Like most folks, we celebrate Christmas in waves or "installments". First it's Christmas eve with our immediate family, then Christmas day with my Mom's parents added to the mix. Then it's the day after Christmas with Dad's gigantic clan. All of which are festive and enjoyable. And if you are so inclined to stick with me and read for a while, I'll tell you all about it. (maybe I'll even post about it in installments too.)
So, Christmas Eve. The office closed at noon and I was already off, so after Elijah's nap we went over to Mom and Dad's to hang out. Dad's gift from Mom was a new Weber grill!
(You can't tell by the look on his face, but he loves it.)
Naturally we had to try it out, so we grilled pork chops and steaks for dinner. Plus we had baked potatoes, salad, and garlic bread... all yummy. The evening was nothing out of the ordinary really. We watched some Christmas shows on TV, hung out, snacked, and watched Elijah run around and play. After his shower he got to open one gift - a pair of Pixar Cars pjs with Mater and Lightning McQueen on them. He almost had a heart attack! The look on his face when he opened that wrapping paper was priceless - pure surprise and joy! He proudly wore the pjs for the following 24 hours. :)
Oh wait... I take that back. He technically got a second gift too by accident. I got him a Mater book which my Mom read to him not knowing I meant to wrap it later. Oh well. He loved the book.
After he (finally) went to sleep 2 hours past his bedtime, I arranged the gifts under the tree for him to find in the morning.
I think I might have been more excited for Christmas morning than Elijah was. I was up earlier than normal and kept checking to see if he was stirring yet. It seemed to take forever! But at last he emerged from his room, sleepy-eyed, wobbly, and not sure why a crowd of people were congregated in the livingroom. I explained that it's Christmas morning and we're celebrating Jesus' birthday today by giving gifts to each other. We sang Happy Birthday. Then after a few minutes of saying his hellos (the Great-Grandparents had come over too) he understood that he could actually open the packages under the tree.
I loved his reactions! Each time he would start to tear into the paper he would gasp and say "Oh" or "Wow", or "Woah, look at this one!". He was genuinely thrilled with every single gift. The first things he opened were some "Thomas" trains. He got Molly, a coal car, a new Thomas, Alfie (a digger), and a bulldozer (which we're going to have to return because it won't fit on the track). Plus he got 2 new train track sets, one of which is a carrying case that holds all the trains inside, the other came with 4 cars, some buildings, animals, trees and people. After opening those he was good to go for a few hours. He played until his little heart was content. When asked what he thought he said "Oh yes, I'm liking it!"
As I said, my Grandparents came over early to watch him open gifts and enjoy our lovely Christmas morning feast of breakfast casserole, citrus salad, ham, banana nut bread, biscuits and gravy, cinnamon rolls, O.J. (out of pretty goblets), coffee, etc. I testify to you that it was so delicious! Well worth all the anticipation.
We took a break from presents for a while since Elijah was so enthralled with the trains. It took him a good 2 hours to realize there were more under the tree for him. So, when he was ready he just helped himself to a package, opened it at his leisure, and played away.
Some other gifts he received were: some big equipment vehicles (bulldozer, Bobcat, and forklift), dozens of Matchbox cars, a piggybank game from Grandma Great, a set of wooden puzzles (with storage rack), a Hallmark Thomas Train ornament (he gets one every year from my Mom), and some Pixar Cars characters - Dr. Mater and his "nurses" the little forklifts, and "regular" Mater.
But get this. The big Momma-chobey gift of them all... his Big Jeep (the outside kind you sit in and ride around the yard)... hasn't even been revealed yet. It's just been too wet and cold out. What else did we expect to happen this time of year? We are holding out for a dry and/or warm(ish) day to give it to him. He won't know the difference. That's the great thing about being two - you have no sense of time. ;)
But anyway, back to Christmas.
Dad, Manny, Ragon, Jacob and I went to see Sherlock Holmes while Mom and Elijah stayed home to nap. Good flick. Two cute boys, lots of action, lots of humor. I give it an A.
So after the movie I stared to feel sick. It was bound to happen but I was really really hoping it wouldn't. I ended up laying around and not being much help with supper. Mom and Grandma got things ready. But boy howdy! Did we have a yummy meal... what I could eat of it. I wrote about the food the other day so I'll spare the details. Steak, potatoes, salad, etc.
Our evening concluded with "A Christmas Story" on TV.
The End
1 comment:
yay! ^_^
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