After the kids went to bed last night, we got all of the presents and laid them out under the tree. We haven't been able to leave them out for fear that Marty would utterly destroy them.
It looked nice! This is the last time our house will look this nice for several days, I'm sure. Tamsen, true to form, got up waaaaay before anyone else did, but agreed not to disturb anyone else until 7:00. We got the kids out of bed, ushered them into the living room, and watched them go completely bananas when they saw all of their presents. Edie got PUZZLES.
Marty got a rocking horse, which he rode with a wild-eyed frenzy.
Edie got a pair of duckie boots she picked out herself several weeks ago.
Marty continued to figure out his rocking horse.
Edie got a red tricycle that she was over the moon about. We rode outside for about five minutes until her lips turned blue, which we took as a sign that we'd better pack it in for the day. We'll try again once it gets warmer.
We knew there would be some overlap between their toys, but I was surprised at just how much Edie wanted to play with all of Marty's toys. She wanted to ride the rocking horse, she wanted to eat his candy, and when it came time to bed, she had a full-on meltdown when I asked her to wear her new pajamas. She insisted she needed to wear Marty's dino pajamas. So, I mean, sure. You go nuts, little girl.
All in all, we had a really great day, with a minimum of freakouts. Both kids had a blast Christmas morning, which was more than enough fun for me. And for the first time, Edie was able and wanted to open all of her presents herself, which was especially fun.
It's getting cold here, even for Tennessee. Tamsen got Edie some mittens she could wear while waiting for the bus. She's been extremely enthusiastic about them ever since, wearing them outside, inside, wherever.
All the cold weather seems to have brought the cold season along with it. Both Edie and Marty were sick this week, dripping snot all over the house and wiping their goopy faces all over everything in sight.
That's not to say that they were completely miserable, though. They still ran around playing tag and laughing their heads off. Sometimes they can be unkind to each other, but as often as not, they play well together, and they genuinely seem to like each other.
Every once in a while, they team up against me. The other day, Tamsen had laid down for a quick nap, and the two of them ran into the kitchen, looked right at me, grinning, and screamed as loud as they could for a solid thirty seconds. It was all I could do to keep from laughing out loud. They're sneaky, but they're my kind of sneaky.
Despite having their own rooms filled with toys and books, our kids spend a surprising amount of the day in our kitchen, running around, climbing on furniture, and generally getting into things they shouldn't. For example, here's Marty... mixing something?
He's figured out how to push the chairs around where he wants them so he can get up on the table. If he's been quiet for a couple of minutes, it usually means he's made his way up there and knows he isn't supposed to be. On the other hand, sometimes if he's been quiet for a few minutes, it's because he's fallen asleep in the kitchen, like he did in his chair on Saturday.
Tamsen got the pillow for him so she could start taking pictures, which attracted Edie's attention. She didn't want to be left out, so she got a pillow and "went to sleep" as well.
Edie's interest in the kitchen isn't about destroying stuff so much as trying to walk around and be helpful. She likes to get her stool out and try to mix things and help out whenever we're making food. She can be in the way sometimes, but in general, she actually does a good job. Yesterday morning as I was making breakfast for Marty, she was barking out orders to me when I wasn't doing things right. "No, Marty eats his bananas before his milk! You have to cut them and put them in a bowl! Let ME do it!"
Last week Edie kept saying she wanted to do an "adventure" and refused to eat dinner, brush her teeth, or anything else until she had done her adventure. We weren't sure at first what that meant, but it turned out it just involved playing around the house wearing hats. Marty has been on his share of adventures lately. Here he is climbing up the stairs.
But what's this, you say? How could he possibly be adventuring without a hat? Rest assured, my friends, he has a hat.
And just in case you don't think that sitting placidly by a crib and a tiny Christmas tree while absently watching some cartoons isn't adventurous enough for you, then perhaps you should consider that you can go on an adventure every night at dinner, if you dare to.
You can't really tell from this angle, but his whole face and nearly all of the hat are completely covered in chocolate. Marty is what I would call a bold eater. Edie wears her fair share of hats, too.
This was an adventure in Marty's room, where we mostly rearranged things and got ready for bed. Tamsen came up with a much better adventure the next day, though. Edie saw a scrap of wrapping paper and announced it was her map. Tamsen sat down with a marker and drew everything that Edie told her was on the map. It was a pretty great map!
Like, a REALLY great map.
Again, hard to tell in this picture, but Edie told Tamsen that there was "some grass" on the map, so she faithfully a small lawn and labeled it "some grass." Edie thoroughly enjoyed it for about two days before she completely forgot about it, which was a pretty solid return on investment, actually. Every day is an adventure around here.
