Back from the Arctic north

Ok, so I'm a cold weather wimp. We just got back from a lovely - weather notwithstanding - visit to my parents' house in the Bay Area (highs in the 50s, lows in the 40s - to me, that is COLD). Jack did great on the nearly nine-hour (with stops) car ride, although he didn't nap at all on the way up. He only had one big meltdown and that was because Daddy wouldn't let him keep pushing all the buttons on the DVD player. He did even better on the way down, because he actually slept for a couple of hours. Yay!

For those of you (*ahem*Danielle*ahem*) who were feeling sorry for Jack because we have such a puny Christmas tree, here is a picture of the tree at Ammah's house:



And here it is lit:



Christmas morning was pretty low-key. Jack had already opened most of his presents the morning we left, because Santa delivered them to our house and his elves didn't have room in their car to lug them all the way up to the Bay Area. My parents made sure that he had a couple of packages to unwrap Christmas morning, though. Jack was happy, but I still don't think he really got what this whole Christmas thing was all about. I think he thought it was an extension of his birthday. Every time the doorbell would ring with a package from UPS, Jack wanted to open it. He didn't quite understand why we had to wait. I expect that next year he'll actually get it and Christmas will really start becoming a magical time for him.

Later Christmas morning, we went down to San Jose to see Jack's Uncle Owen (Tom's brother), Aunt Pamela, and cousin Evan. They live in Southern California too, but they were up visiting Pamela's parents. Evan is nine months younger than Jack and is his closest cousin, both in age and geography. It was adorable seeing them play together; it was like looking into the future, seeing how the two boys would one day put their heads together and brew up some mischief.

Two days later, we celebrated my dad's 60th birthday. My sister and brother-in-law also came up, and we took family pictures so that we can finally retire the godawful one that's been hanging over my parents' fireplace for the last 11 years. Another reason to celebrate! We capped off the festivities with traditional Chinese noodles, lumpia, and ice cream cake. Jack had two pieces and still wanted more!

The rest of the time was spent catching up with friends from high school, eating way too many nuts and cookies, and just letting Jack bond with family. For some completely unfathomable reason, my mom has her clock radio set to a country music station, which Jack just as inexplicably loved. If he didn't look so much like my dad, I would question whether he were really my child. He turned the volume way up and demanded that we all dance around with him. We were finally able to distract him with his favorite ABBA song, "Dancing Queen," which we listened to about 20 times in a row while I spun him around and around. Still, I'd rather that over country any day. (Yeah, you heard me, ladies! :) )

Thank you to all our friends and family for the wonderful gifts and cards and especially for all the love throughout the year. Having you in our lives is what makes the holiday season truly meaningful.