Tag Archives: christmas

Happy Holidays from the Rottons

Greetings from the Rottons!

It’s been another year of change for the Rotton household.  In July, Sasha celebrated her first birthday. She’s now walking and babbling off in a language that only she understands. However, she can say things like “Mama,” “Dada,” and “hot dog” (which actually means Mickey Mouse, long story).

Sammy has gone from being a toddler to a full-fledged little kid.  He often demonstrates that he’s too smart for our own good: he can do simple arithmetic, reads voraciously, and has just started taking ice skating lessons with Mom.

Mark continues to work for the Discovery Channel, but Tracy has moved on to working for a federal government contractor.  She will be working with the Administration for Children and Families (part of HHS) to reengineer their website.

We’re also in the hunt for a new house, staying in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C.

Hope the new year finds you happy and healthy. All the best for a very merry Christmas and a bright and prosperous new year!

Mark, Tracy, Sammy & Sasha

My Christmas Toy Presents

Merry Christmas, everybody!

I had a great Christmas. Grandmommy and Uncle Boo were here. Santa Claus gave me lots of good toys because I was a very good boy this year. Here are some of the things he gave me:

  • A big dump truck
  • A little dump truck
  • A medium steam roller
  • A wooden train whistle
  • Diesel

My grandmommies gave me some cool toys too:

  • A doctor’s kit
  • A wooden clock toy
  • A Thomas floor puzzle

And Uncle Boo gave me a suitcase for my Thomas trains.

Sammy with his favorite Christmas present, the big dump truck from Santa Claus.
Sammy with his favorite Christmas present, the big dump truck from Santa Claus.

Christmas Lights

So, we go to the mall last night to pick up a few things, and don’t get home until 9:30. Then it’s the nightly fun of putting the kids to bed.  Hooray!

So what do I do afterwards? Why, finish putting Christmas lights on the cherry tree out front, of course!

I only did this last night because it was 60 bloody degrees outside, and a cold front was going to be moving in overnight. So it was either do it late at night in the drizzling rain, or some other night this week in the cold. I chose late but warm.

They’re on a timer, so hopefully they’ll be lit when we get home tonight. Sammy should like that. He gets really excited seeing any house with Christmas lights and will point out each and every one!

(I’ll try and get a better picture up this weekend.)

Sammy vs. Santa

I’ll spare the gory details of the entire weekend, only that we’re in the midst of holiday cheer.

However, I will relate the story of Sammy vs. Santa Claus. For weeks I’ve been telling Sammy that we need to go see Santa Claus so that he can tell him what he wants for Christmas. We even wrote a letter Sammy could give him detailing his preferences. And finally the day came, Sunday, when we were off to Lakeforest Mall with, I believe, one of the best Santa layouts in Suburban Maryland.

Sammy was reasonably good in the long line, as was Sasha who didn’t get fussy until we were approaching. A little nosh (yes, while standing in line) seemed to appease her. As for Sammy, I let him play with my iPhone for a little while, which backfired when it was our turn and I had to yank it out of his hand when he refused to give it back to me.

Sasha, who has been plagued with both separation anxiety and stranger anxiety lately, was a perfect angel. She gave Santa her biggest toothless smile and did everything she was supposed to do. Then there was Sammy.

I tried placing Sammy on Santa’s lap. His response was to start crying and then hop off. I gave Sammy the letter he had written, which he then threw at Santa and tried to run off.  Finally, after coaxing from the photographer and from me, he stood sort of next to Santa clutching a tiny basketball squeaky toy, and then finally sat on my knee as I kneeled down next to Santa.

At one point, he gave the photographer one of his “I’m in pain!” smiles. I tried to tell her that that was his smile and that she should get the shot off quickly, but I don’t think she quite believed me.

We managed to get off a few passable pictures which we got in prints and on a USB key (a cool l feature that I think is a smart way to go), we were done, much to Sammy’s relief.

Sasha doesnt look that happy, but Sammy cooperated for this picture.
Sasha doesn't look that happy, but Sammy cooperated for this picture.

2008 Christmas Letter

Greetings from the Rottons:
Mark, Tracy, Sammy & Sasha

It’s been an exciting year for the Rottons.
On July 11, at 2:43 in the morning, we
welcomed Alexandra Elaine Rotton into the
family.  She weighed in at 8 lb 8 oz and is a
healthy and active bundle of energy.  We
call her “Sasha” (it’s the Russian equivalent
of “Alex”).

Sammy is now a very precocious three year
old.  He recently switched to a new
preschool located in the same building in
which Tracy works.  With Sasha there too,
the whole family gets to be together every
day.



Mark and Tracy are still working for Discovery Communications.  We invite everyone to enjoy the fine programming on the Discovery Channel’s family of networks. You can keep up with all our happenings on our newly relaunched blog: http://family.rotton.com/

You can also follow us on Twitter! Mark is @atarinut, Tracy is @taupecat and Sammy is @sammyrotton. (Sasha will get her account when she learns to talk. 🙂 )

To reach us in more traditional ways, call or email us:

301-460-6466
us@rotton.com