Christmas 2009

There were plenty of presents in the Morris household this Christmas. Henry got a train set, a pirate ship, a robot dinosaur, and lots of other toys. Bryant got a new wallet and some much needed underwear. Elise got an electric skillet and a subscription to the New York Times. But the best present of all was that Vivian came home from the hospital on Christmas morning. She was discharged around 10am and arrived in time for Christmas dinner. Aunt Pauline had flown in on Wednesday, just as we were nearing the breaking point (see Winter Wonderland/Snowstorm from Hell), and made sure we were well feed and freshly laundered for the holiday.

On Christmas morning, Henry seemed momentarily stunned by all the new toys, but it didn’t take long for him to begin wreaking havoc. Bryant spent several hours carefully laying out and assembling Henry’s train set only to find that his son enjoyed ripping up track and scattering buildings more than playing with the engines. At one point, Henry set his robot dinosaur striding across the train table in a scene reminiscent of a Godzilla movie. At another point, Bryant looked over and noticed that Minnie Mouse was being held hostage by the toy pirates until Harold the Helicopter flew to her rescue and safely delivered her to the earthquake ravaged Island of Sodor.

Despite the surrounding chaos, Vivian was happy to nurse and sleep for most of the day. It had been a tough week for our little lady: high fever, a terrible diaper rash and lots of poking and prodding by the doctors, but through it all, she maintained her calm demeanor.

Symbolic of this year’s holiday, our Christmas tree had started to droop and wilt in the week before Christmas. So, the day after Christmas, with Aunt Pauline’s help, we packed up the ornaments and threw out the tree…ready for a happier and healthier 2010!