Baby v. Frosty: A Christmas Story

What do you think of when you think of Frosty the Snowman? Cute? Charming? Sweet?

Relentless?

Anthony was charmed by our singing/dancing Frosty at first, but, like anyone who lives with an automated Christmas decoration or hears Feliz Navidad one too many times as they make their holiday rounds, his Christmas spirit quickly soured.

He tries kicking Frosty. He tries tossing his snowy body to the ground.

He even tries to be the bigger man; to walk away.

Yet, Frosty? Like I said, relentless.

By now Anthony is willing to try anything. But reasoning with Frosty doesn't work. Stepping on him is no good. Turning him on his head? Nope.

I swear at one point, I swear I even caught him miming pointing a gun to the little guy's head!

For a moment, Anthony admits defeat...if you can't beat him, join him. But a young man can only take so much.

He has an idea...he'll look for the off switch!

But Frosty laughs in the face of the off switch.

Eventually, Anthony decides that drastic times call for drastic measures. After calmly slamming back the rest of his drink, he puts his plan into action.

Surely that will take care of the problem, right?

Right?

Oh Frosty, you are a worthy foe.

* No snowmen were harmed in the making of this production. Hey, I happen to think Frosty's kind of cute, OK?

Anthony is 1 and a half today!

"New Rule: When I ask how old your toddler is, I don't need to know in months. '27 months' is way over the top. 'He's 2' will do just fine. He's not a cheese, and I didn't really care anyway."

- George Carlin, George Carlin's New Rules for 2008

Everytime someone asks me how old the Anthony is, I can't help but remember this George Carlin line I read a long time ago, and feel kind of lame when I reply, "10 months" or "14 months" or whatever.

So, today I will celebrate not only another milestone for our sweet little boy, but the fact that, at least for a few weeks, I can just say "He's 1 and a half."

And I'll also celebrate the fact that thinking about this prompted me to google the George Carlin bit and get a laugh out of this gem: "The more complicated the Starbucks order, the more annoying the drinker. If you walk into a Starbucks and order a 'decaf grande half-soy, half low-fat, iced vanilla, double-shot, gingerbread cappuccino, extra dry, light ice, with one Sweet-n-Low and one NutraSweet,' boy are you messed up."

Brace yourself...it's Christmas show time!

Anthony's school had it's annual Christmas show this morning and I was braced for disaster.


Anthony has a little cold, so he was in an accordingly grouchy mood this morning. Add to that a bunch of new faces staring at him, the completely understandable tempation to run to mommy, and clothes that aren't as comfy as his usual sweats, and I was ready for an on-stage meltdown of epic proportions. Or, worse, an on-stage coughing fit that would prompt all the other parents to give me the evil eye.

But my worry was all for naught. Anthony decided the show must go on, and I was very proud of his "performance." He did not cry and even managed to smile and stomp his feet to If It's Christmas and You Know it (clap your hands, stomp your feet, shout hooray).

Hooray!

Anyway, the following video is the best I could do, which I admit isn't very good, so a few notes to anyone who wants to sit through it (i.e. Anthony's grandparents):

1. Yes, for the entire first song, I somehow manage to film everyone else's kid but cut my own out of the picture. NO, I don't get how I managed to do this either, especially since I honestly didn't even notice any kid except my own.

2. Except the kid right behind Anthony. He is going BALLISTIC. Funny.

3. Notice how Anthony seems to perk up when his teacher moves him from the back row to the front. Primadonna, perhaps?

4. No, it's not that I am physically incapable of holding a video camera steady, I just think home movies of one's toddler should be kinda edgy, a la The Blair Witch Project.



Anyway, the show was cute (and blessedly only lasted about 10 minutes total), and Anthony even got to hang out with Santa afterwards. I would say, seriously, that about 4 kids out of every 5 cried when plopped unceremoniously on Santa's lap. As I was rescuing Anthony from said predicament, I heard the Jolly Old Elf remark, "We're going to need some counseling for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder." I asked, "For them or for you?"

In any case, Anthony was close to tears, but held it together:

And after a while, I noticed him walk over and start eyeing the big fella with some interest:

Still, he MUCH preferred the balloons:

And, of course, some time with his biggest fan: