Christmas Day

Even more pictures of our wonderful Christmas! The top four pictures are of Christmas at Grandma Mary Kay's house, the next four are at Grandma Cheryl's house, and finally back home in the last three pictures. Daniel did so well all day- and he never napped (we tried at one point, he was NOT interested even though he was so tired! He clearly didn't want to miss a thing). I was so proud of how well he did- he's so easygoing and resilient, even when he gets really tired. He woke up at 9:00 AM and after doing a quick breakfast and opening all of our presents and getting ready for the day, we headed to Grandma Mary Kay's for lunchtime. Daniel slept briefly in the car on the way there, and was ready for lunch and then presents when we got there. We had a yummy brunch and then opened presents. Daniel played with his new toys and even the garbage bag. We had to keep checking the brown bag for toys Daniel would toss in. Perhaps he's taking "clean up" a little too seriously! Well, not really, he's just having fun, toddler-style. He really liked his new "cookie jar" toy- it makes music of course! The fourth picture is of Daniel holding a bottle of "body paint soap" that he found in his stocking. That will be a hoot to try out- I'll share pictures of that of course! Too funny.

After a few hours at Grandma Mary Kay's house, we headed to Grandma Cheryl's house for more presents, food, and fun. And again, Daniel just kept right on going- he was such a good sport. Daniel looks adorable carrying his own personalized cup from Great Aunt Kathy- thanks, Aunt Kathy! He loves his new See'N'Say- it talks and makes music, too! Notice that Daniel's in my lap in that picture (and in Daddy's lap in the next picture, helping Daddy open a present)- he'd started to slow down and want to sit with us, and Daniel's not much of a lap-sitter. We even got his lion that he sleeps with out at this point and he just snuggled in my lap and sucked his thumb for a while. It was then that we tried the nap, since this was his usual afternoon naptime and we were done opening presents- uh uh, no way no how was he going to nap- eh, it was worth a try! So, Daniel dug into his stocking, found some puffs in the stocking with great joy and immediately wanted them opened, played with more toys, carried his new mini magna-doodle toy around, and we snacked on some yummy food, played a few games, and then decided to head home by early evening since Daniel was so very tired. Daniel slept so soundly in the car on the way home, we could hear him breathing loudly (or perhaps snoring?), even over all the snow-blowing around the highway (hooray, a white Christmas!) and the car noises. We got home, took him out of the car and brought him in the house- he opened his eyes, and then immediately closed them again. I took a picture- can't resist a sleeping-baby picture. It's such a sweet image. But by the time we put him in his pajamas and I fed him, he was wide awake and ready to rumble again. So he played with his new Christmas toys and had fun in the pantry with the recycle bin, especially putting his new train in the bin and walking that all over. Daniel played for an hour, until we decided that was enough and it was bedtime at 8:30 (not all that late for Daniel, but late enough with the long day and no nap!).

We had a wonderful Christmas with family! What a great day, really. Daniel was so good in spite of the crazy day and the crazy schedule we followed. We had so much fun watching him have fun- and that's just the best feeling. And I know each year will be more and more fun. Daniel loves all of his new toys- he says thank you very much. We can't wait to keep trying more toys out over the next couple days. I'll share more pictures again soon, of course. You know I take pictures all the time and I can't resist sharing Daniel's fun and excitement with you all!

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!