Christmas too soon

Christmas decorations are going up everywhere, including home. The boys have been making Christmas wish lists for weeks now, and for the first year they are perusing toy catalogues. Their lists are very long. Electronics are a big item on Jack's; Ry is more interested in skateboards and bakugans. Jack and I saw an ITouch at the Apple store. It has a ton of apps and you can use wifi, without having to sign up for phone service on top of it. He's been discovering more apps on the computer, and he figured out the paint program. Jack made some presents already, wrapped them and put them under the tree. Ry tells me Jack wants to knit a scarf for Cyndi, but it's a secret. Ry's been making me ornaments and gifts out of paper and glue and markers. Ry asked me what I wanted for Christmas. I thought of things he could make out of paper. So I said sailboat and a few other things. No,no, he said. What do you really want? So I said, socks. (My stock answer for a gift. The thing is I really think that is a great gift. Only Ariel gets it.) What else? he asked. Music. What else? Running shoes. So he said those things over and over to etch them into his mind. What was that other one again? The next day he asks me what kind of socks do I like. He says he's getting me some tomorrow, Mom's taking him. The next couple of days, he asks me, what kind of music do you like? I said, well, lots...jazz. Do you like Raffi? Yes, I do. That's his favorite music, he says. Yesterday he said maybe he should get something different from Raffi since we already have some. We curl up together almost every night, the last to go to sleep. He reaches a hand out in his sleep to touch. Jackson is getting very lanky. He's sweet with people. He took a break from playing with his cousins his age on Thanksgiving day last week and quietly ate while listening to his older cousins talk. His oldest cousin there is in his early thirties. The others ranged from teen to twenties. The conversation was cynical, boisterous and adult. When Jackson learned his oldest cousin's age, he was surprised. I thought you were a teenager, he told his cousin. Later Jack and I played chess. He is quick and sure now. Ariel called, too. She was visiting Terra in Boston. We talked about getting out of New York the evening before Thanksgiving, time with Terra, and her first staff meeting as editor. She will be here in about two weeks.