The big tease: That box from Grandma and Grandpa Friedrichs, which looked so promising, was full of canned goods.

 Bernadette gets a hand opening from Aunt Liz.

 A truck! That's more like what Isaiah was expecting.

Tascio siblings on Christmas morning 2011.

Heavenly peace

An exciting Christmas Eve, including movies with Uncle Pete and Aunt Magda wore Isaiah out. He slept past 9 a.m. Christmas day. Will we ever sleep that late again on Christmas?

Three Dialogues

I.

Isaiah stroked Bernadette's head as she cried through a diaper change.

Isaiah: It's OK, Bernadette. It's almost over.

Mama: See, Bernadette? You don't like this, but you have your brother to comfort you.

Isaiah: (to Bee) I'll always have you.

II.

Isaiah: I need a haircut.

Mama: Another day we'll get you a haircut.

Isaiah: I REPEAT, I NEED A HAIRCUT!

III.

Mama: We're going to Rachel's house today. She has a little boy named Asher.

Isaiah: Does Asher have trucks?

Mama: I don't know. He probably does.

Isaiah: He will share them with me.

Mama: And we can bring some of your trucks to share with him.

Isaiah: Oh, no. I don't think Rachel would approve of that.

Christmas Eve

 Isaiah plays with Paul, Magda and Peter.

 Tree trimming.

 Making Polish cake.

 Hanging with Uncle Jim.

The Grinch!

Christmas prep

 Christmas music ...

 And trains ...

 And stockings hung with great care about the candy Isaiah helped put in them for all the aunts and uncles.

 Uncle Paul makes creative use of the kielbasa.

 Aunt Liz reads a story.

The cheesecake cools.

Turning 60

 A little Italian lunch at Gino's in Mahopac.

And the cake (we didn't light 60 candles because we didn't want to burn down the house).

Maybe it's the turtleneck ...

Poetry reading and espresso tonight.

The Morning After

Bernadette and Isaiah got 6.5 hours with Grandma and Aunt Therese while Marian and I went to "Prairie Home Companion" in New York. Both kids slept soundly in the next morning.

Mama and Dad greatly enjoyed the show and the time alone together (with thousands of other people in and around Times Square).

Visitors from Kansas

 The rules seem to be a bit different when Grandma and Grandpa are in charge.

Family clothes

 Bernadette models a couple of dresses worn by a previous generation of Friedrichses.

 Isaiah puts on one of Matt's favorite Christmas presents of all time: the personalized football uniform.

Milestones

Yesterday was the first day in Isaiah's life when he didn't nurse at all. Twice he asked, and just to see what would happen, I offered to read him a chapter of his new library book instead. Both times he said, "OK!" and we ended up reading several chapters, stopping only to his great chagrin. Am I going to try this again today? Heck yes.

Bee has learned to shake her head "no." It is very cute, very emphatic, and very helpful in our communications. She also discovered yesterday--joy of joys!--that she can rock Penny, the rocking horse, all by herself. Mounting and dismounting still require assistance. And two days ago, I found her cooing over an illustration of a little boy and girl in a picture book. I pointed and told her, "That's a little girl named Natasha, and that's her big brother Alexi." She beamed and babbled. I asked, "Where's your big brother?" She looked up and pointed to Isaiah with a huge grin on her face. "And where's Bernadette?" She turned her eyes back down to the page and placed her finger on the little girl.

Caroling on the Federal Hill green

Tree hunting

The 2011 Christmas tree before it was cut down.

Captured, cut and relocated to our living room, awaiting decorations on Christmas Eve with the family.

This Week

As Isaiah bounced all over the beds and Bernadette walked in circles around him, squealing with delight, he crowed, "We shall jump on the beds! We shall never surrender!"

I didn't have time to read The Lorax the other morning when Isaiah asked me to. At first he was disappointed and whimpered a little tearily that he didn't know how to read it himself. But then he climbed up on the couch with the book and started flipping the pages and reciting the story. It turns out he knows it word-for-word, page-for-page. When he was finished, he looked up at me with a surprised and delighted grin. "I know how to read The Lorax!"

What's he thinking about?

When it's not trucks, it's cake and chocolate.

Baby Love

Yesterday at a friend's house, I was holding a five-month-old baby while his mother dipped homemade caramels in chocolate. As soon as Bernadette saw what I was doing, she wrapped her arms around my leg and started wailing, her eyes huge and distressed, her whole body straining upward. She's jealous, I thought, and I knelt down on the ground. I scooped her up and sat in a chair with her on one knee and baby Rowan on the other. Instantly, Bee's face changed. She beamed at the baby and started stroking his head. She leaned in for hugs and pressed her cheek against his. She wasn't jealous. She wanted him, not me. We sat there for quite a while. Rowan took it all in stride. God bless him.

Coney Island in November

Yogurt

Uncle Pete