Gingerbread Throw-down

In some homes, everybody's a winner. The Kemsley home is not one of those homes. No, indeed. Despite the desperate ploy by one team to play on people's religious sympathies to garner votes ("how can you vote against the baby Jesus?" Chris asked), the winner of the first ever Kemsley gingerbread house decorating contest was...

Christmas Morning

Snowy Day

Elliot experiencing snow for the first time this winter on our apartment building's roof-deck.

Mommy, Daddy

So Elliot doesn't say mama. Nor does he say mom, mommy, mamasita, ma, or marmie. Instead, he calls me daddy. That's right, daddy. And it's not like Chris is daddy, too. Nope, just me. I'm daddy when he wants out of bed in the morning. I'm daddy when he's standing outside the bathroom door. And I'm daddy when Daddy is holding him and he wants me instead.

So as you might imagine, we're trying to work on this. Today, while he was eating, Chris and I were doing a rather animated demonstration of who was mommy and who was daddy. When, after five minutes of this, we got nothing back from him but a few cheers of "yay!" (apparently he found our performance praise-worthy), Chris turned to me and said, "He may not say it, but I think he knows." To which Elliot responded, quite proudly, by pointing to his nose.

I think we may have a hopeless case on our hands.

First Santa Visit

Today Elliot and I went with our friends, Jill and Oscar, to Macy's Santaland. And much to my surprise, Elliot quite enjoyed it (and since the line was short, so did I)! That's Elliot waving "hi" to the teddy-bear carolers on the left.

It'll Grow Back, Right?

I miss the curls already.

Thanksgiving

First of all, don't you think my turkey is pretty? Second of all, Elliot loves dogs. Adores them. Wants to marry them. Unfortunately, his parents aren't dog people. Fortunately, however, his grandparents are. Elliot had a great week with Hildy, Rosie, Ginger, and Hudson.