[This is the Christmas letter I sent this year. I wanted to avoid the usual listing of events, bragging and boredom. But I wasn't clever enough to come up with something real funny or rhyming. Still, I don't think it's too bad...]As I walked in the door, Mark said, “Okay, here’s the deal.”
I scanned the room, searching for Annalyn. When I didn’t see her, my mind started racing. Where is she? What’s happened? Did she finally succeed in grabbing a handful of Maggie’s fur? Or sinking her little teeth into a lamp cord?
Not noticing my panic, Mark kept talking. “I was in the kitchen, loading the dishwasher, and Annalyn was playing in the living room. I stepped into the garage to throw something away, and when I turned around, well, she must have made a beeline for the kitchen...”
[At this point, we should take note of two things. First, Mark was loading the dishwasher – yay! Second, Annalyn is one fast crawler – um, yay?]
Mark went on to tell me that in just those few seconds, Annalyn had made her way to the cats’ food and water, dumped the water and the food, and was proceeding to put pieces of cat food into the water bowl.
[Side note #2: Annalyn has recently learned to put items into containers, as opposed to her previous skill of only removing items. So not only is she able to dump an entire basket of toys on her head, she can then put one of them back in the basket.]
Of course, my immediate reaction to Mark’s story was to ask the question any concerned mother would have: “You took a picture, right? Tell me you took a picture!”
Umm, no. It turns out that Mark was more concerned with picking cat hair out of Annalyn’s hair [Side note #3: The girl’s hair is finally growing!] and giving her an unscheduled but much-needed bath.
And that right there sums up our life these days: Annalyn exploring the world and wasting no time in her quest to cause chaos, while Mark and I try to take care of her while capturing every moment. So our prayer for you this holiday season is that you will care for each other and capture the sweet moments…even through the chaos and cat food in your hair.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Love,
Mark, Mary & Annalyn
I scanned the room, searching for Annalyn. When I didn’t see her, my mind started racing. Where is she? What’s happened? Did she finally succeed in grabbing a handful of Maggie’s fur? Or sinking her little teeth into a lamp cord?
Not noticing my panic, Mark kept talking. “I was in the kitchen, loading the dishwasher, and Annalyn was playing in the living room. I stepped into the garage to throw something away, and when I turned around, well, she must have made a beeline for the kitchen...”
[At this point, we should take note of two things. First, Mark was loading the dishwasher – yay! Second, Annalyn is one fast crawler – um, yay?]
Mark went on to tell me that in just those few seconds, Annalyn had made her way to the cats’ food and water, dumped the water and the food, and was proceeding to put pieces of cat food into the water bowl.
[Side note #2: Annalyn has recently learned to put items into containers, as opposed to her previous skill of only removing items. So not only is she able to dump an entire basket of toys on her head, she can then put one of them back in the basket.]
Of course, my immediate reaction to Mark’s story was to ask the question any concerned mother would have: “You took a picture, right? Tell me you took a picture!”Umm, no. It turns out that Mark was more concerned with picking cat hair out of Annalyn’s hair [Side note #3: The girl’s hair is finally growing!] and giving her an unscheduled but much-needed bath.
And that right there sums up our life these days: Annalyn exploring the world and wasting no time in her quest to cause chaos, while Mark and I try to take care of her while capturing every moment. So our prayer for you this holiday season is that you will care for each other and capture the sweet moments…even through the chaos and cat food in your hair.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Love,
Mark, Mary & Annalyn
