This has been by far one of the best Christmases for us! For one, I learned my cousin, Keaton, made it home safe from Afghanistan for a holiday visit and just days before his daughter, Emma's, first birthday. While I don't get to see him myself, knowing he is back for a bit and spending time with the rest of the family is comforting.
Our morning started when Ryan came in to us around half-eight...for the FIRST time! Meaning: he DIDN'T wake in the night and climb into our bed!! This is fantastic considering I have (admittedly) allowed a bad habit to form from the time we switched his cot to a bed by allowing him into bed with us every night. We've tried to tackle it and break the habit, but like many parents, kept regressing and lacked consistency. Still, this is a step in the right direction and we're determined to make a good start to the new year.
We all went downstairs and into the front room where Ryan wasted no time grabbing presents to hand to each of us to "help" him open. Most of this task was assigned to Matt since I was the photographer/videographer of the occasion.
He loved his Raa Raa characters and tree-house and took great pride in naming off the characters he knew!
One of the sweetest moments in the morning was when he checked his stocking and found a mini-plush Charley Bear "teddyyyy." He immediately gave him a kiss and a cuddle! Awe!
His "final" gift (which we kept cleverly hidden with my purple dressing gown) was a rocking "horse" lion sent all the way from America by my Aunt Therese, Uncle Burl, and cousins Ashley & Zach!
The Megabloks Pirate Ship came in good use for not only toting around the Megabloks "people" that came with it, but his new Charley Bear teddy and mini-plush Crocky...along with some of Raa Raa's other friends.
A 60-minute, afternoon nap later and dressed in his Christmas outfit and new, smart-looking pea coat...we were all ready to make the trek to Nana & Grandad's for round 2 of pressies!
What a lucky little boy to have such loving, thoughtful grandparents!
Making his list for next year, perhaps?
Having a look at all the fun bits in his train set with his favourite Nana.
We had a most delicious turkey dinner, despite a power outage earlier that threatened to ruin the whole thing. For afters we all had nice puddings while Ryan had his very first experience with jelly (Jell-O). After attempting to scoop it out with his fingers, he sussed he could just "drink" from the tub like a cup. Success!!
When we returned home Ryan was spark out in the car all the way to the house. However, when we started to settle into the evening routine...he surprised us by climbing straight onto his lion (that he was a bit shy of in the morning) and rode him over and over throughout the night!
The bonus to our evening was a brief phone call to my Nan and then a web-cam chat via Facebook with my cousin, Ashley and family! They got to see Ryan for the first time and witness him enjoying the lovely gift they sent! Considering I haven't been home in 3 1/2 years, it's the next best thing to a visit for sure!
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