Christmas Tales

The Addie Clan is still here in the farmland of McHenry County, Illinois enjoying the last few days of our visit. We've been her a full week with my Mom and then celebrated Christmas Part 2 with the Detroit P+Q's in Chicago, so I don't even know where to pick up. Cap definitely has shaved his dashing mustache and my bangs have gone back to their usual straight and lackluster existence. Some folks get dressed up for Halloween, but the LA P+Q's take it as a challenge for Christmas.

If Addie was writing this, she would regale us with tales of her first Christmas complete with new toys (all battery free thank goodness), clothes, books and her first Savings Bond. Of course there were many many kisses from lots of family members as she showed off her full crawling skills and how she can now pull herself up (goodbye beautiful crib bumper). When she isn't motoring around on hands and knees, she got to go in taxis, trains, planes and automobiles and of course her stroller. She has been to a bevy of restaurants representing her already global sensibilities including Chinese, Greek, French and Japanese. While she wants to sample the eclectic cuisine, she has had to be content with her rice cereal, the ever delicious Enfamil A.R. Lipil for Babies Who Spit Up Frequently and trying to grab everything off the table from chopsticks, to beer bottles and little plates for soy sauce. We have learned that you can't have enough extra spoons on the table since she seems to much prefer them (along with cell phones and remote controls) to any of her baby-appropriate toys.


But since Addie isn't the author, I get to toss in that this Mama has been one sick lady which wasn't what I had imagined Addie's first Christmas to involve. I got the stomach flu last Friday which doesn't take much imagination to understand what that meant. I remember at one point Addie screaming her lungs out, the phone ringing and me, barfing up a fake Tylenol gel cap thinking, "This is not good, not good at all."

That subsided, we all hopped on a plane Christmas Eve (and Addie's 7 month birthday) and then I catch the flu - the regular flu. I was up enough to open presents Christmas morning but the rest of the day I spent wrapped up in blankets asleep on the couch while Cap played the role of single parent. I managed to be upright long enough to eat my second installment of turkey for the year before passing out again.

Feeling less feverish the next day, we headed into Chicago to spend 3 fun nights with my Dad, Nanci and Drew in the Windy City. I felt better enough at one point to guzzle a martini on the 96th floor of the Hancock Tower. Since then however, I have lost my voice, communicating in barely audible whispers but enjoying being restful back at Mom's and of course her homemade cookies. This might be a good opportunity to implement some baby sign language.

Perhaps its my mute state that has made me so long winded in writing so let's just stop here. Despite my ill-health, it was a wonderful Christmas filled with all the right stuff - Grandparents, an angelic little girl with a big smile, and my super-hubby.

Check out more photos of our Christmas adventures here.