Christmas morning

Biscuit didn't know quite what to think on Christmas morning. I got him to follow me up the hall, then about halfway, I ran ahead and turned the video camera on him.

He rounded the bottom of the staircase, and took a look at the big red and yellow Little Tykes car that was sitting under the tree. He looked at me, he looked at the car. He looked at me, he looked at the car. Then he did an about face and walked right back up the hall looking for Da-da.

Jeff finally carried Biscuit back into the living room to check out what Santa left him. He got books, a chair, clothes, big Lego blocks and the Little Tykes car.

It took a while for him to take in everything, but with his gifts from Santa, plus gifts from family and friends, our little Biscuit is having quite a time with all his new treasures.

Christmas photos

Here are a few Christmas photos.

We're a family

Even though Biscuit has been around for a little over a year now, it still sometimes amazes me that we're a family now instead of a couple.

There were several things during the holidays that reminded me of our family status ...

1. We took a family photo for our Christmas cards.
2. We went to the Festival of Lights together.
3. We got a Christmas ornament with three bears on a sled with a place underneath to write "Daddy, Mama and Griffin, 2009."
4. I ordered stockings with our names embroidered on them.

Being a family is a very, very good Christmas present.

What do I do with it?

As the Christmas season started, Biscuit just wasn't sure what to do when someone handed him a wrapped gift.

He would stare at it, then look at me for guidance. I would start to unwrap it, thinking he would get the idea and help, but he would just watch me until it was unwrapped, then he'd take the toy away from me and go play.

I was pretty excited when I handed him a present from a couple Jeff and I are friends with, and he immediately started poking at the paper. I punched a hole in the package and set it on the coffee table.

Here's what happened next ...

NOW he knows what to do with a wrapped present!

Rest In Peace

Biscuit has experienced his first real loss.

Let us observe a moment of silence for Mr. Colander ... May he rest in peace.

Mr. Colander was the first and favorite piece of Tupperware that Biscuit discovered. It was always the first thing he'd grab out of the cabinet.

Mr. Colander got Biscuit through his first teeth by acting as a giant teething ring. But Biscuit's teething comfort was Mr. Colander's ultimate downfall.

One day a few weeks ago, I found a piece of white plastic in the kitchen floor. I couldn't figure out where it came from, so I just threw it away.

A few days later, I found another piece of the same plastic. It was on the floor about 6 inches away from Mr. Colander. That's when I realized that Mr. Colander was falling apart. It was time for him to go.

Here is a photo in remembrance of Mr. Colander.

A New 'Do

Biscuit was starting to look like a little hippie. So we decided it was time for his first haircut.

Jeff said he'd just take him to the barber he goes to, but I wanted his first haircut to be special. I considered taking him to one of the salons that specializes in kid haircuts, but decided that the lady who cuts my hair would be the way to go.

I made back-to-back appointments for Biscuit and me. I also asked Jeff to come along so he could hold Biscuit on his lap while I took pictures.

We had no idea how Biscuit would react. But as usual, he was pretty laidback about the whole thing. He really enjoyed all the stylists and customers making a flirty fuss over him. He grinned and blinked his eyes at them.

My stylist put a drape around Jeff to keep the hair off him. Then she put a cute little green drape around Biscuit.

She started snipping, and I started snapping. I was also holding a Ziploc bag while the stylist handed over little tufts of hair.

Biscuit was a trouper. He sat still until the stylist was done. Then when she got him to stand up on Jeff's lap for the final touches, he was amazed by his own reflection in the mirrors on both sides of the salon.

In a very short time, he went from a long-haired baby to a styled little boy.

A visit with The Big Man

We refer to Jeff as "The Daddy Man." But Biscuit recently had a visit with "The Big Man."

Yep. We went to see Santa Claus.
























Grandmama and Grandpapa Stacks were up for a visit from S.C. on the weekend we decided to go. The boys decided to skip our shopping trip and just meet us later for lunch a the Santa visit.

When I was looking for a Santa for Biscuit to see, several co-workers and friends told us where to go. This man has been helping Santa for 30 years. They all said he is really patient and really kind to the kids. Plus, you can take your own camera to take pictures. And that is what really convinced me. I knew I could get the exact pictures I wanted.

So imagine my dismay when we sat down for lunch and Jeff realized that he had forgotten the camera. The restaurant was about 15 minutes from home, so Jeff left lunch early and went to get the camera. We decided to go over to the shopping center and get in line for our visit.

Imagine our surprise when we got there and there were no other kids or families there. There was no line. Santa and his helpers were standing around just waiting on someone to show up.

They kept looking at us, I guess they were wondering what we were waiting for. So finally, I said, "We're waiting for my husband." Santa looked up and said, "Take your time. I'm just stretching my legs."

I started walking around and saw a sign that said, "No cameras allowed." Of course, for the first time in 30 years, they decided to get a contract with an online photo site.

So here we were waiting on Jeff to drive 15 minutes home to get the camera. Drive 15 minutes back. Park in the madhouse parking lot of a large shopping center. Make his way into the building where Santa was, only to have me tell him that we couldn't even use the camera.

I decided to use my cell phone and tell him about the no-camera sign while he was on his way back. That way, he'd have time to get over being mad at me before he got back to where we were.

Jeff finally made his way back to where we were. We took Biscuit up to where Santa was standing, and Santa started talking to him. I took Biscuit's hand and rubbed the white fur on the front of Santa's outfit. Biscuit just kept looking him up and down, checking out whether he wanted anything to do with him or not.

Finally, Santa went back to his chair and sat down. I took Biscuit over and put him on Santa's lap. Then Santa's helpers started snapping photos. Biscuit, a normally very smiley baby, did not crack a single smile in a single picture. He was tired and sleepy and ready to be home.

Finally, he just leaned his little head back against Santa's chest and stared at the ceiling. He had a look on his face like, "Would you people please hurry up so I can go to sleep?"

We decided that since we couldn't get a smile out of him, we'd choose the photo of Biscuit and Santa looking at each other.

Their visit must have been okay because Santa was certainly good to Biscuit on Christmas morning!

Festival of Lights

Every year in early December, Greensboro has a Friday night of music, food and tree lighting called Festival of Lights.

Ever since Jeff and I have been together, we've never both been off work on that Friday. But this year's Christmas miracle was that we were both off work with no other plans on the night of Festival of Lights. I knew it was going to be cold and crowded, but I told Jeff that even if we were there for 10 minutes, I wanted to go.

So we left our car in the N&R parking lot, hauled Biscuit's stroller out of the trunk, bundled up and walked a couple of blocks to the festival.

Remember that kid in "A Christmas Story" who said, "I can't put my arms down!" Well, that was Biscuit. Check us out.

We left the Festival of Lights and went to a Candle Tea at a co-worker's Moravian Church. Church members dress up in traditional Moravian clothes and they sell crafts, candles, wreaths, chicken pies (made by the church ladies), sugar cookies, sugar cake and other baked goods.

There's a building beside the church that they call the tavern. When you go in, there's a big fire place, a Christmas tree with old-fashioned decorations and lots of candles. They serve pieces of sugar cake and a really sweet, milky coffee. That's a traditional treat for them.

Biscuit missed all of it. He saw so much at the Festival of Lights, that he fell asleep in the car on the way to the Candle Tea.

I couldn't figure out a way to get the sleeping baby into his coat, so I just put him on my shoulder and covered him from head to toe with a thick Winnie the Pooh blanket I had in the car. You could tell there was something draped over my shoulder, but you couldn't see hide nor hair of a baby!

There was a live manger scene in front of the church, including a cute miniature donkey. As I walked past the angel, a man did a double-take and the blanketed bundle in my arms.

"Did you just steal Baby Jesus?" he asked with a smile.

"Yep. I'm taking him home with me," I answered.

We continued on our way until we saw everything there was to see. As we were leaving, I told Jeff that I hate Biscuit wasn't awake so he could see the donkey. Just as the words came out of my mouth, his little head popped up.

I showed him the donkey and with his sleep little eyes, he didn't look too sure about what he should think. I leaned him down and put his hand on the donkey's mane. He felt it for just a second and then jerked his hand back and shot me a look that said, "Why on earth would you make me do something like that?!?"

It was a long, cold, busy night, but it was the first time we had done something like that as a family. It got the Christmas season kicked off right.

Up your nose with a ... finger?

Biscuit and Jeff were in our bed one morning while I was taking a shower. I had propped pillows around Biscuit and he had fallen back asleep. So Jeff decided he'd go back to sleep, too.

As I came out of the bathroom, I saw Jeff shaking his head laughing.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

Jeff said, "Someone woke up before I did and must've been a little bored. I woke up to the feeling of one little finger in each of my nostrils."

What's the old saying? You can pick your friends and you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friend's nose? I guess it's not true after all!

A different kind of bath

The Daddy Man is too tall to give Griffin a bath in the bathtub. So I guess being short has some advantages. I can kneel beside the tub to get the job done.

So when The Daddy Man volunteered to give Biscuit a bath one morning, I was more than a little curious to see how he was going to do it.

Jeff decided that the only water-holding receptacle that would work for him was the kitchen sink. Of course, it didn't occur to him that he should scrub the sink before he stuck Biscuit in there. So I took care of that and made sure the water was warm enough.

Biscuit loves taking a bath. So I figured as long as he was surrounded by water, he'd be fine.

I was wrong.

He did not like the kitchen sink ... at all!

Witness the look on his face. It's like he's saying, "What did I ever do to deserve this?!?"

He's got what, where?!?

WARNING: This blog post includes what may be graphic language to some people! Or it might just be in bad taste to share this, but hey, isn't it the mama's job to embarrass the kid? :)

You know a morning isn't starting well when you hear The Daddy Man say to Baby Biscuit, "Dude! You've got grits on your weinie!"