Merry Christmas

JW may not understand Santa, but he knows fun when he sees it.  When JW got his first glimpse of Christmas this morning, he said, "Whooaaaaa." Then he played basketball for about 5 minutes before he discoverd his tricycle.  Merry Christmas. 

Christmas Eve Eve

 My extended family always has its Christmas gathering on Christmas Eve Eve.  Our party is like any typical giant-family celebration with a lot of dust and chaos.  I look forward to it.  During dinner each family tends to group themselves together.  I like to move around and sit myself in the middle of other families, just to mix things up a bit.

Instead of the typical Santa Clause jingle jangle, we got in touch with our Dutch traditions with a visit from Sinterklaas.  JW was extremely curious of the jolly ol' saint, but he would not step within arms reach.  That would just be too big a risk of being swooped up onto his lap.

*$10 bucks if you can get a quarter in Kat's cleavage*

The Nativity demonstration came courtesy of the great grand kids. It was surprisingly organized considering the number of angels and shepherds under age 6.  It was narrated by Uncle 'Rad, who announced his engagement to his beautiful friend Wendy.  He had a little spring in his step all night.   

Gearing Up

Christmas magic is in full swing around here. 

Santa is waxing his sleigh and fattening up the reindeer. 

The big trip is nigh.

The Best Two Years

Music is "You and Me" by Francis England off the album Family Tree

JW, a year ago you were not stable on two feet, you communicated with smiles or tears, "ba ba" and "da da," gurgles and screams.  You found joy in crinkling paper, toilet papering the entire house and eating dirt.  You found comfort in your binki and were cool with a bottle.  We decorated the house for Christmas with little worry about you bringing down the tree or breaking mama's glass ornaments.  You had little interest in climbing stairs or going down slides on the playground.

A year later you can run, jump, kick and tumble.  You have a healthy vocabulary, almost always say "please" and generously give out "hugs."  You ask for your {my} iPad and you can maneuver the applications as if Steve Jobs was your father.  You like to draw pictures and paint.  You know the real purpose of toilet paper and even think you need to help out sometimes.  As first time parents with little experience we expected the worst when it came time to give up the binki and the bottle.  There was very little torture or trickery involved on our part.  We slowly stopped giving them to you and you carried on with life with little fuss.  The glass Christmas ornaments have been packed away because mama anticipated you would not be able to control your urge to touch every ornament on the Christmas tree.  Mama was right.  No matter how many times you have been told, "We look with our eyes, not with our hands," to which you always agree, I have found you on several occasions rearranging every bulb within reach.  You can identify Santa, and you know he says, "HO HO HO," but I'm certain you have no idea what Santa is really capable of doing.  You finally figured out how to go up and down the stairs without falling (and causing me heart failure every time) and you will go up and down the slide on the playground a million times all by yourself.   

One of the moms from the preschool asked me recently how I felt about having a two year old.  My initial response was basically eh, so what?  But the more I've thought about the last two years, how much we've grown, how smart you are, what a sweet boy you can be (knock on wood) I look forward to what the next year will bring and can barely fathom the possibilities.  Happy birthday, little buddy.