Merry Everything from Alexandria

Things are going well here. After doing a 5k on Thanksgiving in tank tops and short sleeves, all of us DC area people had to break out our winter coats on Dec. 1st when a great wind came and blew the last scraps of copper and gold from the trees. Believe me when I say it blew! Then, the next day, the snow came. We got about two inches of white, puffy, stick-to-itself perfect snowball snow- and Ian, my child who hates water in (almost) all its forms, LOVED it. I took him outside and he looked up at the snowflakes falling on him and laughed. I let him touch it on the leaves of the azalea bush outside our front door and he grabbed and grabbed at the snow until I took him in from the cold with his arms still outstretched toward it. Except for one day of sleet and cold rain, that was it for winter weather. We've been in the 40s and 50s ever since.

Ian is growing fast and learning new things all the time. He manipulates objects very well and, now that he has figured out that some things that are fun on the bed are not so fun on the floor, has learned to put his hands out in front of him to catch himself rather than do the "face plant." He bends and stretches and reaches for things, and has learned to try and retrieve things he has dropped. He'll be starting solid foods on Tuesday, but watches us put food in our mouths and pretends to chew now. He is drinking from a cup- regular and sippy- which is fun because it's so cute and dangerous because now he wants ALL the cups. He grabbed the rim of my water glass and turned it completely upside down in the blink of an eye at my mother's Holiday party... most of the water ended up in my shoe.

He is working hard on crawling and plans to be formidable as soon as he can get both his front and back half up in the air at the same time. Right now, he does the classic baby pose of pushing himself up on his arms or he gets his knees under himself in imitation of some peculiar, flightless bird with a very heavy head, but doesn't put it together. I think I have a few days to child proof.

He is gabbling and copying our sounds more all the time- so far his favorite sounds are something that sounds like a rusty hinge creaking (and I swear he can do this for about 45 minutes before he needs to breathe) and NGAH. I think both are totally adorable until Michael does them, and then I think that the maker of such sounds must die, so perhaps others don't find them so endearing on Ian, either.

Michael and I have not quite totally subsumed our identities in parenthood- he is still enjoying his job, where they are encouraging him to build his skill set. He likes the challenge. He is running in local 5k races fairly regularly and has improved his time. Ian and I trail along behind him at a walk... but from the first to the second we shaved seven minutes off our mommy+stroller time, so that's not too shabby. For my part, I have started a mommy group and am making friends and enjoying myself with playdates and baby outings- all three of us joined my friends for a trip to the zoo last Friday and had a lovely time. (You can see pictures here: http://picasaweb.google.com/meghanegray/IanVisitsTheZoo?authkey=QvVP7mlj8BM ) I'm also still enjoying singing with the choir at the MVUC and my knitting and book groups, and lots of walks. Life is very full and there is just not enough time in the day to love Ian (and his father) enough, but I give it my best shot!

This week we are enjoying getting ready for Christmas (and Yule!) without traveling- and it's lovely. Ian's first Christmas will also be my very first Christmas in my very own home. We took Ian to see Santa, and he had a great time. (That picture is here: http://picasaweb.google.com/meghanegray/IanSeesSanta?authkey=pWnWHvCeWnE ) The people taking the pictures were pleasantly surprised to encounter a baby who just smiled and laughed as soon as he was handed to Santa. That's my boy! He laughs and flirts with everyone- yesterday someone asked me what she'd have to do to get such a "Zen" baby, and I said, "marry the right guy."

Good tidings to all! We aren't together enough to send out holiday cards this month, and I have less and less time for phone calls as Ian wants more and more interaction, but we are thinking of you all and wish you well.

Merry, merry, merry!

Meghan, Michael, and Ian