Christmas!

It has been such a fun Christmas! John has been so excited about so many things this season, and it's the first year he's started to get any of it. I guess you can argue that it's the first season he's started to get the wrong idea about Christmas, but it's still so fun to see the excitement. We went to an early kid-friendly service yesterday (Christmas Eve). Eve babbled loudly and squealed with glee the entire time, and John spent half the service in the nursery. It was worth a try. We got to talk to Grandma and Grandpa Bucky, Aunt Michelle, Uncle Greg and Uncle Christopher via web cam for the first time, which John enjoyed. We were experiencing some technical difficulties, so John just kept getting really close to the camera and screaming MERRY CHRISTMAS! It was cute. He was a little overloaded with excitement and way off schedule with his naps, so we got ready for bed early. He had baked cookies for Santa (one of his new favorite activities) earlier in the day, so we put them on a plate and he put them under the tree. He dropped them on the floor a few times, but I'm sure Santa didn't mind a little bit of grit. He was very protective when Eve came near, but ended up taking a few bites for himself.

This morning was so exciting. Eve was up early, ate and went back to sleep, so I was up and around way earlier than the rest. By 7:30 I was pacing the floor just waiting for John to get up. Mom had come over last night after John was in bed, and came back at 7 this morning. John finally got up around 7:45 or so and came down the stairs saying MERRY CHRISTMAS! It was so cute. It took him a few minutes to understand that the stuff in the stockings was our new stuff to play with, but he started to catch on pretty quickly. He started off slowly, playing with everything, but quickly learned to open something and move on to the next. We reminded him that we needed to look at the tag so see who it was for, and he started passing gifts around and wishing a Merry Christmas. One of the sweetest things was when we reminded him to thank Grandma, and he put everything down, went over to hug her, and said Thank you. A lot of times it's pretty clear the manners aren't sincere, but this time it was clear that he was very sincere...very sweet. As we continued, I think all the excitement was a little too overwhelming, and he really got kind of crabby. I think he was hungry and tired. We ate, opened a few more, then put him up in his room for a "nap". He didn't sleep, but the down time was good. Unfortunately when I went to get him, I found him with his diaper off. I asked him if he went peepee or poopoo. He said yes and pointed in the corner. He had peed on the wall and floor. Good think Santa already came...Mama wasn't happy! We played some more. He particularly liked a floor mat that looks like a town (used for playing cars and trains, etc.), and his new crane that goes with the Thomas set. We went over to see Amy, Ryan, Bella and Marco. John and Bella really had a blast. They have so much fun playing together, and he gets the funniest expressions from her. Tonight he started saying "I have an idea", and I'm certain that must've come from Bella. I don't think he knows what it means. Anyway, he played and played with Bella and was so upset when we left. Tonight we had a fun family time with his new star projector and a Discovery Channel film projector. We left the stars in his room...not sure if he'll ever go to sleep playing with that!

Eve got lots of cute things, but obviously had no idea that today was any different from any other. She did really enjoy her new toys, though.

We'll see how tomorrow goes when nothing is wrapped.