Let's begin by saying that Pajama Week 2009 has ended. After the Thanksgiving long weekend, Edward was having trouble getting readjusted to our morning routine. He stayed in his pajamas through breakfast and when it was really getting down to the wire to get out the door, he started having a huge fit when John tried to get him dressed. Seeking the path of least resistance, I said, "Fine, just put your shoes on and wear your pajamas to school." We were out the door minutes (and many fewer tears) later.

I sent regular clothes in his backpack, figuring he'd feel silly once he got there and none of his friends were in pajamas. Oh, how wrong I was. Not only was he still in pajamas when I picked him up, he continued this pattern the entire week. Each day we tried new ideas to coax him toward normal clothes, and each day he steadfastly insisted on pajamas. One morning I said, "I bet you can't get dressed in 60" and started counting. In a Pavlovian response, unable to resist the challenge, he jumped out of his pajamas and, with John's help, was dressed in a (slow) count of 45. He appeared triumphant, but then, considering what had just transpired, he melted in a pool of tears and began pulling his clothes off. He was back in pajamas seconds later.

Finally, on Friday afternoon, I was ready to take them to a retirement party for a colleague. I told Edward there would be cake at the party, but that I would like him please to wear regular clothes. He considered, asked if he could take his pajamas in the bag, and then agreed to change. Saturday we insisted he had to wear regular clothes for our trip to the library and Sunday clothes were mandated for church. By Monday morning, the idea was fading, and he was persuaded to wear clothes with the promise that he could change to pajamas when we got home. (He didn't, but apparently the option was sufficient.)

I tried not to let it bother me. After all, parenting is about picking your battles. As long as it was just to school, I truly did not care. We all laughed about it and he went about blissfully. But when it came to appearing in the general public, I wasn't so carefree. The retirement party was to draw many people from around campus, and I was too self-conscious to bring my kid in pajamas. Why should I care if he didn't? Who can explain. I do hope he retains at least some of that PopPop-esque utter lack of self-consciousness. Life would be simpler if we never worried what other people thought of us, right?

John's birthday passed uneventfully (per his wishes) on Saturday. We did have French silk pie in place of cake, a long-standing tradition. Daniel's response to his first taste: "Mmmmm...happy!" Pretty much summed up John's day. Even though there would be no party, I felt that the 40th birthday deserved some wider recognition. I enlisted two of John's friends to help me execute a plan to create a CD with songs selected by a large group of friends (one song per friend) who are all as heavily invested in music as John. It worked perfectly--14 friends submitted songs and one of them, who is a graphic designer, created a personalized CD-sleeve. It took John a couple of minutes to figure out what it was, but when he did, he was quite pleased. It got even better the next day when John sent out a thank you email, and they all started responding with the reasons they'd selected their songs. They all held special meaning/memory between John and each friend, and John was touched that they recalled those times together--some even going all the way back to high school.

After the birthday, it was on to Christmas decorating. John says we don't have to follow that "wait until after the birthday" tradition his Mom established, but I like it. When commercialized Christmas starts before Halloween, it's nice to have your own personal benchmark for kicking off the season.

The boys helped hang ornaments on Will's tree, and loved seeing it all lit up. Edward was a bit distressed about the idea of giving these ornaments away (we ask friends to take one and hang it on their own tree, remembering Will.) But I explained that we would get a bigger tree for our own ornaments, and some of them even say "E-d-w-a-r-d" because they are his special ornaments to hang. Maybe over the weekend. I'd prefer to wait until the weekend just before Christmas, but I think all the trees will probably be gone by then. I do miss the Chicagoland availability of trees--every empty lot turns into a tree lot this time of year there. Last year, we were reduced to buying our tree at Menards. Just didn't seem very festive.
We did have one holiday experience before the birthday launch date. While visiting my parents in Evanston the weekend before Thanksgiving, we rode on the CTA Holiday Train.
It was a HUGE hit with the boys. It's a regular "el" train, but decorated "beyond the beyond" (as my Mom would say) with lights all over, inside and out, tinsel in the cars, Christmas patterned seat covers, poles wrapped in candy cane striping, and Christmas music playing on the public address system.
In the middle of the train is a flatbed car decorated as Santa's sleigh and he waves as the train pulls into each station. At the end of the line, he sat for pictures with the kids.
Daniel was totally freaked out when placed on Santa's lap, so I held him while Edward just climbed right up. After Edward got down, he realized he'd forgotten to tell Santa what he wanted for Christmas. He was allowed a do-over, and registered his wishes (more train tracks for his wooden set, and a Mater--tow truck character from the movie Cars, which he's never seen.)
We opted not to wait 45 minutes for the holiday train to take our return trip. But even the undecorated train was a big hit with our boys. Cheap thrills for $2 per adult.
The other special thing about the weekend was our last visit with Joe and Brenda before they headed to Brazil for Joe's first posting with the Foreign Service. We are excited for them and eager to hear about their new adventures. By the time of their next visit (probably in about a year) will the boys still fit under each arm like this?
The adults extended the bon voyage until 2:30 Sunday morning, having a roaring good time, but not allowing for enough sleeping! Luckily, those who did not have a four-hour drive ahead of them, arrived at Gram and PopPop's bright and early for a trip to the park. This had the dual benefit of letting us get a bit more sleep, and exhausting the children, so that they slept all the way to the Iowa border. And, yes, it was warm enough that day, to go hatless. Can't say the same for today, as we're bracing for a blizzard, expecting at least a foot of snow by this time tomorrow.