Happy New Year from Mercury*!
Just like if we lived on the planet Mercury, I often feel that “the years hurry by, while the days drag on” [quote borrowed from The Planets]. Just yesterday, Alec and I were looking at utter disbelief at how small and bald Holden was. And heck, five years ago, Alec and I were about to meet for the first time.
It’s really hard to fathom that we’re going to go through all the newborn stuff again in a matter of weeks but with the toddler-Holden around as a participant and witness. We have about 2 more months left to wrap our minds around it.
We spent a chilly, rainy holiday in Cleveland this year with my family. The kid did great at learning and remembering names and being pretty charming overall.
Holden is also getting to be a real pro at flying, which is good because he’s had enough practice. When we woke him to return home, he sat up, said “airport” and handed all his pacifiers and loveys over to me as if to say, “ok, I’m packed, let’s go.”
Other hobbies include his obsession with choo-choos and diggers and all things that move. For a boy who has not watched any of these shows on TV (yet), he knows about Thomas the tank engine (and some of his friends), Bob the Builder (from his new Lego set), Elmo (and some of his friends) and the list keeps growing and growing. He’s also getting pretty adept at changing the channel on TV and requesting we play his cd’s.
And what about the kitchen?
The contractors finished it in record time. We were displaced for about 3 weeks, and we had the kitchen back in working order a few days before leaving on our Christmas trip. Since then, the dishwasher has been humming and the stove sizzling without much pause for the stunning “after” photos. Also, the last step is actually ours. In order to cut costs, Alec did the wall painting (just one more coat needed) and we’re doing the tile backsplash (still need to order those things!) so we’re in there and breaking it in, but the final final pictures won’t go up until the tiles are in. Right around the time New Baby shows up, I’m sure. 
See tons more December Photos here… including Hannukah pot latke, Kitchen “finished” and some random trips to the zoo!
* Mercury is also Hg. Sweet, huh? So, maybe I should say MercuryF.