We have had a busy holiday season this year. Maxim began thinking about Christmas before Thankgiving and grew more excited as the day approached. "What day is tomorrow?" She would ask me randomly several days before Christmas. "Tomorrow is Wednesday." I would say. "Oh." She would go back to her things for a few minutes then, "When do we go to Grammy's house? Is that Wednesday?" "No, not until Thursday." "Oh." I try to figure out how to wrap six sided boxes again and then, "After we sleep tomorrow, then it will be time to go to Grammy's house?" I have to think for a second, "Right," I finally say. Noah is less specific about his excitement, but he does bound about the house with a little more lift in his feet. "Wrestle with me Daddy!" he says, trying to goad me into a chase. "Get me!"
We spend Wednesday night with Coralie and Ken and Nico and then Thursday packing up things and running last minute errands before heading north. By the time we get on the road, the kids are exhausted...but still excited. We drove all the way to Hampden, Maine where
Auntie Amity is building her own growing family with Jeff. Auntie Nikki and Uncle Arty joined us with Nicholas and Amanda and we had a delicious dinner of Jambalaya with all the fixin's. The cousins played well together; Noah, Tom, and Nicholas hunted ghosts, Maxim and Alison played dolls. We stayed the night and were treated to a blueberry pancake breakfast the next morning before heading north to Grammy's house.
The kids stayed awake most of the highway drive and then lolled off to sleep along the rolling stretch of road along Route 6. By the time we crested the hill at the top of Talmadge Road, they were fast asleep. But it was nice to finally be at Grammy's house. There were spruce trees out front, covered in colorful lights. The big windows that look out across their fields were outlined in white lights. The tree stood proud in the window. Maxim got the gift of her 2005 Christmas when Grammy handed her Kaitlyn Kate (Maxim's name for the doll), her new baby doll.
Only a Grammy would know how much a four year old girl might like such a doll, and in her eminent wisdom, Grammy gave it to her at the very beginning of the visit, so she could play before Christmas. And play with her, she did, first taking stock of every item that came with it - a bottle, a carrying basket, a bib, change of clothes, spoon, fork, plate. She changed her diaper and put her to bed, woke her up and fed her lunch. For the rest of the weekend, when Maxim wasn't playing with Kaitlyn Kate, she was somewhere perfectly assembled for eating or sleeping or whatever Maxim had just been doing with her. Nor was Maxim the only indulged grandchild at the house. Noah also got a pretty great gift, a huge toy firetruck.
It is a beautiful red ladder truck with a working ladder and lights and sounds. He plays with it a lot. But the very favorite gift for Noah this Christmas was the plastic axe that came with the fireman's vest. This tool, Noah has informed us, is not for fire fighting, but to fight monsters and ghosts. Noah stalked them all weekend and continues to do so back here at home. Both kids had a wonderful Christmas. They loved visiting their grandparents and their cousins and spending time with their new cousin, "Baby Erik," Noah likes to call him. "He's too small to play baseball." Noah said. Having a littler boy cousin is nice for Noah, who can finally feel like he's not always going to be the baby.
They got a chance to see Jean and David's hand-built house at the edge of Pocomoonshine Lake and walk out into a fog that seemed to conceal the edges of the earth. We had a delicious Christmas dinner, played cut-throat Scrabble, and packed ourselves into the car the next day to head back to Massachusetts before the storm. We just made it, according to eyewitness reports. We were treated to a third meal at Amity's, a delectable chowdah, as we passed through Hampden on our way south. We arrived home after dark on the 26th of December. It has been a quiet few days at home since then. New Year's is mid-summer in Argentina and so a tradition of spring-cleaning has taken place. Everything is washed top to bottom and all the rooms are in order. We had a nice dinner with our friends Lisa and John and their son Griffin the night before last. The snow in the backyard has nearly melted off now. We enter the new year with warm memories from the last, a relatively clean slate, and comfort in the knowledge that our cycles continue once again. We wish peace to everyone in 2006.
We have had a busy holiday season this year. Maxim began thinking about Christmas before Thankgiving and grew more excited as the day approached. "What day is tomorrow?" She would ask me randomly several days before Christmas. "Tomorrow is Wednesday." I would say. "Oh." She would go back to her things for a few minutes then, "When do we go to Grammy's house? Is that Wednesday?" "No, not until Thursday." "Oh." I try to figure out how to wrap six sided boxes again and then, "After we sleep tomorrow, then it will be time to go to Grammy's house?" I have to think for a second, "Right," I finally say. Noah is less specific about his excitement, but he does bound about the house with a little more lift in his feet. "Wrestle with me Daddy!" he says, trying to goad me into a chase. "Get me!"
We spend Wednesday night with Coralie and Ken and Nico and then Thursday packing up things and running last minute errands before heading north. By the time we get on the road, the kids are exhausted...but still excited. We drove all the way to Hampden, Maine where Auntie Amity is building her own growing family with Jeff. Auntie Nikki and Uncle Arty joined us with Nicholas and Amanda and we had a delicious dinner of Jambalaya with all the fixin's. The cousins played well together; Noah, Tom, and Nicholas hunted ghosts, Maxim and Alison played dolls. We stayed the night and were treated to a blueberry pancake breakfast the next morning before heading north to Grammy's house. 
The kids stayed awake most of the highway drive and then lolled off to sleep along the rolling stretch of road along Route 6. By the time we crested the hill at the top of Talmadge Road, they were fast asleep. But it was nice to finally be at Grammy's house. There were spruce trees out front, covered in colorful lights. The big windows that look out across their fields were outlined in white lights. The tree stood proud in the window. Maxim got the gift of her 2005 Christmas when Grammy handed her Kaitlyn Kate (Maxim's name for the doll), her new baby doll. 
Only a Grammy would know how much a four year old girl might like such a doll, and in her eminent wisdom, Grammy gave it to her at the very beginning of the visit, so she could play before Christmas. And play with her, she did, first taking stock of every item that came with it - a bottle, a carrying basket, a bib, change of clothes, spoon, fork, plate. She changed her diaper and put her to bed, woke her up and fed her lunch. For the rest of the weekend, when Maxim wasn't playing with Kaitlyn Kate, she was somewhere perfectly assembled for eating or sleeping or whatever Maxim had just been doing with her. Nor was Maxim the only indulged grandchild at the house. Noah also got a pretty great gift, a huge toy firetruck. 
It is a beautiful red ladder truck with a working ladder and lights and sounds. He plays with it a lot. But the very favorite gift for Noah this Christmas was the plastic axe that came with the fireman's vest. This tool, Noah has informed us, is not for fire fighting, but to fight monsters and ghosts. Noah stalked them all weekend and continues to do so back here at home. Both kids had a wonderful Christmas. They loved visiting their grandparents and their cousins and spending time with their new cousin, "Baby Erik," Noah likes to call him. "He's too small to play baseball." Noah said. Having a littler boy cousin is nice for Noah, who can finally feel like he's not always going to be the baby. 
They got a chance to see Jean and David's hand-built house at the edge of Pocomoonshine Lake and walk out into a fog that seemed to conceal the edges of the earth. We had a delicious Christmas dinner, played cut-throat Scrabble, and packed ourselves into the car the next day to head back to Massachusetts before the storm. We just made it, according to eyewitness reports. We were treated to a third meal at Amity's, a delectable chowdah, as we passed through Hampden on our way south. We arrived home after dark on the 26th of December. It has been a quiet few days at home since then. New Year's is mid-summer in Argentina and so a tradition of spring-cleaning has taken place. Everything is washed top to bottom and all the rooms are in order. We had a nice dinner with our friends Lisa and John and their son Griffin the night before last. The snow in the backyard has nearly melted off now. We enter the new year with warm memories from the last, a relatively clean slate, and comfort in the knowledge that our cycles continue once again. We wish peace to everyone in 2006. 
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