Dear family and friends,
Another holiday season is upon us. 2020 has been an… interesting year, so a focus on the traditions and joys of the season, even if they’re all a little different this year, is a welcome respite. Also, feel free to replace “interesting” with the word of your choice.
This is now the third consecutive year that we’ve done this online holiday letter instead of mailing out Christmas cards and I think that officially makes it a tradition. It’ll join some of our other hallowed holiday traditions like eating too much, expecting Christmas Miracles to occur in everything we watch on TV and hoping for snow even though we live in Mississippi and it’s 65 degrees.
I’m sure we’re not alone in thinking that this year has felt like four or five years instead of just one. Like many of you, we spent much of March, April, May and June at home on “lockdown.” Most of that time period consisted of Cynthia and I alternating who got to hide away to get some work done while the other watched Pixar movies or colored with George and Henry. We also spent a lot of time playing outside and taking walks in our neighborhood, taking work calls with the boys fighting in the background and wondering how many peanut butter and jelly sandwiches you can feed your children before it’s considered child abuse. If you haven’t seen it yet, we made a One-Second-a-Day video that chronicles some of that time period.
George
George turned four in September. We’re extremely grateful that he is still a part of the Project Impact program at Mississippi State’s T.K. Martin Center for Technology and Disability and that he receives services from MSU’s Autism Clinic. He will likely have an official autism diagnosis early in 2021.
George surprises us and makes us laugh almost every single day. He loves Buzz Lightyear (and especially his Buzz Lightyear pajamas), launching foam rockets, hitting Henry and getting tickled. And somewhat surprisingly, he actually likes wearing his mask, even when he doesn’t have to.
Henry
Henry, who will be three in February, has joined George’s class at the T.K. Martin Center to help work on his slight speech delay. He has already made lots of progress and his favorite word is mama. He’s also got a little bit of a mischievous streak: After he says mama, I’ll ask him to say dada and he’ll smile and say mama just a little bit louder.
He loves animals, especially elephants and lions (we might have watched the Elephant documentary on Disney+ about 4,000 times). He also loves dogs and has, on multiple occasions, walked right up to a neighbor out walking their dog and tried to take the leash from them. He also loves books, hitting George and, most surprisingly, old Chip & Dale cartoons.
He has also developed a love for Buzz Lightyear, so maybe he and George are finally finding some common ground beyond their love of hitting each other.
Cynthia and Philip
As for Cynthia and me, we were able to go back to a mostly normal schedule in the middle of June once the boys’ daycare reopened. Cynthia is still at the Greater Starkville Development Partnership and has moved into a new role as Office Manager. I’m still working in communications for the Bagley College of Engineering at Mississippi State. We’re both tired because toddlers but wouldn’t have it any other way.
We’re “holidaying in place” this year, as recommended by the CDC. We’ll miss seeing loved ones and doing many of the things we usually do this time of year, but taking a break from those things has helped us to appreciate them just a little bit more.
Usually, our focus is mostly on Christmas this time of year, but I’d be lying if I said we weren’t looking forward to New Year’s a little more than usual. Like many, we’ll be happy to see the end of 2020 and are cautiously optimistic about 2021. Hopefully it involves a return to more normal times.
And, dare I say it, less hand sanitizer.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Love,
Philip, Cynthia, George and Henry