Thanksgiving was fine — weird, but fine. We went to my SIL's house, where they had more than 30 people wedged into their rather small house (first floor is about 500sf, and the kitchen was off limits) where, when I walked in, my glasses fogged from the heat of the crowd. No one could move without rearranging like that game Rush Hour, and I actually had to have Dave drive me home to get my inhaler, because it was starting to trigger an asthma attack. I'm not normally claustrophobic, but this was insane. Lots of complaining, but even me-who-had-to-leave-for-a-bit knows that if "there's not enough room!" is the biggest complaint about Thanksgiving, we're pretty damn lucky. (Although all agreed that we've outgrown such gatherings, with my BIL's kids and families, and SIL's family and kids, it's a fuckton of people.)

Some cute things:

Ingrid loved it. She warmed up pretty quickly, and when I summoned Dave to take me home for my albuterol, and headed for the door, it was near the card table that she was sitting at, happily coloring with the big kids, and she said "NO, Mama, go BACK!" (Meaning, get the hell away from funtown!) We left here in the safe care of every other local relative she knows, and she had a blast. When we got back, we had dinner, and while we were gone they opened the windows and doors and my glasses DIDN'T fog upon return, but then they closed them for dinner, and I got woozy again, so I ended up sitting on the couch in front of an open window. (In the living room, the couch had been pushed to the wall, and there were two long folding tables and the card table, and it was like a packed church hall or something. I really can't do it justice.) Anyway, while I was there, I was sitting next to my grandnephew Jacob, who is 4, who was eating a plate full of Cheetos for dinner. Ingrid came over and wanted some, and we don't really do Cheetos, so I said no, and she wandered away, but what I hadn't realized was that Jacob had also wandered off, and when HE returned he had a new plate and the bag of Cheetos and said "Where's Ingrid? I got her some chips!" Such a sweet kid, he is. I said "oh, no thank you, she's all set, but that was very thoughtful of you!" Fast forward an hour or so, it's after dinner and I'm standing with some family in the kitchen, and Ing approaches with a plate bearing 6 Cheetos. She holds the plate out, pleading with her eyes, and I lean down and she says "Can I have some chips?" with such longing and so earnestly, that I cave. She BEAMS, and spends the next half an hour carrying that plate around, savoring her Cheetos.

We've also been working on pottying here, as she suddenly really wants to be wearing underpants, JUST UNDERPANTS NO DIAPER! She's doing pretty good — at this point she's basically holding it until she has a diaper (ie, before nap, or before leaving) and she's really despising having a dirty diaper. At the party, she came over and tugged on my hand and pulled me down to whisper "I need a clean diaper!" which is a totally new thing. She even has had two weird naps on me, downstairs, and stayed dry through those. She hasn't actually peed on the potty yet, it's like there's this little barrier to that — she'll sit, but not pee. But as soon as a diaper goes on, she pees. We have three more days with NO PLANS, and we're going to be doing a lot of sitting, I think. Bizarre moment #2 of today, the boogie-stuck-in-teeth being #1, is me sitting cross legged on the bathroom floor in front of Ingrid sitting on her potty, with me leaning forward to hold her in a hug, because she asked for it. Out of fear? I don't know… but we're working on it.

So, yeah, Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!