A holiday milestone

Our baby, 10 months old today, started crawling over the Christmas weekend! It's not a full crawl, and not the typical commando crawl. It's more of a snake/crab crawl, sideways, with his cheek on the floor. But he can really move! And he popped out a top front tooth as well. He is just getting so big! Pictures later.

Matty's first Christmas

We all had a wonderful holiday! Matthew loved the wrapping paper best of all, though he eventually warmed to the gifts. He was super smiley and happy all day and just was a delight. Michael had so much fun playing with his cousin! They both got lots of Star Wars stuff so they played with that and with Eric's Teen Titans playsets. We had a great enchilada dinner and watched "Elf.” It was the first holiday in a while where we all were together for a good length of time, and it was very nice.
Christopher and Lisa gave everyone a beautiful mosaic of the Virgen de Guadalupe made up of photos from our family. It was stunning, and made everyone very teary-eyed. What a wonderful way to commemorate Jesus' birth! We all felt very blessed. I've always loved Christmas, but there were a lot of years when it just didn't feel the way I thought it should. This year, I felt full of the Christmas spirit and felt surrounded by the love of my beautiful family.

He's really 4!

My first baby turned 4 today, and spent his day with Dad, eating at Gatti's and playing with all his new toys. His funny of the day: When he was playing with the castle, Dad overheard this: ‘You're a knight! Just like the United States of America!"

On Sunday, his first time with the castle, Dad got all ready to do battle with Michael's knights and instead, the chief negotiator said "Let's just be friends. You can have a sleepover! But only stay 5 days, then you have to go home to your house!”

Ah, yes: Just another day with the funniest kid I know.


Matty was with grandma today, showing off his new top tooth (or teeth? don't know yet) and getting spoiled. He's really doing well trying to stand up and move around. I swear he'll walk before he crawls!

The big party

We celebrated Michael on Sunday with a big Buzz Lightyear party with about 40 folks in attendance. He greeted everyone with "Hi. Did you bring me a present?" Aargh! He had a great time with his cousins and friends and loved everything he received. Michael was a bit put out when Mom wished Aunt Mary a Happy Birthday and Pa a happy retirement. He said "It's NOT their birthday! Just mine!"

We stayed up late playing with his castle from Mom and Dad and the boy went to sleep with a big smile!

The beginning

It's almost Michael's birthday - just a few days until he turns 4. When I look at him and his little brother, I can't believe how quickly the time has passed. He's planning a big Buzz Lightyear to-do, and we're working feverishly to make it happen. Both kids have been on the edge of a cold, so here's hoping we make it through the party and Christmas with little more than the sniffles!