Merry Christmas!

After a brief hiatus from blogging, I am now back in action. The excuses for the delay are numerous - the biggies being that today I was on a televised panel discussion. It was only CSPAN2 (reaired on CSPAN 3x so far!) - nothing exciting like ESPN or Lifetime - but I was very nervous about it and needed lots of time to think about it. Nothing embarrassing happened and a few folks have e-mailed to say it actually went well. Naturally, we traveled for Christmas, which accounts for a few more of the lapsed days, and then there's been a general lack of creative energy as I battle a cold for what seems like the millionth time this year.

Over Christmas, we were at my parent's and sister's homes, and it was really quite fun. One day, we were going to go to a mall that has a train that delivers your food - but the line was way too long, so we opted for the food court. My sister had already scouted the area out by the time we arrived and found a play area sponsored by Crayola. Connor jumped right into the area though it was filled with kids that resembled banshees. Much to our amazement, Connor didn't seem phased in the least, and actually went around the play area several times.


He also learned to say "Anna" at just the right time. While I believe he does know which one of his cousins is named "Anna", he was known to call both of them by that name. He also substituted "Emma" for "Emily" a few days. I guess if he doesn't figure out the "lee" part at some point, perhaps she'll consider changing her name. What do you think, Emily? My dad, Ed, and I chased the three of them around a playground that my sister and I used to play at. It was fun to see the cousins climbing around. Connor had to be taken to the car earlier than the bigger girls because I was worried about his un-mittened hands.

While vacationing, Connor took care a lot of projects, including stirring and sorting Cheerios for Aunt Linda. Her Tupperware and her dog were both big hits. Those, and the ten million varietes of cookies she plied us with on Christmas Eve day.

Connor napped through the wild part of present opening on Christmas Eve, but everyone saved a few presents to open with him when he got up from his nap. He seemed to enjoy tearing the paper off packages, but was more interested in playing with whatever toy was inside than he was in opening the next gift. He was able to make it through all the presents in a few days. By the time my mom's birthday came around a few days later, he was certainly willing to help her open more stuff - and he was very impressed that she got a whole bunch of fancy golf balls. The next morning, he kept talking about "ba-was" until finally, he found the package and showed me he was not talking about his "ba-was", he was talking about Mims's "ba-was".

Connor's bike seat was installed and since we are experiencing unseasonably warm temperatures, we've been able to take him on a few rides. Woohoo!


Elaine