Merry Christmas

The girl had a very merry Christmas indeed! While she may not have understood what all the decorations and silly jingle songs were about, she sure caught on quickly to presents and paper-tearing, even if every package was still a ‘happy birthday’ to her (we can’t yet get her to say merry Christmas). She tore through multitudes of ‘happy birthdays’ and, to her credit, she stopped ever so briefly to appreciate each one before clamoring for the next ‘happy birthday’ to open.

I'm secretly grateful that we still have a year to figure out how to handle the whole Santa thing. Sure, it's heart-warming to watch your child believe in something so magical and benevolent as Santa Clause (even if he does, in his present incarnation, promote rampant consumerism and materialism). Still, I hate the idea of laying this big fat lie on my child, whom I hope to teach by example the importance of always being honest. But how do you avoid the cultural myth when it is so pervasive? It seems more cruel to deny a child the magic of Santa because of parental guilt and moral hangups than it does to feed them the lie.

Come to think of it, I'm beginning to suspect most parents go along with the whole racket for the sheer benefit of being able to cajole their children out of bad behaviour by telling them, "Hey, kid! Santa's watching..."

What's your take, those of you with children? In the meantime, here are some Christmas photos of the girl:


Christmas morning, opening presents by the tree.


A kiss for Grover.


Lily (roasting by an open fire) at Nana and Pop's for Christmas dinner and more presents!




Very carefully "signing" a card for Nana.


Celebrating Christmas at Grandma's house on Boxing Day, with more presents, of course!


Weezie shows Lily how to put together her new puzzle, and Lily learns that lions go "rrrrooooaaaaarrrr."

Holiday Photo Fiasco 2008

Because we had so much fun last year, I decided to have Lily's portrait made again this year in honor of her second birthday and the coming holidays. Unfortunately, the girl didn't like posing for the camera any better this time. We had a dreadful time getting her to sit still, and well, you can forget about a smile. That is, except for one precious shot, the very first one that was taken.

And the winner is...



The rest ended up like this, with Lily looking pathetic and longing to go home.









After the photo shoot, we tried going to see Santa, which was another disaster. Lily not only did not squeal with delight to see the jolly old man this year, she was downright terrified. Hence, no cute-little-girl-on-Santa's-lap photos were to be had.

Not long after, Lily had a complete meltdown in the middle of the mall over a pair of black patent leather mary janes that Mom would not let her bring home (she had one pair at home already, but apparently there's no reasoning with a 2-year-old). Every attempt to calm her down only made her more upset, so I let her go, much to the amusement of passers-by.



Finally, a dry-eyed but still very sober Lily shared a soft pretzel and a lemonade with her mama.



Next year, I expect the girl to be all smiles for the camera. Her beloved brother Luke just got a job as a photographer at the same photo studio where Lily had her photos taken. Not only is Luke a very talented photographer, but Lily just adores her big brother. She can hardly hold back the smiles whenever he's around.

Little Lily Ladybug

Trick or Treat!

You'd never know it by the scowl on her face in most of these photos, but Lily had a blast dressing up and showing off this Halloween. Trick-or-Treating was a new--and at first somewhat baffling--concept, but it didn't take her long to understand that amassing quantities of candy somehow figured into the process.

We trick-or-treated around downtown Lancaster, finally ending up at the newspaper where Daddy was working.










And then, there's this! Lily's very first arts and crafts project done at school. It shows a certain refined brilliance, don't you think?

Happy Father's Day

I love you, Ya-Ya!

Happy Mothers Day

It just doesn't get any better than this...


Or this...


Or this...


Do you see that silly grin on my face? Somedays my cheeks hurt from smiling so much at the little girl. I can't help myself. She brings me more joy than I ever could have imagined. Every single day.

Happy New Year!

From the family that likes to read "Five Little Monkeys" together...



(This is one of Lily's favorite books--along with Grover's "Monster at the End of the Book." She loves to shake her finger vigorously when we get to the part where the doctor admonishes the mother for letting her children jump on the bed.)

A Merry Little Christmas

And so it was. And cozy and quiet, too. We spent Christmas Eve with the Harpers--Nana, Pop, Auntie Meg, Uncle Tom, Grace and dogs. Lily had a marvelous time playing with Grace and the new toys that Santa left for her at Nana and Pop's house.










Christmas day was spent at home with Grandma and Grandpa and brother Luke. Santa left some very nice present's at Lily's house, too. We feasted on roast chicken and apple dumplings, and a merry time was had by all.

We Wish You a Merry Spit-mas

After a dreary, grey, and snowy afternoon, the skies finally cleared tonight, and Lily and I bundled up against the cold to meet Daddy downtown for some supper and Lancaster's annual tree-lighting ceremony.



The highlight of the night is always the Tuba Christmas. Every year, several dozen tubas and their players gather on the square in front of the newly-lit tree and play a slow, low medly of Christmas standards. Lily, for her part, perched atop Daddy and blew long, wet, loud, enthusiastic raspberries the entire time. Really, it seemed a rather appropriate accompaniment to the tubas. She stopped her spitting only long enough to smile for this picture. Silly girl.

Ho Ho Ho, 'Tis the Season

We're starting to feel a bit celebratory here, what with brother/sister birthdays and Christmas all fast approaching. In honor of her first birthday and Christmas, Lily sat this morning for some official portraits to commemorate the season.

Despite the best efforts of the very sweet and very cheerful photographer at Sears, Lily simply would not smile. In fact, the look on her face throughout the session translated into something like, "Mother, puh-leeeeese, I can't believe you're making me go through with this ridiculousness." Still, we got a few keeper shots:










Undaunted, we decided to visit Santa next. You know, since we were already dressed for the occasion and all. Fortunately, the line wasn't too long. Mom and Lily had fun looking at the Christmas decorations and the other eager children while we waited.




It was altogether a different story when we finally got to see Santa. Lily showered Santa with squeals of admiration (yeah, smart girl).






This Santa - with a very real beard and hair - has been around the block. Lily brought her own candy cane which prompted Santa to tell us wistfully of the days when he used to give each child a candy cane as a momento of their visit. Not so any more. "It's not politically correct, or something..." he told us. Poor Santa. He was a kind, patient man.

When it was finally time to go, Lily was still beaming from her Santa experience. Look at that smile. Brings a tear to a mama's eye. Sniff... We had such a wonderful day. I think we'll do it again next year. And maybe we'll bring Santa his very own candy cane.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We have so very much to be thankful for on this day; we are blessed with health, home, family, and love. But most of all, here are two of the things I’m most thankful for:


Lily showed off her new Thanksgiving dress, a present from Grandma.


With family gathered round a bountiful table, and Lily and Daddy overseeing the feast from opposite ends, it was a truly wonderful dinner.


Lily had her first taste of turkey, chestnut stuffing (made from a family recipe passed down from Lily’s great great grandmother Rebecca Brownback Fetters), Weezie’s famous cranberry relish, sweet potato biscuits, and pumpkin pie. Her appetite was still a little subdued from being sick (a nasty and frightening case of croup), but still she at least sampled the feast with appreciation, if not her usual gusto.


Uncle Nate brought along his two adorable brand new beagle puppies. They were afraid of the cat who was bigger than them by far, and Lily (clearly bigger than both the cat and the pups) was a little apprehensive of them.


Mom tried to show Lily how cute and fun the pups were by getting down on the floor to play with them, but you can see how that turned out…


Everyone was tired, full and happy after a delicious Thanksgiving dinner.


And one last thing to be thankful for - Lily surprised her mama today with her very first spontaneous, unsolicited kiss! It was a sweet, soft, very wet kiss that completely melted me and I will remember it for ever!

Happy Halloween

She's too young for candy, and the girl gets extremely annoyed by clothing that constricts or constrains any part of her. So this year we skipped the traditional Halloween celebration and instead enjoyed a laid-back family outing.

Here's how Lily celebrated her first Halloween:


She donned her best Halloween frock and went downtown with Mommy to visit Daddy during his dinner break from work.


She convinced Mommy and Daddy to take her to a fancy restaurant for dinner...


...where, after carefully studying the children's menu, she chose a grilled cheese sandwich with a side of happy-face fries. It just doesn't get any better than that! (If you look very carefully, you can see Lily's first tooth poking out from her lower gum.) After dinner, Lily entertained nearby tables and exercised her vocal chords with an inspired scat-session with the jazz band.


Finally, it was trick-or-treat night at the paper. Lily made an appearance and scored some candy for Daddy. She also managed to do a little work for Daddy while she was there.


Do be sure to look for her brilliant editorial in tomorrow morning's paper!