Amanda and I packed up and left Richlands for Rougemont a little after 10. Actually, we were heading to Cary before the Rouge for Amanda’s extended family’s annual day after Christmas get-together, but we did make a stop near the RDU airport to meet up with my sister, Erin, to drop off Bruce and Harvey so she could take them to our parents’ house. We wouldn’t really have any place to keep them for the couple hours we’d be at Ralph and Susan’s (Amanda’s great-uncle and -aunt) and Erin was nice enough to drive pretty far out of her way to do us this favor.
This was the first time a number of people had met Milly and of course she was a hit. She did really well, too, being passed around and held so much. She didn’t get fussy until almost 3:00, which was the time we were planning on leaving anyway. We got to the Rouge at about 4:00, just in time to feed her. I called my friend, Jason Revill, on the way and talked to him about him and his parents stopping by, but he was sick and his parents were in Burlington I believe. He’ll meet Milly one of these days.
My baby sister arrived with her family not too long after we got to my parents’ house. Amanda and I gave Jackson his birthday present, a pack of Legos that came with instructions to make two different jets or a boat. Jackson and I worked on that with a small break when I put Milly down for a nap.
We opened presents a little bit after that. Aunt Reggie came with a guy she’s seeing. I can’t recall his name at the moment. Richy maybe? Milly was up before we finished opening presents so she got to do some of that. She still wouldn’t rip open the wrapping paper by herself, but she would grip it and I’d pull the box so it would sort of tear. Jackson didn’t mind helping her open her presents. He was really sweet with her, picking her up and playing with her and all. He even told me that she’s a really pretty baby.
Renee, Adam’s former fiancee, was there. I guess she’d driven from Charlotte to Wilmington then to Rougemont with him. It was nice to see her.
Later on, after the presents had all been opened (we got a GPS and money, as well as a juicer in the Chinese Christmas/White Christmas/whatever part) we played a few games of Wits & Wagers and Scattergories. I almost won the last game of the former and I did win the latter.
Zach Dotsey