I've always believed that Christmas is a season, not just a single day, and this was truly evident this past Christmas. We celebrated Benji's second Christmas at home on Christmas Day, celebrated Christmas again on the 26th at Grandma & Grandpa's house, celebrated it once more in Wisconsin at Uncle Josh & Aunt Beth's house, and finished opening Santa's presents at our house in mid-January.
For Benji's first Christmas celebrations he was only 2 or 3 months old so he slept through most of the festivities and took several breaks to eat. This year he was certainly more participatory (although we still had to take a break for breakfast) but he didnt yet have a real idea what the fuss was all about. He enjoyed climbing up the pile of presents to pull the bows off the top boxes, but had no concept that ripping off the wrapping paper would lead to new toys. I'm honestly surprised that he didn't want to rip the paper off even after we showed him what to do. I suppose that's actually a good instinct so he isn't destroying our house on a regular basis, but it's a little disappointing on Christmas morning when I have the image of kids tearing open presents.
Benjamin's second Christmas (all celebrations) was wonderful. He was adorable wandering around and playing with bows and boxes while we opened our presents. But I'll let the photos tell the story. And eventually I'll get photos posted from the other Christmas celebrations.
Look at everything Santa brought!
With a lot of coaxing, Benji left his "signature" on Santa's letter. Can you see his scribbles?
Talk about unimpressed looking.
I think I'll use these boxes as stepping stones.
Bows were way more interesting than opening the boxes.
I'm pooped. Time to rest.
Is this for me?
More bows! Yippee!
Why can't I open this book sealed in shrink wrap?
Hugs for Mommy!
I think I like my old toys better.
Mmmm! These crescent cookies are great! No wonder Mommy loves them so much.
With so many new toys and presents, Benji goes to an old favorite and asks Daddy to read the "First Words" book.
One of the few presents Benji actually opened. He was generally unimpressed with the whole thing (except for the cookie and the bows).
But Daddy was impressed with several of his Christmas presents, including his Malmark handbell.
i sincerely do not know what you are doing here. are you lost? were you
looking for your delicate calico cat, and did you follow her up two flights of stairs
to this room? she is not here. she was here, yes. we gave her a warm bowl of milk, we talked with her about campaign finance reform for a time, and then she bid us good day. i believe she was
going to the post office two blocks down, but i don't quite recall.
for surely you did
not find your way from prinsiana, the least traveled site on
the internet. if you did, though, perhaps you are looking for humor. perhaps you are looking for profundity. perhaps you are looking for answers.
i'm sorry, but you shall go naught-for-three.
