So, I have decided to play catch up with my updates over the next few blog posts.
Naturally, the highlight of December was....
CHRISTMAS!
This year we DID put up a Christmas tree, but we had to put a baby gate around it to protect Annalisa (and our tree!), so the view was somewhat obscured.
I came up with a family advent activity for every day of the month- small activities that we would do together- and every day, Josh would open up a piece of paper which stated the activity for the day, such as: "Read the Nativity story" or "Watch a Christmas movie and eat popcorn together." We had fun! :)
A few days before Christmas, when all the presents were under the tree, Josh stated, "I want to open my presents NOW. I can't wait! I just can't wait!" Well, we should have listened to him and hid the presents because low and behold, early the next morning, Josh crept downstairs and unwrapped every gift with his name on it (even the one that said "To: Sophia, From: Josh"). Seth and I were livid! We hid his gifts and told him he wasn't allowed to play with them for a a few days after Christmas. (In retrospect, we probably only have ourselves to blame. How did we think a three year old could have so much self-control?)
On Christmas Eve, we told Josh to come and get us on Christmas morning BEFORE going downstairs so that we could all watch him open his gifts and see what Santa had brought him. Once again, however, Josh crept downstairs at about 5:30am, and then tore up the sour room and shouted, "Santa brought me a Spiderman action figure and puzzle!" Again, we were livid. Hadn't he learned? This made for a very unpleasant Christmas morning, as Seth and I scolded Josh for his disobedience.
Fortunately, the day got better! We went to Aunt Tracy and Uncle Chris's house to celebrate with my side of the family, and we all had a great time.
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| Opening stockings together |
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| Family photo (Josh is clearly not interested in taking photos at this stage!) |
