Christmas 2012

Christmas was great fun this year. Wesley was a very sweet age for Christmas. He was excited for the presents, but not present crazy. He didn't "get" the idea of asking for gifts, but was excited that they kept appearing under the tree and looked forward to opening them.

On Christmas Eve morning we woke up and opened presents as a family, because we were going to grandparents' house for Christmas. We spent a leisurely morning opening gifts, reading new books, playing with new toys, etc. before going for a drive for nap.

Sabien loved opening gifts. As long as the item inside was soft, he was pretty handy in ripping the open the wrapping.

Helping little brother

Wesley enjoyed his new umbrella and slippers...

Spontaneous hand holding...

This is a great book, very informative

We tried to warn everyone against getting trucks for the boy with a million trucks, and then broke the rule ourselves. So, Wes got one new truck for Christmas. It is an amazing one. He was very focused on learning its many working parts.

Christmas morning we awoke and Santa had visited us, leaving stockings full of goodies, and a few presents, which we opened before going to Napa.

Highlights included a new golf club set and a magnifying glass...

New golf clubs

Christmas day was lovely and laid back. It was Grandma and Grandpa D and Oma. We opened many gifts and ate great food. 

Wesley was excited to get a big crane ("Cranky") to go with his train set. Grandma and Grandpa gave him many new traincars, so he enjoyed playing with them on Grandma's tracks (which used to be Casey & Uncle Jesse's).

Christmas Chain

Wesley and I had so much fun making a Christmas Chain.

Step 1: I cut strips of red and green paper into approx 1" (?) strips. I just eyeballed it as we went. Wesley enjoyed holding the scissors but wasn't at all able to use them beyond sticking his fingers in the handles.

Step 2: Wesley used the glue stick to "dab dab dab" the glue on the end of the strip where I showed him. I typically had to apply more glue to the area. I am not sure if this is only because our glue stick is massively dried out, or if he would have been pressing hard enough anyway.

Step 3: Wesley strings the strip through one of the completed circles. He really enjoyed this step. Though it wasn't particularly challenging, it was immensely gratifying.

Step 4: I form a ring by sticking the ends together.

Step 5: Stand under the creation and clap at a job well done.

Step 6: Clap each time Wesley notices the chain and indicates that you, too, should be clapping in approval.

We had a lot of fun making the chain.

If anyone is thinking of doing this craft, you may wish to cut the strips in advance if your child will want the scissors too badly (if he/she is too young for them or if you too lack safety scissors). We narrowly avoided a major issue with it. It was nice to not have to do anything in advance, though.

I love how festive the house feels with our holiday decoration in place. Tree to come this weekend (*fingers crossed*).