Twelve Days of Christmas

As Tyler gets older, Christmas has been getting a lot more fun! Having him around Frank and I at Christmas reminds Frank and I of our childhood Christmases! Here are 12 fun facts about Tyler this Christmas season:

1. Tyler loves Frosty the Snowman. And Rudolph. And Charlie Brown's Christmas. Our DVR is filled with every Christmas special that has been on since Thanksgiving. Watching these shows with him has been an immediate time warp for Frank and I. After all, who doesn't love the Land of Misfit Toys? Tyler wanted to make a Frosty of his own last weekend, but the snow was too light and fluffy.

2. Tyler did not grasp the whole "Santa is watching" thing for a long time. He would say to us "but I don't see him" and "where is he?" when we would tell him that Santa is making sure that Tyler makes the nice list.

3. There is a house in Springfield that is totally decked out in lights and coordinates to the music on a radio station. It is a great sight. One night I remembered about the house and Tyler was in a bit of a funk. I drove him by the house and parked on the street. We sat and watched the house "perform" for 15 minutes. In one of the front windows there is a Santa image that moves around and waves. Every time Santa waved, Tyler would wave back. The first night we were there, Tyler said "See you soon, Santa!" Tyler now refers to this house as "Santa's house". Since that night we have made a few stops at this house each time to see if Santa was home.

4. During our visit to Santa this year at the mall, Tyler was not easily convinced that Santa wanted to see him. Tyler even requested that Rexy, his Tyrannosaurus Rex come with us. We hung back for awhile and watched some infants take their place on his lap. Eventually Tyler decided that he wanted to get in line as well. We made our way up there and he introduced Rexy to Santa, and when Santa asked what Tyler wanted this year, Tyler said "I don't know." Santa then said to Tyler "Do you know what I want?" and Tyler said "Yes." Santa replied "I want you to sit on my lap and take a picture!" Tyler did just this and now we have a great picture of Santa, Tyler, and Rexy!

5. After our success at Thanksgiving with donating to the Food Bank, I decided that Tyler needed to also help make another child happy at Christmas. When I asked him if he would like to help give presents to another child who may not get any thing year he said "Yes!". I arranged to "adopt" a 3-year-old boy, Alexis, from my old job at MSPCC. Alexis wanted trucks and blocks for Christmas. Tyler and I took some time and wandered around Target and found a car carrier, some Matchbox cars, and some car-themed warm clothes. Tyler was not immediately thrilled about the prospect of giving these really cool things away, but we kept explaining that he was going to make some other people really happy. We wrapped the gift and dropped it off at MSPCC, and when we did, he said "That is for my friend, Alex."

6. On our Christmas tree, there are numerous ornaments that are significant to events in our lives: first house, first Christmas together, baby's first Christmas, etc. Tyler loves to go around the tree and check on these and make sure that they are all still there. His favorite one is a silver ornament which opens to a baby picture of him. It has to be on the tree in the open position!

7. A few days ago we were in the kitchen making dinner. Tyler walked through and he was humming! After listening to him for awhile, I realized that he was humming "Jingle Bells"!

8. We have two fire places in our house. The other night, we read a book called "In a House With No Chimney, How Does Santa Get In?". I guess it was food for thought for a 4-year-old. He really could not figure out which one Santa will come in. After a lot of thought, he did settle on the living room chimney because it is closer to the tree.

9. While watching television and seeing a commercial for toys, Tyler will say "I want that!" or "I don't want that, that's for girls!". I had to explain to him that as a boy, he can play with girl stuff and vice versa. After all, he plays house with his friends and cousins!

10. Tyler loves to see mangers and look for the baby Jesus figures. Trying to really instill the reason for the Christmas season, I reminded him that Christmas is Jesus's birthday and he was such a loving and wonderful person that he wanted us to receive presents instead of taking them for himself.

11. For the first time, Tyler and I baked cookies this year. We had a lot of fun following the list and finding the ingredients in the grocery store and taking them home and following the recipe. Tyler likes to pull the stools up to the counter, it takes him to the right height to help out. While we rolled the sugar cookie dough out, he insisted on helping with the flour. Did I mention that the stools are covered in a dark, denim material? Did I mention that white flour and denim do not mix? On the other hand, my white tile floors and white counter tops survived a 4-year-old and flour just fine!

12. Eventually, after a lot of prodding, Tyler asked for 1 thing this year. The Matchbox Fire Ball Track. When we got back in the car after seeing Santa, he said "I forgot to tell him what I wanted!". He was almost in tears. That was when I explained to him that Santa already knows what he wanted, he is magic. Hopefully this will hit home when he actually opens the gift tomorrow! There is nothing better than seeing excitement on his face!

Merry Christmas!