Christmas

Max and Molly were up bright and early on Christmas morning. When I went in to get them up, Max asked if Santa had been here and wanted to know if there were presents. I told him there might be a present for him and sent Dad downstairs to get things ready while I took over potty duty. Max couldn't wait to get downstairs to check things and he hopped around impatiently until Dad gave the ok.

It was so fun to see their faces light up when they saw all the presents under the tree. They were each allowed to open one of their presents (some little kazoos) and one of their joint presents (a Peter Pan DVD). Since Dad hadn't picked up Big Brother and Big Sister yet, we saved the bulk of the present opening for later in the morning. We did let them dig into their stockings and they were delighted with the little presents and the candy (a few pieces of chocolate were immediately opened and consumed). Molly fell in love with the little mouse dolly that Santa left in her stocking. She prompted dubbed it Angelina Ballerina (also known as the "Ballerina Guy" after Dad confused a request for Angelina the doll with Angelina the book). Max thought it was hysterical that there was a tangerine in the toe of his stocking (which was always a stocking must in Mama's family). They were happy to play with their kazoos and watch Peter Pan while Mama put the breakfast casserole in the over and finished off the cinnamon rolls.

When Dad returned with Big Brother and Big Sister, the grown ups mixed up some mimosas and we set to opening the rest of the presents. Molly opened her first present (some play cookware) and was content to play with that while everyone else opened presents. Max, however, was very much into the opening of the presents. It was fun to see how delighted Max and Molly were with the gifts they received. Since Max has always been VERY interested in Mama's camera, his big gift this year was his very own kiddie digital camera. We saved it for last and boy was he ever excited. We couldn't get it out of the box fast enough. Both Max and Molly got dress-up/pretend play gifts -- Max loved his wooden sword and shield and pirate outfit, and Molly was over the moon about her fairy dress-up trunk. Since Molly has been enjoying her birthday tea set so much, Santa brought her some more play cookware and play food. Both of the little guys also got some books, DVDs, and art supplies (who knew glue sticks were so COOL?).

It was an all-around camera Christmas, because Big Brother and Big Sister's main gifts were their very own digital cameras. Big Brother also got a practice drum pad and sticks that he'd been wanting and Big Sister was happy with her kimono (which came all the way from China). And, in keeping with tradition, there were boring gifts of clothes and socks and underwear all around (even for Mama and Dad).

After presents, we dug into our Christmas breakfast. Max chowed down two and a half helpings of breakfast casserole, but Molly decided that she only wanted to eat her cinnamon roll (they had already had oatmeal when they first got up). We spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon opening boxes and playing with toys. Molly and Dad took a nap, but Max was too keyed up to sleep, so he bopped around while Mama put a few last-minute touches on the Christmas desserts. After wrestling the little ones into their holiday finery, we packed up the goodies and headed off to Grandma's house!

Grandma had a full house -- there were aunts and uncles and cousins galore! Max and Molly enjoyed playing with their first cousins once removed -- Molly's first comment on seeing the four month old was, "Oh! I LOVE babies!" Dinner was delicious and Max and Molly stuffed their faces (especially Molly). We definitely don't have picky eaters! The kids were spoiled with even more presents and the little ones especially liked the hobby horses from Grandma and Grandpa. We even managed to put together an impromptu group portrait, so we could share our holiday spirit with a family member who was unwell and not able to attend. It was hard to fit everyone into one room!