Not only is November everyone's favorite excuse to give into gluttony, it's also the chance for us to celebrate our little turkey. Topher turned TWO on November 18th, so of course, we had to have a Thomas the Tank Engine party. We invited the four toddlers with whom Topher was most familiar here in Charlottesville, and of course, their parents came along, too: Garren and his older brother Preston, Grace and Tyler, and Natalie. The kids entertained themselves by throwing Thomas bouncy balls up and down our stairwell, while I tried protecting the cake from the darting missiles. I had frosted the cake with green icing, placed a train track and some wooden trees in the center, and used two of Topher's trains to match the theme of the party. When Christopher saw the pile of presents on the kitchen table, he kept begging for them: "Presents!" But of course, we had to sing to him first and he immediately dashed away from the cake and the candels. Once we coaxed him back into the kitchen and he figured out how to blow out the candels, he wanted to do it again and again. But that desire was quickly replaced by the thrill of opening all his presents: Harold, Emily, Gordon, Toby, two Thomas movies, train tracks, and air planes. Oh, the joy! Then we adults spent the rest of the night setting up train tracks while trying to keep our kids under control with all the new toys.
Thanksgiving this year, like Thanksgiving last year, seemed to circle around Aaron's anxious preparation for finals. Last here he needed to do well to get a good summer internship. This year he needs to do well to make up for his blank GPA as a transfer student. So rather than travel, we stayed in Charlottesville and gratefully joined other law school families for the big supper. The LDS Law Society hosted the dinner in the Commons area at the law school, where Christopher joined a couple other toddlers in running around the tables and chasing between their parents' legs. He had progressively gotten sick during the few days prior to Thanksgiving, so by the time we were ready to feast, our poor boy was managing to only keep noddle soup and apple sauce in his belly. He ate a homemade roll, which was the most food he'd eaten of his own accord in days. And after Aaron and I had sufficiently feasted, we swapped spots tending to Topher's stir-crazy antics. Conversation was sporatic but friendly, and we were glad to meet a few new people. It would have been nice to know everyone so well that we didn't need to introduce ourselves, to have robust discussions about important matters, but alas, our roots haven't sunk into Charlottesville soil that deep. Maybe someday.
Still, it was nice to enjoy two fabulous turkeys, to gorge ourselves on a veritable feast of side dishes, and to not have clean up too many dishes afterwards. By 8pm, Topher had long since fallen asleep, our kitchen was clean, and the Christmas tree was already lit and decorated. I could relax and start to look forward to Christmas.
