Christmas 2009

We had a very merry Christmas.

We were able to take some pictures after Santa came late Christmas Eve. All the presents under the tree made us feel fancy; all the stockings too. The stockings, from left to right, were for the following individuals: Rachel, Abe, Liam, Soren, Briar, Quentin, Hillary. It was nice to have a crowd for the holiday. I hope our home is forever a depot for straggling Skousens.

Soren received two sets of Duplos (one from Santa, one from his "Hanties" Briar and Hillary) for Christmas, but was more enthralled by the Sponge Bob Square Pants wristbands that Abe and I acquired as a White Elephant gift at my work Christmas Party this year.

This was given to us in a gift-basket. Each of the boys got one. Liam and Soren were both entranced by this Santa, whose airplane's propeller spins when you push a button. Again, the free toy was favored over the ones we spent money on.

Soren was also fascinated more by Liam's toys than by his own.

After his initial fascination with the wrisbands and flying Santas wore off, Soren has come to love this gigantic foam alphabet "puzzle." He loves to put the pieces together and discuss the sounds all the letters make. Also, Auntie Hillary makes boy-sized boxes out of the pieces for him, which he likes to crawl inside and burst out of, like the Hulk.

The boys playing with their loot. They're also wearing their new Christmas Jammies from Grandma Hanson.* These are magic jammies because they can be folded to be feetie jammies or cuffed up to be not feetie jammies. They're also ridiculously soft, which makes the boys feel like stuffed animals and forces me to cuddle and hold and snuggle and squeeze them more than usual. I would keep Liam in these jammies 24/7 if he wasn't always barfing and pooping on them, thereby forcing me to change him into regular clothes.

The adults present in our household drew names for gift-giving this year; Quentin drew Abe. He wrapped the gift himself.

(This reminds me of a largely-unrelated thing about Soren these days that's cute: he thinks that everything in the world can be fixed with batteries and/or duct tape. The internet's not working? It needs batteries. The propellor on his toy helicopter fell off? It can be taped back on.)

Anyway, after presents, we spent the day with my family, lazing about, gorging ourselves on fatty foods, and playing games. It was pleasant.

*Editor's note: In a previous incarnation of this post, I accidentally credited Grandma Skousen with the giving of these jammies. Grandma Skousen actually sent a Christmas box full of delightful things which included a stuffed "Spot," a "Spot" book, and an alligator shirt (all for Soren); plus a bunch of delicious foods, several weeks worth of comic strips, and some old Reader's Digests for us old folks. Also, cash money, which I spent a long time smelling and rubbing all over my clothing.