Letters to Joseph-December

Dear Joseph:

December 2006

Your First Christmas!
We have had so much fun this month doing all sorts of Christmas things. One of the first things we did was to take you up to the Cabin and get our Christmas Tree. This was our first trip with you to the Cabin and we went with Gretchen and Andre Champoux. It was a pretty cold day, so we went right in to Uncle Clyde’s cabin and built a fire in the stove. I sat with you on the rocking chair and nursed you. Then we cooked lunch and you snoozed in the Moby wrap. We finally went to cut down our tree and you slept right through the whole thing.

When we got home and put the tree up though…you LOVED it. You stare at the lights and are transfixed.

This month you are totally grasping toys and starting to grab for our food a little. I want to put off feeding you solid food for as long as possible though…here’s why:
1. This creates more work for me.
2. I like the idea that all of your makeup has come directly from me to this point. As soon as you get food from other sources, you will become directly connected to the food chain. As it is right now, I’m your link to the food chain and I love that intimacy. I am savoring it because I know soon you will become more independent.

You also have started to ‘vocalize’…this means goo goo and gaa gaa. You stick out your little upper lip and make lots of sounds. Your Dad and I repeat them and we all laugh, including you…that’s another thing you are doing a lot of…laughing heartily!

My original plan was that come January, I would go back to work at Mithun almost full time. As that time inches nearer, we have decided that it will be too difficult to have other people take care of you while I pine for you at work. The new plan is that I’ll work from home some fewer hours per week and go back to work when you are one year of age. I am so grateful and blessed to have this time with you and I intend to savor every minute of every day.

This has been a crazy weather winter so far…we had an amazing wind storm that was the strongest in ten years. Now I know you love wind, but easy! Lot of trees fell in our neighborhood and the power went out all over Seattle. We held you tight in bed with us and we stayed warm.

More Christmas stuff…We brought you to see Santa where Grandpa Steve works…Swanson’s Nursery. Santa decided to make an appearance in his sleigh and you sat in his lap and he wondered when you might be wishing for a tennis racket? We told him maybe next year. They also have Santa’s Reindeer at Swanson’s and you stared at them and thought they were pretty cool too.

On Christmas morning, we got up and went out to the Christmas Tree…Santa had come and brought you presents!!! He brought you:
A Sock Monkey
A Wooden Train
Some Animal Figures (Polar Bear, Cow, White Tiger, Elephant)
A Walking Elephant that clicks down a ramp
Some Bath Toys (A Giraffe and Elephant that float with little giraffes and elephants on their backs)
Some Clothes (I KNOW….booorrring), but as a Keene, “it wouldn’t be Christmas without clothes”
Wooden Block Fruit
And a few other things….

After we had our own little Christmas Morning, the rest of the family came over and we opened presents with them. Your Auntie Ali and Uncle Oogie sent you a Polar Bear outfit and you wore that and jumped in your Johnny Jump Up which you still love.

It was magical to have you with us on Christmas Morning, and even though this is all new to you and you don’t quite understand yet…you bring all of the brightness and joy to this holiday now and forever.