Merry Christmas!

Wishing you and yours a happy, safe and relaxing Christmas with your family and friends.

Winter Program

There is always a winter and spring program at Stratford - whether you are 2 years 9 months and in a preschool program or 10 years old and in 5th grade. I have my show that I do every year ("Charlie Brown Christmas" which is adorable, if I do say so myself) and now Luke gets to do a show, too.

Some background information to note:

• Luke is not yet three.
• Luke has been going to preschool 2 afternoons a week.
• Luke began preschool at the end of November.
• Luke has no freaking clue what a "program" is.

And now, the story of Luke's show.

Luke was dressed up as an elf (a very cute one at that) and was placed at the end of the line with all the other "standers." You know the "standers:" the kids who don't do anything and just take up space. They don't sing, they don't dance, they stand. Please look at the background information above to note why Luke is part of the "stander" group.

So Luke is absolutely bewildered, wondering why he is dressed up as a freaking elf. He keeps saying "Mommy? Mommy?" while I keep smiling and waving with my cameras (plural) and being a super obnoxious preschool mommy. (with all the rest)

He immediately starts making goofy noises and being very Luke-ish to the adorable little girl next to him and she is so incredibly irritated. She shushed and shushed him and finally, I kid you not, "hmphed" him, tossed her hair and turned away. It was awesome.

So the music started, the kids were (mostly) singing, minus the standers, and Luke looked like he had been dropped on some strange, mysterious planet wondering what he was supposed to do. At least the kid next to Luke was the "chewer" of the "standers." The kid who chewed on his shirt, then the bells, then the kazoo around his neck.

After a few songs, Luke decided he was completely done with this whole performance and started walking towards me. I, being the director of my own show, waved my hand, said "No no Luke! Go back to your spot!" Dang, did I get a dirty look. He pouted back to his spot and promptly . . .

pulled his hat down completely over his face.

What did I do?

Laugh, of course.

Then he really yanked down the hat, to make sure his face was good and covered.

I continued to giggle, as did many of the other parents. Luke pulled the hat up a little, to check to see if the attention was on him, caught my eye and the hat went down again. Really, really pulled down.

Nice work, Luke.

We have it all on video, which is really cute. Granted, out of a 20 minute boring performance of Luke, this is the 2.5 minutes of good film. So I won't put up the whole boring thing. This is the only still shot I was able to take, as the battery died on my camera. Bummer.

He just looks so disappointed in me.

"Why Mommy? Why would you allow them to dress me up like this? I thought you liked me? I thought we were in a good place."

Because these are the moments (videos) I can embarrass you with when you're 16 and bringing home girls. That's what you get for pulling down your hat over your cute, pouty face.

A Very A's Christmas!

On our way down to San Diego to visit Nana, we decided to stop off in San Luis Obispo to visit Uncle B and Auntie Sam in their new home. It was nice to get out of town quickly, but not have to do the full drive in one shot. They were kind enough to let us stay with them for the night.

Luke was so excited to have an early Christmas - Luke could hardly stand the excitement of opening his gifts.

What could it be?!?

Its an awesome A's jersey!


Put it on! Put it on!
Mommy and Daddy also got A's t-shirts with their NAMES ON THEM. I know - cool, huh? So Todd's says "Bickel 01" and mine says "Bickel 02." Now I'm ready to face all the Giants fans on Sports Day in the spring.

Christmas Time is (was) Here . . .

Happiness and cheer
Fun for all,
that children call
their favorite time of year . . .



Luke loved his first Christmas. I really enjoyed that Luke was almost a year old by the time Christmas rolled around. He was totally into having all the family around, though not necessarily the gifts. He placated me for about 5 minutes before he was off and running to do something else. Of course, Luke is always off and running to do something else.


Except Grammie Linda's rocking horse (Ted). As Luke is now too big for the swing, too heavy for the doorway jumper and way over the Excersaucer, containment was getting difficult. Along comes Ted to save the day. And now, Ted has become a verb. "Can you Ted him for me?" "We should clean - Ted him." or "I'll be right back, I'm Ted-ding Luke." Thanks Grammie!




Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa gave Luke a pair of PJ's with a personalized butt-flap. I'll admit it, it's absolutely adorable. And that is completely bias-free. Luke running around with "Luke" emblazened on his tooshie was about the cutest thing I could imagine.


We were able to spend Christmas Eve with the Bickel clan and Christmas Day with the Rosbrugh clan. It was wonderful not to have to rush around on Christmas, but really have the chance to spend time relaxing. And really, traveling with a baby is a pain.