MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

A wonderful semi-white Christmas morning at the Fletcher house, full of all kinds of wonderful toys for Kole ... to play with, or play in.

Another Santa Visit

At least for the time being, Kole isn't affraid of Santa Claus. This photo went, for the most part, without incident. Kathy had it taken at The Parks Mall in Arlington, which is where he had last year's photo taken also. She said they have all sorts of little nick-knacks and do-dads for kids to poke and prod while standing in line - and Kole had a mini-meltdown being taken away from a little toy to go have the picture taken. But, the sight and presence of Santa himself didn't seem to bother him.

Early December update

I realize I've been sloppy about updating things here, so I'll try and catch up as best as possible.

Last week Kole actually had a quick doctor's visit to check on a rash, or hives that he had been developing on his back, chest, arms and legs. He did not itch them or seem bothered by them, but he had them nonetheless. We had not changed laundry detergents, nor could we think of anything that his skin had been in contact with that was out of the ordinary or something he hadn't been in contact before. We couldn't think of anything. Then Kathy read something online about strawberries and that struck a cord. Kole had recently been watched for a couple of ours by our neighbor Macko, who has a little 17-month-old girl Meisha, who is actually just one day apart from Kole (born the day before or after, I can't remember). Anyway, she gave him strawberries and said he loved them. We bought some - and indeed he did love them. He already has had strawberry yogurt and strawberry jam on toast. But, Kathy read where fresh strawberries (much like honey) come with a host of alergies to many children.

The doctor agreed that, yes, we should cut out the strawberries and see if things get better. They have so - disaster avoided and strawberries have been removed from the menu.

Kole still runs like a wild man around the house and does lots of babbling. He knows lots of words. He knows what a ball is, if you ask him if he wants to read a story he'll go find a book ... I could go on and on. He just doesn't say anything to identify anything, except for "Da Da" for his daddy.

He loves hearing the "Itsy Bitsy Spider" song and has other favorite songs and tunes on TV - even commercials. He's very musically inclined and knows all of his toys that produce music and spends most of his day playing and dancing to them.

PHOTO: Kole with his little neighbor girlfriend, Meisha. Drinks on the house!