Instead of One Night of Presents, We Have Eight Crazy Nights

Hanukkah, this year, hasn't been a huge hit with the Doodlebug. He has the present market cornered--I think every gift in a fifty-mile radius went to him (and, no, it wasn't just me and Adam; in fact, for the most part, we were fairly low-key on the whole thing)--and yet, he hasn't been really moved. Oh, sure, he's mouthed most of his gifts (a new Doodlebug trick: anything that can be grabbed is brought to the mouth and gummed with gusto until he loses his grasp and then he looks for something else to grab and drool on), but every night when we go to light the candles, he gets this "So what" look on his face, and he seems to want the whole thing over with. I think the only thing that would make him happy with a present is if I gift-wrapped my breasts (oy, that's two references to breasts in today's entry; what kind of hits is that going to generate in my referrals log?). Tonight his present was for more for me than him: Baby Mozart. I figure if he likes TV so much, might as well give him something that won't harm him and that will give me fifteen minutes of peace (call me a bad mom. See what I care). We'll see if he likes the next two nights of gifts any better. I think he will because--don't tell him!--he's getting an exersaucer on the last night.

In previous years, Adam and I have had a large Hanukkah gathering where we invite pretty much everyone we know in town and made a butt-load of latkes. This year, it just wasn't going to happen, so instead, I just invited over four babies and their parents. It turned out to be a great gathering and all the babies were in a good mood. The food was good: Adam picked up sufganiyot and I made the latkes. The recipe I use comes from The Second Avenue Deli Cookbook, which makes amazing latkes. However, I think the book has a warped idea of how bad these potato pancakes really are because the recipe reads, add "3/4 cup corn oil (most of it cooks out)" as if each latke wasn't cooked in half a cup of oil. Our house still reeks of oil after three days.

Anyway, enjoy the last two nights of Hanukkah for those of you who celebrate it and the rest of you have a great Christmas, Solstice, or whatever else your holiday of choice is.