The Promised Christmas Post
Dec. 27th, 2013 01:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mousmeAS I mentioned yesterday, there was Christmas! It actually happened. ;) It was a really nice Christmas, actually. For the first time in about 10 years I got to be home on Christmas (actually, I have spent Christmas morning with my parents before going to work a few times in that interval) and spend it with chosen family.
I was up first,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
pdaughter close behind me (and it bugs me to no end that auto-incorrect automatically changes that to "daughter" no matter how many times I tell it not to!). I took a quick shower, which had the effect of getting me clean and waking Bean, who stumbled out of his room not five minutes later. pdaughter was right there with the video camera to capture his reaction on film, which you can see if you're friends with her on Facebook.
There were a LOT of presents. I'm quite sure Bean will never be able to play with them all in his whole lifetime. He was very excited, though, which was so much fun.
Not pictured in this entry is the big hit of the day, which was a stroller for his doll, Malik Mollum (named by Bean himself, and woe betide you if you try to shorten the name to just 'Malik!'). Bean, true to himself, introduced us to Extreme Strollering. Within five minutes the stroller had gone round in increasingly fast circles around the open area in the dining room, been knocked over three times and been rammed into various walls and pieces of furniture.pdaughter caught part of it on video as well, but missed the bit where he picked it up and swung it around his head.
There were much calmer parts to the morning, too. Bean was happy to get us to open the presents that were from him (he went with each of us to pick out presents for the other separately, so they would be a surprise), and while he hasn't quite completely worked out how gift-giving works, he seemed pleased that we were pleased. :)
Becausepdaughter is the most organised person EVER, we had a box for the wrapping paper set up immediately, along with a box for the smaller toys so they wouldn't get lost or misplaced. Bean did quite well in helping to keep things tidy and put the wrapping paper in the recycling box before unwrapping the next present.
You'll note the pink hair extension. For many, many months now, Bean has been heavily into what most people would consider "girl stuff." The new technical term for it is "gender non-conforming." Essentially it means that the house has been filled with Barbie and dolls and lots of pink and purple and sparkly. Bean prefers wearing skirts and leggings and adamantly wants to grow his hair "big."
We figure there's no harm so long as it makes him happy. :)
The toys, as a result, included Barbie and a Barbie Volkswagen Beetle (pink, of course), some Monster High action figures (his latest discovery), as well as a metric buttload of train tracks. He's been building elaborate train tracks, but his vision outgrew the number of tracks he had. Now, with any luck, he'll be able to build to his heart's content.
After about an hour and a half, he got overwhelmed and so we had to take a short break for some milk and forpdaughter to make crockpot hot chocolate. It has got to be the richest hot chocolate I have ever had the delight of consuming. I could feel my pancreas giving up as I sipped. ;) (Actually, the richest hot chocolate award still goes to kiwano, but that was more like chocolate sludge of which I wasn't able to have more than a few sips)
Of course there were books, both English and French (Pinkalicious and Robert Munsch featured, as well as Llama Llama, a household favourite) and some fun clothes. Sparkly jeans and a striped hoodie, Monster High socks and sparkly peach leggings and a silver tutu. He wore his Christmas clothes right off after getting out of his PJs.
The immediate hit was the LeapPad 2. He's been obsessed with computers and games for as long as I can remember, and it's just not always possible to have him on our laps to play a game. I've been leaving the computer alone when I'm at home with Bean andpdaughter, for one thing, and some of the games on our computers (if not most of them) really aren't age appropriate. Even if they're not scary or violent, they're just too advanced conceptually for him. This way he gets his own "puter" with games aimed at helping him learn. His earlier LeapFrog game (aka the "Puppy Game") was how he learned his letters to begin with.
As soon as we'd set it up he was going at it with the little stylus that came with it, happy as a clam.
pdaughter's father arrived around 10:00 to join in the festivities. Bean and I know him as "Pake" which means "grandfather" in Frisian. He brought another turkey (because why have one turkey when you can have two?) and ham and more dessert than we knew what to do with.
He got to spend some quality time with Bean, and overall we all had a great time together while I was there.
The grown-ups also got quite spoiled at Christmas. Well, I did. Bean got me a sparkly green iPhone case, nail polish, and a dog-themed charm bracelet, among other things.pdaughter, whom I frustrated to no end because I kept unknowingly buying things she'd already bought me for Christmas, got me coffee and the boxed set of Albert Campion DVDs, special strengthening nail polish, flavoured coffee syrups and a vacuum cleaner for the car, and a host of other exciting things that escape me right now because I'm not at home and my memory is absolute shit. Her father bought me a nifty thing that I can put on my windshield in winter to keep the snow and ice at bay, as well as a calendar and even moar coffee (all the k-cups!) and a k-cup carousel, which I've already set up here.
He and I surprisedpdaughter with a new Breville coffee maker, which I think she quite liked. There was also the Doctor Who scarf, which did not quite get finished in time. It was lacking the tassels and the ends hadn't been woven in when I gifted it, which frustrated me a lot, but I think she liked it anyway. It's finished now, after two more days of work, and so she'll receive the finished product when I get home this evening.
Alas, all good things come to an end, and around 13:30 I left for Ottawa to get back to work. I'd come in the night before specifically to be there for Christmas, but someone has to do my job, and that someone is me. Next year I might actually get time off for Christmas. You never know!
I was up first,
pdaughter close behind me (and it bugs me to no end that auto-incorrect automatically changes that to "daughter" no matter how many times I tell it not to!). I took a quick shower, which had the effect of getting me clean and waking Bean, who stumbled out of his room not five minutes later. pdaughter was right there with the video camera to capture his reaction on film, which you can see if you're friends with her on Facebook.There were a LOT of presents. I'm quite sure Bean will never be able to play with them all in his whole lifetime. He was very excited, though, which was so much fun.
Not pictured in this entry is the big hit of the day, which was a stroller for his doll, Malik Mollum (named by Bean himself, and woe betide you if you try to shorten the name to just 'Malik!'). Bean, true to himself, introduced us to Extreme Strollering. Within five minutes the stroller had gone round in increasingly fast circles around the open area in the dining room, been knocked over three times and been rammed into various walls and pieces of furniture.
pdaughter caught part of it on video as well, but missed the bit where he picked it up and swung it around his head.There were much calmer parts to the morning, too. Bean was happy to get us to open the presents that were from him (he went with each of us to pick out presents for the other separately, so they would be a surprise), and while he hasn't quite completely worked out how gift-giving works, he seemed pleased that we were pleased. :)
Because
pdaughter is the most organised person EVER, we had a box for the wrapping paper set up immediately, along with a box for the smaller toys so they wouldn't get lost or misplaced. Bean did quite well in helping to keep things tidy and put the wrapping paper in the recycling box before unwrapping the next present.You'll note the pink hair extension. For many, many months now, Bean has been heavily into what most people would consider "girl stuff." The new technical term for it is "gender non-conforming." Essentially it means that the house has been filled with Barbie and dolls and lots of pink and purple and sparkly. Bean prefers wearing skirts and leggings and adamantly wants to grow his hair "big."
We figure there's no harm so long as it makes him happy. :)
The toys, as a result, included Barbie and a Barbie Volkswagen Beetle (pink, of course), some Monster High action figures (his latest discovery), as well as a metric buttload of train tracks. He's been building elaborate train tracks, but his vision outgrew the number of tracks he had. Now, with any luck, he'll be able to build to his heart's content.
After about an hour and a half, he got overwhelmed and so we had to take a short break for some milk and for
pdaughter to make crockpot hot chocolate. It has got to be the richest hot chocolate I have ever had the delight of consuming. I could feel my pancreas giving up as I sipped. ;) (Actually, the richest hot chocolate award still goes to kiwano, but that was more like chocolate sludge of which I wasn't able to have more than a few sips)Of course there were books, both English and French (Pinkalicious and Robert Munsch featured, as well as Llama Llama, a household favourite) and some fun clothes. Sparkly jeans and a striped hoodie, Monster High socks and sparkly peach leggings and a silver tutu. He wore his Christmas clothes right off after getting out of his PJs.
The immediate hit was the LeapPad 2. He's been obsessed with computers and games for as long as I can remember, and it's just not always possible to have him on our laps to play a game. I've been leaving the computer alone when I'm at home with Bean and
pdaughter, for one thing, and some of the games on our computers (if not most of them) really aren't age appropriate. Even if they're not scary or violent, they're just too advanced conceptually for him. This way he gets his own "puter" with games aimed at helping him learn. His earlier LeapFrog game (aka the "Puppy Game") was how he learned his letters to begin with.As soon as we'd set it up he was going at it with the little stylus that came with it, happy as a clam.
pdaughter's father arrived around 10:00 to join in the festivities. Bean and I know him as "Pake" which means "grandfather" in Frisian. He brought another turkey (because why have one turkey when you can have two?) and ham and more dessert than we knew what to do with.He got to spend some quality time with Bean, and overall we all had a great time together while I was there.
The grown-ups also got quite spoiled at Christmas. Well, I did. Bean got me a sparkly green iPhone case, nail polish, and a dog-themed charm bracelet, among other things.
pdaughter, whom I frustrated to no end because I kept unknowingly buying things she'd already bought me for Christmas, got me coffee and the boxed set of Albert Campion DVDs, special strengthening nail polish, flavoured coffee syrups and a vacuum cleaner for the car, and a host of other exciting things that escape me right now because I'm not at home and my memory is absolute shit. Her father bought me a nifty thing that I can put on my windshield in winter to keep the snow and ice at bay, as well as a calendar and even moar coffee (all the k-cups!) and a k-cup carousel, which I've already set up here.He and I surprised
pdaughter with a new Breville coffee maker, which I think she quite liked. There was also the Doctor Who scarf, which did not quite get finished in time. It was lacking the tassels and the ends hadn't been woven in when I gifted it, which frustrated me a lot, but I think she liked it anyway. It's finished now, after two more days of work, and so she'll receive the finished product when I get home this evening.Alas, all good things come to an end, and around 13:30 I left for Ottawa to get back to work. I'd come in the night before specifically to be there for Christmas, but someone has to do my job, and that someone is me. Next year I might actually get time off for Christmas. You never know!
