December 14: The Nutcracker, Shortened

Saturday evening we had tickets to see our friends (also the daughters of our friends—we like the whole family) perform in The Nutcracker. Caleb continues to grow at a precipitous rate, and the Christmas onesie I squeezed him into for the performance will be the last time he gets to wear that outfit.

It's for either 3 or 6 month olds. He is two months.

I had coached the boys through the music of The Nutcracker. Of course, after the description of Drosselmeyer and the Nutcracker's battle with the mouse king and the Sugar Plum Fairy, our friends reminded us that there are no males in the studio. No Drosselmeyer. No Nutcracker. No mouse king. Not to mention, no pit and no orchestra.

Given these limitations, the performance delighted us in every way. At the end, I felt like I relived my wedding, as my cheeks had the same fatigue from smiling so hard. The company had done a good job matching music to a changed storyline. Clara and her mother host a party for their friends (with plenty of visual gags). Two life-size dolls arrive, and they perform (the soldier doll performs during the music for the battle). The party ends and Clara and dolls, now come to life, watch performances of different nationalities.

Because there were only three rows of seats, and the littler boys sat on the floor in front, all the boys were rapt. And as we drove away, they said, "My favorite part was when this happened. Oh, no, maybe my favorite part was this. I loved this, too."

Two Christmases ago, we went to the complete Nutcracker, done by the Colorado Ballet, and although I loved that one, too, Joe, at three, had a hard time sitting still. No problems this year. And the audience forgot that Caleb was there, he was so quiet. "What a good baby!" Indeed.