Someone got a pony for Christmas....

And if you know the Dygerts, this will not be his last. Ernesto, you better reserve a stall for us. My guess is that between Jeff and his Mom (and with assistance from Ates and Bernie and even approval from on high by Carol), Mr. Man will be getting another pony at some point in the future....

RED ALERT: Grandma Ruth and Grandpa Ray are SPOILING Jack!

Jack says mind your own business, Pops. These folks are great!

Time for Bed . . . Santa's on his way to Santa Fe

Hope that Santa brings you every gift you desire.

Love, Jack

Beware the Creatures that lurk on Christmas Eve...

A near disaster on Jack's first Christmas Eve!

Jack was happily at play on Grandma's kitchen floor....

When a rascally boa constrictor, disguised as a Santa Hat, nearly devoured Jack.

It was touch and go for a while....

But the brave little tyke fought him off and emerged victorious.

Jack wishes each of you a peaceful and joy-filled new year. (At least, that is how he is planning to spend his!)

Jack's in Santa Fe . . . . and LOVING IT!

We have had snow on and off. This was during a break in the weather. He has a love/hate relationship with the brown hat. When he can chew on the pompoms, he's jiggy. When he's tired, the hat is anathema.

Christmas in Santa Fe

No pics yet...but they are coming soon. Last night, for a belated birthday gift to her wonderful son, Ruth sent us out to dinner in Santa Fe while watching over wee Mr. Jack. LOTS to choose from, but Jeff decided Italian. We went to Il Piatto ("The Plate") www.ilpiattosantafe.com

Yumbolicious.

Jeff started with the special chicken and cabbage soup, which was perfect for the raux night we had in SF last night. I had the Parmigiano Potato Gnocchi with wild mushrooms and marsala cream. We both had duck for our second plate; Jeff had duck with pappadelle in a red wine marscapone cream sauce and I had duck breast over a root vegetable mash. Jeff had tiramisu for dessert and I had bread pudding. Jeff liked his tiramisu. I was over the moon about my bread pudding. The top half was bread soaked in liquor but the bottom half was pure egg custard; served in a big bowl of freshly made caramel sauce. Our trainer Shaun is shaking his head right now.

The highlight of the meal was the Super Tuscan. And here we thought all wines from Tuscany were super. Not so. The Italians, in order to compete with the Bordeaux created a new category of wines; the Super Tuscans. Wow, wow, wow. We had the 2004 Maremma Toscana - Dromos. Let's just say we will be searching for more on the Internets....

Pictures soon.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Jack wishes each and every one of you the happiest of holidays and a fantastic 2010.

Jack meets his cousin Haley

Haley was in the middle of his finals so we spirited him away for brunch. Haley has always been so good with children and Jack fell for him immediately.

Jack has been bugging us to go back to Haley's so he can play with all that cool electronic musical STUFF!

Jeff takes a turn as Carey from Sex in the City...

On our tour of New York, we happened by the front steps of Carey's apartment from Sex in the City. Jeff was transported across the street!

Day Two in New York

On Saturday, we met up with our friend Susan. Susan has one of those incredible New York apartments right in the Village. After admiring her grandmother's photos from around the world, we walked to an adorable little restaurant called Elephant and Castle where we had french toast with poached eggs and hollandaise sauce. Yumbolicious. Afterwards, Susan took us on a walking tour of the Village, where we saw the houses of famous writers, actors, and other famous people. What a great day.

Jack's first subway ride in New York City

Last weekend, we went to New York to visit our friends Rob and Jeff. We had a blast. Jack took his first subway ride on the same weekend that thousands of people dress up as Santa and party in the streets of New York. Here are a few of them riding down to the Village to play.

Christmas Elf

This is Jack and his new best friend, Margarita. We adore Margarita. She helps us out three days a week in the morning and is so fantastic with Jack. When she arrives in the morning, Jack is usually in his high chair in the kitchen eating breakfast. As soon as he hears her voice, he breaks out into a huge smile and he starts working his fingers. It's hilarious to watch.

Historic Snowfall in DC

Last time it snowed this much, it was during the 1920s. This is Jeff sweeping the front steps during the first hours of the storm. This is about 6 pm on Friday.

Ok, ok, ok...so it has been a while

A flurry of posts will emanate shortly.

Meanwhile, happy holidays!

Mom loves babies...

Mom woke up from a nap, walked into the kitchen and saw Jack on the floor. 2 seconds later she was on the floor with him, playing. Not bad for 82. Not bad at all...

Lunch with the Divine Ms. T....

Julie is one of my youngest sister's best friends in the world. Julie is also one of our entire family's favorite people in the world because she is always spoiling my mom and dad with homemade food, lovely bottles of wine, and laughter-filled visits. It is one of the highlights of our trips home when we get to see Julie. She is hilarious, deft, and as loyal and lovely a friend you could ever have.

Julie, Jack and I snuck away for Mexican food. We were tempted to order Margaritas but deferred because Julie had to sit through 90 minutes of junior high band recitals later this evening.

Thank you Julie for everything that you do to take care of Mom and Dad.

Checking the produce...

Jack decided to help out Grandpa with dinner one night.

If you squint, you can see the little brown spot of pureed prune on his cheek.

Playing peekaboo with Aunt Cathy

I find the best way to ensnare adults into unending games is by starting out coy.... How is it working?

This peekaboo game is really quite existential, don't you think? I see you therefore I am. Then I don't see you, so am I? Whoops, I see you again. Our understanding of our own place in the world is so fluid...

GOTCHA!

Nana is loving Jack

Looks like someone snuck into Daddy Jeff's hair product supply on the trip down....or is that just a wicked case of (blue velour) hat head?

and we were concerned about paying for college

Apparently, when we thought he was upstairs napping over the last 10 months, Jackson was actually running his multi-franchise bar & bistro. It is interesting to me that he can oversee the staff, harrass the produce and meat purveyors, keep the ABC at bay with only the following sounds: "AACCK" "Duh duh duh" "Buh, buh, buh" and the most recent -- an odd clicking noise he makes with his tongue.

Guess we will be heading to the islands for retirement earlier than we expected.

Nice job Jackson.