We got through the first Christmas with a minimum of fuss. He took it as just another day with the families. We celebrated Christmas Eve with Dave's side and had a lovely and delicious feast prepared by John. Darren was much more enthralled with the bow he got on his first gift and after that the bow was all that mattered. He got some lovely gifts, clothes and eletronic toys. I think the adults were playing with the electronics more than he did by the end of the night. Christmas day was spent mostly at home during the day and we eventually headed to my parents home for dinner. More gifts and his first Lego set (the big block kind). He slept through dinner which was fine by me. I'm so lucky eh?! Simone fed him dinner when he woke up. She's practicing for her new arrival in March, Darren's first cousin.

I should announce that my brother, Jason, is going to be a father. His girlfriend, Simone, is due March 1, 2004. She's been told it's a girl by the ultrasound tech because she wanted to know. So Darren will be 1 years old by the time he's got a cousin. It's good that they will be the same age. My cousin, Julia, is also having her baby as I write this. His name is Arlan Gabriel Klapproth. So Darren now has a third cousin his age. Of course they live in Germany so it won't be so easy to see them often but ce la vie.

His new passion is to stare at the lights of any building we are in at the time and sticking his tongue out at people. He's also changed the bedtime ritual to crying after I turn the lights out and wiggling out of my arms. He tries to anyway. I take it all in stride and soothe him into a relaxed stage and then put him to bed. He cries a little bit but I let him fall asleep on his own. He is also very curious to try everything we eat. He has had macaroni and cheese one noodle at a time and tonight he tried my ceasar salad. Nothing seems to stop him from trying and liking everything we give him so he's making it easy for me to feed him. I was told I was a terrible eater and fussy, fussy, fussy!

The girl in the pink hat is Darren's other third cousin, Braedyn. She kinda looks like him doesn't she in this picture?

Today we played ring around the kitchen island. He crawls with avengence now and there's no slowing him down. We also went out in the pouring rain and tornado winds to the EI office so he could get his social insurance number. I thought he would blow away in the wind if I hadn't held on to the stroller. At least there was no line up at the EI office which made it all worth trapsing through that horrible weather. The funny thing was that he actually liked the wind blowing in his face but the rain was too cold for his little hands so the mittens were put on.

He has accomplished the feat of sucking liquid out of a straw and he has mastered eating a whole arrowroot biscuit by himself without choking. These little milestones are fun to watch. The mess of the arrowroots though leave little to be desired of one who is a neat freak I'm afraid but I persevere. Yukky! All part of learning I say to myself when cleaning it all up. He also is trying to use a spoon but the food finds its way to other places other than his mouth.

Darren is crawling at a good clip nowadays. He spent another night at his grandparents and thankfully woke them up at 5 am instead of us. He had a bad day today. He cut some more teeth this morning and he's been feeling the pain. He's now got 6 teeth, two on the top and four on the bottom. They seem to come in two's for him. His bad day has consisted of a little wimpering tonight and wanting a little more loving before bed. Other than that we went shopping and didn't hear one peep out of him the whole time. He's spoiling his parents I think with his great attitude. That's his stocking and it's just as big as him. We finished decorating the tree tonight and he helped me by making sure all the bulbs were strong enough to be tugged on.

Well it's the month for Santa to arrive and I know Darren's been a good boy so he'll get a present from the big guy. He gets more charming as the days go by and he's turned some heads with his huge smile and dimples. Mom bought him a hat today and it looks great on him and it makes him look just like his dad when he has his hat on. See for yourself.