Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas. I hope you had the same. Santa came to visit and he brought me lots of gifts. My favorite from Santa was a mini electric car that I can drive everywhere. It has a radio, lots of stickers, and has plenty of room for a friend. I also received lots of presents from my family – I have been busy playing with those as well. We went to Christmas Dinner at Grandma and Poppy’s house. Uncle Troy and Travis were there as were Grammy and Papa Ray. We ate lots of food. I can actually see Daddy getting fatter. Mommy will post pictures shortly.

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish

“Oh, the silent majesty of a winter's morn... the clean, cool chill of the holiday air... an a$$hole in his bathrobe, emptying a chemical toilet into my sewer...” – Clark W. Griswold

Daddy has begun to watch the movie Christmas Vacation again which means that it will run in our house non-stop for a few days. If he doesn’t stop asking Mommy if she has checked our toilets to make sure they are not full I fear for his life.

On Thursday we went to the Georgia Aquarium with my friend Tyler and Aunt Kathy. Tyler and I loved the “touch area” where we are allowed to touch things like starfish, a horseshoe crab, and crawfish. I also liked watching the neon jelly-fish because they glow in the dark. This was my second time visiting the aquarium and I love going to see all of the wonderful things they have there.

I am a little puzzled, however, about the Aquarium’s mascot who is named Deepo. He is a cute little orange fish who bears quite a resemblance to Nemo, the intellectual property of Disney. I watch a lot of CNBC with Daddy so I would have thought somebody would have gotten angry over this. Nonetheless, perhaps it is no different than McDonald's and McDowell’s or Sherry Bobbins and Mary Poppins – I guess they are just sufficiently different. Mmmmm, a Big Mac or Big Mic would really hit the spot!!!

Santa Claus

“Is your house on fire, Clark?” – Aunt Bethany (Christmas Vacation)

Christmas time is about getting together with your family or your loved ones and hopefully for you those two groups overlap somewhat. We will have a full house this year with people ranging from nearly 2 years old (that’s me) to Great Grandma Sophie who is 93.

On Saturday I went with my friend Ella to see Santa Claus to let him know what he can bring me for Christmas. I thought Mommy and Daddy would simply hand the fat man my list and then we would be on our way to get some ice cream. Well, the joke was apparently on me because once we got to the front of the line they took me over to sit on his lap. There are things I am agreeable to considering and there are things I am not….and this fell into the category of things I would not do. No way, no how – I kicked and screamed and clutched Daddy with a death grip as I sobbed uncontrollably. The only time I even wanted to say a word to him was as we were leaving. I was more than happy to yell “Bye-Bye” so long as Daddy’s momentum continued away from Mr. Claus.

On Sunday we did a little remodeling to my room. I hated my crib and now I hate my toddler bed so this weekend we moved to Plan C, a full-sized bed. I love it so far but we shall see how this works. Daddy says that Plan D is a few teaspoons of Nyquil and Plan E is chloroform.

Cookie Exchange Party

Thursday night Mommy was desperately trying to finish 4 dozen cookies for Aunt Chiann’s cookie exchange. Mommy made chocolate clusters which while very delicious, do not require baking so she was afraid that she might be disqualified at the exchange. When we showed up I half-expected all of the Mommies to be lined up in front of Aunt Chiann waiting for their grades and to see who would be sent home for poor cookie-making. I never saw any of that because I went downstairs to play with Luke, Donnie, Lauren, Tyler, Maylen, and other kids and none of us heard any Ramsay-like screaming so perhaps things went well. As always I had a good time with my friends and we left with lots of cookies for Daddy….as if he needs anymore.

The neighborhood is starting to look very nice these days with most of our neighbors having colorful lights outside. Daddy is proud of the colorful lights we have out front and has been teaching me about the differences between standard illumination and the LED lights at our house. The technical differences are rather confusing but the colors are really cool.

Happy Birthday Mommy

Aunt Lori took Mommy and I out to lunch for her 33rd birthday! I drank some of Mom's iced tea. Yummy!

“Being sober on a bus is, like, totally different than being drunk on a bus” – Ozzy Osbourne

Happy Birthday, Mommy. You share a special day with the prince of darkness so Daddy and I figured that a nice meaningful quote from him would add life to your day.

You were born a long time ago – in the 1970s. I bet a lot has changed since then. After all, in the 70s the economy was bad…okay, bad example. But back then there were times when gas was really expensive and hard to find…Hmmm, I guess kind of like much of this year. Back then you didn’t have cool TV shows like Sesame Street and 60 Minutes…oops, you did. Back then there was this phenomenal swimmer who won 7 gold medals and surely nobody could ever beat that record….Shoot!, forgot about that Phelps guy. I guess there were also some issues in the Middle East back then too.

I guess really nothing has changed Mommy – sorry. Hope you have a nice birthday anyway – Daddy and I love you very much.

A Time to be Thankful

Sitting with Aunt Helen and then sitting with Grandma and Grandpa for an after dinner drink.

Ready to eat turkey sitting next to Great Grandma Sophie.

Cleaning up the dishes with Aunt Lori.

I got several big bites of chocolate cake from Uncle Dan. Thanks for sharing!

I am thankful that I will be able to see lots of family on Thanksgiving.

I am thankful Mommy and Daddy moved me to a toddler bed because it is easier for me to get out and sleep with them.

I am thankful that Daddy and I will watch our beloved Cowboys together on turkey day.

Daddy and I will be thankful if Jessica Simpson doesn’t show up to cheer Tony Romo on.

I am thankful that the President pardons one lucky turkey each year.

I am thankful that he didn’t pardon our turkey.

I am thankful that Sesame Street exists because it can keep me occupied for a long time.

Mommy and Daddy are thankful that Sesame Street exists for the same reason.

I am thankful this year I was able to watch my first Olympics, Presidential election, and stock market crash.

I am thankful I have a Daddy who teaches me my ABCs, reads to me, consoles me in the middle of the night when I cry, feeds me, plays with me, and takes me to see my friends.

I will be thankful if Mommy doesn’t beat the crap out of Daddy for writing that last sentence.

Home Alone

Mommy and Daddy went away for the first time without me, to Las Vegas. They saw a show at the Bellagio, one of Terry Benedict’s casinos, did some shopping, ate a lot, and also did some gambling. I am not sure how they did at the gambling part but when they got back Daddy told me that he hoped that I liked my shoes because I will be wearing them until I am 7 years old.

During their weekend away, Aunt Lori came over to watch me and Grandma and Grandpa helped as well. Aunt Lori kept me very busy running to different places and meeting different people. I had a lot of fun with Aunt Lori – she took very good care of me.

Toddler Bed

Mommy and Daddy recently converted my crib to a toddler bed. They really didn’t want to move me to the toddler bed but I didn’t like my crib anymore so it was necessary that we reach some sort of agreement. In this case, they agreed to set up the toddler bed and I agreed not to get so angry that I would either jump out of the crib or vomit on cue. With my new bed at least now I won’t damage my beautiful face and 175 IQ.