Anyways, Christmas with a 4-year old is a blast. This was the first year that Lukas really got into the whole St. Nick thing. I tried not to overuse the "be good or Santa won't bring you many toys" line, but I have to admit that it really makes for good behavior for a few weeks!
We cut down our own tree at a tree farm off of Skyline Blvd. - lots of people were having tailgating picnics after cutting down their tree. We'll have to remember that for next year. Cutting down the tree was fun since we didn't have a tree for the past 2 Christmas' that we were in Zürich.
Bringing home the perfect tree
Lukas also helped me make Christmas cookies. Usually, I can't get him to help me bake - he only has about a 30 second attention span. But for some reason, he really got into the cookies. He could actually roll out the dough, cut out the cookies & place them on the cookie sheet by himself. He did about 3 sheets of cookies on his own - I was blown away - kids really surprise you sometimes.
VERY carefully placing the cut-outs on the sheet
Lukas wrote his letter to St. Nick just 4 days before Christmas - as a first time mom I learned this wasn't a good idea. He asked for: a spaceship that goes sideways, bouncing aliens and a crocodile. Huh? Where was the request for cars, dinosaurs, and books (that St. Nick already got!)? Good thing we are in the USA where you can shop practically 24/7 right up to Christmas!
Following one of my brother-in-laws' traditions, we are all allowed to open one present on Christmas eve - which is new PJs. This year, Rob & Lukas got matching elf pjs:
Can you find Lukas in this pic ? ;-)
We sprinkled magic reindeer food on the lawn to help Rudolph find his way and of course, put out milk & cookies for St. Nick. We were woken by Lukas at 7am the next morning (not too bad). He was yelling: "The milk is all gone! The milk is all gone! St. Nick must have been thirsty! But not too hungry, because some of the cookies are still there!" He was impressed to no end.
The elves sprinkling magic reindeer food.
Lukas had been a little bratty on Christmas eve --- being very greedy about everything he wanted for Christmas. So, I was a little worried about how Christmas would turn out. He started tearing into the presents and I was fearing the worst. But on his 3rd present, he got a Diego Dinosaur rescue vehicle from Tante Cora, and all present-opening came to a screeching halt. He loved it & just wanted to play with that toy. We kept telling him that there were more presents under the tree for him, but he said "maybe later". What? About 3 hours later, (no kidding) we eventually re-started opening presents.
We headed to David & Corinna's for Christmas dinner. Lukas was the only kid & was spoiled with attention & goodies. But best of all, David had the complete set of plush characters from the Rudolph movie - his favorite. Lukas was in heaven! We all enjoyed a wonderful evening - we couldn't have asked for a better Christmas.
Lukas & friends watching Rudolph for the umpteenth time.
