Well, turns out, I've got more time. I hate insomnia...
Kosh and Borboleta--Merry Christmas!!! (Though I think it's over by now.)
SK--oh dear, your MIL's visit does not sound good. I hope you made it through the next 24 hours. But, on another note, Finn is adorable in his outfit! Adorable, period! The third one is my favourite.
Leeze--Grrr--unwanted comments from our parents. My father is never to know that the cat and J hang out together. My FIL suggested tonight that it was unsafe for J to walk around chewing his xylophone mallett, and OH and I said, at the same time: "Nope. It's fine!" It isn't really, but you know, you get to a point when you can't remove every single thing that might potentially harm your child if they fall down while moving. Like, I really can't understand why people get so upset when I make J bring me the garden shears. I DO tell him to hold them sharp part down, especially when running...
Re: introverted-ness--to pick up the conversation from before, I'm actually quite okay being an introvert. I mean, it's what I am and acting outgoing is tiring. Like you, Leeze, when I used to drink in university and in grad school, I was quite the extrovert, until I stopped, and suddenly...I wasn't anymore. But I also knew that I needed the "extra lubrication." Plus, when I met Eric, also an introvert, that was it for the two of us. We are quite content in our introverted little world, and often comment on how "trying to make friends and being around them all the time is too much hard work and not worth it..." My sister and my mother, who both crave friends and work hard to build up elaborate networks don't understand me at all, but my father gets it.
What's great about this thread is that it's a nice, long, on-going conversation with stories and jokes and information about our lives, and moments of celebration and comfort. It's slow, or fast, but always comforting, and I can duck out if I don't feel like writing and just wish to read, or I can write a whole bunch of stuff without feeling like I'm dominating the conversation. This is how I like conversations to go. My husband and I always remark on how our lives together have been this long, nine-year conversation, never-ending.
Oh, and Angel--I hate being the centre of attention, too. I don't even like birthday parties (and don't have them, either). We did have a wedding, but we took the focus off of us as much as possible. We had the dinner the night before, at a lovely restaurant, where OH and I sat in a corner, and no one made any speeches. The wedding was held in a botanical garden, where the procession consisted of both of our parents and Eric and I. Afterwards, an hour of hor d'oeuvres, a few unexpected speeches (which were actually lovely), and home we went to a picnic at Eric's house, where again, no one paid attention to us. Perfect. And since then, we have lived in relative obscurity.
I'm really nervous about going back lecturing next week, and today I looked over my first two lectures, and wanted to kill myself. My husband and I slowly developed a style of lecturing that included PowerPoint and a very specific way of designing the slides to best present the content matter, and turns out, we hadn't perfected it yet for one of the most complicated subjects in American History. Later lectures are much better, but the first ones... So I've got my job cut out for me. Luckily, our style is now ingrained, but I have to somehow fix these lectures, get my hair done and buy a complete new wardrobe in a week. I'm feeling very overwhelmed... (And poor...)
Oh, and still no milk for J. No soy or almond either. And his formula intake is down by 2/3rds. Luckily, his pedi appointment is in a week, so we don't have long to wait before we talk to his geriatric and typically unhelpful doctor.
Did you get lovely scan piccies? Oh and are you going to have a 3d scan?
I hope you frame it 
I'm wrecked now after all the cooking so will catch up tomorrow.
