Snotty, Itchy, Hoarse Holidays

With the Twelfth Night passed, the Amos household is slowly dismantling Christmas and returning to our regularly scheduled decorating scheme. The tree is gone, leaving a wake of needles and a hole in front of the living room window.

It was a good First Christmas for Little A. Frantic, yes, and fraught with illness, but he seemed to enjoy the presents and all the familial attention. His big wins were a Roll-Arounds Dinosaur, zebra rocking horse-type thing, Little People's Noah's Arc, lots of clothes, stuffed animals, and his favorite new companion, The Monkey. Being my kid and thus a total weirdo, Alastair didn't really go in for the ripping of the wrapping paper like most babies do. He wanted the play with the toys. This made for some panicky moments as mommy rushed to unleash Noah and his pals from their plastic and twisty-tie prison whilst Little A worked up a mild fit. I swear, somewhere in China there are severely underpaid factory workers intentionally bolting these toys down in unimaginably complex packaging as a form of revenge against American Imperialism.

As with most holiday seasons, this one was not without the requisite sickness. The week before Christmas morning, Alastair and I both came down with nasty head colds. It's a good thing we buy our tissues in bulk at Cosco.

Just as I was getting over the cold, I wake up Christmas Eve with leprosy...a nasty rash on the inside of my thigh which continued to spread over the days following-across my chest, stomach, back, arms and legs-until most of my body was covered in tiny red bumps. Yeah, hawt. Seems my skin did not really appreciate it when I goofed and mixed two detergents in a load of laundry. Yes, my skin is really that sensitive. It's been over two weeks, and the rash is finally clearing up which means the bumps are drying out and becoming itchy. All over. Damn this is fun.

Then right before New Year's Eve, Adrian developed a nagging cough and his voice dropped a couple of octaves. By New Year's Day, he could barely speak above a whisper. It's only been in the last few days that his voice returned to normal.

Aside from the medical maladies, we enjoyed the holidays with Little A and each other. We exchanged our usual gifts of books. Ma Amos received BeeBoo Bling (a lovely garnet pendant) and Pa Amos got big boy toys (tools for an air compressor). Finally got to take in Casino Royale which we adored. I heart Daniel Craig. We had some great family time. Enjoyed the chaos on Cary Street at New Year's Eve.

Alastair is right around the corner from his first birthday. Can't hardly believe that it's almost been a year since he came into this world. He's managed to survive our fumbling attempts at parenthood, and we haven't taken him back to the hospital for a refund. Alastair continues to be a joy, a mystery, and a royal pain in the ass. Sometimes all the same minute.

The elliptical machine beckons...