December 26, 2009

• An Awesome Christmas

  Hello, everyone! We had a great Christmas, and I hope those of you who celebrate Christmas enjoyed the day as much as we did.

  Our festivities began on Christmas Eve. That was the first day of Johnny's holiday break from work (his office shuts down between Christmas and New Year's). We hung out at home and then put together Jack's train table after the kids went to bed.

  Jack and Derek on Christmas Eve
  

  "Santa" assembling the train table
  

  Poor Atari was very disturbed by all the lights we had on and the ruckus we were making as we assembled the table. He put his paw over his eyes!
  

  Part of what made Christmas extra special this year was that Jack really got the concept of Santa. On Christmas morning, when he woke up, I rang bells outside his room as Johnny went in to get him out of bed. When he heard the bells, he turned to Johnny with what Johnny reports as an expression of absolute wonderment and said, "Baba! Santa! Santa!" Jack then went to his window, lifted the curtain and looked for Santa's sleigh. I walked in to see this:

  Where's Santa?
  

  Johnny had written a letter from Santa to read to Jack. "Santa" had addressed it to Jack's Mommy and Daddy. The letter said that Jack had been very good this year, and had tried hard to keep his underwear dry, so Santa brought him Edward, James and a "few surprises." Jack then dashed to the den, where he had put a plate of gingerbread men under the tree for Santa the previous night. The plate was empty, and in the cookies' place were Edward and James. As you can see in this video, that made Jack very excited:

  

  Jack discovering Edward and James under the tree
  

  After that, we unwrapped some more presents. Most of the items under the tree were for the kids, but Johnny and I also made out very well with generous gifts from our parents, and we each got one big gift for each other (even though we had agreed that there would be no big gifts!). I upgraded Johnny's phone to a Palm Pre, and Johnny got me the "Pop C" tote from Coach's new Poppy collection. It was a great surprise!

  Putting on one of Derek's stocking stuffers
  

  

  After the presents were unwrapped, we brought Jack into the living room for his big surprise from Santa: the train table! Jack was so stunned he was rendered speechless. This is a rare event -- usually Jack chatters from the moment he wakes up until the moment he falls asleep at night.

  

  

  

  He played with the train table for hours, needing to be reminded to eat and drink, and stopping only to nap and play with his Handy Manny tools (thanks, Aunt Victoria and Uncle Chris!).

  

  Meanwhile, Derek was also excited about Christmas.

  

  Johnny took his big gift from his parents, a new bike, helmet and other accessories, out for a spin.

  

  

  I stayed inside and fed Derek, then enjoyed a nice long nap (the best gift ever!).

  Now we're chilling at home and anticipating the arrival of our good friends Lily and Leon. They're flying in from New York to meet Derek and spend a little time with us. Tonight, my mom will be home with the boys after they're in bed so that we can take Lily and Leon out to dinner. We're having Korean noodles and then heading to the Melting Pot for some chocolate fondue. Yum!

  I leave you with this adorable picture of Jack:

  

  Too cute!

  • 6:34 pm
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