Baby's first Christmas

This year we traveled to Boston to celebrate Christmas with George's family. Nicholas returned from South Africa for a few weeks as well.

Given the unpredictable weather (snow, ice, sleet, or rain), our travel went rather smoothly (thank goodness!).

Judging by the amount of gifts Henry received, his name must have been on Santa's "nice" list. Though the adventure of unwrapping gifts was lost on him, once a gift was opened, he was happy to check it out. He received several new books, some blocks, and toy cars. Very exciting stuff for a 10 month old!

Baby's first Christmas was a lot of fun. Our first Christmas as parents was equally memorable. I was slightly surprised by my feelings as a new parent. I can see how assisting Santa can be a major source of stress during the holidays (shopping, wrapping, etc). However, I now better understand what it means to say "it is better to give than receive" - seeing Henry's reaction to a gift was delightful.

George and I decided not to exchange gifts this year (a new baby, new house, new job, and new furniture seemed like more than enough of a "gift" this year), and instead focused on spending time with each other and family. We were able to relax together, which helped us feel like a "normal" couple again (the demanding intern year is now half over!).

More piano lessons

Henry had a chance to catch a piano lesson during our visit to Stoneham. We were amazed by how gentle he was on the keys. Enjoy the video. It cracks me up how he sits at the piano like a big boy.

Happy Holidays!

A very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!

SLEEP!

We had a Christmas present come early.

Actually, maybe more like a stocking stuffer -- some extra sleep. Lately, Henry has been sleeping mostly through the night (like until 3:30 am and back to bed for several hours) or all the way through the night. It has been wonderful. In addition, he's giving us one solid nap during the day. It's the icing on the cake knowing that once he's down, it will be a couple of hours before he's back "up and at 'em."

We keep our fingers crossed that things continue to improve in the sleep department. Enough is enough!

Here he is passed out -- with hat hair and everything from a car ride induced nap! We so rarely see him like this, we took a picture to remind us that it's possible.

Monkey See Monkey Do

Uh oh. Look what we taught Henry.

Here's a glimpse of our backyard. So much snow. So beautiful.

As a kid I would have been torn between wanting to tromp through the deep snow and the urge to resist messing up the smooth snowbanks.

Decking the Halls

We're enjoying a snowy Sunday afternoon here in Madison. As I write this it has suddenly begun snowing once again. It feels cozy, almost as if we're living inside a snow globe. George and I are chuckling to ourselves because the weather report read something like this: "50% chance of snow, 1-2 inches of accumulation." So, flip a coin, you might end up with a couple of inches.

The decorations are going up, and hopefully they'll stay up. Henry is very interested in the Christmas tree. Like a moth to a flame, he is constantly headed directly for the lights. The breakable ornaments are hung at the top, but that doesn't mean they won't break if he pulls the whole thing over. Day 1: so far, so good. No toppled trees.

I finished decorating the wreath that my mom made for my front door. I only had to add the little ornaments. Thanks mom! Looks good!
The Christmas spirit is slowly but surely spreading throughout our house. In the coming weeks we're looking forward to drinking mugs of hot chocolate (it is COLD here!), eating Christmas cookies, and singing Christmas carols. Oh yes, there is a radio station here that has already been playing Christmas songs all day long.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

I'm not one to rush right into Christmas the day after Thanksgiving. Mother Nature, however, certainly rushed right in to set the stage for the next holiday with a nice layer of fluffy white stuff. We're walking in a Winter Wonderland in Madison. By the looks of it, we'll be walking in it until Easter. I think it's here to stay!

Henry's favorite pastimes lately include:
-pushing around his toy train
-pushing around an upside-down laundry basket
-pushing around his music table

Next milestone: walking.
How soon? very soon. Me thinks.

Thanksgivings

Henry's first Thanksgiving was also the first Thanksgiving in our new house. Quickly, the quiet, light and airy house we thought seemed roomie to us became a cozy, echoing, bustling hostel. All of my sisters, mom, dad, dogs (Tator & Kendall), and even grandma filled the house to capacity as each spare bed, couch, futon, and even some floor space (sorry Sanford kids!) overflowed with relatives. And their belongings, pets included.

To make a long story short, as Julia coined on her 3rd Thanksgiving, "food party" is all the description needed for this holiday as we enjoyed some wonderful homecooked, from scratch, meals. We enjoyed the pizzas, THE Thanksgiving meal (Mmm, Mmm stuffing. Mmm, Mmm pecan and pumpkin pie) to the send off spaghetti supper on the last night of the weekend. I think, and hope, that few bellies were left unsatisfied after an extended weekend of cooking. Oh, and we are quite thankful our house now has a dishwasher!

Here is a picture of Henry moments before the Thanksgiving meal was served. Yup. Out like a light (sort of wish I had been as I was a zombie...he christened the holiday gathering with a night of screaming and crying).
To see more photos of the Thanksgiving 08 memories, click on the link:
MORE PICTURES!

A short list of thankfulness from Thanksgiving 2008:

*for the delicious and nutritious food
*the ability to travel for a family get together (even with odd coming and going schedules)
*for the overall good health of family members
*new houses or condos (especially to host the celebration)
*children and their endless energy
*dogs, neurotic or not, and the playful pats we share with them

Leaves

In Madison, they have a great system for picking up leaves around town. All you have to do is form piles at the edge of the street (not in the street, so as not to contaminate the lakes or clog sewers). This saves a person from bagging and dragging barrels of leaves around. As an aside, let's recall that I grew up on a farm, where leaf raking was simply not done. Unless, of course, it was for the pure pleasure of forming a big pile for jumping. That's what ditches are for, right, to collect the leaves where the wind blows? So I really can't complain about this aspect of home ownership.

George, however, has experienced first hand the hassle of yard clean up in the fall. So the video includes Henry supervising my raking, and the photos are the equipment used by the city for pick up. Henry was fascinated watching both my manual labor, and their high-tech methods.