The Small Santa Claus

Early this morning, Graham DEMANDED to be a festive addition to the Christmas times we all enjoy. Luckily, his Auntie Katie had the forethought of a Vegas oddsmaker, and had picked up an outfit for her nephew's Christmas Spirit.

I give you...

The World's Smallest Santa Claus


MERRY CHRISTMAS!

The Most Happy Elf

Every year, all over the world, millions of kids wait with millions of parents in hundreds of thousands of lines for their chance to have their picture taken while losing their sh*t on the lap of some guy who is trying his best to make a few bucks at the holidays being dressed as Santa Claus, Papa Noel, St. Nick, L'Elf Grande, and/or "Doug, Santa's Half-Brother With a Drankin' Issue."

For hours of entertainment, net-search "Scary Santa Photos." Brilliant stuff comes back, thank you internet!

We had our go yesterday with Graham!, takin' him to the local mall for his shot at getting his first pic with Santa Claus.

He slept an hour in line before we got there. The 2 families in front of us each had a kid in their group melt-down, one of them refusing to get anywhere near the Jolly One. Graham was limp with excitement. OUT.

And as I get up to our turn, they say he'll just get a pic where Santa holds him in a cradled position and it will be really cute.

Then his eyes pop open, he looks at me, then his mom, looks around, yawns...
We hand him to Santa...

and got THIS

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

My canner's not hooked up, THAT's why...

2Months And Steamin' Ahead

Holy moly...
Being a parent is as enrapturing and exciting as riding a unicycle through firecrackers while holding a Molotov Cocktail on the way to a massage.

Love love love this kid, this Graham Gerald Lott.

He is surrounded by love, family, and admirers. I had only a small inkling of how wonderful it was going to be at the Holidays to share Graham with everyone. And he's grown so much it's amazing.

9/23/09 = 7lbs 8oz, 20.5in
10/23/09 = 10lbs 3oz, 22in
11/23/09 = 12lbs, 24.5in

And he now has his own room, changing table, armoire, and crib! He's got me blogging from the dining room/unpacked boxes area.

Here are some recent, fave pics of of Graham:

The thoughtful Junior Senator from Kirkland via Culver City

The Huskies are 1-0 when Graham dons this onesie. GO DAWGS!

With his Great Aunt Pam on Thanksgiving, having a much better time than it shows!

Kids These Nights

Last night we enjoyed about 5+ hours of uninterrupted sleep.
HUGE.

Graham had spent the previous 2 days napping for about an hour at a time, then grumpin' and beepin' through another 50minutes, then gearing up to tell the block he's hungry and somebody's late with "His Highness' Every 2 Hours Exactly" food.

It was superb. We needed it in the worst way. The home stretch of moving is TODAY. And had he not finally slept last night, we'd be draggin' our butts around even moreso.

At one point yesterday, I was sure a shoulder-carry had finally put him out. He'll often go Tree-Sloth on me after about 10minutes. At the quarter-hour mark he hadn't "heeeeep"'ed in a while, so I reached my cell phone around to see what he was doing...

This...

Picture Time!

Sometimes... you gots a doody diaper.

Sometimes you don't.

New Pic of Graham!

Hey All!

We snapped this pic of Graham early last week, and the hand in the picture is only for support while he holds his head up and ponders his next well-timed moment of being super.

It's these little looks that're drivin' us crazy. We're blessed with a healthy, happy little guy who is growing daily, in that healthy, cute arm-fat way.

Here he is. Ready?

The Graham Gerald Experience, Week 2

Today marks Graham's 2nd week into the world, and he's doing greatly. In the midst of Geoff's discussion with him the other night over the proliferation of the Wildcat/Spread-Option offense in the NFL, and how it's really geared towards teams with talented running backs but a lack of receivers, he blinked, looked out the window, sighed, then looked back at Geoff, who then forgot what they were talking about. I know, I'm more of a Pro-Style guy, myself.

Alicia's doing a super job as his mommy. Nature must have given Women another level of operation that defies my ability to get up every 2.5 hours. She is just a superb mother; Caring, interested, involved, and not totally biting my face off when I grab the wrong onesie. She's been as attentive, involved, caring, playful and Momly as anybody could imagine. She really misses wine and sushi. It's been 10 months now.

I'm learning a lot about the What and How of parenting. The sleep situation isn't being graded, there're no report cards. For the most part, parenting at this stage is PASS-FAIL; did he Pass His Business or Fail To Pass Said Bidnoos? Ultimately, we're blessed with health in all areas. We've learned SO MUCH about babies, and in turn, poop and pee, in the past 2 weeks. As long as he's eatin', poopin', and sleepin' without much fussin', PASS.

And we couldn't have done this as smoothly without the help of some very awesome people.

sMother-in-Law, Grandma Stacy! She was there when Graham was born, and spent the next week helping us in every way imaginable to transition into parenthood. Also, she was able to curb speeding in the alley behind our house, faced-down a whack-ass neighbor, and was elected Captain of the McManus BlockWatch.

Meredith was also a tremendous help and it was wonderful to have her visiting. Her daughter Charlie is turning 3 in December, so these recent experiences of ours are fresh in her banks. Graham enjoyed being around Meredith, and Meredith enjoyed sleeping in a little.

Johanna stopped by to photograph a playdate between her beautiful and intensely cuddle-able daughter Avalon and Graham, and share news of new mommyhood with Alicia. It helped in the most immeasurable ways.

So here's a pic of the guy, which is why you're here. As of Monday morning, he was lookin' like this. Right at YOU!