The Night Before Christmas, 2011, With Hiccups

There's so much to blog, but as you can imagine, it's been chaotic. So for now, enjoy the annual reading (memorization) of Cody's favorite Christmas story...and Merry Christmas!

2011: The [Y]ear of Infections

Update: Fully 50% of the ears and throats in the Last household are infected. We are starting to look like a geriatric home...we have a whole shelf dedicated to various medicines. But at least these two should be on the mend by the time Santa and Rudolph arrive!

And in the meantime, we had a good giggle this morning when Daddy brought home what Cody deemed "the biggest bread in the whole world."

Quick Recap

It's been awhile -- we've had quite a week. Cody got extremely sick last weekend (104 fever) and it turned out he had a double ear/sinus infection. First thing tomorrow we will head back to the doctor, because Cordelia's cold hasn't cleared up either and that awful cough has begun. But in the meantime, we baked about a thousand cookies (and Cody did almost all the icing and sprinkles -- which look just as beautiful between the floorboards as they do on the gingerbread men!) and Cordelia got her first ponytail.

This one (above) could be me. It's creepy.



That's Cordelia's latest face. It's a little Edvard Munch, no? I love it.

Counting Cordelia

O Christmas Tree!

It's the most wonderful time of the year! We went Monday to get our tree and spent the afternoon going through the whole routine--lights, ornaments, and finally, the manger. Tradition holds that Cody chooses the tree. He chose the first one we saw. And we all agreed it was the best possible choice. And there were many to choose from...

Cody got his pliers to help remove the netting before "helping" Daddy with the lights.

Accordingly, Cordelia tottered off to fetch her red screwdriver. None of us (including her) were entirely sure why, but she was undeterred. And, helpful.

Next, Patches got to meet the tree.

Look at that head of hair. Have you ever seen anything like her?

Here we are, hanging ornaments. And below, the annual unwrapping of the manger! It was more unruly this year than ever.

Cordelia showed no mercy to the "sweet, sweet animals." She retrieved them all from their positions in the manger, much to Cody's chagrin, and then turned all the little boxes into hoppers, stuffing in all the sheep and donkeys, then dumping them back out. "Donkey! DUMP IT! Wise MAN! DUMP IT!"

Cody explained to his sister that the cradle was empty because we were "still waiting for Baby Jesus to get born, so in the meantime, this little lamb will sleep in the cradle and keep it warm for Him." The lamb awaiting the Lamb. (He later told Jonathan that probably the "sweet, sweet lamb" would really get comfortable in the cradle, and would probably just stay there once Jesus did get born, and Jesus wouldn't mind just sleeping on the floor of the manger. There would be plenty of wise men to keep him company. And a camel.)

And amazingly enough, Santa loaned his "very own sleigh" to the nursery until he needs it on Christmas Eve, so that we could all take a turn sitting in it? "Wasn't that so kind of him?" marveled Cody. Cordelia wasn't much impressed.

"Shoe! Take off it!"

"Coco! Get off you!"

Indeed it was kind. Thanks, St. Nick.

Evergreen Glamour Shots

Reunited, and it feels so good!

It's possible the kids have never been so excited. Cordelia threw her arms around him and then demanded, "Jacket off! NOW! Shoes off! OFF! HOME!"

Jingle Bells

Cody's Christmas Wishes

Tonight, Cody and I sat down to make his very first Christmas list to send to the North Pole.

He thought long and hard, and came up his list of the essential Christmas gifts:

Dear Santa,

May I please have a Dyson Ball vacuum and a mixer, too? Would you please bring Cordelia a present, too? And Santa, can you please bring two tiny presents for my cousin Aidan and please bring a present for Campbell and will you please pray extra for Baby Aidan?

Thank you so much, Santa Claus. Fly safe in your sleigh and Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Love,

Cody Last

age 3

Holy Hopper

After a recent trip to Costco (which I call "the C word," because every week, without fail, JVL brings home something great, but which we don't need), my sweet husband pulled into the driveway with that familiar excited look on his face. He emerged with a nativity for the kids--which was genuinely awesome. (And so far as we can tell, doesn't have parts you can choke on, unlike the toy one I bought last year. Because really, what's more horrible than your kid choking to death on the angel's harp or the little drummer boy's drum??) We kept it in reserve for an afternoon where a) it was too cold to go outside, b) the kids were bored, c) the kids were unspeakably cranky, d) I needed something to distract them so I could make dinner, or e) all of the above.

Saturday was all of the above. So we broke out the nativity and it was a huge hit. Kelly came over in the evening and Cody was thrilled to show her every detail.

We had such a blast watching and listening as he narrated his scene. He would take everyone out (including "the two Marys," because apparently he couldn't decide which was Mary, and who the other one would be, so Jesus has two Mommies in this scenario) and then pile them in, but it seemed there was some sort of specific order. We noticed that he always started with the palm trees (how awesome is a nativity with palm trees?). When I asked him why the palm trees were growing inside the manger, he looked at me as if I were dim-witted (fair enough) and said, "Well, Mommy, Jesus has to sleep. So we put the trees in front of the windows to block out the light. The trees are the curtains for the manger."

Obviously.

We sat in the soft firelight and watched awhile longer, as the holy men and women and "sweet, sweet animals" were loaded in and then dumped out. After a bit we heard a soft, steady hum--kind of a high whine, but not the toddler kind, more the machine kind--coming from Cody. We looked at him and saw that familiar, faraway look in his eye. And we realized that in his little mind, the manger had become...

...wait for it...

...wait for it...

...a hopper.

UPDATE: It's a good thing we have an Aunt Kelly, because she reminded me about the other scenario that played out--several times: The manger was a cruise ship (pronounced "cruise-a-ship") and the Holy Family was embarking on a different kind of journey. More sail-the-Caribbean than flight-to-Egypt. The angel was the captain, and the trees got to go, too. Presumably so that Jesus would also be able to sleep on board.