White Christmas

We've been learning about Christmas celebrations around the world this month and a few have been added to our house. Bohdin wanted to put out a stocking and shoes to be filled Christmas Eve. Many countries put out shoes with various people doing the filling. My favorite was the Italian witch. Bohdin didn't have a specific person in mind when he put out his shoes. The other tradition the kids loved was the Icelandic elves. They have hilarious names like Sausage Snatcher and Doorway Sniffer. The kids pretended to chase them around the house until they would finally leave. We should have spent more time with American stuff because I found at story time the kids don't know the names of Santa's reindeer. To be fair the Iceland stuff is a lot funner.



Bohdin slept in late Christmas morning and Nyla and I finally woke him up after nine. I knew Nyla would be her usual expressive self when opening presents so I recorded some of her unwrappings. She loved everything and usually squealed with delight and hugged the present. Her favorite present is the tutu made by Aunt Angie. She practiced being a ballerina for a long time yesterday. She was also a princess, dog, fairy, marching band member, and some other things. She also enjoyed the Max and Ruby dvd and the baby feeding set. Bohdin was his usual self when opening presents also. He has a quiet enthusiasm. His favorite present was the Playmobil conveyor belt from Paul and Jenn. I have a picture of him down below opening a rock I found on clearance at Marshalls. When he saw it in the store he asked in shock why they were selling it. He said it should be in a museum. Some of Bohdin's other presents were of course the Playmobil farm that he has been opening for the past month, binoculars and a constellation guide, and a cooperative game. He received Castle Panic but I got Pandemic which is another cooperative game. He played once with us last night. Of the three time Buddy and I played we only lost the time Bohdin was playing with us although it had nothing to do with him. Just luck of the draw.





When I asked Bohdin which present was his favorite he hugged me.  When I hugged him back he said the hug was his favorite.  Nyla chooses a different present each time.  Right now she is dancing around the house in her tutu and wand singing "Ballerinas never give up."

It snowed Friday night so we sort of had a white Christmas. Grass blades were still peeking up but it was better than nothing. The kids spent some time playing outside but somehow managed to become very muddy. We had another light dusting last night. We didn't get nearly as much snow as predicted but it's better than the rain that will be coming for New Years.

I talked to Bohdin about how he had behaved Thursday when his friends were over. He told me he didn't know how to play Playmobil with a group. That made a lot of sense to me. I'm glad he was able to articulate it so well.