Calliope's First Christmas

A friend of mine once characterized parenthood as "long days, short years." Yes, the days can feel long. Today, for example, was veeeerrrrry long. Maybe it was because it began at 5:30 am when Calliope woke up (woke up for good, that is - she'd already awakened previously just to say "Wassup?" at 1 am and then again at 3am). But then the years seem to flash by. I feel like it was just the other day I was washing and folding newborn onesies in anticipation of the birth of a baby who would be so small that he wouldn't be able to wear them until he was three months old. Now, that same tiny baby is a raucous preschooler who enjoys stomping in puddles and tormenting his little sister. And his little sister... Well, once she was born, time moved from light speed to warp speed. The past ten months have been a blur of milestones, birthdays, and holidays. And now it's Christmas. Where did the time go? Thank God I have a camera (or three) to overdocument every single moment, or I might think that it was all a dream.

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Since becoming a family, Vince and I have developed a few holiday traditions. Each year, we send out our holiday cards right after Thanksgiving. Each year, we add a new ornament to the tree that consists of a picture of the family inside a frame with the year on it. But one of our favorite traditions involves going out for a holiday dim sum with our dear friends and neighbors the Bowens.
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This tradition started the first year we met them. Benjamin was 10 months old, and Nolan was just over a year.

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It continued the following year when the boys were about two.
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Now, it's not just the two boys anymore. It's three boys, along with a little girl. In another year or two, there might be another little boy or girl in the mix. Just kidding, Vince! I know you said the baby factory's closed.
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Despite the changes, some things do stay the same!

. Another wonderful tradition we have is spending time celebrating Christmas with our good friends Deb and George. They come over to our place to share a meal and also to spoil the kids rotten with too many presents.
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This year was no different - they came over for brunch on Christmas Eve and brought with them a ridiculous amount of gifts!
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Although the kids loved the new toys, what they really enjoyed was just hanging out with their favorite auntie and uncle.
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We spent the rest of Christmas Eve getting ready for the big day to come. That evening, we attended a candlelight service at my in-laws' church and then came home to relax.

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Rather, I relaxed, and Vince used some very un-Christmas-like language while attempting to assemble what was to be the kids' big gift.
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All that sweating and cursing was not in vain - their faces lit up when they saw the beribboned wagon on Christmas morning. We actually had to persuade them to get out of it so they could open the rest of their gifts. Actually, Benjamin was the only one we had to persuade. Calliope had no idea what was going on.
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Being only 10 months old, we expected her to enjoy the boxes and wrapping more than her actual gifts, but she surprised us by really taking to her new Remo floor tom.
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Benjamin's favorite gift was his Zoob set. He got to work right away building himself a little car.
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Calliope enjoyed playing with the Zoobs, too. Only she didn't build a car; she built a toothbrush.
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Later, we took the new wagon for a stroll around the neighborhood. There was almost no one out, and it was so quiet and serene. The only sounds were those of the wagon wheels turning on the hard concrete, Calliope giggling in her seat, and Benjamin giving us a running commentary on everything he saw. "Mama! Look!! A tree! A big tree! Mama, a car! A big red car! Car go VROOM! Oh, Daddy! DADDY, LOOK, A SQUIRREL! Squirrel go JUMPJUMPJUMP--" Ok, nevermind. Let's go back to that serenity.
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That evening, we went to Vince's parents' house for Christmas dinner. After stuffing ourselves silly with ham and sweet potatoes, we opened gifts. Tons and tons of gifts. It felt like each of us had a veritable mountain of gifts to get through.
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The kids definitely had fun unwrapping all those presents, but I think what they really enjoyed was just spending time with one another.

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So I guess I've learned a few lessons this Christmas...

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Lesson #1: Holiday traditions are awesome. Let's keep 'em going!

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Lesson #2: The presence of loved ones mean far more to us than their presents, which is a good thing, because...

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Lesson #3: Sharing Christmas presents can be difficult. For some of us anyway.

Happy Holidays, everyone!!