This Christmas was really the first year that Claire started to understand Santa and she really enjoyed all the fun "extras" that Christmas brings (decorating cookies, opening the doors on the advent calendar, seeing the Christmas lights, etc.) I'm not totally sure that she understands that these things aren't permanent, but we'll deal with that next week!
Even though we are far away in Italy, Santa did manage to find us and leave presents and many friends and family sent us wonderful gifts too. We waited to open everything on Christmas morning and nothing was put out until Christmas Eve Night. All in all, it was quite a haul for both Claire and Eloise.
Claire was really excited about seeing that Santa had filled her stocking. That part of the day was a big highlight!
Mommy was very happy to find matching jammies for the girls, too!
Opening presents on Christmas morning truly was a marathon. It literally took us all day to unwrap the gifts and by the end of the day, we still weren't done. There were still a few left over for the next day. The vast majority of the gifts were for the girls, and because Eloise isn't too into unwrapping yet, the burden of the work fell on Claire. Which, she happily embraced.
When Claire would open a present for Eloise, she would happily bring the gift over to her, unwrap it in front of her, and then place the gift on or near here. Here is a pic of Claire opening one of Ellie's gifts. This was a box full of baby toys that were Claire's (that we put away ages ago) that Santa found to give to Eloise.
Then, when it was Claire's turn to open a present for herself, she would unwrap it and then want to play with it for at least 30 minutes, so that is probably why it all took so long.
The girls got a ton of wonderful toys from Santa and family and friends.
Here is Eloise with some new blocks from Grandpa Richard and Grandma Deborah.
Here is a picture of Claire trying out her new Dora trike from Grandpa Otto and Grandma Roberta.
Here Eloise is enjoying her new squeaky giraffe toy from Grandma Roberta and Grandpa Otto.
Eloise and Claire also got matching tutus and butterfly wings from Grandma Libby and Grandpa Paul. Too cute!
Now, I'm pretty sure that Santa brought these blocks for the girls, but I guess they'll have to share.
Santa also brought Claire a Rainbow Brite doll, which might possibly have been more of a gift for Claire's mommy.... so I guess we all won!
Overall we had a great Christmas and I'm sure next year, Claire will be really into it and Eloise will probably really enjoy the boxes and wrapping paper.
Merry Christmas to all!
On December 23rd, we took a quick day/evening trip to see the Christmas lights in Sorrento. They were spectacular and I didn't get many pictures because my camera wouldn't have done the lights justice. We also enjoyed the small Christmas market and a great dinner. It certainly put us in the festive mood!
This Christmas was really the first year that Claire started to understand Santa and she really enjoyed all the fun "extras" that Christmas brings (decorating cookies, opening the doors on the advent calendar, seeing the Christmas lights, etc.) I'm not totally sure that she understands that these things aren't permanent, but we'll deal with that next week!
Mommy was very happy to find matching jammies for the girls, too!
Opening presents on Christmas morning truly was a marathon. It literally took us all day to unwrap the gifts and by the end of the day, we still weren't done. There were still a few left over for the next day. The vast majority of the gifts were for the girls, and because Eloise isn't too into unwrapping yet, the burden of the work fell on Claire. Which, she happily embraced.
When Claire would open a present for Eloise, she would happily bring the gift over to her, unwrap it in front of her, and then place the gift on or near here. Here is a pic of Claire opening one of Ellie's gifts. This was a box full of baby toys that were Claire's (that we put away ages ago) that Santa found to give to Eloise.
Then, when it was Claire's turn to open a present for herself, she would unwrap it and then want to play with it for at least 30 minutes, so that is probably why it all took so long.
Here is Eloise with some new blocks from Grandpa Richard and Grandma Deborah.
Here is a picture of Claire trying out her new Dora trike from Grandpa Otto and Grandma Roberta.
Eloise and Claire also got matching tutus and butterfly wings from Grandma Libby and Grandpa Paul. Too cute!
Now, I'm pretty sure that Santa brought these blocks for the girls, but I guess they'll have to share.
Today we gave Eloise some rice cereal mixed with milk.... it didn't go badly, but she's not the biggest fan just yet...
Claire also wanted me to take a picture of her while she was eating... there are certainly some moments of sisterly jealousy and attention getting, but it's not too bad, yet.
First, we decorated our Christmas tree. Claire was a big "helper" by putting on all of the ornaments she could get her hands on. I managed to give her the mostly unbreakable ones and she put them all on the bottom two branches of the tree. It took everything I had to resist re-distribute them evenly over the rest of the tree. I did manage to resist, and her ornaments are still there, clustered at the bottom.
Then, Santa arrived to the base, making his rounds on the base riding the fire truck. When we heard Santa over the loudspeaker we ran out to the deck to wave at him going by. Claire was very impressed and later we went into the mall to meet him. Because we were on our way to the last soccer game of the season, she was dressed for soccer. As you can see by the picture, she was a little in awe of the big guy and a bit speechless, but she enjoyed meeting him for the first time this season. There will be a couple of other opportunities for Claire to see Santa this year before the big day, too. 
Claire has also had a lot of fun decorating (and eating) gingerbread cookies this year. She's lucky that she has a mommy that has let her do it a few times already this year.
Today, we also put together our gingerbread house kit and Claire loved decorating that one too. Here she is putting sugar "snow" on the tree.
And, finally our finished product...
Andy was away for work for most of Hanukkah, but he made it back home on the final night. So, we cooked some Hanukkah foods, including challah, potato latkes, and beef brisket and Andy lit the menorah with the girls. We also played dreidel with Claire and both girls got a gift. Claire really enjoyed the driedel game, but she certainly doesn't "get it" yet.
