Caroline spent a good part of the day playing with her new computer - a Christmas present from the Grandparents Z (or Santa, depending on who you ask). She's an expert with the mouse and following directions - in fact, I'd say almost as good as a four year old.

Towards the end of our drive back to Winston, Caroline decided it was time to read a book, despite being well into the night. Apparently none of her books were in reach; when we flipped on the light to see what she was passionately "reading" out loud, it was one of Cheryl's paperbacks. Which, as she disappointedly pointed out, had no pictures.

I got incredibly sick last night (I wonder from whom?), so we're staying an extra day in New Jersey. Thank you to Grandma Betty for putting up with us for another day, and shame on the haters who thought my illness was wine related (I know the difference. Well).

Caroline learned how to play chess from her first cousin once removed Chris at the holiday gathering.

Caroline with cousin James and his cousin Dan at the family gathering we attended on Christmas. Despite having no kids, Dan was unexpectedly nurturing, and had Caroline in stitches most of the evening. Perhaps on our next visit to our left coast friends, we'll be popping in on Dan and his movie productions.

Caroline got a Darth Vader costume for next Halloween! Sweet! Her parents are not over the top Star Wars fans, but we love the costumes.

I went to the city tonight to check out the Christmas Tree and hang with my friend Gab. Caroline was not invited. Maybe next year...

What is she trying to tell us?
In other news, Cheryl has a bit of writer's block on our Holiday Newsletter. Or is that somehow related?

There are a lot of long car trips in Caroline's immediate future. Cheryl also has a bunch of business trips coming up. We're testing a new device to keep them entertained. It seems to be working here.

Emma's dad refused to give in to my admittedly lopsided trade request in our fantasy basketball league, so I am forced to share this video with our readers. ;)

I'm sure Caroline got a hefty dose of lead as we strung our lights around the Christmas tree this evening. Mmmmmm...lead.

Caroline and the SciWorks deer in a staring contest.

Caroline, Emma and Alec had some fun wrestling at Polo Park this afternoon. The temperature was a delightful 79.

Papa Ira didn't make it to the game, deciding instead to spend the weekend in the hospital for what turned out to be a stomach virus, and not appendicitis as initially feared.

Despite our loud support, our Deacs fell to the Bulldogs 72-50. It was painful to watch, as both sides had plenty of turnovers and the Deacs shot 30%.

Caroline got her first Christmas present today from the grandparents - a new doll that cries, coos, follows your talking, and attacks you while you sleep. It also has some neat accessories, like a stroller, a bottle, a pacifier, a carrier, and a scythe. Caroline was thrilled.

We're heading to Georgia to visit the Grandparents Lerman this weekend. Caroline and I are going to the Georgia v. Wake Forest basketball game with Papa Ira. Caroline's new holiday ducks will be guarding the home base.

This evening Caroline decided to pretend to be a pig. By sticking Play-Doh up her nose. I'm not sure what a nose full of Play-Doh has to do with being a pig, but Caroline seemed pretty proud that she figured it out and baffled that I was less than impressed.

I attempted to use my nasal-crayon extraction method from 2006, but sadly, pressing above the obstruction inside the nostril was ineffective, most likely because of the physical properties of a crayon vs. Play-Doh. My bad. Next, I tried to get Caroline to blow it out of her nose - which resulted in her trying to breath through her nose, which resulted in panic, which resulted in my desperately trying to remove the Play-Doh with my pinky. After about 10 seconds (that felt like an hour) I figured out that my fingers were too big to dig it out themselves, and that Caroline seemed to be doing whatever she could to inhale the Play-Doh and/or shove it into her sinuses, and I managed to extract all of the pink goo using some handy tweezers.

Good times. Tonight I got to pick someone else's nose. Ah, the joys of motherhood.

Despite Cheryl's parade allergy, we took Caroline to the Winston-Salem Christmas parade this evening. Caroline loved it. Cheryl survived.