Santa Claus Came to Our House!

 

 Today is Christmas Day! Hurray! 

Santa Claus came to our house last night and brought everyone a bunch of awesome gifts. I also had gifts for everyone, including this neato macaroni ornament that I made in school. Mommy and Daddy loved it!

As soon as I woke up, I dug right into the gifts. This is the face of an overwhelmed boy, I tell ya!

Here's a closer look at the chaos. Yikes!

I sure had fun! I got a really neat Matchbox car ramp that you attach to the wall (more on that gift soon) from Mommy and Daddy, my annual ornament (I got a Noah's Ark one and one with the year on it) and a big boy set of Legos from Santa (just like I asked for).

I also got new "clothes" for my Mr. Potato.

Now he can be a policeman. Cool! By the way, check out my awesome Santa jammies, huh?

Here's the first thing Daddy and I built with my new Legos. It's a helicar! I'm such an inventor!

I also got a stocking full of great gifts from Santa.

It had a card from the Big Guy in it just for me. Santa thanked me for being such a good boy and hoped that I loved my new Legos. By the way, Santa actually called me last week! He hoped that I was being a good big brother, eating all my food and going to the potty all by myself. I told him I was! Awesome, right?

Here are a few things from my stocking. A PEZ with a car on top...

...and this neato bug. It buzzes and zooms across any surface. I love it! I also got some Squinkies, the world's smallest cars I've ever seen.

I bet you are wondering what Mia did during all this present opening. She slept through most of it (Are you seeing a pattern here? I sure am. Boy, babies sleep A LOT!) so Mommy helped her open her gifts. She got a glowing seahorse that plays music from Mommy and Daddy and a talking/singing puppy from Santa. It will teach her all kinds of cool stuff when she gets a little bit bigger. She also got her first official ornament (a cute Winnie the Pooh one for baby's first Christmas) and a card from Santa just like me.

Wow, opening presents sure is fun! We are now off to Tutu and Sir's house for Christmas Day fun with the Dirstines! 

P.S. Mommy apologizes for not having pictures of all the festivities at Tutu and Sir's house (she was busy feeding Mia during the present opening and Daddy was busy helping me open the presents). So I thought I'd give you the highlights. I got a Leap Pad (kinda like my own little iPad), a couple of cool Captain America toys and a Toy Story Blaster from Tutu and Sir. Mia got a super cute outfit from Tutu and Sir (she thinks she will wear it to her Sip 'N See in a few weeks). Mia and I also got a neat Advent book from Uncle Mike, Aunt Marisa and Cousin Ella. Aaron, Aunt Nora and Grumpy also joined us for the fun Mommy hopes she can track down some photos from someone else's camera soon...Stay tuned!

Oh, Boy, It's Christmas Eve!

Oh, boy, today is Christmas Eve! Our stockings are hung and ready for Santa and everything! We even got a new stocking for Mia. I guess she is really a part of our family now.

Soon we were off to Mimi and Pop-Pop's house to celebrate Christmas Eve with the Livingstons...

 

 Jack and I started out the night decorating Christmas cookies. Great-Grammy Mary brought all the stuff for us to do it.

 

 I was really good at using the icing.

These look pretty good if I do say so myself.

Here are my finished products. I ate most of them pretty quickly.

Jack was very meticulous about putting his icing on. He followed the patterns exactly.

Soon it was time for presents! Oh, boy! Our friend Terry supervised.

Wow, look at this neat pad of construction paper! You know how I love to draw and color.

I also loved this Peter Pan pop-up book. Thanks, Mimi and Pop-Pop!

Jack got lots of cool stuff, too!

What's in this one? I love presents!

Some other gift highlights include matching Spiderman action figures (Jack and I flew them around the room and had a blast), a neat retro set of wooden blocks, clothes, money and games.

Here are some of the adults opening presents, too. Everyone got some awesome gifts! We gave everyone framed photos of Mia and me and a cool calendar with our pictures in it. They loved them!

Of course Mia was there, too, it being her first Christmas and all. She was looking quite cute in her Christmas sleeper. Merry First Christmas, little sister!

Lots of pictures were taken by all of the adults but Mommy was busy part of the time feeding Mia and Daddy was busy helping me open presents so unfortunately Mommy had less pictures to post. Oh, well. But we thought we would leave you with a great family photo of the four of us. Pretty cute!

So now I have to go home and go to sleep so that Santa will come tomorrow morning! Thanks, Mimi and Pop-Pop, for a great Christmas Eve! And thanks, everyone, for all the presents and fun! Stay tuned for more Christmas adventures...

Reflections on Being a Big Brother

When you are a big brother, you definitely have a lot of responsibilities. You have to hold your little sister and make her happy. You have to talk to her and read her stories. I also love singing her songs. Before she was born, I practiced singing "Rock-a-bye Baby" over and over again so that I would be really good at it. 

But being a big brother is not so bad, especially since my sister is so cute! And I am a really good big brother, too. I tell Mommy that at least 20 times a day. And of course she agrees!

And at the end of the day, you can count on your Daddy to be able to put both you and your little sister to sleep. Whew, being a big brother can be so tiring!

So even though being a big brother is a big responsibility, I wouldn't trade it for anything. I love you, little Mia, and I love being your big brother!

P.S. Sorry about the dark photos. Mommy tries hard not to flash Mia with her camera. It makes her sad.

Happy Birthday, Uncle Jon and Aunt Jenn

Today we celebrated Uncle Jon (December 19) and Aunt Jenn's (December 15) birthdays! We all went to Great-Grammy Mary's house for a big spaghetti dinner. 

But the best part came after dinner. Grammy pulled out her old shake maker and made us all shakes! Neat, huh? Aunt Jenn helped.

Jack LOVED his shake. Grammy even had special glasses for us to drink out of.

Yummy! Can we have another one?

This is the unfortunate face of a 35 year-old. You are getting so old, Uncle Jon! Hee, hee!

Aunt Jenn, you don't look a day over 21. 35 looks great on you for sure!

After our shakes, Jack and I caught a bit of Yo Gabba Gabba. We love sharing a chair.

And what did my little sister do? She slept most of the time, of course.

Soon it was time for cake! The birthday kids got ready to blow out the candles...

Oh, boy! We hope you both made good wishes. Mia wasn't too happy about the candle blowing. Maybe she didn't like our singing.

Then Mimi re-lit the candles and Jack and I took a turn, too! Candle blowing is so much fun!

So happy birthday, Uncle Jon and Aunt Jenn! I hope your birthdays were extra special! We love you both!

Happiness Is...

 

...having the cutest baby sister in the whole world! I love you, Mia Patricia!

By the way, we are giving this photo in a lovely frame to everyone in our family for Christmas this year.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today is my actual fourth birthday! I had to go to preschool today since it was a school day. But Mommy made chocolate chip cookies for me to share with my friends and they were delicious. We went to the doctor this morning and I got lots of shots. Ouchie! By the way, I am 34 pounds and 38 inches high. Not too big but not too small. I guess I'd say I am just right!

Since we had a big family party on Saturday, Mommy, Daddy, Mia and I went to my favorite place for dinner. If you guessed IHOP, then you win a prize! Or as I like to call it: HI-HOP. Here I am with Daddy eating my Silver Five pancakes. Yummy!

This was Mia's first restaurant experience. She slept through the whole thing. Mommy says she doesn't have any teeth yet so I don't think she would have enjoyed the pancakes.

Being four is the best! I feel so much older. Bet you can't wait to see what happens during my fourth year...

Brunch with Santa

 

 Today we went to Tutu and Sir's country club for the annual Brunch with Santa. We all love this event and get all dressed up in our Christmas duds. Tutu and I were looking particularly festive, don't you think?

 

 First we all sat down to have a yummy brunch. I had waffles, eggs, fruit...

 

...and of course dessert!

 

 Uncle Mike, Aunt Marisa and Cousin Ella came, too!

 

Soon it was time for the "big guy" to arrive. Tutu and I stood in line for our turn to meet with Santa. I spied him out of the corner of my eye. I'm not so sure about this guy, Tutu.

And of course by the time it was my turn, I was having nothing to do with Santa. I cried as soon as Tutu came within two feet of him. This was as close as I was going to get. Hmmm, déjà vu, maybe? Even though I did not sit on your lap, Santa, I still want you to bring me a big boy Lego set, OK?

 

Since Mia is so small, Mommy thought it best for her to steer clear of Santa this year. This is as close as she was willing to get. Smart move, Mommy. That guy is shifty!

Even though I obviously still harbor negative emotions about Santa, I was not about to turn down a gift from him. I'm cautious but not crazy, people. He gave me a little Transformers airplane that I loved. I also got these nifty wooden cars from Cousin Ella for my birthday. I loved taking them apart and putting them back together again, which I did about 50 times.

Ella, on the other hand, loved Santa. She sat on his lap and told him exactly what she wanted for Christmas. Here she is playing with the princesses he gave her.

 

So even though I did not enjoy the Santa part, we still had a blast at the brunch. Thanks for inviting us, Tutu and Sir!

After brunch, we went over to Tutu and Sir's house to see the decorations. Ella and I both love her animated Nutcracker Suite. I'm sure we would have stood there all day and pressed the "play" button over and over if the adults didn't drag us away.

Before we left, Ella and I took our traditional picture on Tutu's garden bridge.

Cousins are the best!

So I guess the holidays are officially here! I can't wait for Christmas to be here...