Christmas 2014
Merry Christmas to everyone!
We had friends and family over for an early Christmas dinner today (Oh, what a feast it was! Ham, turkey, pop-overs, home-made rolls and cookies, mash potatoes, gravy, homemade cranberry sauce, just to mention a few items). Rebecca and I worked on this little gingerbread house this week after putting Xavier down for the night. Building a gingerbread house together has been on our date list for a long time. It was a fun time building it together. We used it as the table's centerpiece for the dinner.
Xavier slept in this morning until 8:30. After yesterday's puking and eating issues and a turbulent night Christmas Eve, the extra sleep for his parents was welcomed. When Xavier did get up, he toddled into the room where the stockings were hung with care. Looking around, he took on a look that may have communicated "what's going on? I think I might like it."
Taking his stocking down, mom assists Xavier in figuring out what to do. It was not intuitive; perhaps if we had added some small electronic items to the stocking, it might have been.
When Xavier found the flashlight Grandpa "Santa" Danny sent him, he was done with his stocking for a while. He knew how to turn the light on and off (he has practiced with one of Mommy's for months). That turned out to be his favorite toy from the stocking. Even the foam sword did not interest him as much as the flashlight.
Eventually, we coaxed Xavier back over to finish exploring what remained in his stocking. He got through the rest of it with Mom's help, most of the while holding onto his flashlight.
We took a small break to eat breakfast before entering into Middle Earth, where the light of the Christmas Tree shone upon all the wrapped and decorated items. The first item Xavier saw (it was hard to miss, actually) was the wagon. We did not know how he would react, but I am glad I had camera ready because I would have missed some great opportunities.
The wagon, a gift from Xavier's Grandma Penny, stole the show. Upon seeing the wagon, nothing else mattered. As captured by camera, Xavier ran over and gave the wagon a lasting hug. He then grabbed the handle and started dragging the wagon to the door to go outside. The pull was a short one, the door leading out was closed. Instead, he did the next best thing. He pulled all the gifts (his gifts) loaded in the wagon onto the floor, then crawled in. There he sat while everyone opened their gifts.
When he wasn't obsessing about which cup holder in the wagon should hold the jar of huckleberry jam his grandpa sent us, Xavier did open his packages, albeit with some parental help. The dump truck he is opening here we thought was the show-stealer as he drove one like it up and down the aisle at the store we bought this one at; the enthusiasm he showed is why we bought it. Alas, the wagon overshadowed this toy also.
There was one toy which did pull Xavier out of his wagon. A little wooden train. He opened it up while in the wagon, but as soon as Mom put it on the floor and pulled it along, Xavier nearly vaulted from his wagon to get to the train.
Xavier opened his crayon set (these crayons slip onto the finger) while on the floor. He has gotten into coloring (and eating the tips of crayons) recently, so these had a big appeal.
Xavier's grandpa sent him a onesie and pair of overalls. The onesie had manly prints of tractors on it. It will be a few months before Xavier fits into the overalls (by the way, dad loves dressing Xavier in overalls; they look cool and have a built-in handle to direct Xavier with), but these will come in handy as Xavier plays in the yard (which he wants to do more and more). Here, Aunt Chellie keeps Xavier still long enough to get a picture of him in his new onesie.