Ready or not, here comes Chrismas

(from last year)

Atticus has been talking about Christmas for the past month. For a couple weeks he was obsessed with nutcrackers, asking over and over again for a nutcracker that's NOT a Christmas decoration. I blame his friend Henry, who has fireman and soccer player nutcrackers. I wasn't about to shell out $20 for the not-really-a-toy nutcracker he begged for at Lowe's, but James made Atticus's week when he found a small one at the dollar store. It even had a working lever that makes the mouth move. Fan-TAS-tic.

Last week at preschool they had face painting, and Atticus asked for a Christmas tree. Everyone else was a butterfly or a tiger or Spiderman, but Atticus had a big green nose and a gold star between his eyes. He was thrilled. 

He's also been talking about what he wants to get, of course. I've been very upfront about how Daddy and I are Santa Claus (yes, I know, I'm a HORRIBLE person for attempting to deprive my child of Christmas fantasy), but my efforts have fallen on deaf ears. He asked how he could tell Santa what he wanted, and I said he could just tell me, because I'm Santa--I buy the presents. "I know, I know, but what about the REAL Santa? With the reindeer?" Ok, fine. I'm his helper. (I'm not going to insist he stop believing; I just don't want there to be disappointing surprises later.) 

Now when he tells me about something he wants, he asks if I've written it down. I only write down what he mentions repeatedly, and so far the list is a DreamLight and a Scooby-Doo Mona-Tiki-Tia play set. The problem is he wants a Curious George DreamLight, which they don't actually make, but he thinks maybe it can be found at another store or Santa can just make it. (And they're $30! Are you kidding me?) And though I've seen pictures of a Scooby-Doo figure with a tiki head, they don't make them anymore, and they certainly don't come in the exactly-like-the-episode detail in a foldable, portable play set that he has described. So I can pay top dollar for a collectible set, but it still won't be exactly what he wants. (See why I'm reluctant to perpetuate the fantasy of elves that can make anything??) We may have to settle for action figures of the full Scooby gang. A friend found Daphne, Velma, and Shaggy at a thrift store, but we're missing Fred and Scooby.

Then there are the things I want to get him, like a bike or scooter, and maybe some better shoes. I'm all for restraint in gifts (I really like the idea of three gifts like the gifts of the Three Kings--not counting gifts from extended family), but it's hard not to try to make all his dreams come true. 

I believe experiences are more important than things, so I'm going to focus my energies on memorable activities, which are often free. Sledding, lights, live Nativities, a trip to the mall to see Santa, gingerbread cookies, decorating the tree. That's what Christmas is made of. I hope. 

Merry Christmas!

Atticus wasn't sure what to think of Santa when he met him in person, but it didn't take him long to figure out what Santa was supposed to do: bring toys. Last week we heard "I do Santa toys" almost nonstop. When I said Santa only comes on Christmas, it changed to "I do Kiss-muss" nonstop. Ah, the joys of childhood. :)

And Santa didn't disappoint. He brought Atticus train tracks and 10 engines from the Thomas series to put on them. I have a video of him pulling each one of the the box and saying their names, but I've had trouble uploading video for some reason.

He's been entranced all morning, only occasionally taking a break to play with another toy or eat. He wouldn't even pause long enough to look up for a photo. I'd say, "Look at me, Atty!" and I'd hear "No lookamee, no tanks." This was the closest I got:

I'd say this Christmas was a hit.

James and I are having fun watching him play. Oh, and shooting birds at pigs in glass houses in the "Angry Birds" game for iPad and iPod. Man, that's addictive.

I hope all your Christmas wishes came true.

Christmas Chez Nous

I love this picture, even though it's blurry. The raised eyebrows, the pursed lips...

We had a wonderfully mellow Christmas this year. On Christmas Eve we celebrated by watching the third "Mummy" movie while noshing on camembert-tomato sandwiches, Martenelli's, and a spread of assorted stinky cheeses and olives.

Between the olives and the camembert, our house stunk to high heaven (and still stinks every time we open the fridge). But DANG it was tasty. That blue cheese in the photo is Papillion Roquefort, which made me giddy with cheese-joy when I put it in my mouth. I don't want to consider my saturated fat intake for that night...so I won't. :)

On Christmas morning we slept in. We didn't have any presents to open*, and Atty's too young to care, so we had a leisurely morning eating pancakes and watching the James Bond marathon on tv. About the time I started thinking about going for a walk, the wind picked up and brought with it some pellet-y snow. So we stayed in. Atty liked having both parents with him all day--he got lots and lots of snuggles, and some extra snuggles by proxy for Nana.

It snowed all night, so when James left for work this morning at 6 am, the snow was almost knee-deep. I have a feeling it will be another snuggly day.

*Don't worry, it wasn't a gift-less Christmas. My present is at the frame shop, and we'll be using Christmas gift money to shop for James's and Atty's presents at the after-Christmas sales tomorrow.