Christmas Wrap-Up and Happy New Year!

Hi all! We're back home, safe and sound and sick and tired. This is the longest cold EVER. Both James and I are still coughing, snorting and constantly yawning to try to make our ears pop. Dorian is great! He was wonderful on the flight home...both James and I really noticed how much he has truly changed in 3 weeks. On the flight over to the UK, he slept the whole time. On the flight back, we put him on his back on the table in front of us so he could kick his legs, wave his arms and smile at nothing in particular. We walked him up and down the aisles and stood up more as he really likes to be able to see the world around him. He did sleep, though we also noticed how much bigger he seemed in our laps on the airline seats. Amazing what a difference 3 weeks can make. Dorian now holds his own head up all the time. He smiles a lot. He makes loads of noises ("talking"). He now loves his swing and falls asleep in it easily. He can sit on his own and amuse himself for up to an hour! He loves lying on his back on his play mat and looking up at his mobiles. He still loves his Mama but does allow other people to hold him for longer periods of time. He sleeps in longer chunks now and can wake up and not start crying for 15-20 minutes. He doesn't seem to be too jetlagged at the moment, though he is falling asleep around 4pm in the afternoon California time. He slept (obviously with several feeding breaks) from 4pm-6am last night! My parents threw a New Year's Eve party (my dad's birthday is December 31 so they always do). Since Dorian was sleeping, I thought it would be best if I took a little nap too around 9pm. I slept through until his next feeding session at 1am! I missed ringing in the New Year! I can't think of any other way I would have rather spent it - in bed, cuddled up next to my sleeping baby. Bliss! James was away last night at a gig (the reason we returned before New Year's from England).

We will edit our 5+ hours worth of England video footage this week-end/next week and get some video clips up for you soon. In the meantime, please enjoy a photo extravaganza!!!!

James' friend Ben playing an impromptu piece at the White Hart Pub in Bridestowe. Ben, his French girlfriend Suzanne, James and I were a team for Graham's Christmas Quiz. We came in 9th out of 15. Not bad, though the boys would have done better without us foreigners. The quiz was tough and very anglocentric. Back to Ben though - he and James used to play a lot of music together. Ben is an amazing pianist, singer and songwriter - he plays piano 5 nights a week at the fanciest hotel in Devon. He has loads of stories of celebrities and politicians (including Tony Blair) requesting songs and listening to him play.

Auntie Leggy (Ro has called me this since he started talking!), Uncle Jim, Ro Ro and Dori. James and I used to babysit Rowan all the time when he was a baby and toddler. We moved to the US when he was 2.5 years old and saying good-bye to him was the hardest thing we've ever done. Ro meant everything to us, and it so nice to see how into Dorian he is. He absolutely adores his cousin! It is so sweet.

Boy pile! Phil, Josh, Ro and Dori
Grae, Josh and Phil
James, his sister Hannah, dad Graham, and Dori
James, Jen, Josh and Ro decorating the Christmas tree
Cousins!
James with his close friend (for over 17 years!) James Hanlon. Hanlon's baby Erin Rose is 2 weeks younger than Dori - look at how much bigger Dori is though! We've got ourselves a giant here!
Doting dads
James' other close friend Nick holding Dori - doesn't look like Nick has had too much experience with babies, does it? :) Plus, the men were a little worse for wear after a night on the town!
Finally, James' last close friend Duncan is left holding the baby!
My friend Sam (who visited from London for 4 days) and Dori
My new favorite photo of Uncle Jim and Ro Ro
Joshy is a wine connoisseur already!
James' Equation bandmate Sean holding Dorian, James holding one of Sean and Kath's twins Poppy (or is it Lily?)
Equation lead singer Kath and the other twin Lily (or Poppy????)
James and Dori, asleep from too much excitement (actually, illness)
And Kelly too
The food spread for the Open House on December 23rd. Jen and Grae put this on for their friends and neighbors. We had dozens of people coming in and out all day to see James and Dorian (and me too, I suppose!)
Ro loving Dori on Christmas Eve (after the Crocker family traditional Christmas Eve walk)
We celebrated Christmas day with Hannah, Phil, Ro, Josh, Jen and Grae. It was so fun to enjoy it with Josh and Ro. They were so excited to see this many presents under the tree!
Playing games Christmas afternoon (a Crocker family tradition)
Kelly and Hannah at Christmas dinner
Josh in his new policeman outfit
Rowan in his self-made spy costume
Christmas Day 2 (celebrated on December 26 "Boxing Day") with Graham's family. This is one side of the table - James' uncle Rob, James, James' aunt Jill, her husband Roy and cousin Dan's girlfriend Charlotte (Jill and Roy have 2 sons - Dan and Stewart)
The other side of the table on Boxing Day (Dan's girlfriend Charlotte again, Dan, Kelly feeding Dori, James' mum Jen, cousin Stewart and his wife Gerry)
Christmas Day 3 (December 27th) - celebrated with Jen's family. I could not even begin to fit all these people in one picture! Jen has 2 sisters and a brother, all of whom have 2-3 kids, most of whom now have partners and kids of their own! We had around 25 people over, and not everyone was able to make it!
Jen prepared 4 big food days - one for the Open House, 2 full roasts for Christmas Day and Boxing Day and a luncheon feast on December 27th. Plus, she managed to do this while fighting The Cold, looking gorgeous, and fitting in time to spend with her 3 grandsons! Amazing.
Watching Bob the Builder with the boys
Feel like you've seen this picture before? We have loads of pictures like this, as Rowan kept wanting cuddles with Dorian. He would say "Leggy, Dori is holding my hand" or "Jim, Dori flumped on me again!" ("Flumped" means "farted" - apparently the word fart is not a nice word in the UK)
The last photo of the boys in 2007
Happy New Year everyone!!!