Throwing Balls and other things about X-mas

With the haze of Molly's first xmas slowing receding, I believe we are now enough in control of our faculties to craft a note of review. Grammy and Grandpa made the long trip out to share the experience (it also was cheaper to hand deliver the wonderful gifts then ship them UPS). On Christmas Eve we went for a hike to wear Molly out and enjoyed a rather pleasant tromp around a small local lake. We then spent the afternoon baking cookies together and hanging around the house. The fresh air kicked in just as Mommy took her first bite of citrus-soy-ginger scallops, a dish she had spent many hours planning and preparing. Mommy and Molly managed to put out some cookies and hang her stocking just as she fell asleep - a little past 8:00 (a present in and of itself). While Grammy and Grandpa went to a late evening church service, we hurriedly decorated the tree, put together a few presents requiring assembly, and flooded the living room with gifts. Due to curious little hands, we'd had the tree up for several weeks but it had been sparsely decorated with lights and a few snowflakes and icicles, and we kept all of the presents sequestered in our bedroom and the basement.

On xmas morning Molly was the last one up (another present). As Mom carried her downstairs, Molly's only response upon seeing the transformed living room was "Oh. Wow!"

Molly got the gist of xmas morning right away and quickly opened a number of presents. However, as the morning wore on, she became overwhelmed by the sheer number of gifts and retreated to her pack-n-play. With the help of Grammy they invented a new game called "Throwing Balls" or in the Molly-parlence "Frow balls." This waist, ab and back workout will soon be coming to a gym near you.

Thanks everyone, for your generosity. Molly now has enough stuff to shake a stick at! There are, however, a few things we need to put a moratorium on, including stuffed animals and kitchen-related toys. There are a few things there is not a moratorium on - 32 inch LCD flat screen tvs and 30 gb iPods, for example.

This xmas was very special but I am concerned that we may have set Molly's expectations a little high. It took two full days to open all of her presents and she would wander the house anxiously saying "I can't find Monkey!" She was saddened to see the decorations come down and lamented for a week that the tree was gone "outside!" A few days ago she told Mommy sadly "Santa at home." But Throwing Balls is still around. At least twice a day one of us spends a good fifteen minutes chasing down beach balls that Molly tosses out of her pack-n-play. She's developed quite an arm.