Much like the lost vault of Al Capone, I have unearthed a passel of photos taken during the Christmas holiday. That means that today is a super-bonus-Christmas-RPOD day! This first photo was taken in the Smithsonian Institution's Air and Space Museum during a visit from K's parents. Unfortunately, to preserve the artifacts and space capsules and whatnot, everything in the museum is kept in a constant state of half-light. Pre-digital photography, this must have cost people a lot of money in film. You basically get a well-lit shot of the person you're photographing but not the cool thing they're standing in front of. Reid's expression of amazement is certainly a coincidence, but he is actually standing in front of a carefully reproduced replica of the original Wright Brothers flyer. Amazing!

Reid received mittens for Christmas. I haven't seen them since the day we took this picture. Honestly, we've had some weird weather here in the National Capitol Region, including several 65 degree days right after Christmas. So maybe they got put somewhere safe. But realistically, we knew that the toddler attrition rate for Christmas gifts was high, and we weren't thinking that he would LOVE his gloves. But we really should track them down. It's supposed to snow soon, I believe.

Reid got a serious Lego upgrade from a member of my family this year at Christmas. (K is in charge of recalling who gave certain gifts to certain people. She has an almost disturbing ability to spring back to the moment of gift-itude and announce who bought something. With her on travel, I can pinpoint a lot of information related to the gifting, but not the giver. We received it on December 31st, 2004, in my sister's home in Laurel, Md. It was warmer than usual outside. Alabama was losing a bowl game on the television before we turned it off. Who gave us the Legos? Um, I got nothing.) Reid's previous Lego levels were locked at 20 blocks deployed, two missing and presumed lost, leaving only a detachment of 18 blocks. This new set brought block levels to an all-time high of something like 93. We can build much more now. Thank you, whomever.

I mentioned and linked to the Wiggles guitar earlier. Since I actually informed her of the gift to purchase, I know this came from Reid's aunt Stephanie. (Which leaves only Reid's aunt Alia as the possible culprit for the Legos, by the way. Good thing we solved that little puzzler.) Here's Reid tuning the non-existent strings during a break in his killer imaginary set in Wiggle World. The best song as interpreted by the guitar is a Squeeze-esque humdinger called "Fruit Salad." Of course, only 20 seconds of the song come out of the guitar. The whole track kind of falls flat, but what can you do?

This isn't Chistmas-related but is a riot. Sometime during the holidays, possibly due to a baby monitor snafu, Reid woke up but wasn't immediately heard by his parents, including myself. He shouted and cried, which is de riguer for this little fellow, so no big deal. We entered the room to find that he had removed all of the amusing playthings, blanket and little towel from his crib. He then somehow wriggled his shirt into the position you see here. He seemed to be somehow rending his garments. We laughed when we came through the door, and he was completely overwhelmed with glee. He laughed at us laughing at him looking like an overwraught person with a wardrobe malfunction. The good times lasted until I got the camera. This shot was nice, but in the next shot he's angry because we haven't picked him up and fixed his shirt. Understandable, I guess.

Below, Reid kicks it in his crib with Pawpaw, checking out "Bear Sleeps On." Chill.