Christmas

Dude had his first Christmas and no, he didn't really understand any of it. He did thoroughly enjoy the balloons and wrapping paper all over the place. We went down to AZ for Christmas. Dad's family loved having two little kiddos there for the festivities. He got some cute outfits and a little toy. He loves Christmas dinner, although he was asleep while all the rest of the family was eating it. He tasted all the goodness later: mashed potatoes, sweet yams, jello, stuffing and even some of the turkey. Since Christmas was on a Sunday we got up and went to Sacrament meeting first thing. He was a perfect angel. He actually fell asleep on me during the meeting which never happens anymore. Dad and I got to sit through the entire meeting without taking anyone out - that was quite an accomplishment. On Christmas Eve we went to Great Grandma Dick's house for beef curry (a Dick family tradition). Great uncle Tome and Great Uncle Carolyn were there with their little Rachael, who is just a couple of weeks older than Ben. He was very taken by her. He kept staring at her. He especially loved to try and touch her when she was close enough. They are very different; Dude will just sit on his buns and watch the world go round very contently, while Rachael is busy moving around and fidgeting with things all the time. I kept thinking it would be okay for Ben to adopt a little of her mobile habits - no luck so far. Everyone got sick with a cold while we were there for the holidays - and I mean EVERYONE. Dude had some fevers, so that put on damper on the fun for a couple of days. He is usually not too shabby even when he is sick - just likes to lay around a little more and cuddle (which I love). We drove back to Utah on the 27th. We ended up renting a minivan so that we could transport all our goods. Ben did fairly well - he really hasn't been on that many long trips so far, and we can't complain too much. He munched on Cheerios and fish crackers and got pulled out to eat a couple of times. The trip seemed to go pretty fast and boy was he happy when we were home and out of the car. It was fun to watch him during his first holiday season.