Santa Claus Sing-a-long

This is not a fluke. Billy loves to sing with his dad. And he won't just sing to any old song. He has favorites.

A true artist, he takes his craft seriously, as you can tell from his expression.

12 Days of Christmas

Our Christmas began last week, with a visit from Gran and Grandpa Jack. Billy could hardly contain himself with excitement:


Much to my surprise, he did take to the concept if presents fairly well. Here, he and Gran unwrap his first Christmas ornament.




Grandpa Jack models his gift to Billy:

The three of us made a trip to Memphis so Billy could go to Babies R Us and pick out his Santa Claus gifts. After that, it was on to Corky's, for ribs and baby dancing. Billy had fun--it's loud, bright, and there's lots of things going on.


Then Ace demonstrated Gran's major Christmas gift to us: getting Billy to take a bottle. Before her visit, he rejected artificial nipples of any kind. After: O Joy, Divine!

Billy and the Mall Santa

Thursday was doctor's appointment day in Tupelo. Billy's still cruising at the top of the height and weight charts for his age (four months, for those of you keeping track), and the doctor more or less confirmed what we already knew--that he is awesome.

Then they stuck him with some horrendous looking needles for his vaccinations and he screamed and made me feel terribly guilty since just a second before that he was smiling and laughing and was nice to the nurse with the needle. I felt like I betrayed his trust.

Luckily, I think he has a short memory. Then it was on to the Tupelo mall, where, suprisingly, they have a pretty good Santa working the floor. Billy's grandparents from North Carolina met us there--the beginning of our early Christmas festivities. He handled all the hooplah like a champ, as you can see from the picture. He only appears to be looking at the camera. He was really looking at his mother, who was shamelessly doing this little wiggly dance that always seems to get his attention. It's truly awful, but it makes him laugh--as in, "Oh my god, my mom is such a dork."

He would not stop sticking out his tongue, however, and in that respect definitely takes after me. All my early baby portraits have the same tongue poking out.

His grandparents spoiled him all weekend--but that's the next post!

Billy and the Christmas Tree Farm

So, I had these visions of what these pictures would look like. There's a cute Christmas tree farm a mile from our house. Billy looks awesome in a wide variety of hats and his fleece-lined jean jacket (like a mini trucker's jacket). So in the pictures, we'd be all bundled up and Christmasy and you could probably smell the hot cocoa just looking at our Norman Rockwell/Pottery Barn catalog/Country Home magazine scene.

But Sunday, the day we went to get the tree, was friggin' 80 degrees. Billy and Ace wore shorts. Billy wore no shoes. Ah, well. Never was much for perfect pictures anyway.

Billy always likes being outside, but he couldn't figure out why we made him look at trees instead of taking his nap. By the end of the sweatiest tree hunt in history, he was sacked out.



The farm had some baby trees that weren't for sale--definitely more Billy's size. But we have 10 foot ceilings, so we got a nine-foot tree.



So the tree's up, but not decorated. I'm so tired, as long as it has lights on it by Christmas, I'm happy. Being full time child care and full time marketing/PR lady is tough business. I need sleep. Sweet, deep sleep.

Billy's grandparents come this weekend from North Carolina for an early Christmas celebration. You know what that means---free child care!

Just kidding, mom.

I was born in a small town, and I live in a small town...

So on Thursday, we took Billy down to Water Valley (actually, closer to our house than Oxford is) for the lighting of the town Christmas tree. It was smaller than we expected, but still pretty cool. It's Billy's first Christmas ritual!



Not a great picture, but whatever.

It was a nice little event. Folks in Water Valley--and some friends of ours--are desperately trying to bring that town back from the brink of dying out. During the cotton days, it was a railroad town and a lot more wealthy than Oxford. But now there's not much to keep people there. Everyone keeps thinking it's the next big thing--the Hillsborough to Oxford's Chapel Hill, to you North Carolina people. But it just hasn't gotten traction yet.

All the businesses in downtown stayed open for shoppers after the tree lighting. Which was a bit odd, since we're talking an old-time drugstore, an auto parts store, a hardware store, and that's about it. The drugstore is one of those awesome old places that still has a wedding registry and a soda fountain with this amazing marble, carved wood and mirrored counter from the 1890s. If you've visited us, we've probably taken you there for a milkshake. They sell 50 cent coffee and 75 cent pimiento cheese sandwiches, too. It's that kind of place. I love it. Anyway, Mr. Turnage, the owner who is probably in his 80s, was there Thursday night greeting everyone and passing out hot cider. He's the sweetest man ever, and he pinched Billy's cheeks and took his picture because he said he was so cute. I bought a couple of ornaments and some sunglasses for a grand total of $9.

After a really crappy couple of days, how awesome is that?