Christmas 2009

The long awaited Winter Break started for me on Dec. 18th, and I don't have to be back until January 4th. I could not believe how quickly first semester FLEW by! And I cannot believe I'll be writing 2010 on students' passes in so few days!

Aden and I headed to Belleville on Monday, 12/21. He's so good in the car! He sleeps for a little over an hour, usually, but mostly he just talks to himself, or sings, or plays with his car toys. Today, on our way home from Belleville, we were listening to music on the stereo (Beck - one of his favorite artists), and he said, "Turn it quiet, let's talk." So I said, "What do you want to talk about?" and he said, "Let's talk about Grandma's house!" Very cute. So, we discussed all the things we did this week, like play with new friends (my highschool buddies, Jeana and Keith, and their two cute kiddos), play with Uncle Marko, jump around at Monkey Joe's (indoor carnival)... but most importantly, and most puzzling, was to learn about Santa for the first time!

Aden had no words (as you may know, this is RARE) when I was explaining to him how Santa comes down the chimney to bring good boys like himself, presents. I didn't even get into the whole sleigh-and-reindeer thing. He just sort of stared at the chimney. Then we put out a snack and milk for Santa, of course, and he was super confused at that point. But on Christmas morning, he got excited about his presents, even if he still had no comments regarding how they got under the tree. I'll bet it will register next year! Too cute.

I had a great time seeing friends from town (Erin, Tony and Emelia; Alana and Sam; Jeana and Keith) and friends coming back too (John, Lauren and Dave) and family too! It was great to see cousins Carol and Jarrod - we had fun hitting the Belleville bars. Ryseff cousins James and Julia are doing good too! Aunts and Uncles, Aden's Great Grandparents... poor Aden was SO overstimulated on Christmas Day night, he had an early bedtime. We all really missed the Marys Miles, Connie and Leo. They're still quarantined due to the babies' risk for getting quite sick from a common cold.

Can't wait for New Years - it is still my most favorite holiday in the year. And frankly, there is a hell of a lot about 2009 I can't wait to put behind me at the stroke of midnight. But there has been an awful lot to think back fondly on, and build on in 2010 too. Looking forward to another decade, for that matter too! See you all next year...