Ah, it’s arrived. The season that brings out the best in most but the worst in some. A time of year to spend with those you love and provide for those who are less fortunate. The holiday gift and food catalogs are arriving in the mail each day along with the regular magazines adorned with photos of glistening turkeys and delicious desserts (except for my Shape magazine…it arrives every month with great looking women on the cover which means those should probably be stashed away until January to avoid guilt during the season of eating). Our Halloween costumes arrived this week, and I’m already thinking about how we are going to fit a Christmas tree in our living room – should be a fun challenge. Yep, the holidays are here…but I’m already realizing that this year will be different than every year up until now.
This year, I get to dress up our tiny tot and take him door to door to show him off in his cute little outfit (not to mention, I’ll probably get candy out of the deal). I will feel more grateful on turkey day because let’s face it, having kids make us more thankful for life and all that we have been blessed with. And of course, I will be more excited to see how Carter will react to his presents on Christmas morning than to open my own (if I’m lucky to have any).
But dressing up, being thankful, and opening gifts isn’t all that the holiday season has to offer. With the holidays comes cold weather. While most people frown on cold weather, I actually enjoy it. I will agree that the sub-zero temperatures are nothing to get excited about, but there are so many things about Winter that I truly love. Just like rain has a smell, winter has distinctive scents and after sitting in deer stands on cold mornings throughout my life, I’ve come to love the scents of the season (and have missed them over the last two years of a hunting hiatus). Winter means cuddling up with a cozy blanket in front of a good movie (or football game, of course). It brings snowballs, hot chocolate, and cider scented candles. I pull out my Winter recipes like chili, roast beef, and stew. The outdoor air is crisp, using the oven is encouraged, and we’re expected to be lazy. Yes, I enjoy Winter, and I’m looking forward to sharing it and introducing the wonderful season to our little man.
Carter is already getting a taste of the colder weather even though he’s inside, because the dogs have made their way back into the house with the temperatures falling below 40 degrees these days. He absolutely LOVES them!! And Ace and Sassy have been wonderful with him. They come in and lay on their beds, allowing Carter to crawl up to them, over them, and even tug on their hair.
Carter has also been busy learning how to do the “bye-bye wave” – even though he’s never actually used it to wave “bye-bye”. He’ll be eating dinner, or just hanging out on the floor when he’ll look at his hand, and wave to himself. It’s cute…can’t wait for him to learn how to use it with a purpose. He’s also quick to get up on his feet these days, and is just starting to walk along objects that he can hold on to. A bit of a daredevil, he’s frequently bumping his head and landing in awkward positions, but is very good about getting up again without fussing (unless he’s tired).
Next Wednesday, we’ll start a signing class that will hopefully help Matt and I learn the best way to teach Carter hand signs. I’m looking forward to it. I’ve already tried to introduce a couple of signs to him, and while he watches my hands very closely when I do them, he hasn’t yet attempted them on his own. The class should be a good way for all of us to get on the same page.
This last weekend was a busy one. The neighbors hosted patio fires on both Friday and Saturday evenings. Sure, it’s cold every night, but our neighbor Donny has a big fire pit that has a top on it so the heat from the roaring fire gets pushed right out to us and we all stay toasty warm. This weekend, the conversation landed on Halloween costumes, which brought up some funny suggestions. Jessica said that her husband Chris wanted to dress up as Michael Jackson and a little boy and make out all night at the bars. And Donny, who is vertically challenged (for those of you who’ve never met him) was talking about how he could dress up as an oompa-loompa or a lolli-pop kid because “those are my people”. He even sang the oompa-loompa song and “We represent the lolli-pop kids” with the appropriate vocal “accents” while dancing around. Okay, so maybe you’d need to have a few beers to get a kick out of a shorter than normal man singing and dancing to songs originally performed by shorter than normal men, but we had already downed a few, so we were rolling! While I’m sure nobody will actually dress up in the costumes we discussed, I thought they were all hilarious suggestions. For the game this weekend we went to Tod & Andrea’s, and we also had a wedding this weekend for my friend from high school, Becky. Sunday was spent at home, relaxing, and my dad came up to visit. It was a fun weekend that left me feeling refreshed and ready to return to the daily grind at work.
Oh yeah, the Steelers beat the Vikings this weekend – WOOHOO!!! It was so great to see them lose. Hopefully the Packers can continue the Vikings’ losing streak this coming Sunday in the Frozen Tundra (sorry Heather, there’s no Vikings love in our home). Go PACK!! 
