lil_griffin | Merry Christmas!

Welcome to the Christmas card photo outtakes, which I think are better than the one posed shot we finally chose to send.

The holiday season, as you might have guessed, hasn't been without it's snags - not the least of which was coming down with H1N1 the week of Thanksgiving! (Would you believe Xander came down with it first?) It hit Donna like a ton of bricks (after this summer, everything does) and we had to cancel all our plans and spent a quiet day at home together.

We believe Xander has had Christmases before - but the style we celebrate here has been nothing but a huge hit so far. He's been to see Santa Claus (and the pictures are a RIOT), shopping with both Mom and Dad, performed in the preschool's Christmas pagent as an Elf (it needs a warning label for extreme CUTE) and can sing Jingle Bells like nobody's business.

He also asks to open his presents on a daily basis so far - but true to his nature, all we have to say is 'not yet' and that's enough. I can believe what a sweet child he is, wrapped up in the very classic little boy naughty at the same time.

To be succinct - things are going well. I really wish we could have started at this point in the transition - Xander is doing so well in school, he's happy and growing well (he's outgrowing most of his wardrobe, to be blunt) and there is little I'm concerned about at this point. The anxiety over 'the best day ever is followed by the worst day ever' seems to be waning, but the acid test is going to be the next few weeks while daycare is on holiday break and his schedule is disrupted COMPLETELY. So far, so good - but last night was a good indication that all this is just too much fun - the 'I'm not tired' plaints lasted until he was rocked to sleep, and the need for that is rare these days.

I can't believe he is doing 50 - 100 piece puzzles out of the box with only a little assistance. You should see what he builds with Lego blocks.

Happy holidays of all kinds to you and yours - see you soon!