We're getting ready for Christmas early this year. I started putting out Christmas decorations last week and the splashes of holiday red are spreading throughout the house daily. As I carried Paxton downstairs this morning, he stared at a giant red stocking newly hung in the stairwell with great curiosity. Wait until we get our Christmas tree! He'll surely lose his mind with equal parts glee and confusion! Which is exactly how I'll feel, probably, by day three of him nearly toppling it over. But it will be well worth every moment of peril and stress. It's Paxton's Second Christmas! YAY!

First, of course, we'll enjoy Paxton's First Thanksgiving! We are spending it at my mom's house. Our friend, Greg, will hopefully be joining us. And, if Chris and I can strong arm control of the television, we'll have Paxton in his best burnt orange, cheering on the Longhorns. Every holiday takes on new meaning with Paxton's presence. I know without a doubt that Chris and I are most thankful for him this year.

It's been a while since I last updated the blog. Paxton has added one word to his vocabulary--"duck". Of course, to do so, he's essentially let "dog" fade into oblivion. And "cat" is, at best, "dat" now. One step forward, two steps back.

Speaking of steps--he's so close to walking. He amuses himself endlessly by balancing in a standing positon and putting his hands up to me, while I sit just in front of him. Three times now, he has taken one tiny step before hurling himself into my arms happily. Friends and family predict that he'll be walking this month sometime. We'll see. He seems to learn new things in great bursts of action. He goes to sleep one baby and wakes up another.

And sleep, he does. I'm so thankful that since about the age of six months, he's been an exquisite sleeper. We lay him down around 7 each night and he generally doesn't wake up until around 7 the next morning. For the first six months of his life, when he woke up every few hours to nurse, I honestly wasn't sure I'd ever see this day. But now it feels like old hat. He may start to cry when he sees his crib, knowing that he's about to be left to his own devices, but the tears never last more than a few minutes. Then he's fast asleep.

He's also amazing me with his love of relatively unusual foods. Last night, I folded to the constraints of time, and made him a Kashi frozen dinner. It was penne pasta with pesto, peppers and carrots, I believe. He ate it like he had been deprived food for days. We swallowed the pasta whole and didn't stop for so much as a breath between bites. Three times I made Chris stop what he was doing and marvel at our child.

Paxton seems to go through phases of what kind of food he enjoys. And then he is Over It. There was a time when bananas were his favorite. Now he sniffs in disgust when he is offered one. The edamame pasta salad he once lived for? Now it is beneath him. Even the baby "puffs" that I reluctantly gave him that he once ate as if his life depended on it? He now grabs them and chunks them on the floor with disdain. This morning I discovered that he now has no room in his life for toast. He'll accept scrambled eggs, but only if I feed them to him. I hope he still likes hummus and raw veggies, because that's what we're having for lunch. One thing he seems to never tire of? String cheese. He inhales it.

We're making a very quick trip to Pennsylvania next week. I wish we could stay longer, but I didn't feel comfortable flying with the baby without Chris, so we had to adapt to his work schedule. I'm so excited to see my family and friends and to show off Paxton at this stage. If I had countless money, I would visit them several times a year, but I will take what I can get. It just means so much to share Paxton with the family who so adores him.

Have a blessed and joyful Thanksgiving! I'll report back soon!