And I'm an Idiot...

Saturday morning, we awoke to discover that Santa had visited and left a cache of presents under our tree. I guess he must be working overtime this year, with Christmas having been several days earlier.

This time, Alex took a back seat when it came to opening his presents and just watched me do it instead. He did score a little paper to gnaw on, however...

Grandma B, being the talented artiste that she is, painted some adorable "Alex" ornaments for our tree. The likeness is uncanny, wouldn't you say? Alex seemed to think so.

She also painted these funny little plaques that depict Timothy and I as Alex sees us - Timothy from behind a law book and me with a camera in front of my face. Yeah, that's probably pretty accurate. Either that or me with my mouth wide open and eyeballs popping out. For some reason I am compelled to make that ridiculous face whenever I look at him. He loved the plaques though and kept grabbing at them when I was trying to take a picture.

What else...Grandma and Grandpa B got him a learning toolbox that lights up and plays music when you smack things with a hammer. He may need Grandpa to show him how to use it properly because he is an expert at such things. And $100 cash money to spend in whatever way he sees fit (a walker, perhaps?). Gee, I guess we'll just have to go shopping...

Uncle Nick got Alex the coolest thing ever. He wasn't able to come to Christmas Round II but he sent a set of "Rockabye Baby!" CD's that feature lullabye renditions of songs by popular artists like The Smashing Pumpkins, Bjork, Radiohead, The Cure, and Metallica. Can you imagine falling asleep to Metallica's greatest hits? He's been listening to Pink Floyd at naptimes and it may just be my imagination, but he seems to go down easier when they're on. I'm just wondering if it will have a Pavlovian effect, like maybe when he's sixteen and The Dark Side of the Moon comes on the radio, he'll immediately fall unconscious...

Alex isn't the only one who racked up in the gift department. Aunt Rach made us a really cool photo composition that has nine different pictures of Alex with various expressions - most of which are hil-arious. I would love to post a picture but I had a hard time getting one without a glare. I may take the picture out of the frame and scan it on my...new scanner! Yay me! A great present from Ma and Pa that I know will come in handy. And this time I won't power it with the wrong cord and blow it up like I did the last one...

I know I'm forgetting a bunch of things...well, you get the gist of it. After presents, A spent some more time bonding with G-pa, who accidentally discovered that Alex really like when you lift him up and put his belly on your head. Well, it makes him drool and squeal like a greased pig, so we are assuming that means he likes it.



After present time, Mom and I frantically ran around town to get food and gifts for yet another party. My friend Katie was having a post-Christmas/pre-New Year's get together, so we all got dressed, packed up our gifts, food, and Alex's stuff, woke him up early from his nap so we wouldn't be later than we already were, and drove to Katie's house in South Fayetteville. We were half an hour late, so the fact that there were no cars in the driveway other than the hosts should've clued me in that something was amiss. Nonetheless, me and my entourage marched up to the front door, knocked, and waited. Katie's hubby Scott came to the door, looking confused and amused when he saw us all standing there.

"Hi!" I said.

"You're a day early!" he said.

I totally didn't believe him until Katie came to the door in her pj's with the makings of sausage balls coating her hands. Oops. Apparently we were not a half hour late, but rather, twenty-three and a half hours early. Somehow both Timothy and I had misread the text message that she had sent out as a reminder the day before. I guess that preggo brain a) really doesn't go away, and b) affects the husband, too. So after apologizing to Katie and Scott for interrupting their Saturday afternoon and to my folks for dragging them to a party that didn't exist, we sheepishly left their house and took the walk of shame back to the car.

As long as we were out and about - and famished, btw - we decided to make the best of an embarrassing situation and went to Penguin Ed's for lunch. When we got there, Grandpa found a little table and chairs that were just Alex's size, so the two of them tried it out.

We didn't want to make A eat alone at the kid's table, so we invited him to join us at the big people table. Lunch was good so it wasn't such a bad thing that I'm an idiot.

After lunch, we went back home and where Grandma and Grandpa volunteered to watch A so Rachel, Tim, and I could go see I Am Legend at the theater. Unfortunately G-ma and G-pa B didn't get much Alex time while were gone because he took a three hour nap, waking just before we got back. Oh well, it's quality, not quantity that really matters.

So bed time was approaching and it was time to wind down. For my mom and dad, "winding down" means engaging in acrosports in the living room. I think they are conditioning so they can try out for Cirque du Soleil. I always thought that my mom and dad were fit to join the circus, I just thought they'd be part of the freak show as opposed to performing under the big top. (Just kidding. Sort of...)

Luckily, acrosport practice did not yield any injuries. After a good night's sleep, we had to send Aunt Rach off to Colorado so she could prepare for her first semester at the Art Institute of Colorado, where she will be earning her degree in photography. "Boohoo, don't go Aunt Rach!" we cried. Except for Mom, who wanted her to get home before New Year's Eve, when all the crazies would be tearing up the roads.

After Rach left, we prepared, once again, for Katie's party. I held my breath as the five of us approached the door, and breathed a sigh of relief when Katie greeted us with a smile and said, "It's today!"

The party was tons of fun and Alex was a trooper, despite the fact that he had to nap on the fly and that his absent-minded mommy forgot to bring a bottle. Oh and I forgot to bring extra batteries for my camera, hence the lack of party pictures (was I on a roll, or what?). It's always great to get together with the current and former Rede clan. We're so much fun. Miss you guys!

Just one more night with the folks and they'd have to head back to P-town. Grandma took advantage by getting in one more fun bathtime with Alex. To her delight, he decided to debut a new trick for her. Lately, he has been in the habit of grabbing the (pre-soapy) washcloth out of my hands and sucking all the water out of it. Kinda gross, I know, but a little butt water ain't gonna kill him. This particular night, he discovered that if he dunked the washcloth in the bathwater, it got super wet again. So he would suck, suck, suck, move to a new spot, suck, suck, new spot, suck, suck, suck, then when it seemed as though he had sucked it dry, he would dunk it in the water and start the process again. Here's a little clip...



Monday morning, the B's had to go home. Which always stinks. But we had a great, if short, visit and look forward to the next one.