 |
| Whatcha lookin' at? |
Banner doesn't really get the whole Christmas thing yet. I mean, he is much, much better at the whole unwrapping presents bit, but - when it comes to Santa, stockings and reindeer - he is still clueless.
That didn't keep us from trying, however. Well, sort of. His stocking was stuffed with goodies from Santa. The dogs stockings, however, were not. Because Santa Paws made an emergency delivery of dog bones to the Awesome Pawsome Christmas Eve because someone (uh-oh, Alley) kept whining and barking during the party.
Luckily, since he doesn't know any better, the early delivery wasn't even a blip on Banner's radar. Next year, however, I need to make a mental note to have a back up supply just in case.
Trevor and I did try to start some family traditions this year. When I was little, my parents always made me get dressed and make my bed before venturing downstairs. Then, once down there, we weren't allowed to even peek in the living room to see if Santa came until after breakfast and Mimi and Bud had arrived. It was excruciating, and I always wished Christmas morning could be more like it was in the movies...where the family gathered around the tree in PJs with unbrushed teeth and disheveled hair.
So, that's exactly what we did. Once Banner woke up, we rushed into the living room to check the tree. We tore into his stocking as my mom's homemade cinnamon rolls heated in the oven. Then, Trevor and I sat back and sipped coffee while Banner played with his presents. It was lovely. Having a kid on Christmas restores the magic of the holidays. I'm definitely looking forward to adding even more family traditions in the future. Because, with kids, that sense of magic and excitement is the stuff memories are made of - what a fabulous excuse to make it even better next year! Because, seriously, look at that face:
 |
| PURE JOY! |
 |
| OMG! A food container?! That looks like ELMO?! Santa definitely has this kid's number! |
After a couple of hours of serious playtime with all of his new toys, we headed over to Gran's house for brunch and Christmas Part II with Trevor's family. We could have changed Banner out of his Christmas PJs, but we didn't because that's just how we roll.
(Banner didn't mind. He'd wear a paper bag if we put it on him as long as he had the final say on which shoes, socks and hat he wore.)
 |
| Posing with Gran and Pop-Pop by the tree. |
Brunch was a little bit of a bust for Banner since he refused to eat anything that wasn't more of my mother's cinnamon roll. But, thanks to Gran's LED candles and tea lights, I had a chance to enjoy my food (read: chew) while Banner spent about 7 minutes "lighting" all the candles in her living room. He then proclaimed them to be "hot! hot!" afterwards. He was very proud of himself.
Then he got this and the entire family had to immediately relocate outdoors to play:
 |
| Trevor attempting to teach Banner how to use it. (LOVE his facial expression!) |
WIGGLE RACER = BIG HIT!
(Don't worry. Christmas with Grammy Pammy has been rescheduled for the weekend.)
When he woke up, we opened the remaining gifts under the tree. Most were for Trevor and I, which Banner didn't understand. Especially, ones like these that clearly had a toy on the top:
 |
| Meanest parents EV-VER. |
Christmas Part III was at Pa-Pa Mint's house (Buddy), and included drums, an old school land line telephone (Banner's mind was blown), my old Winnie the Pooh that my sister discovered in the attic and even more food.
These aren't presents. Just things we used to entertain Banner while dad finished cooking.
Then, following dinner, more presents.
 |
| Pa-Pa Mint outdid everybody and bought Banner a... |
(I almost entitled the above video "Banner got a Hummer for Christmas", but caught myself. Shame on you, dirty minded people for ruining the word "hummer"! Shame!)
Banner was so happy about the car, he could barely contain himself. Which coupled with exhaustion and the pressures of being (almost) two meant a near epic breakdown when evil mommy and daddy decided it was too cold to ride for very long on Christmas night, and put his new, black Hummer in the back of mommy's Envoy.
Luckily, crisis averted with the opening of Mimi's gift: PLANES!
Because when you are (almost) two, it is all about planes, trains and automobiles. The kid was in little boy heaven!
(Don't you just love how I won't use the number "two" without the word "almost"? I'm notoriously good at denial, and plan on keeping my baby one for as long as possible.)
To say it was a BANNER Christmas is the understatement of the year. When you are the only grand kid, you get spoiled BIG TIME. The Ban Man made out like a bandit.
To accommodate all of Banner's new toys, I spent most of today cleaning out his room, closet and toy box. All of the baby toys are now in the attic, and two big bags of gently used toddler clutter have been donated to Goodwill. As thrilled as I am with the result, I'd be lying if I told you I didn't tear up during the process. Part of it was due to the realization that my baby is no longer a baby, and the other part is because it is hard to put things in the attic or donation box after watching Toy Story 3 on repeat for the last two weeks.
Hope everyone out there had themselves a merry, little Christmas!
No comments:
Post a Comment