We went to the mall today, just to get a picture of the E-man on Santa’s lap. It was a long line getting into the mall, but once we got in it didn’t seem too bad. We only had to wait for one person in the Santa line! Here’s the picture - it sort of looks like he was scared, but he didn’t mind at all. One of my favorite sayings is that we could hand him off to anyone in the mall and he wouldn’t care. I guess that’s just what we did!


Here’s a picture in front of his first Christmas tree:


And here’s the gift he made at daycare for me. It’s a papered baby food jar filled with M&M’s (boy does he know me!!). Mom got a jar filled with lavendar bath salts. It was completely unexpected, and although he probably didn’t help all that much, my wife and I were blown away by it. Sometimes this whole parenting thing really hits you in the face, and this was one of those times. This is the first gift my son (two words I still say in complete awe) ever made me. And that makes this, without a shred of doubt, the best Christmas present I will receive this year.


And since I was choosing/editing pictures, I thought I’d post another one too cute to leave out. A freshly bathed baby:


I hope that everyone has a wonderful holiday. We’ll be enjoying our first Christmas as a family (see our Christmas traditions) on Christmas Eve and morning, and then we’ll begin our trek out to visit both sets of grandparents. I’ll be back next week to report on our trip! Safe travels and Merry Christmas!!