Holiday Harbinging

December has brought the holidays to our home, and although there are still ornaments to be hung and Christmas chotchkis to unpack we've taken care of the primary holiday harbinger: the tree.  When I started writing this post, I thought I'd have a great bunch of photos to share with you.  But then I realized that all of those great pictures were taken with my camera, the same camera that's missing the cord to upload all my pictures to the computer.  Epic fail.  I'll extract those photos somehow.  For the time being, I'll share these photos from my camera with you:

 I'm so proud of myself for thinking of putting garland on the banister.  Such a unique thinker, this one.

 I regretfully report that some sparkly garland balls were harmed in the making of this photo.

Baby attack!

In spite of having a lovely, warm holiday tinge to it, life still has been hectic as hell.  I'm not sure why a 30-minute commute seemed so doable in Wisconsin but so completely devastating here.  It definitely helped that Amy would let us pick 'Rad up after 5:00 pm but Jean would like him on his way home by 4:45 pm.  And I wasn't going to school in Wisconsin.  And 'Rad wasn't a moving, shaking 1-year old in Wisconsin.  Ok, so it's not just the drive.

I think we're managing relatively well, it's just that when I get to work or have a minute to take a look in the mirror I feel like I might as well have birds living in my hair, dirty socks shoved in my pocket, and a stray cat in my purse - I just feel a mess.  It all works, though: We all eat three meals a day, we get to where we need to go when we need to be there, no one is forgotten or neglected (except for Blue Boy, sorry buddy), homework gets done mostly on time, and 'Rad gets lots of time with family as do we.  A quick note about the dirty socks: Tonight in 'Rad's room I got offended by the smell of my own feet.  Then 'Rad laid on said feet.  Thank gawd baby lotions and wipes smell good enough to mask the smell of my stank feet near his head.

One thing that's definitely been neglected, however, is my record keeping of Connor's life as of late.  He's doing so many different, new things so quickly that all of my mental post-its are fluttering to the ground, just to be rained on or inadvertently crumpled up and tossed.  It seems like such a luxury to be able to put together a real paper and pen baby book.  Recently, 'Rado has:

• Gone to the doctor (why do I always want to say that he went to the vet?  Well, we have had the dog longer that we've had the 'Rad) for his 18-month visit a little early.  Z said he didn't cry, is tall for his age, and he waved like he was on a parade float when he picked him up from daycare early only to have his bubble burst when he had to drop him back off there after the appointment.
• He's been really into using his spoon and fork regardless of how successful he is with them.  Actually, he's really into using his spoon and my fork lately.  After seeing a picture of a kid with a fork stabbed through his nose in class, I'm terrified.
• He's started making the airy "shhhh" sound when making toys fly through the air.  Last night I picked him up and made him fly through the air and together we "shhhh"-ed down the hallway and to his room.
• He loves flipping light switches and pushing buttons.  If you have strays of either of these I'm sure he'd be thrilled if you sent them his way for Christmas.
• Gotten bored with all of his baby baby toys.  Any good toy ideas for a 15-month old?
• Started to cry when we read him his bedtime book even if it's after having read him 5 other stories.  Do we fake him out and just end the night on a non-goodnight book, or do we read through the tears then plunk his tired booty in bed?  I've taken the cry-through-the-tears route.  Bedtime's coming whether you like it or not, buddy.

Is December really here?  Of course it is!  Christmas music has been playing non-stop in our house since.