I started writing this post three days ago on Saturday but, of course, all the things take a back seat with this little bear in our life.

We got really fortunate in that Ankur got a few days off around Thanksgiving. He was technically “on call” but never got called in and so we enjoyed our time with him to the max. We also got some quality time in with Sister and Drew.

Ankur, Sister, Drew, and my papa got to play tennis on one of the days while the baby and I walked to the courts to meet them and cheer them on.

On Thanksgiving Day, we kind of cheated our way to dinner by getting some pre-made food items from Gelsons. But, I gotta tell you, this was probably the best Thanksgiving food we’ve had. Usually, there’s a dish or two that we feel like “eh, coulda done without it.” But every single thing was so so yummy and my mama had gotten just the right amount so there weren’t any leftovers and we weren’t stuffed to the brim.

For a long time, my favorite T-giving food was mashed potatoes but I think I’ve transitioned over the past couple of years and stuffing is my new jam. (I go back and forth between calling it “stuffing” and “dressing” because I lived in Tennessee for three years and, at times, I think I’m a southerner).

Things I could do without for my future Thanksgivings? Turkey. And cranberry sauce. No thanks.

Ishaan got to eat mashed potatoes (both sweet and regular) and he loved ’em both. He’s definitely my kid. A potato lover. Just wait until he can get his hands on some french fries. It’ll be game over.

While we dug into our food, we went around the table and shared what we were grateful for. Seems like the common theme was 1) grateful for Ishaan and 2) grateful for Ankur and Divya for giving us Ishaan. Yes, you’re all very welcome.

And then we dove into dessert, which I didn’t get a picture of because I was too busy inhaling it. Apple pie (which I’m not usually a fan of, but Gelson’s put some sort of crack in it) with ice cream. PLUS bread pudding. Which, again, I’m not usually a fan of because people go and ruin that shit by putting raisins in it. But Gelson’s made it with chocolate chips. And, really, as I’m typing this, I probably should have given a big ol’ gratitude speech to Gelsons for doing all things RIGHT.

We were happy and satisfied but didn’t feel disgusting and BLAH afterward. This might be the new way to do Thanksgiving, folks. Though, I know some people who would argue that the leftovers are the best part of Thanksgiving.

Anyway, moving on.

We discovered the baby’s new obsession is orange slices. He will go-to-TOWN sucking out all the juice and if you get even remotely close to him or threaten him by taking the slice from his hand for a second or two, he brings on the waterworks. Don’t get between a baby and his orange slice, I tell ya.

My dad had the most fun watching him attack the fruit. He’s been ready to give Ishaan table food since he turned 2 months old. What he really wants to do is give him ice cream so we gotta keep a pretty close eye on the two of them when they’re together. To make sure they’re not sneaking some cookies & cream when mama isn’t looking.

On Saturday, Ankur and I were going to go take the baby for a walk by the lake. He ended up napping immediately when the car started so we stopped to run some errands until he woke up. Made a trip to the Hallmark store, Target, the gas station. He slept the whole time.

I thought the car wash would definitely wake him up (I even had Ankur go sit in the back seat with him in case he woke up and was freaking out about all the things covering the car), but he was so thoroughly exhausted from the previous day that he slept through the whole darn thing. Needless to say, we did not end up walking by the lake that day.

When we got home, I decorated the Christmas tree (which, surprisingly, does not have a name yet). Any suggestions?

I hope when Ishaan gets older, he’ll want to decorate the Christmas tree with me while we play Christmas music and drink hot cocoa! Half the fun in getting a tree each year is getting to hang up all the ornaments and see all the unique ornaments from years past. We got a few new ones this year but I don’t have any pictures of them so I’ll do another post on those later.

While I was hanging the ornaments, the psychologist ornament I got last year fell off the tree and broke in half.

I laughed because it feels very much like a metaphor. I hustled my butt off for two years to complete my school psych program only to sit idle for a year and not put it to use. But I wrote a post on FB yesterday explaining why I’m a-okay with it.

Later in the evening, one of our family friends stopped by and met us outside the house. They dropped off this custom made gift for Ishaan and a whole bunch of goodies for me.

He was most excited that the letters came out and he could shove ’em in his mouth. It was so, so thoughtful and I know we will use this for many years to come!

There was so, so much to be thankful for this year. But, like everyone said at Thanksgiving dinner, we’re most thankful for our little guy. He brings more joy to our life than I ever knew was possible.

Also thankful that Thanksgiving is behind us so we can focus on the more important things like CHRISTMAS!

(Ishaan clearly agrees!)

Questions of the Day:

• What’s your favorite Thanksgiving food? What’s one T-giving food you could do without?
• When do you start listening to Christmas music?
• What’s one thing you’re thankful for this year?