G. I. Jude and Tyler the Tiger

So, over Christmas my mom taught me how to make little sweat pants for Jude. Mike demands that he wear only "manly" outfits, so I obvioulsy fashioned the sweat pants out of camo. I made a pair for him and his little cousin, Tyler. And then sweatbands may or may not have been made. And we may or may not have taken a bevy of pictures.
"Hi-ya!"

My Christmas Break: by Jude

We went to Grandma and Grandpa S's house for Christmas this year. Mom and I flew by ourselves there while dad was finishing up finals for law school. I screamed my head off. It was great.
Mom thought it would be funny to feed me lemon water. I was unsure.

And utimately unamused. Although I couldn't stop trying it...

I liked sitting with my Grandpa and cousin Zoe.

And I liked trying to eat her. And pull her hair. She's pretty cute. For a girl.

Here's my aunt Annie. We're like a head flower. Get it?

Here is cousin Jed eating waffles. He loves whipping cream, aka "whuppie". Mom won't let me have any yet. Meaniehead.

Dad let me be on his team.

I liked cuddling with Grandma in the morning.

Here are my aunts and uncles on Christmas day.

Zoe and I raced. It was pretty slow going given that niether of us crawl yet.

Luckily, I'm not afraid to play dirty.

I liked cuddling with dad.

And taking naps.

And baths.

Here is Zoe and I again. She's a cute flower.

I liked cooking with Grandma too.

Now were back home and mom keeps trying to feed me rice cereal. I hate it and spit it all over her. It's funny.

Sigh....

By: Sabrina St. Laurent

Post-Holiday Vertigo

I spent New Year's Eve in bed, trying to sleep, picturing the things I had forgotten to pack scattered around the house: my cell phone charger, the camera battery in the office, Jude's blankets and pacifier in the crib, the toiletry bag. In my mind I pictured these things glowing in the darkness, an attempt to remember. At two-thirty in the morning, we slid out of bed and dragged our suitcases downstairs. We moved like stealthy mice through the sleeping house. While others across the country were still celebrating the advent of a new year, Mike slipped our sleeping child from the crib down to the car, I hugged my tired papa goodbye, and my momma drove us to the airport two hours away.


We had a lovely Christmas with my family. And truthfully, I hated saying goodbye. I always do. Especially when I should have been pretending to know the words to Aud Lang Syne, toasting Martinellis in plastic cups and giving Mike a big smackaroo on the lips. Luckily, the universe smiled upon us and we were able to catch an earlier flight home rather than waiting in Cincinnati for 5 hours. Jude behaved remarkably well and didn't utter a peep. Blessed child.

Now, days later, I'm still reeling in the vertigo of solitude in a quiet house, trying to convince myself to be productive. Although the holiday was chaotic, it was a lovely kind of chaos.