the life of baby jude

Well, I celebrated my second Christmas on Monday-- and this time in Woodstock! I never knew I could have so much fun! I had such an exciting couple of days, let's see if I can break it down in a way that makes sense!
First of all, I should mention that on Friday my favorite teacher at school, Miss Gilma got me a firetruck! My first gift. The siren is super loud and pretty annoying to most adults, so naturally, I love it. It was so sweet of Miss Gilma to think of me. On Friday night M&D and I drove upstate to Grandma's house. I don't remember any of that trip, but when we got up on Saturday, we prepared for a day of fun. First, we went to Wilderstein Mansion in Rhinebeck, NY. M&D and Grandma all agreed that the fee to take the tour was much too expensive, so we rambled onto Whitecliff Winery in Gardiner. There wasn't a tour like we thought, but there was a giant tin of danish butter cookies for me to nosh while everyone sampled wine. That's always appreciated. After that, we had dinner at the Gilded Otter, a very nice brew pub in New Paltz. When I was running all over the place, I shared a nice juicy burger with Mama.
Christmas Eve was a very fun day! Even since Mommy was a little girl, she's watched Santa arrive in her hometown of Woodstock. She and Grandma were very excited to take both me and Daddy this year because we've both never been. It's always something very theatrical in the center of town and lots of people go. Grandpa Robo and Marion were also there and so was Auntie Marilyn and her daddy. Anyway, Santa shot out of a candy cane this year! Well, not a real candy cane-- but a giant tube that looked like one. And I suspect they shot a Santa doll out and not the real guy! All I know is we counted down, he shot out and then appeared on roof of a store! So cool! So that was really fun. After that, we went to the Kaftan's house. Kathy Kaftan is a friend of Grandma's and Mommy grew up with all of her kids. We had a blast! There was delicious food, fun toys, fun people. I suspect Mommy had the best time of all, at least at first... I heard talk of drinking lots and lots of wine. Poor Mommy had a rough time, I think. Here's me playing pool with some nice girls! That didn't mine at all that I was kinda messing up their game!

When I woke up on Christmas morning (wearing the adorable Christmas PJs that Grandma got me) and toddled into the living room, I couldn't believe my baby eyes!!! Presents everywhere! Santa got me so much great stuff and so did M&D and Grandma. To summarize I got a pretend vacuum, books, clothes, my very own step stool, a fun music toy named Phil Harmonic, a Bob the Builder tool bench, puzzles, and a ton of other cool stuff. After we opened presents, Lynnie and Lou came over and we had a very nice brunch!
Later in the afternoon, M&D and I went to Grandpa's house to see him and Marion and Marion's son, Robin. Guess what? I got MORE toys! Marion made me very own Jude-sized arm chair. I also and Elmo DVD and the Cars movie, PJs, clothes, fun books and more cool toys! I couldn't believe all the presents. Here's a funny picture of me and Grandpa playing...love ya, Gramps.
Then M&D and Grandma had a delicious dinner while I slept. What can I say, I was tired from my action packed day! On Tuesday, we came back home and I've been enjoying all my new toys ever since! Also when I got home, I opened all the presents that I got from Grandma Ginny. She sent me tons of great stuff-- a Baby Einstein DVD, tons of great books--YAY! Thanks!
I just wanted to say how much my family means to me and what a special day I had. Thanks everyone for the great gifts and for making Christmas SO special for me. Love you! Oh and M&D loved all their gifts, too. And in closing, here's a picture of me and my special ladies. Love you, Grandma!