The Visit, Part 1 -- Christmas Day!

We decided to hold all the presents until after Logan went to bed on Christmas Eve. In part, this made it really festive and anticipatory. Santa and the elves came in the night and left behind a beautiful tableau of goodies. In reality, I hadn't finished wrapping, Mark hadn't begun and Bonnie and Dad had to unpack their gifts. Nevertheless, if we had placed the packages under the tree there would have been a race betwen Logan and Layla for tearing them to pieces.










We waited until everyone was downstairs before we took Logan down to see what had arrived in the night. It was so much fun to watch him explore. Logan has a surprising ability to focus. Because of this focus, he would play with one gift at a time for a really long time. He got upset when he was interrupted. Consequently, we were unwrapping presents all day. We opened for a while. We ate breakfast. We opened for a little while longer. We took a nap. We opened our stockings. We played with our stuff.



His first gift (and I think his favorite)is a lion that he can walk behind or ride. He took it for a walk all aound the downstairs. He then took his See 'N Say and his Leap Frog Laptop for walks around
the downstairs. That seems to be his patern...examine his toy. Taste the toy. Bang the toy. Take the toy for a walk. If it performs as expected, it is a good Toy and can become part of the group. If it doesn't, he has no use for it and it is placed to the side. Yes, this means that the swing and jumpers are currently out of fashion. While he can still touch and taste these items, he cannot take them for walks around the house.

Christmas Eve!!!

OK, Christmas Eve has finally arrived. My parents got here yesterday with no problems. This morning, while I worked, Bonnie decorated my Christmas tree, while Dad watched and Logan stole ornaments and ran squealing from the room! He was having such a good time. There were several times that he had 4 or 5 ornaments in his hands (with the assistance of the tray on his walker). He is busy, busy, busy! It's a good thing that I didn't try to put anything under the tree early. I'm pretty sure that he would have destroyed the packages at every opportunity. Bonnie and I spent the afternoon shopping and made it to every location on our list and got everything on our list without a moment to spare-we actually closed WalMart. As soon as Logan went to bed, we began the wrapping marathon. I am so greatful that she is helping. I didn't realize how much there was until I started pulling things out! Almost everything is now under the tree and it is beautiful. I can't wait to see what Logan does when he sees it! He has been stealing the paper and bows already. I'll take pictures and figure out how to post them on this thing as soon as I can.

first post ever!!!

Well, I hope that nobody is expecting lucid, well thought out postings from me. I thought that this was probably the best way to keep extended family and distant friends up to date with what's happening in my life. Because of my sometimes hectic schedule, most posts will likely be quick and somewhat nonsensical.

Today, my Dad and Stepmom are arriving to share Christmas with me, Mark and, of course, Logan. I am super excited even though I am still not ready. I have reached the conclusion that I will not get all of the decorating done and I will still have piles of cluter in different places in my house. Maybe it will be a Christmas present for them to occupy the baby while I deal with the clutter--like I'm giong to want to do that while they are here! Oh well. Things are clean, if not tidy. It will probably do me some good to admit that I don't have control over all aspects of my life.

If you are peeping in to see what I am up to, welcome. I hope to have entertaining things to add often enough to make you want to come back. Be patient, this post, like my life, is a work in progress.

Merry Christmas, 2008. I am looking forward to 2009!