OK, today Larsen decided to get into our closet and try on a few things. It all started with being silly with daddy’s old boots and hat and ended up with slippers, jackets, heels etc. It is perfectly cool for 4 year olds to wear boots with a shirt and no pants regardless of what what the fashions trends may be. He kept saying, “let’s take pictures and send to daddy”. Don’t be alarmed, he never left the house in any of these outfits!
Larsen is now 4 and he does not want to be associated with anything “babyish”. Yesterday, he insisted on buying a rubber duck he saw at Bath and Body Works. So, off we went, he had his money in hand, grabbed the duck, paid his money and low and behold, the cashier gave the bag to me. Well, that was a total embarrassment to a FOUR YEAR OLD!!! How dare she not give him the item he just purchased, he was completely devastated and showed that he is truly a 4 year old by falling to the ground and crying that she did not give him the bag. All the way home, I had to hear that he did not get the bag, blah, blah, blah. Now, he dislikes the duck and shoved it into a bag with all the other rejected ducks.
Santa brought Larsen a super cool kitchen that he had personally requested while sitting on his lap at Northpark mall. However, it seems that Santa is hard of hearing and got him a “Kidscraft” kitchen, when he specifically stated a “Learning Express Kitchen!!!” Although, he was excited and did not make a fuss on the oversight (on Santa’s part of course). He did mention that he does indeed like his kitchen, but it is NOT the learning express one!! Nonetheless, it is fun and Luis and I have already had some interesting meals served to us.
It finally came, that day we have all been so laboriously planning for since the beginning of December (some of you even earlier). Merry Christmas to all!
This year was more exciting than last Christmas since Larsen is now old enough to really “get it”, so now we get to truly play the game. So yes, Santa did come bearing many gifts for all. Larsen was very excited about his new bicycle, but even more excited about his play-kitchen (did I already mention his love for play-food and cooking?). And even though it wasn’t exactly what he been asking for, which specifically was a “Learning Express kitchen like Aidan has”, he was happy with what he got. I was worried that he would take one look at it, push it aside and yell at us because it wasn’t exactly what he’d been asking for the last month or so. Whew!
Santa seemed to enjoy the cookies (yum!), which I’m certain were great to have around as he put together the new bicycle. I think Santa even had some of the apples and trail-mix since I still find it hard to believe the reindeer actually come inside the house with Santa. He sure left quite the mess though.
We ended up at grandma and grandpa’s house for some family time including, grandpa-wilburn, grandma-betty, Amy, Chris, Landon and Emma. After getting home later that evening we quickly realized that with Larsen’s birthday being so close to Christmas (Dec. 8th) he sure ends up with more toys that he can handle at once. Yup, will be pulling a fast one and “saving” some for later. Shhhhhhh… 
In anticipation to Santa’s arrival later that evening, mommy and Larsen baked some cookies for good ol’ Santa. Larsen was thrilled to help make and decorate the cookies (he has some strange obsession with cooking). The best cookies of the bunch were then carefully selected for Santa, and a note was written to go along with it. According to Mandi you also leave something for the reindeer (aren’t they supposed to just sit up on the roof and wait for Santa to come back up the chimney?), and I was unaware that reindeer like trail-mix…who would have thunk!
Tonight we all went to a Christmas party hosted by one of our neighbors, but it was a special party because Santa was going to be there. I was amazed at the number of people one can fit into a house, and it sure seemed like the whole neighborhood was there. The kids all played upstairs while the adults mingled downstairs and waited until Santa arrived.
As one would expect, all the kids ran downstairs when Santa arrived and all sat around him patiently waiting for their name to be called. Every kid got a chance to sit on Santa’s lap and get their gift, it was a total hit. Santa graciously and patiently gave every single kid his full attention spending at least a full minute with each boy and girl. Most kids were thrilled to see Santa, some were scared and some were unimpressed…you gotta love the unadulterated reaction of kids
Larsen patiently waited, but you could tell he was getting a little anxious as he was one of the last ones to be called upon. Santa was great, and it didn’t take long for even the adults to jump right in and get their pictures made with Santa as well.
You read correctly, Mandi and I actually went out to a party. Forget that we did not have to leave the neighborhood and that we left by 10 PM…the important part is that we mingled with other adults for a change!
We can hardly remember the last time we had been out to an adult party before tonight. Truth be told, we have not really been looking for a sitter. I think we had already resigned to the fact that wherever we go, Larsen would go too. Thankfully our friend Lisa has a great neighbor that watched both Aidan and Larsen while we all went out for a few hours. I think we should keep her name and number handy for possible 2006 adult outings
Tonight we went to our friend Margaret’s surprise birthday party and had a really great time. Gail hosted the party and Margaret was completely unaware that such activities were being planned right under her nose. Way to go Joel!
