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| Ethan LOVES his advent calendar- it's the very first thing he asks for the second he opens his eyes in the morning- he's going to be sad when he finds out we don't eat chocolate treats every morning year round! |
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| Ethan receives his very own Christmas card in the mail- thanks Grandma and Papa! |
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| This is Ethan's idea of "helping" me decorate the cookies... |
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| Ethan checks out the Christmas tree while we wait for our Polar Express train to roll into the station |
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| Ethan boards the small play train |
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| Checking out the bell |
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| The Polar Express arrives and we all board the train! |
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| Hot chocolate, cookies, train rides, and Santa... no wonder he's smiling! |
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| Ethan gets crazy and starts dancing on the benches! |
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| Santa!! Ethan couldn't stop talking about meeting Santa, and telling him what he would like for Christmas. I think seeing the big guy in real life was a little too much for him--he looked like he wanted to hide under the train bench! |
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| After a successful ride, Daddy and Ethan check out the front of the steam train! |
The holidays are so much fun when you are experiencing them through the eyes of a two year old! We have had so much fun this month observing Ethan as he discovers the magic of the holiday season. We've also had our share of laughs, scares and frustrations, but I'll get to those later!
As you can see from the pictures, we took Ethan on the Polar Express Train. He had a blast (and so did Pete and I!!) When we got on the train, Ethan was a bit anxious and kept telling us he wanted to get off, and that he didn't want the train to go. I'm sure the people all around us were worried that they had gotten stuck in the train car with the one kid who was going to scream and cry throughout the entire trip, and to be quite honest, I was a little worried too! But once the train got moving, the music started playing, and the chefs came aboard with hot chocolate and cookies, Ethan was sold on the whole train thing! Toward the end, he even started dancing up and down the aisle with the chefs and other kids. We had a wonderful time!
Despite being adorable, Ethan has definitely been acting his age! He is testing, testing, testing all the time, it seems! And he's got a new habit of grabbing something he knows that he shouldn't have and dashing into a small corner because he knows that we huge adults can't get to him! We were at my brother's house last weekend for a Christmas party. We were all downstairs, hanging out, enjoying dessert. I glanced around the room, and realized that I didn't see Ethan. Pete and I started looking everywhere for him, calling his name... nothing. My brother mentioned that they were toasting smores outside earlier in the day by a campfire that he had built in the backyard, and that Ethan had been very intrigued by the fire. Now panic had fully set in, as we wondered if Ethan had managed to open the door to go outside and see the fire again. Soon, everyone at the party was calling Ethan's name inside the house, and more frighteningly, outside the house! Suddenly, I heard my brother Ken yell, "I found him!" He said that he looked down and Ethan was standing right next to him--inside, where we had all begun our search. Turns out that throughout the day, Ethan had been grabbing candy canes from the dessert table and dashing to various hiding places throughout the house. While everyone frantically searched for Ethan, he was sitting under a desk that had a wood panel in the front (so there was no way at all to see him), noshing on his secret stash of candy canes! Later, we found the remains of another candy cane and a sippy cup stashed behind the television. An amusing story, once we located him, but boy was I scared for a minute!
With the wonder of the Christmas tree, apparently comes the danger of glass ornaments! Our first year in our house, when Barley was a pup, he thought the glass ornaments were all tennis balls. He would grab them off of the tree, inevitably chomping down on them, which would result in a bloody mouth--good times. Luckily, Barley has outgrown this ball grabbing habit and would much rather drink the water from the tree stand. The other day, I was doing laundry and noticed a strange sound. I walked in to find Ethan sitting behind the tree, crushing glass ornaments with his bare hands. Needless to say, another wave of panic washed over me, but after thorough inspection, Ethan didn't have a single scratch on him. We had a loooong talk about the ornaments on the tree and that they are meant to be looked out, and not, ah, well, squeezed! I'm not sure why I thought having an infant was challenging--age 2 is definitely giving me a run for my money!
Overall, despite the few "teaching moments" we've had with Ethan over the past month, enjoying the magic of the holiday with a little guy doesn't get much better. Ethan is so excited about every aspect of this Christmas business--he loves the shows, songs, decorations, stories--all of it. The other day, I was putting Ethan down for bed, and he looked up at me and said, "Mama, what is Santa bringing for baby Nate (this is the name that is currently #1 in the running) and so we discussed what sort of things a baby would like from Santa. We decided that a baby would probably like a nuk or a toy. The next night, we had a very similar discussion, but this time, Ethan was concerned about what Santa would bring for Barley. We decided that a bone would be a good gift, but then Ethan brought up his concerns about how Barley would open a present since he didn't have hands. Ethan decided that he would help Barley, even though we learned that Barley was able to open presents with his paws and mouth. I love having these conversations with Ethan--it gives me a tiny glimmer into what goes on in that little head of his. And I'm so proud that even though he could be thinking solely of what he wants for Christmas, he's got enough concern for his other family members to make sure that they will be taken care of, too--what an amazing little two year old I have... even if he does eat hairy candy canes in dark corners at Christmas parties!!
