It's the MOST wonderful time of the year...

So!  I've been be-moaning the lack of official photos for the babe... and made it a point to get one with Santa for his First Christmas (the babe's, not Santa) (at least I don't think this Santa is a rookie).  I was SURE that Sammy boy would cry his lungs out.  I was a bit nervous.  For the past few days, I've been saying "ho ho ho" in a deep voice, to get him ready to meet the big man.  Oh, and Kaden and I have worn a Santa-hat-with-beard and gotten in his face.  Dry run and all that.  Most of the time, we'd get little baby laughs in response.

You can see how well all that smiley preparation paid off.  There's our serious Sam, looking a bit bewildered.  It *could* be because it was 8:30 at night, and we're normally winding down for bedtime, not partying in a candy house.  Or it could be because he had just woken up from a 2 hour nap. Or... maybe it was Santa after all?  If you can click and make the photo big:  notice Sam's curls.  Also notice Kaden's tentative smile:  he was so focused on what to say to Santa, he was a bit more nervous than I thought!

And I'm not sure we'll get those Christmas cards out this year... or that I'll post before next Thursday.  So MERRY CHRISTMAS dear friends and net stalkers!  From our scraggly little love-filled tree to yours!

First Steps, First Turkey

It's been a bit busy around here lately... well, here and there.  So I'm just catching up!

For some family health related reasons, I was out of town the week before Thanksgiving... and flew in that morning.  Timed it perfectly (!) to arrive between Jim's annual Turkey Bowl game and the family dinner.  The original plan was to fly Wednesday and get bumped a few times, thereby scoring some free plane trips for the year... but snow came and I was happy to stay an extra day.  So no free tix, but no snow delays and an extra night with Mom:  I can't complain.

Thanksgiving was one of the normal large-family gatherings.   There was another babe present, maybe 5 months old?  And cute as could be in a little brown outfit, with a matching bib that said something about "first thanksgiving" or "mom's favorite turkey."  I can't remember now, but it was cute.  I realized, with a bit of a start, that it was Cubby's first Thanksgiving too!  So I looked over at my little bear cub, who rips off any sort of bib these days, and who was at the time, under a table growling.  Honest.  I sincerely feel for this second son, who is equally loved and adored, but has a LOT fewer cute photos to prove it!

He did take a few steps that weekend- his first on his own!  They were shaky and only 1 or 2 at a time, but still.  He thinks he can walk, and would pull himself up... then promptly fall in the direction he was heading.  There's a lot of little bruises this days.  He seems fairly determined.  Although, I must point out that his crawling is amazingly fast- especially when a "forbidden door" opens.  He can be in a bathroom quicker than you can turn your head.  And if you call out NO as he heads down the hall, he will put his head down and go faster.  Fun times.