Dear Etrain,
I have to say, we had a pretty fun Christmas season! We started early, stayed (mostly) healthy and were therefore able to do a lot of exciting things.
It began the day after Thanksgiving. I couldn't wait to put out our Christmas decorations, so that morning we got to it. You helped Dada put up the Christmas lights, and I decorated the inside of the house. That night we decided to go check out the light display in the harbor. They stepped it up even more this year and was so awesome to see. We basically, well, I basically took pictures everywhere.
Next up was our annual Christmas card photo shoot with Auntie Ansley. When we came home we found a surprise on our doorstep. The same neighbors who Boo'd us for Halloween, left us an advent calendar. You had never had one where you open it up each day to get a piece of candy, so you were pretty stoked.
The next weekend was dad's work holiday party...and I was invited! That was exciting for me since previous year's parties the spouses weren't invited. The highlight of the party was the outfit Dada wore. Just check out the photo below. This was the same suit they used in a commercial Dada made for his company. Not sure how long this link will last, but if you want to see the commercial you can go here.
One of your buddy's mom invited us to their block for some Christmas fun. They have a neighbor that goes full out with decorating their house...so much so that they enter the local decorating contest. They had yummy snacks, live music, games and even a tractor ride that drove around their neighborhood to see the other houses (none, really compared with the decorations, but it was still a fun ride).
The day of your birthday, also happened to be the day of your Christmas performance at school. You wore the same adorable outfit you wore for our Christmas photo shoot, and you were still just so handsome. You were also VERY silly that day. I may have had to do with all the sugar you had that day. Anyway, you were so fun to watch. Last year there were tears, but not this year. You did great and seemed to have so much fun doing it. Dada got you to make some silly faces while you were up there and it was hilarious.
We had held off on getting a Christmas tree because we were going to have your birthday party at our house and we didn't want to have it in the way since we usually put it in our living room, aka the playroom. So the day after your party we went to get the tree. It ended up being a little tougher than we thought it would be because we wanted a big tree and there weren't a ton left. Our usual place was all out of big trees so we went to another place where the prices are usually higher. We lucked out though. They had three big trees left and they were all heavily discounted. It ended up being way taller than we thought it looked on the lot, but it was perfect. Maybe a little dry, but perfect. It was maybe 10 ish feet tall, but every time dad told the story about our tree it got taller. I think he had it at 14 feet at one point.
That same day we had also picked up a new decoration for our front yard. We were pretty excited to have Santa and his reindeer out front each night.
Somewhere between then and Christmas Eve, Grammy came into town. When Christmas Eve came up it was time for the whole family to meet at Nana and Papa's house. I really love that you get to spend the evening with all your grandparents together for the holiday. Papa'a cousin, Johnny, and Auntie Jenna, joined us too! Just like last year, Nana had us sing Christmas songs with the bells, and just like last year, we were all pretty silly.
I think your favorite part of the night was presents. Duh. You loved everything you got, but I think the most popular gift was your Batman watch.
Nana and Grammy tried to read you The Night Before Christmas, like they did last year, but you were NOT into it. The animation below tells the whole story. You eventually told them you didn't want to hear the story, so they stopped midway. Maybe you'll be more interested next year. Grumpy dude.
Your mood improved when we came home to put out a treat for Santa and the reindeer. You've been asking and asking and asking about presents for months, so the idea of Santa coming with presents was all the motivation you needed.
Christmas morning was awesome. Santa brought you a BIKE! You have a balance bike we've been borrowing from a friend, but you have been begging for a bike with pedals (and training wheels). Santa sure did hook you up. We all scored that morning and it was fun watching everyone open their gifts. This was also a big year for real Legos (not the big ones) for you, so we built a bunch of Lego sets the rest of the weekend (and beyond).
Dada got me a super cool lens for my camera where I can take very, very very close up photos. While you were playing with your toys, I was playing with mine. I think these turned out pretty cool.
It's tough that your birthday and Christmas are so close to each other each year. It's not like you don't get things throughout the year, but not much "big stuff" and not much of anything the months leading up to December. We are very fortunate. We live in a great house, in an awesome neighborhood, in a gorgeous, safe city...not far from the beach. We go on amazing vacations...pretty frequently. We do fun activities throughout the year, eat out when we want, and pay extra for organic food if its available. My point is we don't really go without. It's a struggle for me to balance giving you a wonderful life and experiences, meanwhile teaching you to appreciate and be grateful for all we have.
I know you're only four and may not get it much now, but we do our best. This Christmas season, or rather, leading up to Christmas you wanted, wanted, wanted a lot. We did make you wait a long while for new toys, which must have felt like an eternity in your world. When I look at all you got between your birthday and Christmas, you totally scored. So. Much. Stuff. It's a lot, but I also enjoy seeing how excited you are for everything. And you generally play with or use everything you receive. My only hope is as you get older you do learn that appreciation and gratitude.
The day after Christmas you, Grammy and I went to a local outdoor mall and we found this huge Christmas tree. Of course, I had to take photos.
Merry Christmas my sweet boy. You are so loved.
Love,
Mama
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