Baby Boy Deja Vu

My favorite baby age is 8-9 months. It always has been. I can almost tell you if a baby that I don’t even know is that age because of the way I am drawn to him or her. It seems to be the perfect combination of pure eruptions of facial joy mixed with the beginnings of repeated excited babble that grab my heart every time. Our nephew Marcus is just that age. So, you know what I did during the holidays—-took pictures of Marcus. Oh, my goodness. Merry Christmas to me.

I will only see Marcus twice a year, so the fact that I got to be with him during the “perfect baby window” was of particular delight to me. The other delight was the uncanny resemblance he held to Brenden when he was that age. I can’t decide if it was more appearance or disposition. Probably a mixture of both. I kept taking pictures of Marcus that reminded me of pictures I have  of Brenden.

And so, to immerse myself further into babyhood, I will now display baby Marcus and baby Brenden pictures side by side.

My children should just prepare now for the fact that if they ever have children of their own one day, I will practically be moving in with them during the perfect baby stage. Hope they have very patient wives.

Marcus, thank you for being such a willing subject of crazed photography sessions. You gave your Aunt Jana a very merry Christmas!

Ornamental Memories

A few days ago I just couldn’t help but take pictures of individual ornaments on my tree. It was so much fun hanging them and I felt the stories coming back to me. I have decided to post about a few of my most prized ornaments in the coming days as I have time.  The first one is priceless. Well, I suppose they all are, but this one REALLY is. It is the pink ribbon rose (one of several) that Richard decorated our apartment with for my 22nd birthday. It was my first “married birthday” and he did such a great job.

We lived here in Abilene on Washington Blvd. in the Washington Square Apartments #225  (now known as Aspen Place —I think). My dear friend Donna H. dubbed it fittingly the “love nest.” Richard invited the Hesters and the Maxwells and their kids over to our tiny one bedroom apartment for pizza from Pizza America and a Baskin Robbins ice cream cake. For some reason I had always wanted a cake like that. (Just one of the many little dreams he has been fulfilling for me for 18 years now) He also bought pink decorations from Hallmark at the mall. I was thrilled. It’s funny to look back on that day and remember how truly “adult” I felt and how tiny I now realize I really was. Unfortunately, only the Hallmark is still left in town. No more Pizza America or 31 Flavors.  So sad —especially now that we live within walking distance of the old pizza place.

That first “married Christmas” we didn’t have any ornaments or any money. Not an original predicament, but non the less true. So, I got the idea of decorating our tree (my first REAL tree—we always had artificial) with the bows from all of our wedding gifts. I hadn’t been able to bring myself to throw them away. If I can find the picture I took of that first tree, I will post it here later. But the little pink ribbon roses from my party tied everything together. I have one left and it is the first ornament I put on our tree every year. Tree #18 looks quite a bit different. But I don’t think there will ever be a more cherished tree than the wedding bow tree.

Except for maybe Charlie Brown’s little tiny scrawny beautiful tree. But I could never compete with a Peanuts Christmas Special.

Ahhh….my little tiny pink rose.

This is Tree #18. I’ll look for the picture of Tree #1 tomorrow and see if I can scan it. I hope I can.

Here it is. Tree #1…

What child is this?

Aidan’s Christmas program at school is adorable this year! They are dressed as little choir singers and they all look like angels. I mean ALL of them. Even if they have a challenging time exhibiting a compliant spirit in the classroom, they all look like angels in choir robes. It’s almost magical.

Of course I took a TON of pictures of my own child—–who ALWAYS looks like an angel no matter what he is wearing—–but you already knew that. Here is a sample of the preciousness I saw through my lens. Oh, the photographic joy…

May your holiday season bring you similar moments of joy!