The Long, Long Goodbye

Well, Baby Brigid has reached another milestone: the Wave. I've been working on waving bye bye with her for a while, and yesterday, while saying goodbye to Auntie Shell, she let loose with a hearty up and down of her arm in response to about five minutes worth of "Bye-bye, Brigid. Bye-bye baby, bye-bye." Of course, Michelle was just closing her door and I was turning around to head to the car when Brigid started her wave. I called out, "She's doing it!" and Michelle opened the door. The arm stopped instantly. "Bye-bye, Brigid! Bye-bye, baby!" She laughed, she smiled, she did her squealy thing. And then, like a light bulb going off above her head, she lit up and started waving. Her entire arm got in on the act, and she waved bye-bye to her Auntie Shell, which I'm sure was also filled with "Thank you for the lovely PJs, silver rattle and picture frame that Mommy promises will hold the annual Downs Girls in Christmas PJs photo." So, the bye-bye milestone has been reached. I hope she hasn't forgotten the move from yesterday because there will be a lot of bye-byes in her life from now on.

And speaking of Christmas PJs, Michelle and gifts, we had a lovely visit with Michelle and the boys yesterday to exchange our Christmas gifts. The other Downs girls (not myself included, however :( ) received red Christmas PJs as well and each received a book that will make the nights less lonely as they read before going to bed. I received a beautiful wall frame collage of sorts -- it's wall art, actually -- iron circles on which you mount 4X6 frames that can swivel for different positions. Hard to describe, and if I ever go digital I could post a picture. I can't wait to find the perfect spot for it. Michelle knows me so well: she also gave me an Americana-looking russet-colored tin mail-and-keys box. Hangs on the wall and you can keep mail, papers, etc., in it and hang keys from below. Will be great in the Americana hall. Could also work in the dining room. Hmmm, have to give this one thought, too.

And yesterday marked another great day... Fr. John came home from his sabbatical to California. He came home on the 15th, actually, but we got to see him at Mass on Sunday. So Baby Brigid got to visit with both of her Godparents yesterday. He was greatly missed, not just by the Downs family but by the whole congregation.

We finally dragged the Christmas decorations down from the attic last night. I haven't pulled my Santas out in two years, so I'm looking forward to putting them around, and hopefully, the girls will be able to help decorate the tree tonight. The tree has been up for a week. It will be nice to see it decorated.