Christmas Part III

The day after Christmas, Connor, Bailey, and I headed up to Vermont for our last round of Christmas celebrations.  Joey had to work (and look for a new car), so he stayed home.  We arrived in Vermont around 1 and were greeted by my parents, their dog, Sophie, my brother and his girlfriend, and their dog, Tucker.  Tucker is a very cute, very small chihuahua, and Connor adores him.  Tucker LOVES to give kisses, especially those that clean out your nose, and Connor just thinks that's all sorts of wonderful.  Shortly after, my youngest brother arrived, and we unwrapped presents.  Once again, Connor had to be bribed to open them, but he got these pretty cool race cars, and that helped a bit.  Once the tree was done, we had a very delicious dinner of roast chicken, mashed potatoes, salad, and veggies.  I love my mother's cooking, so I ate way too much.  But I'm eating for two, now, right?  So it was ok... RIGHT???

The next day, my mother, Connor, and my Aunt Colleen decided to head over the mountain (literally, we had to drive OVER the mountain - see picture) to see my cousin Becky and have some lunch.  A deer hit Becky's car (definitely not the other way around), so we were happy to pile into the minivan and make the trek to her neck of the woods.  We had a nice lunch at a little restaurant called The Big Picture.  Connor was a little grouchy after waking up from a nap, but wasn't too bad in the restaurant.  After we ate, we dropped Becky off headed back over the mountain just as it started to snow a bit.  We knew a storm was coming, so we timed it well.  We were home before any major snow or rain fell.

Wednesday was the day we got the snow.  It began snowing around noon and just kept falling.  My mom got out of work early, and on her 45 minute drive home, she said there was barely any snow anywhere else.  The second you drove over the town line of my little hometown, it was like a different world.  Lots of snow everywhere.  Around 4:30, when the dogs needed to go out, I bundled up Connor in his too-small snow pants and headed outside.  He was THRILLED to be out in the snow!  Other than the freak snow in October, we haven't seen any snow this year, and he was so happy to be able to play in the snow.  He helped Grampy "shovel" a bit, but Bailey HATES shovels, so it's hard to actually get any shoveling done with him around.  He digs at the shovel and barks.  It's hysterical, and he had Connor laughing the whole time.  We did have one point where there were a few tears because some snow got in his boots (due to the snow pants being a little too small), but he was better in no time and back out in the 6-7" of snow.

He hates shovels!

A few tears

Christmas Part II

Connor's second Christmas was on Christmas day at home.  We usually head to Vermont for the big day, but we stayed home this year instead.  Connor understood more about Christmas this year, and he even wrote a letter to Santa!  We left a few cookies out for Santa to snack on, and a partially eaten carrot for Rudolph (it seems Connor got a little hungry and chose to eat Rudolph's snack before bed).

Unlike most kids, Connor didn't have that "wake up at 5 a.m." excitement for Christmas.  He understood that Santa leaves presents, and that he gets new toys, but that excitement wasn't quite there yet (I'm sure it will be next year, though).  A part of me was disappointed, but the bigger part of me was happy that he isn't at that greedy stage where he wants present after present.  He would have been happy as a clam with the only Slinky he got in his stocking.  Don't get me wrong, he LOVES all of his presents, but we had to do a little bribing to get him to open them.  "Connor, if you open another present, you can have ONE more Angry Birds fruit snack...".  Things like that.  I know one year I'm going to want him to slow down a bit, but I think we'd still have a pile of presents under the tree if we hadn't moved him along a bit!

We're not sure why his shirt was off, either.

We did manage to get a little video of his reaction on Christmas morning.  It's very dark - I hadn't had a chance to turn on any lights, but it's funny to watch.  You'll see what I mean about the lack of excitement!  And at the end he goes for a toy he got as a gift the week before.  Go figure!  

After opening up presents, we headed up to Joey's sister's house for Christmas dinner.  Connor had fun playing with his cousin, Paige, and her dog, Gus. Connor adores Paige, and loves to play with her.  Usually we're next door at Mimi and Papa's, but Heather hosts Christmas so Connor got a chance to play with Paige's toys.   He also had a fabulous time playing with Auntie's chair.  He figured out how to put up the leg rest, and turned it into a game, turning the leg rest into a slide.  At one point, he had single-handedly moved the chair into the middle of the room.  He's strong!

We had a delicious dinner of ham, prime rib, hash brown casserole, and veggies.  Connor was pretty lucky, because Auntie Heather made him his own Mac and Cheese for dinner, and he devoured it!  It made Mommy happy because he had basically been fueled by Angry Birds fruit snacks and other sugary treats from his stocking, so getting a decent meal into him made Mom's day!

One of the presents Connor loved the most was his new trampoline.  Connor has a lot of energy.  I mean, a LOT.  He's constantly on the move, and is always jumping on the couch.  I figured a mini trampoline, such as the one they have at speech therapy, would be put to good use.  After using all of my brute strength to tie the bungee cords together, I finally let Connor have at it.  Of course I had my phone close by for a video.  I think this kid has a future as an Olympian.  Check out the mid-air splits in the video!

Christmas Part I

Connor was lucky enough to have three Christmas celebrations this year.  The first, as always, was his daycare Christmas party.  Miss Janet and Mr. Ralph take a lot of time to bake, cook, and teach the kids Christmas carols.  Connor LOVES Christmas carols, but does NOT love singing with others.  So, once again, he sat on the sidelines while the other kids sang songs.  At home he sings up a storm, but I guess he doesn't like the attention while singing in a group. Who knows!?

He did enjoy a bowl of pink marshmallows while he opened up his gifts from Miss Janet and Mr. Ralph.  They always spoil their kids, and this year was no exception!

Playing trains with Mr. Ralph is one of Connor's favorite activities during the Christmas party. He works the switch and makes it go SUPER fast!

I love this picture of Connor and Lauren sharing a snack at the table. They look like they're on date!