Back to Back Visits to Canton First

It kind of breaks my heart when I have something to post - the story of our very busy Christmas season, for instance - and never get around to it until three weeks later when I really can't remember many of the details that I'd wanted to capture.

So much history, lost.

Maybe that's the double-edged sword of easy and/or instant access to pictures and posts. It gives us the illusion that we can bottle up our babies' childhoods to wistfully uncork long after they've gone on to bottle up the childhoods of their own babies. But the reality is that we in the Information Age are just as likely to slack off the chronicling as any other parent in history whose second child never had a baby book.  No offense, Mom.

Anyway.

The nite after the Living Nativity, we went to the Children's Christmas Program at Canton First. Jones sat in the sanctuary with us, while Mike and Donna Wood kept Freddie in the nursery. Jones did a GREAT job. He sat quietly and attentively and didn't even make a scene when his buddy Lila (Thomason) was on stage.  I couldn't have been more proud.

Then came the reception after the program.

As he did last year, Santa Claus visited the kids to congratulate them on a job well done and, apparently, to scare the you-know-what out of our boy Jones. Deja vu all over again. He reacted exactly the same way last Christmas.

For HIS part, Freddie wasn't afraid, per se; he was definitely aware,
however, that he was being held by a stranger. With a super-long beard.

But since there were no tears, and since he didn't manage to pull Santa's beard ENTIRELY off, I'm considering HIS visit a success.  Way to go, Baby Boy!

The next nite, we were back at church for the Community Children's Christmas Party. Because it was three weeks ago (ugh), I only remember two things about it: 1) we had a ham dinner with corn, green beans, and rolls, and both boys ate me under the table. 2) Jones kept taking anyone who'd follow him to the hard plastic Nativity to point out Baby Jesus. In fact, every time he hears the word "Jesus," he says, "Ba-bee," which is good, since Jesus CAME as a "Ba-bee" at Christmas, but I'm afraid Jones is in for a rude awakening when Easter comes, and he finds out that Jesus grew into a man.

We'll deal with that when the time comes.

For now, suffice it to say that he won the hearts of many at the party by leading them, like a certain star, across the "desert" of the fellowship hall into the presence of the Reason for the Season. "Jones, where's Baby Jesus?" they'd ask, and he'd take their hands and lead them to Him. It was precious and made me VERY proud, though I'm not quite sure why, as I had absolutely nothing to do with it.

Oh. He's also gotten really not kissing things - Freddie's forehead, for instance, his favorite car toy, the hard plastic Baby Jesus in the church fellowship hall. I pray Jones and Freddie both are always so enamored with their Savior - the One Who came as a "Ba-bee" at Christmas.