"She smiled at me Uncle Josh! Yes, she did. Didn't you Lulu? I'm your favorite cousin, aren't I?"

Carly is crazy for Lulu. I can't say I blame her. My daughter is the most amazing child ever born. And now that she's smiling, no one is immune to her charms. Even Donna's Dad, who I don't think held her for more than 5 seconds last month, is anxiously waiting his turn to hold her. Carly hasn't wanted to leave Lulu's side. It's a good thing her other Grandparents did Christmas on Saturday or Sean and Becky might have had a hard time getting Carly to visit them. We are spending 4 full days in Wisconsin, as crazy as that seems. We are breaking the 3-day Rule that Julie suggested, but the way Christmas falls on a Tuesday, it sort of feels like we have to. We got here around lunch time Saturday, before anyone else arrived. It was nice for Donna's parents to have at least part of a day with just us and Lulu. Julie and Finn spent Saturday with her folks before driving down and arriving Sunday morning after Church. I think that was strategic on their part.

We caused quite the uproar in church yesterday. In hindsight, it might not have been a good idea to introduce Lulu to her cousins and Aunts and Uncles 5 minutes before the service started. There was a lot of whispering during the singing, until finally Donna handed me the baby and said- "Go find the nursery."

We caused a pretty big scene leaving the row with two secret service agents trailing behind us, but hey, at least I didn't have to sit through the sermon. I found the nursery and a pleasant looking woman offered to take my baby so I could go back into the service. Was she freaking crazy? Why on earth would I willingly hand over my baby to a complete stranger? You'd have to pry her out of my cold, dead, hands, and the two men in black behind me are here to prevent that from happening. Somehow I managed to bite my tongue from that retort and instead explained that I'd be keeping my baby, I was just looking for a rocking chair. She pointed me a couple doors down and I found an unoccupied room labeled "the cry room." It had a TV on the wall tuned into what was happening in the auditorium. I was disappointed to discover I couldn't change the channel to CNN, but at least I was able to turn the volume off. Lulu and I enjoyed an hour to ourselves and I'm glad we had it, because I'm not getting to hold her very much since the family arrived.

Donna is off in another room doing homework. She's pretty serious about getting her degree, and I'm really proud of her. She was able to get two independent study classes completed while pregnant. And now, while having a newborn, she's just started the third class. Now that she's not nursing around the clock, she said she's finding moments to get more done. She truly amazes me. But right now, I think she might just be avoiding her family.

I don't mind holding down the fort with the baby and her family whether she's actually working or just pretending. Finn and I left the den shortly after the topic turned to local politics. It's just the smart thing to do. I always listen as long as I can, because it's good to know what the other side is thinking, but I can only keep silent for so long at some of the crazy ideology.

We poke our heads into the living room, which is pretty quiet.

"Hi boys," Lottie greets us. "Bella and Becky took the kids off to choir practice. We'll see them at church tonight. Kate is down for a nap." I see that Lulu is asleep too, so I reach for her, but Lottie doesn't want to give her up yet.

"I'll take her upstairs and put her in the pack-n-play and check up on Donna." She offers. I reluctantly agree. My ability to share is definitely being stretched by this visit. "I laid out a buffet before the kids left. Why don't you get some lunch?"

Well, I may have to share my baby. But at least the food is amazing.

"So Josh, you seem to be taking to parenthood well. Though I have to say I'm surprised you let Lottie take Lulu upstairs without following her." Julie laughs.

"Are you suggesting that I'm over-protective?" I volley back. I don't really care, I personally think there is no such thing.

Julie laughs again. "No, you remind me of Finn when Marco was first born. I think there's hope for you."

"Well, I'll take that as a compliment. Finn's a pretty good Dad."

"Thanks." Finn chuckles. "So you mastered the pack-n-play?"

"No, actually, I haven't had to. Your Mom already had the one here set up. And Dr. Bartlet already had one set up at the Farm for Thanksgiving last month. So I haven't had any reason to put one up."

"You guys really spent Thanksgiving at the Bartlet's Farm? I thought that was just an excuse to get out of coming here." Julie teases.

"We did. It was a little crazy flying with a two and a half week old, but the Secret Service really would rather we go there than have the Bartlets come to DC. And Grandpa Jed said if we didn't come for Thanksgiving they were coming down the next weekend."

"Grandpa Jed?!" Finn parrots, astonished.

"I'm still getting used to it myself, but they are persistently refering to themselves that way. They said we are in big trouble if Lulu calls them Sir and Ma'am when she starts talking."

Finn and Julie are both just sort of shaking their heads in disbelief. "You really do live in an alternate reality, Josh."

It would probably blow their minds if I told them that Aunt Helen and Tio Matt were Lulu's first babysitters.

Christmas Eve Service proves to be less tricky than yesterday morning. Donna decks Lulu out in a fancy outfit. It's a long sleeve white onesie embroidered with "First Christmas Eve" on it, a fancy fluffy skirt that alternates red, white and green tulle, green leggings, white socks with ruffles and black patent leather shoes. And she's got a headband with a giant bow that is red with white polka dots. She really is freaking adorable!

Donna and her Mom show Lulu off for a bit, then I make my way to the cry room with her. Now that she's on formula, Lulu's doing a lot better eating on a schedule. She makes it about 4 hours between meals. We like to feed her around 8pm, then Donna goes to bed between 9 and 10, and I get the midnight feeding before I go to sleep. Then Donna gets up for the 4am feeding. This way we are both getting at least 5 solid hours in a row. Turning the volume up on the TV for the singing part, I sing along softly on the choruses that I know. Lulu seems to enjoy the music. She falls asleep after I burp her, so I make my way back to the family row in time to catch the tail end of the sermon, which from what I remember, sounds a lot like last year. But I'm there in time to hold Donna's hand and sing silent night, which all in all is not a bad family tradition.

I must admit that when we get home I'm looking forward to seeing what the Christmas Pajamas are this year. Once I found out that, now that Sean owns the insurance agency he doesn't include the extended family on the Company Christmas cards, I'm a little less nervous about having the family picture taken. Basically it's just for Lottie's scrapbook.

Sure enough the pajamas are layed out on the desk. It looks like this years theme is stripes. Lulu has a fuzzy zip up pair that is red and white stripes with green trim. Donna and I have matching outfits, green striped bottoms, with solid green tops, with red cuffs. I hope they aren't as tight fitting as they look.

"So after she eats at midnight, should I change her into these? Or at you going to do it in the morning?" I need my marching orders.

"You can do it then. I've got a spare pair in case she has a blow out or something." Of course she does. I can always count on Donna to be prepared.

"What about us?"

Donna undresses slowly while my mouth waters. Once she's down to just her lacy red underwear, she climbs into bed. "I'm putting mine on in the morning." She tells me with a cheeky smile.

She's been starting to send me signals about resuming sexual activity. It's been seven and a half weeks. Yes. I am counting. Thank God she has a doctor's appointment on Friday. I hope we get the all clear. I hope she's ready. I really miss sex. But there's no way that I'm interested in trying anything in her parent's house with the baby in a pack-n-play in the same room. I don't think Donna really wants to try anything tonight either. She just likes to torment me.

Once I've showered in the morning, I put my pajamas on with a shake of my head. The things I'll do for this family! Thank God my pajama bottoms aren't as tight as Donna's. Although, I really do like how tight Donna's are. They show off her curves very nicely.

"C'mere." I grab her and pull her close. "Merry Christmas." I give her a long kiss as my hands run over her ass. Yes, I really do like these.

Lulu makes an "ah-ah" sound and I force myself to let go of Donna. "Hey, baby girl. Good morning!" I tell her brightly and I'm rewarded by an "oooing."

"I tell you Donna, she's going to be an early talker. She's a few weeks ahead on these noises."

Donna just nods. She's not quite as convinced as I am that Lulu is brilliant. On the way down the stairs, I whisper to Lulu. "We'll show her won't we?"

Lottie gets our picture in front of the fireplace, then hands Lulu off to Jim for the morning bottle. It's kind of nice that Donna and I get to eat breakfast at the same time. And Lottie has those gooey caramel cinnamon things again. Those are really good.

After breakfast, I take my girls back upstairs to change. There is a lot I'll do for this family, but letting Sean and Bob see me in these pajamas is not one of them. At least Finn is in the same boat.

I'm really happy when Donna hands me blue jeans and a solid navy sweater.

When I'm done changing, I take Lulu and sit on the bed to watch Donna change. Lulu's outfit is very similar to yesterday's. In fact it's the same skirt. But today she's got red leggings on, and a red onesie that has "First Christmas" embroidered in white. And her headband and bow are green. I love it.

Donna is putting on the green Cashmere sweater that my Mom gave her for Hanukkah. I love how her eyes look with it. I can't believe I didn't ever notice how much they change color depending on what she's wearing. Lulu's eyes are still blue. Donna says they will probably change, and they could even end up brown. But I really hope she get's Donna's eyes.

It isn't long before everyone arrives and starts to gather in the living room.

I'm bouncing in my seat waiting for the gift exchange to start. This is my favorite part of Christmas with the Mosses. And Lulu gets to go first this year! I feel a little bad for Kate- she's never going to get a turn to be first. But at ten and a half months old she's probably going to enjoy this Christmas more than Lulu any way. So far, Kate is enthralled with Lulu, as long as Julie or Finn aren't holding her. They might want to wait a while before thinking about a third.

Once everyone is finally settled, I carry Lulu to the tree and pick out her present for Grandma. We sit nearby as Lottie opens it. She "oohs and ahhs" appropriately, it's a photo frame with plaster casts of Lulu's hand and foot on one side and a picture of Jim and Lottie holding Lulu on the other. It's a touch cheesy, but Donna was right, from the tears in her Mom's eyes, I'd say she loves it.

I always thought that Italian mothers were supposed to be all warm and nuturing, but Lottie Moss is mostly sharp wit and direct looks. I see bits of her in Donna but those bits are tempered by Donna's warmness and genuine concern for people. Observing Donna with her mother, now that Donna's a mother, is enlightening. It is pretty clear to me that Lottie loves her family, it's just her way of showing it isn't really what Donna craves. Lottie is about working hard, projecting the right image and doing the right things. Donna definitely does all those things, partially because of her desire to please her parents, but Donna really just wants someone to love her unconditionally, which is why she loves my Mother so much. My Mother adopted her and loved on her and built her up long before it looked like anything would happen between Donna and I.

At first when I found out that Donna had been talking to my mother every week for years, I felt a big boost to my ego. I thought it was evidence of how much Donna loved me. But eventually I realized that it was proof of how well my Mother loved Donna, and how much Donna loves her. I really must be the most blessed man in the world to have such amazing women in my life. My daughter is going to have plenty of great role models to follow. And I'll even admit that Lottie Moss is one of them.

Hanukkah really was nice. Just my Mom, Donna, Lulu and I in our cozy apartment. Mom insisted on staying on the pull-out so that she didn't miss a minute. Donna and I were both thrilled to have her there to light the candles, say the prayers and sing the songs. Mom taught Donna how to make potato latkes, so total bonus there. And Mom was rewarded with some of Lulu's first smiles, not that we are sharing that information with Donna's parents.

As nice as the quiet of Hanukkah was, I'm completely enjoying the mass hysteria that seems to be the typical Moss Family Christmas. I haven't been paying much attention to the present opening, but Lulu seems to be absorbing everything, now that she can follow objects.

It's no surprise when Carly picks Lulu to give her first gift to. Lulu's face lights up as Carly coos at her. Kate squeals across the room and Anna reaches for her and settles her on her lap saying "Don't worry, I'll get you next, baby girl."

Carly unwraps Lulu's present and shakes it in front of her face. Lulu smiles and babbles and Carly is thrilled. It is a cute little wooden rattle. I'm always impressed how well Carly does getting little gifts on her own.

Aiden and Liam do their normal gift exchange next. Apparently this year they both wanted new baseball gloves.

Anna keeps her word to Kate and presents her with a brightly wrapped package. Kate is much more interested in the bow than actually opening it so Anna helps her. The box has some cute little plastic people in it. Kate grasps one and starts gnawing on it.

Next Conor gives Marco some Legos and it's just in time. Marco was getting impatient. But he's still doing really well. He's grown so much just since Easter. It's hard to see these guys only twice a year.

I hope the kids aren't disappointed by their gifts this year. I wanted to get them all cell phones. That idea was quickly shot down. Then I wanted to upgrade their Ipods. Apple just came out with one that is a touch screen and has internet capabilities. I got shot down on that too. Allegedly, they are too expensive for us to give them. I don't understand that logic at all.

When we sat down with the lists to do some online shopping and I kept pointing out that we weren't going to be the cool Aunt and Uncle any more, Donna just laughed at me and said, "I warned you about this when you set the standard so high last year."

On her turn, Donna gives Carly her present. She opens it and squeals immediately.

"Josefina! Thank you, Thank you!" Carly gives Donna a gentle hug, being careful of Lulu, but then throws herself into my arms for a bear hug.

"Thank you, Uncle Josh! I mean Gracias!"

Well I'm thrilled she seems to like it. I had my doubts about buying a doll for an 11 year old. But Donna explained that Carly is really into these collectible American Girl dolls, and once she showed me the website I have to agree they are pretty neat.

I mean to some extent the dolls look all alike, but they are trying for diversity and the books seem at least somewhat historically accurate. Anything that gets kids interested in history is okay with me. The doll that Carly wanted this year is Latina, so that makes it even more special. I wonder if Miranda and Peter influenced this at all? Carly is grinning, so that's what really counts. Maybe we do retain our status.

On my turn, I hand Anna a box. She opens it carefully, then gets a big grin on her face too.

"Thanks, Uncle Josh!"

Bob rolls his eyes at the blue suede boots, but that's not my problem.

During Round 2, Lulu gets a really cute dress from Bella. I have no idea when she'll ever wear it, but it is adorable. She also gets a stack of board books from Finn and Julie and the kids. Now, those we'll use!

Donna and I use our turns to give Aiden and Liam their gifts. It's double the excitement each time. Liam is thrilled when Aiden opens Major League Baseball 2k7 and Aiden is thrilled when Liam opens MVP07 NCAA Baseball. It's pretty cool that they are so close and they like the same thing. I barely remember my cousins' names.

At noon, Lulu and Kate are both getting a little fussy. Donna hands Lulu off to me, while she heads to the kitchen to fix a bottle. Julie follows behind to find a snack for Kate. Lottie and Jim finish off Round 2 by giving Bella and Bob "Coffee of the Month." We had that last year. It's a good gift.

"Okay. Lunch Break." Lottie announces when Donna comes back with the bottle.

"Can I?" Lottie asks gently. For all her rough edges, she really does love this baby. There's really no chance I'll say no.

"Of course." I transfer Lulu into her arms and place a kiss on her forehead. Then Donna hands her Mom the bottle.

In the kitchen, Donna helps herself to a big bowl of Wedding Soup, while I make myself a Roast Beef sandwich. She raises her eyebrows at the pile of cookies on my plate. I'll run extra tomorrow.

Lulu and Kate sleep through the rest of the gift exchange. Conor seems pleased with the Rock Band game for his Play Station. And then also gives me a genuine smile when he opens the JFK Biography that I picked out. He doesn't say much when his Dad and Grandfather are talking politics, but based on the questions he asked while he was with us, I think Conor's a Democrat who just doesn't know it yet. He definitely has his own ideas, even if he's not quite ready to share them in a house full of Republicans. I really hope I can convince him to come to college in DC.

. . . .

"It was a really good day. Wasn't it?" Donna asks as she snuggles next to me in the bed.

"Oh yeah, Wine of the Month, baby! We hit the jackpot."

Donna giggles, but then I get serious for a minute.

"I really do like your family."

Sure, sometimes her Mom does drive us both a bit crazy, and listening to Jim, Sean and Bob talk politics raises my blood pressure, but at the end of the day, they do love each other, and that's the most important thing.

"They're your family now too. No getting out of it. You're connected by DNA."

I glance over at Lulu sleeping. I don't ever want out of this family. It's filled a hole in my life that I used to barely acknowledge existed.

"Thanks, baby. Merry Christmas."

"Love you. You getting the first shift?"

"Yep. It's almost 11. Lulu will probably need to eat in about an hour. I'll just read until then. After all, I've got this biography of Ronald Reagan that Sean so thoughtfully gave me."