Christmas Letter 2006

Well, 2006 finds us in the same house as last year (much less the same country). But I like to think we’re still basically just on our way to Australia. Meanwhile…

Dick is a star. He doesn’t make millions of dollars (unfortunately), but he is a star—mostly because he is way too interested in learning how to do his job better. Sally and Susan love getting bull rides and doing the Cha-Cha Slide with Dad.

Jane gave birth to Spot in October. She’s discovered the secret to enjoying church with three kids—be late, but not too late. Twenty minutes is perfect, late enough to make a difference, but not so late that you feel too guilty or miss the whole thing.

Sally is enjoying kindergarten and dancing/galloping everywhere. She’s also learning to combat Mom’s disciplinary tactics by drawing evocative stick figure pictures accompanied by captions like, "Mom tuk my tuos. I am sad, rile sad."

Susan is going through a destructive phase (we hope) directed mainly at expensive picture books. Perhaps this is a reaction to seeing Mom reading while nursing baby Spot. Luckily, Sally and Susan are devoted co-conspirators and tea-partiers.

Spot is already showing signs of being as super-chunky as Sally was, rather than normal-chunky like Susan. She’s smiling and slept through the night at 4 weeks (is Mom a good sleep-trainer or what?).