Last night, we did some Smith family Christmas shopping at Jasper—all four of us. Our trip started with a stop at Noble Romans for pizza. Not my personal favorite, but Erik and Ava talked me into it. And Hudson? For some reason, he LOVED Noble Romans. Sitting at the table was a thrill for him. He enjoyed grabbing at all items within his reach. He laughed. He banged silverware. He tried to shove a napkin, a straw, and a pepperoni in his mouth, respectively. Obviously we don’t get him out enough.
But the best part of our trip was the waving. Lately, Hudson has discovered both the purpose and the joy of waving at others. At first, he saved his performances solely for family members, but now he has apparently branched out to include total and utter strangers.
At Noble Romans, he furiously waved at the teenager who brought us our pizza. I watched hopefully for some interaction, but this boy never lifted his eyes to notice. A few minutes later, an older gentleman bussed the table next to ours. Again, Hudson’s little hand waved happily. No response. Okay, I may be a borderline overprotective mother, because I had to fight the urge to jump up and shout SOMEBODY PLEASE WAVE AT MY KID! HE’S F-ING ADORABLE!
Luckily, by the time we ended up at Kmart later that evening, Hudson received the lavish attention he so desperately desired. Several people returned his enthusiastic waves; a few even stopped to chat.
There’s nothing like a baby at Christmastime!
"Wait, Mom, you gotta hear the punchline...."
For once, I'm just going to shut my mouth and let the photographs do the talking (except to say that we had a magical Christmas, of course!).
Of all the holiday-themed gifts my children have received, one of my favorites has to be this Fisher Price nativity scene. Papaw and Mimi got it for Ava a few years ago, and she LOVED it! In fact, we have used this set many times to teach and reenact the true story of Christmas. Ava always refers to Jesus as the baby Jesus, mainly because of this gift. She plays with it year-round; it’s always in the playroom.
Yes, she did it! Riding on a mixture of bravery and grown-up-ism (yes, that's a word!), Ava got her hair cut on Friday. It only took a few minutes, but I swear this child transformed into a little lady by the time the final golden strands hit the floor. Oh my, what a beauty!