Christmas 2008

Merry Christmas!

We have a tradition of opening one present on Christmas Eve, so this video is actually from that. Bruce opened his gift and had the best reaction: "LEGOS! THIS IS JUST WHAT I WANTED! I LOVE LEGOS!" Only after that awesome moment did I realize that I didn't have my camcorder in hand. Oops. So this movie is from a minute after the glorious unwrapping.

Another tradition we have in our family is to make gobs of treats and deliver them to friends on Christmas Eve. We made chocolate-covered macaroons, peppermint patties, and chocolate chip cookies. We boxed them up and wrapped them in ribbon before making the rounds.

Bruce woke up at 4:30 on Christmas morning. Scott put him back in bed. Then Bruce got up at 5:30. Back to bed. Then he got up at 6:00 and climbed in bed with us for a half-hour and drove us crazy until we all got up and started opening presents. Last year, it took Bruce a few hours to unwrap all his presents. He would open a toy and want to play with it for awhile before opening anything else. Scott and I were hoping he'd do the same thing this year. He did.
Bruce got lots of toys: cars, Legos, games (we've played bingo three times today), a racetrack, movies, books, an art easel, and a remote controlled helicopter to share with Scott. Scott got oodles of wool socks and we managed to get each other the same gift again this year. Last year we bought each other bathrobes. This year it was headphones. We don't plan this; it just happens. All in all, it was an excellent Christmas.

Jingle Bells

We opened one Christmas present early. Scott's grandparents and parents got us a camcorder and I wasted no time in unboxing it and testing it out. I have about a dozen movies of Bruce singing or dancing and then asking, "Can I watch the movie now?" He loves to watch himself.

I used to cringe every Christmas morning when my parents insisted on getting out the camcorder (and tripod...and tapes...and cables...and everything...). It always took about an hour to get the thing out and set it up. Then we'd video everyone opening a present in a somewhat controlled manner before mass chaos ensued. I often wondered why in the world my parents would ever record this event every Christmas and when they would ever watch these videos.

I think I'm beginning to understand. I occasionally pop in the DVD from when Bruce was in the NICU and refresh my memory of just how tiny he was and just how far he has come. And I can't wait to record Bruce on Christmas morning!

One Year Older...

...and wiser too, right? Well, maybe not.



Yep, it's my birthday. For the special day, Bruce hand-picked a gift for me: The King. For those of you who aren't fluent in the ways of toddlerness, The King is one of the lead characters in Disney's Cars. The King was the missing link in Bruce's collection; he thought I would just love getting it for my birthday. Indeed, when I opened my present this morning I tried to play with it right away to see what he'd do. He tried to swipe it from me, claiming that it was his. When I told him that he'd given it to me, he tried to make a trade with an older non-branded car and I caved. He played with The King for most of the rest of the day.

Scott got me a couple pairs of really awesome socks. It's been getting colder here, so a few pairs of thick socks were in order. Thigh highs. They're pretty much like long johns without the top - does that make it out of control top hose? Oh man, I'm cracking really lame jokes. I must be getting old.

Sick. Again.

Two viruses in two weeks. Yes, this week's Virus of the Week is the 24-hour flu. It came in the middle of the night on Tuesday; I heard Bruce crying in his bedroom around 1:30 a.m. I rolled my eyes as I walked in, thinking he was fussing about ghosts or monsters or whatever. But he was lying in a puddle of vomit. It was pitiful. I started to clean him up, and luckily Scott got up and helped (Reason No. 6,438,915 why I married Scott). While Scott helped, I went and barfed too. I wasn't sure if I was just grossed out by the smell of Bruce's vomit or if I was sick too.

Bruce ralphed a few more times throughout the night, creating a mountain of nasty, odor-ific laundry. Scott left early in the morning to go to Duke for his med school interview; he felt nauseated, but thank goodness he didn't get really sick (that would be awful: barfing on the interviewer). By mid-morning, I was holding Bruce up so he could vomit into the sink (he refused to do it in the toilet) and then the urge hit me. Luckily, the toilet is within barfing distance of the sink in our bathroom. The rest of the day we lounged in front of the TV, sipped on ginger ale, and occasionally emptied our guts.

Thursday morning, Bruce bounced into my bed and announced that he would like french toast. Life is good again. Today we did mountains of really gross stinky laundry and disinfected every surface in the house.

By the way, the photo has nothing to do with this post. That's just Bruce showing off a toy he got in his advent calendar. Thanks Grandma!

Embarrassing Moments

In middle school, I loved reading the "Why Me" section of Teen Magazine (perhaps this is my first embarrassing confession). It's full of teen's most embarrassing moments - like having a love note passed to the wrong guy in class. All the "Why Me" submissions were rated something like "bummer for you," "hide your face," and "move outta town" (anyone remember the real terms? I'm sure they were a lot funnier).

Certainly my view of what's embarrassing has changed since middle school. Chances are, if you've ever asked me what my most embarrassing moment is, I said something like, "I have so many moments I can't choose just one." It's true. Here are two examples just from the past few days.

1. I went to the doctor early Thursday morning after laying around Wednesday with a sore throat, fever and chills, and nasty headache. I hadn't showered and I think I may have even worn my PJs to the office in Harvard Square (also kindof embarrassing since it's a mecca for fashion shoppers). The doctor was looking me over making sure I didn't have strep or meningitis or anything serious; he was palpating my tummy when he said, "How long have these moles been here?" I sat up and asked, "What moles?" He pointed to my belly button, which had two nicely rounded balls of lint in it. Yuck.

2. I called up one of my college roommates on Sunday. I accidentally called her mom's house (when I switched phones a few weeks ago, it only saved one number per contact. oops) and her sister, who sounds exactly like her, answered. "MOOOOOONER!!!!" I yell into the phone; this is the normal greeting. She says a mousy "hi." I started going off about how long it'd been since we talked, how a mutual friend came to visit me yesterday, how said mutual friend is engaged, blah blah blah. After a full minute of my gabber, she stops me. "Uhhmm, this is Austin." "What?" So I chat with her about life and we laugh about the last time I called and sang a very loud and moving rendition of Happy Birthday to her (also meant for Mooner). Then she gave me Mooner's number.

How about you? Anyone else going to 'fess up to their most embarrassing moments?

I get by with a little help from my friends.

This morning I woke up with a fever, headache, and sore throat. I called the mother of the girl I babysit and told her I wasn't up for it today in my scratchy yucky voice. Then I called Bruce's best friend's mom; she called last night to invite Bruce over to play today. She came and picked Bruce up and took him for the whole morning and even fed him lunch. I read magazines, watched the morning news, sipped water, and slipped in and out of consciousness. When Bruce came home, he curled up next to me on the couch and we both fell asleep for a few hours. Thanks Diana for letting me rest.

Here's what helped me make it through the rest of the day: this marble track game. My neighbor let us borrow it and Bruce has been playing with it intensely ever since. He puts on a really serious face when he plays with it.

Already, I am feeling much better than this morning. With a little ibuprofen and a lot of water and clementines, I just might be back on my feet tomorrow.