I took a rare break from the Thursday Rundown last week to celebrate a little holiday called Thanksgiving. Hope you didn’t miss it too much. Don’t worry, it is back again! Here we go with five topics…

Our Christmas Tree – Let me start off this rundown on a positive Christmas note. Our tree is now set up and decorated! Sidney purchased it at Lowe’s (hardware store) for $30 on Black Friday. It is perfect! We have all my favorite ornaments on it from last year in addition to a few new ones. I like to walk Sloan up to the tree but I can only go so far until she starts yanking the ornaments off.

This is our 2017 Christmas tree.

Vandalism – Now let me continue this rundown on a negative Christmas note. Sidney used to work at a baby supply store called the Kangaroo Pouch. She is still close with the owner of the store. Earlier this week, a couple of hoodlums entered the business right before closing and overturned a giant nutcracker, completely destroying it. They then sprinted off. Law enforcement believes that the suspects did it for social media fame. Believe it or not, there is an audience on Snapchat and Instagram hungry for mean spirited pranks carried out by bored losers. To watch the video of the act, click here. To provide any information you know about the crime, contact the Myrtle Beach Police.

An oversized nutcracker inside the Kangaroo Pouch in Myrtle Beach was destroyed by two individuals who rushed the store right before closing (photo courtesy of Chris Richardson, Kangaroo Pouch owner).

The Matt Lauer Coverage – The major headline yesterday was the firing of Matt Lauer. An icon in the news industry, his abrupt termination predictably caused a media firestorm. What intrigued me the most was the coverage his former employer gave the development. I watched NBC Nightly News last night as the surreal reality unfolded in front of my eyes as Lester Holt, a friend of Lauer’s, led off the broadcast detailing the fallout. The most interesting (or ironic) point came when the report mentioned that NBC News had reached out to Lauer for comment but he had not responded to inquiries. The company that welcomed the man into its studio for thousands of mornings over the course of 20 years, and that had just talked to him hours ago (albeit to fire him), could no longer even reach him for a statement. Although I understand that Lauer wasn’t going to say anything until he could release a statement on his own terms, it was just a weird moment.

Photo I took of the NBC Nightly News broadcast last night as Lester Holt led off the program with Matt Lauer coverage.

Santa Visit – Sloan met Santa for the first time this past weekend! I don’t want to give too much away about her experience because we are still awaiting the photos from the photographer. However, here is a look at the wardrobe she wore to meet Kris Kringle. Sidney’s mom picked it out for her and I must say she looked adorable. More to come on this later…

Sloan dressed up in her Christmas best to meet Santa.

Sloan At 37 Weeks – Many times in the past week we have observed Sloan get on all fours and prepare to take off…only to stop at that point. Not that she has a problem getting around. Despite not crawling just yet, she uses a combination of rolling and shifting to get across our living room floor at a rapid rate. Want to make Sloan laugh? Just show her a video of herself! Our baby girl will break into a big grin and lightly laugh when we show her iPhone videos of herself. It is a pretty neat trick! Sloan is doing great and we are excited for her to experience the magical month of December.

This is Sloan’s photo collage at 37 weeks.

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Ahhh…it feels great to be writing Thursday Rundowns again. I wish everyone a great first weekend of December and I thank you for reading Don’t Blink. Have a great night. Don’t Blink.