Snowy Syracuse

We arrived in Syracuse the Saturday before last for our east coast holiday visit. Needless to say, Michael was very excited to see his Gramma and Papa...and also this oversized bear:

Michael is still not crawling yet, and I think we are partly to blame, since we bring him whatever he seems to want. As this video shows, he now extends his arm to whatever he wants or wherever he wants to go. One day we'll just get him a bell that he can ring when he needs something. If only he weren't so cute, we could resist his requests!

During our stay here in Syracuse Michael has also discovered a talent for pool. He took to the eight ball like a natural-born shark. Or else he had a question about the future and confused it for the Magic Eight Ball. ("Signs point to yes.") Of course, in Syracuse Michael wanted to support the home team, especially in their big game against Michigan State. It's looking like a good season for the Orange.

And of course it wouldn't be Christmas in Syracuse without some lake effect snow! As I said, we arrived on Saturday, and on Sunday night it began snowing for 95 (!) straight hours. By the end of the snow about forty inches had accumulated.

We were all remembering the Baltimore blizzard that came the day after Michael was born. Of course being a few days old, he was too small last year to play in the snow, so we made up for it this year, beginning with this full-body snow suit. Michael initially looked confused.

Fortunately, Emily had enough enthusiasm for everyone. (Yours truly is in the background looking slightly less enthusiastic.)

But I have to admit it was awfully cute watching Michael in the snow.
Here's a little video of the fun, too:

Here's a few more pictures from our visit so far. I thought he looked so cute in this outfit.

The railroad theme continued when Emily's dad found this conductor's hat... ...that Emily wore when she was little and wound her train set around the Christmas tree.And what Christmas visit would be complete without a picture with Old Saint Nick? We thought Michael would be scared because he's often skittish around men with beards, but he was intrigued with Santa Claus. He sat right on his lap and stared hard at him; only when we called his name did he look at the camera.

We leave this coming Saturday for North Carolina. I'm sure we'll have some more pictures along the way, so stay tuned!