.

For those that don't know me too well, I HATE pictures of myself...but this one is terrific and makes me laugh (again) to look at it! I had to include it :)

We cleared the table and had some cookies (not as good as homemade, but they got the job done). The only thing we didn't quite have time for was to play some dreidel, but that's why there are eight nights of this holiday I guess. Finley was pretty worn out by the end of the night, but he managed to keep one eye open .

You may be wondering why he's half naked in this winter season...well, he needed to be changed and all his long-sleeved onesies were downstairs in the dryer, so I put a new diaper on him and wrapped him in a cotton velcro swaddle blanket and gave him to Dan. "Just so you know, he's naked under there," I said with a smile. "Oh, he has a diaper on!" I added. Bad mom.

Happy Hanukkah to all and maybe next year, Finley can have a latke or two!