With school/work starting up again tomorrow, this holiday season is officially over for the Gianino family. It was a whirlwind, as usual, marked with some highs and some lows – and often the two were blurred together. I didn’t do as much photo taking, and I didn’t jot down some of the cute things Brendan said and did – but we packed in our days with togetherness – with each other, and with family on both coasts. That’s the best gift of all.
Here are a few gifts that will stand out this Christmas:
– Grandma Casler was definitely not herself during her stay at our house. We were so happy that she allowed herself to rest, but the littlest Gianino loves his Grandma a whole bunch, and many times during the day would announce that he was going to “check on Grandma”. He would march into her room, or go stand very quietly right next to the chair where she was sleeping, and would gently touch her arm. She would open her eyes to a beaming Grandson. I didn’t spend a lot of time wondering whether I should stop Brendan from checking on Grandma – I knew she needed her rest, but I also know what is most healing to her soul.
– Even when she wasn’t feeling well, Grandma packed the same angel chimes that I so vividly remember from my childhood. She and Brendan set them up together, and then we all enjoyed.
– On Christmas Eve, we all had our traditional waffle dinner, and then Brendan started getting things ready for Santa. He put out some carrots for the reindeer, and when I laid out the selection of 4 different kinds of homemade Christmas cookies, he chose a single cookie – Grandpa’s favorite kind – and left that and some milk for Santa. I asked him if we should leave a note, and then took dictation as he told me exactly what to write. He added his own special message to Santa at the end as well. I planned on putting the cookies on a table (mainly so that Chelsea wouldn’t be tempted…) but Brendan had other ideas – he wanted to put the note and the treats as close as they could possibly be to the fireplace. He got everything just so, and then he peeked his little head over to look up the chimney to see if Santa was on his way. I will never forget the magic of that moment. And luckily, Daddy captured a shot with his phone to help us remember.
– On Christmas morning, before Brendan was interested in presents, he wanted to see whether Santa had eaten his cookie – and he had! Brendan proceeded to finish up the crumbs while we read the note that Santa had left. He had no interest in rushing through presents – he thoroughly enjoyed each gift as we opened it and each time one was presented to him, he would look at us and ask, ‘what could it be??’. Santa brought him a bike that Brendan did not ask for, and is not quite excited about yet – but he also brought the exact toy that Brendan had picked out again and again from his toy catalog. Santa is amazing – and that toy has become the very favorite of the season. Along with a race track from his Aunt and Uncle and Cousins that takes the same kind of little cars – even though they didn’t know that this first gift would be coming from Santa!
– Grandma surprised even her husband by presenting Brendan with his very own sword and crown and handmade shield. Brendan wasted no time at all practicing his brave knight skills.
– We took the red eye to Boston on Christmas night, arriving early on the 26th. There was snow on the ground, but it was old snow. Last year Brendan liked looking at the snow, but was not very excited about going out to play in it. This year was different. We all settled in for a long winters nap when we arrived at Grandma and Grandpa’s house – and even though it was not in the forecast, just as we woke up the snow began to fall. It was a Christmas miracle. We watched for only a few minutes as we greeted cousins before everyone decided to go out and play. And this year – Brendan LOVED the snow. He went sledding, he made snow angels, and he had snowball fights – each time he threw a snowball he would yell “Snowballlll!”. He outlasted his twin cousins, but Brett stayed out there with him the whole time. It was everything a California girl could wish for. He even caught a snowflake on his tongue:
It really is extremely crucial to not only appalachianmagazine.com generic cialis online be realistic together with your clients about their expectations, but also not to ever take on a job that you know you won’t have the ability to accomplish. When this kind of generic sildenafil india will come to market with the hands of the branded levitra. One of the safety measures underlined by levitra sales uk the major diving institutions always calls for sessions with a professional scuba diving center and buy quality gear from certified and qualified Vancouver scuba dive shops only. Since truly, additionally critical than aggregate sexual fulfillment? With Xanogen you have the ability to turn into the man order viagra india appalachianmagazine.com ladies worship.
– Sleep schedules always get a little wacky when we travel back east, but Brendan did pretty well. We packed in a lot of fun that was on a schedule (like hockey games and parties and sledding in Fenway park!) so Rob and I would lay down with him to try and encourage napping, and he would get very chatty. One particular time he said to me, “I have a question”. I asked what his question was and he said, “I have to go to work.” I asked why he had to go to work and he told me, “I have meetings”. Then we laughed and laughed – the kind where he wrinkles up his nose and knows he came up with something funny. Even though we left at the crack of dawn by Boston standards – let alone California time, he only slept 20 minutes on the 7 hour flight home. He wasn’t grouchy and there were no melt downs, he just wanted to play. And eat as many treats as he could get his hands on. This did work out nicely for quickly getting him adjusted back to CA time because he passed out the moment we were all in our car for the ride home from the airport. We love to go on adventures, but my little man truly loves being home as much as his Mama does.
– We also did our traditional cousin photo shoot. I bought a few pictures, so I don’t feel bad posting this totally plagiarized screen captured view of a few of the photos. These are some good looking boys.
I also took this one with my cell phone before getting yelled at that I couldn’t take pictures in their studio. It’s not like I was using their props or lighting, but I guess they are afraid of a little competition…
– All this extra together time has made for extra cuddles together and I love it. We have always been big on family hugs – all of us piling together – often with Chelsea and often with smiles and giggles too. When we got home, one night we were having more fun than ever with our family hugs. It was time for bed, so Mommy proposed a crazy idea – “Do you think we could hold a family hug ALL the way upstairs?” Big eyes and giggles and then, “Let’s see!”. We all huddled together doing little tiny steps that prompted laughs so big that it was hard to breathe. We made it all the way to his room, and then took it one last step by doing a family hug while we brushed teeth. I know this silliness will prompt eye rolls from our teenage son, and probably everyone else – but it was one of Mommy’s most treasured Christmas gifts. And the next night, he asked if we could do it again.
During this holiday, our little man turned two and a half. Perhaps it’s predictable at this point that I am confident this is the best age ever. I think the reality is that I love being Brendan’s mom. I love ALL of it. Even the parts some parents seem to lament like changing diapers and middle of the night wake-ups have never bothered me. Every moment spent with my little man is a treasure – and sure, sometimes I’m tired, but just because kids are tired from waking up so early on Christmas morning, doesn’t mean they don’t enjoy unwrapping their gifts. Each day I have new gifts to unwrap – new words that pop into his vocabulary, new ways that he plays. Right now he loves playing hide and seek, and he loves listening to the theme song from Superman while he flies his super hero action figures around. He loves cuddling up (he ASKS to cuddle up) to read books or to watch the new Gianino family favorite movie: “How to Train Your Dragon”. (and if you haven’t seen the Christmas short, it’s worth a watch. I still cry every single time we watch.) He is my big boy, but he still calls Peter Pan, “Peter Man”, and I hope he always does. One morning he woke up before the sun did, and as the three of us sat in Mommy and Daddy’s bed and he caught the first glimpse of sun rays peeking through the window, he said, “Look! The sun is just down the road!”. Yesterday morning he called in to let us know he was awake and when I went in to get him, the first words out of his mouth were, “Mama – I like your sweater!”. I was wearing a ratty old navy blue hoodie, so I asked him to repeat what he said two more times with the same result, a gentle stroke of my sweatshirt and a big smile. I love how he sees the world. I love how he seems to know and seems to remind his Mama that we are all in charge of our own perception – of the way we choose to see the world. I don’t even know that it’s a conscious choice, but I know that my world is filled with Merry and Bright – whether the holidays are officially over or not.