The Taylor Four: Holiday Adventures with Graham

Of all the new dad duties I've carried out during the past year getting Graham from his crib on Christmas morning ranks among my favorites. As you can see in the photo to the left, our little man was up and ready to experience the magic of the holiday by the time I arrived in his room.

Christmas day was the midpoint of two wonderful weeks away from work that allowed our family of three to relax and enjoy lots of quality time together.

We spent the first week at home finishing up shopping and soaking up the experience of Graham's first Christmas by, for example, listening to holiday music while sitting beside the finely decorated tree (which is to say daddy had little hand in the effort).

We traveled to Catonsville during the second week to visit loved ones and introduce Graham to extended family and friends he had yet to meet. With many eager babysitters on hand, we snuck away for some rare time on our own that covered matters practical (visits to the gym), romantic (a date night at Catonsville Gourmet) and traditional (our annual visit to Nacho Mama's and Vaccaros with Pete and Michele).

Along the way we experienced a post-Christmas miracle in that we actually made it on to our 6:05 a.m. flight to Baltimore despite unexpectedly long ticket and security lines at the airport. It was as about as close to a near-miss as you can come; Erica (and Graham) waited anxiously for me at the gate and urged me to run the final steps once I came into sight. It provided some exciting - and totally unnecessary - early morning drama for passengers at RDU airport. The experience scared us straight as we arrived shortly before 5 a.m. for our 6:15 a.m. flight back to North Carolina.

But who am I kidding? You don't want to read about us, you want to see pictures of Graham. Here they are: