A Holly Jolly Christmas

The stockings here hung by the chimney with care.

It's time for another blast from the past post! Even though we just celebrated Valentine's Day, I wanted to spend a little time reflecting on Christmas. (One of these days, I promise I will not have a 2 month lag time in posting.) 

In their fancy, festive attire and looking thrilled about it.

 We had a very merry season filled with lots of good cheer.  We'll always remember this Christmas as the one Brooks truly believed.  It's amazing how quickly the notion of Santa Claus resonates in a child's brain. Here are some of our favorite memories:

1) Brooks helped us trim the tree this year.  He was very diligent and really got into hanging all the ornaments just right... all on the bottom 2 feet of the tree.

In charge of the non-breakables at toddler height.

2) He learned how to sing Christmas songs - including his favorites Jingle Bells and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Whenever we suggested singing a new one, he usually insisted that we sing those two... several hundred times over.

3) We welcomed our Elf on the Shelf, Kringle, into our house.  Each morning Brooks would become an elf detective and barrel down the stairs on a mad Kringle hunt. It was so fun to see his face erupt in total joy upon discovering Kringle's hiding place... or have a mini-meltdown when he couldn't find him after 5 minutes.

4) We started a Christmas Countdown tradition with the help of an advent calendar garland. Each morning Brooks got to open a tiny toy from burlap bags hung on the garland. Fun surprises like matchbox cars, stickers, crayons, and even some Lightning McQueen undies made his day as we practiced our counting. Failing to get the "countdown" concept, he promptly asked to open all of the other numbers every morning and was very disappointed when the answer was no.

5) We attended the annual Chelsea Circle Christmas gathering where once again Brooks was the hit of the party.  All of the middle and high school girls on the street found him funny, charming and otherwise irresistible. They didn't seem to care that he almost broke every nice ornament, nutcracker, or glass Santa figurine in our neighbors' house.

Impressing the ladies with his foosball skills

6) We read the Night Before Christmas... almost every night... and at naptime.  By the end of the season, Brooks could recite it from memory without the use of any visual aides. Which still baffles Mom because the only way I come close to remembering the next verse is by looking at the pictures in the book.

7) We made Christmas cookies... which was going ok until Brooks dumped the entire container of sprinkles on ONE cookie. And then decided he wanted to play with his trucks so Mom made the remaining 4 batches herself.

 

8) We wrote Santa a nice note with our "wish list" and a thank you for his generosity. We put out cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeers.  Which reminded Brooks that he too wanted milk and cookies.

Getting major brownie points with the reindeer.

Oh, the life of a 2.5 year old! Never a dull moment. All sarcasm aside, his excitement and awe of the season was so sweet to witness. It sounds cliche, but seeing Christmas through a child's eyes really is magical.

Pondering how someone as large as Santa can fit down the chimney. And how he avoids catching his tushie on fire.

Christmas Eve was a special night, being cozy and snug in our home, with the fire and the glow of the tree. Just our little family of four. And it was so fun to see Brooks open presents in the morning. "Santa came Mommy! He came Daddy! He came!" It was funny to watch him try to process it all - not knowing whether to play with the toy he just opened or see what the next wrapped gift had in store. "Are all these for me?"

Around mid-day we packed up the troops and got on the road to Richmond where we were met with another Christmas wonderland of presents galore, an electric train set around the Christmas tree, Gigi and Gramps and Uncle H and Snickers! Oh my! We had a wonderful time in beautiful Richmond, visiting family and friends and extending the holiday festivities in good cheer. It was restful and busy and relaxing and fun all at the same time. Brooks loved his motorized car from Gigi and Gramps and his HUGE excavator from Uncle H.

Gift exchange round two in Richmond.

Vroom vroom. Where are the breaks?

H and Brooks deep in thought about the coolness of this excavator.

Riding the train at the Children's Museum.

We are so grateful to have the blessing of family. It's especially obvious on the holidays. Gigi pulled out all the stops to make Christmas so special, and the boys were in heaven.

Where was Carter in all of this you ask?  Just busy being cute and content. He didn't get it this year, but next year will surely be fun! Big brother Brooks will have to show him the ropes.

"What's all this Christmas business about anyway?"

In the words of one of our past Christmas cards "May the love and joy of season keep you glowing the whole year through!"

The only shot we managed to get of the four of us all week.