The Official Christmas 2007 Entry

We received a big box from Mom & Dad Rozeboom on the Friday before Christmas and were told to open it right away. When we brought it inside Adam said “Look at the huge box, Simon!” so from then on it was “huuuge box” according to Simon. There were several gifts marked to open “NOW!” – so of course we complied. Mostly they were for Simon. Simon learned really quickly that the huge box in the living room meant presents… We had also received two smaller boxes from my sister & brother-in-law filled with wrapped gifts, but didn’t unload them under the tree till Christmas Eve. When Simon saw those two boxes propped up by a cabinet in the kitchen he said “oooh – presents!” so I guess that means I must have exclaimed something similar in front of him when I opened the boxes. :)

We started teaching Simon about Santa Claus & the Christmas tree & stockings early in December, so within a few days he was very excited about “Sanky Claus” which occasionally sounded like “Chunky Claus.” And this year I did what I’ve thought about doing for several years now – I put two small nails in the living room wall & strung a bit of twine between them, so every time we received a holiday letter or card or photo from friends & family I could clip it up. I ended up having to add a second string – we feel so loved & blessed! Simon loved this game because every time we opened a picture he was told the names of the “friends” and then he’d see them pinned up there every day. One day, out of nowhere, he noisily called out “Roooo-ben!” We weren’t sure what he meant till he repeated it, and then said “Maya.” Some friends of ours had sent us a picture of their two kids – Maya & Reuben. Evidently those names really stuck with Simon. We also received a picture of Anna & Rachel, my sister’s twins. Almost every day Simon remarks about “Anna Rachel” – and just a few days ago he pointed and said “two Anna Rachel” – which makes me wonder if he thinks that “AnnaRachel” is one name, and there just happen to be two of them. I guess it’s close enough for the understanding of a two year old. :)

I think I’ve already mentioned that we have a very “hands on” Christmas tree this year with Simon. We made sure that the lower half (anything within his reach) was full of things okay for him to touch. Mostly it was crocheted snowflakes. By the time the tree had been up for a week or two we grew very accustomed to seeing things in the tree you might not expect. We regularly had balloons hanging from the tree, which I believe I’ve shared already, but that’s not all. We also found toys and jingle bells shoved into the “shelves” of branches, and one time I found his hat in there. I was actually looking for his hat to put on him, and I asked Simon where his moose hat was. He pointed and said “moose hat tree.” Of course. Silly me for thinking it might be anywhere else.

When my parents were here at the end of November Dad helped Adam string Christmas lights on the front porch and in a large fruit tree in our backyard. The fruit tree is visible from one of Simon’s windows, so from the first night they were on we had to look at “Grandpa’s Chrissy lights tree.” We also had Christmas lights in our house on the Christmas tree and in the nativity – so we made this a game for Simon to turn them on. I couldn’t turn on the lights until he said “one-two-three!” Almost every day in December we’d turn the Christmas lights on as soon as Simon got up for the morning. It was always cozier in the living room with the tree lit up instead of dark, so Simon would run out of his room and before mentioning breakfast he’d stop in front of the tree and say quickly “one-two-three!” and I’d hope to be by the light switch in time.

One afternoon I was hanging out with Simon and he was quietly playing on the floor and in the lower branches of the Christmas tree. I think he was hanging ornaments and then taking them off the tree & then hanging them again. At one point he just paused and looked at the tree a moment, then leaned in and kissed the branches in front of him, and got up & walked away to play with something else. I guess he was thanking the tree for the lovely time. :) He regularly said “good morning Chrissy tree” and “good night Chrissy tree” too.

I think that’s enough of the general/background Christmas season news from the world of Simon. So that brings us to the weekend before Christmas. As I said, my parents had designated a few gifts to be “pre-Christmas” gifts, and we had learned from his birthday that too many gifts all at once wasn’t fun, so we started spreading out the fun right away. The first few gifts were obviously from my mom, so we told Simon to make sure & say “thank you Grandma Lizzy.” When we got to Christmas Eve & Christmas day & did the bulk of the gifts, after almost every one he opened Simon would say (with great animation) “thaaank you Grandma Lizzy.” We would correct him and say that a gift was from his Tia or from Aunt Becky & Uncle Jason or from both Grandma Lizzy AND Grandpa Gerry, and he’d add their names to his thank-you too. But Grandma Lizzy always got thanked, no matter WHO the gift was from.

On Christmas Eve we had an evening candlelight “lessons & carols” service at church. Because it was just lessons & carols we thought Simon could probably stay in the service the whole time. Adam & I both had a hymnal in our laps most of the service, because we used them so often, so Simon insisted that he had to have a “big book” too. We gave him the Bible from our pew & he opened it in his lap and when we sang, he’d open & close his mouth in imitation of us. He looked more like a fish than like he was singing, but it was sweet.

When we got to the end of the service we turned off the lights and lit our candles off the Christ candle. We sang “Silent Night” to candlelight and then our good friend Tyler (also one of Simon’s godparents) who was leading the service said a blessing/benediction as we prepared to leave the sanctuary for the night. Earlier in the service Simon had gleefully pointed out “Unky Tylo” up front (we call him Simon’s Uncle Tyler), but as soon as the candles were lit Simon immediately began with “oooh! Candles!” The “oooh” always started in a low range, went higher & then low again – like a slide whistle. During the singing of “Silent Night” Simon mostly was quiet and/or “sang” along, but as soon as the hymn was over he picked up again with “Oooh! Candles!” and just kept repeating it, louder & louder. Tyler proceeded, loudly & slowly, to say the benediction over him. When I relayed the story to my mom later, Mom asked if Tyler lost his focus or got distracted. I said no, he just got louder & slower. But when I asked Tyler later how he did it without laughing he looked up and said “honestly? I didn’t even notice him!” THAT is some divinely inspired focus for you. :) The rest of the congregation was giggling & looking at Simon, and admiring his fascination with the candles. At some point Simon decided that his enthrallment with the candles would be no less if he blew them out, so he started puffing & blowing at them too. When the service was actually over and we had to blow the candles out to put them in a box, you know we let him blow out both of ours.

So we left church and it was about 7pm and very dark. As we were getting near our neighborhood, Simon began with “Oooh! Chrissy lights! MORE Chrissy lights!” so we opted for an impromptu Christmas light tour of the neighborhood before heading home for gifts. Every house we saw with any Christmas lights at all – even if it was simply the Christmas tree through the front window – received a slide-whistle “ooooh!” from the little redhead in the backseat. I think this is the month where Simon discovered wonder. We went for a cold walk last night (the evening of New Year’s Day) and most of our neighborhood was dark – hardly a Christmas light to be found. But there’s one house just around the corner with some (I think they have small children there too) and we passed it on the way out and on the way back home. The second time was no less wonder-full for Simon, and it received animated “Ooooooh”’s from the chilly redhead in the stroller. Adam said, almost under his breath, “never lose that wonder, Simon,” and I almost cried. It’s true – we lose that wonder as we grow up. But this year, Simon has it in abundance and we can bask in his wonder.

Simon did also learn to say “Merry Christmas!” – and said it randomly to us, to the cats, to the Christmas tree, or just to the living room in general. I don’t know why Christmas lights were always “Chrissy” lights when he can say “Christmas,” but we didn’t bother correcting him. I’m sure by next year he’ll speak so correctly we’ll miss out on some of the sweet misspeakings that he utters now.

This brings us to mid-evening on Christmas Eve. Simon and I had both taken naps before church, so no gifts had been opened yet other that the designated early ones from my parents. We had a lot of ground to cover! So while Adam quickly got Simon some dinner I spread out the new tree skirt and unloaded the gifts. (One of the cats had peed on the new tree skirt the day after we got it, so we washed it and waited till the last minute for the “spread.” Between cats & Simon’s curiosity we knew we couldn’t put the gifts out early anyway.)

Once we’d all been fed, Adam & I found places to sit in the living room and Simon just ran in circles. “Presents! Another present!” he said gleefully. We encouraged him to “play Santa” and pick gifts & bring them to us. Most of them were for him anyway, so we’d just help him open them. Several of the gifts were great fun to play with or put on right away. One especially funny tidbit was when Simon received an animal puzzle from his Tia (Aunt) Melissa, my sister. Most of the animals he knew right away – hippo, lion, rhino, alligator, elent (elephant), etc. But “ostrich” was a tough one. Adam told Simon what it was & Simon proudly pointed at it and said “oh shit” and Adam, stifling his laughter, said “that’s right Simon, ostrich.” By the next day he mostly had it figured out, but we got some chuckles out of that one.

It was almost 9pm (WAY past Simon’s bedtime) when he started acting tired and losing interest in opening any more presents. We scurried him off to bed, finished our own gifts, and relaxed with watching A Christmas Story & having some hot cocoa with candy canes melted in it. Before bed we stuffed the stockings – I had gotten stuff for both boys, and Adam had played Santa for me. Simon, of course, had learned the word stocking earlier in the month.

Christmas morning I was awakened to Simon running in our room by my side of the bed and yelling excitedly “stocking stocking stocking!” This MAY have been prompted at least a little bit by his daddy, but I just grinned & pulled on my bathrobe. The three of us piled into the living room again, this time all in our “jammies,” and grabbed the stockings off the fireplace. Adam & I sat without touching ours for a while – there’s something about watching a two year old full of wonder that just makes you less interested in “stuff” for yourself. Nothing in Simon’s stocking was wrapped, so it was great fun for him to reach in and pull out some fun toy or treat with every handful. I had gotten him a handful of fruit leathers and animal cookies from the co-op, so they are relatively healthful treats. As soon as he’d pull one of these items out he insisted we open it and he get to eat it right then & there. Simon’s breakfast that morning was mostly treats from his stocking – good thing we haven’t introduced him to candy yet! He also got lots of critters, dinosaurs, snakes, frogs…all the fun things for a boy to want in a stocking. Eventually Adam & I got to ours too, but we didn’t eat our chocolate for breakfast. Simon went from stocking fun to the rest of his Christmas gifts under the tree.

The rest of Christmas day we just enjoyed our family time. We had a few ambitious ideas of how to spend our day, but mostly we just hung out. Simon played with all his new fun toys, Adam & I cooked a fancy Christmas dinner (Adam did most of the work) and we enjoyed the sunshine & quiet of a holiday at home with family.

I should also share that one of Simon’s early Christmas gifts from my parents was a nativity set with painted wooden characters. He quickly learned the names of everyone – from the animals to “wise man” to “Baby Jesus.”

For the rest of the week, Adam went back to work and Simon & I continued to get used to all the new things in the house. Adam & I put a bunch of “old” toys out of sight so Simon could really enjoy the new stuff and we could still have a little space in the living room. Promptly on the evening of the 26^th we had Simon help us start taking ornaments & lights off the very dead, needle-dropping, brittle tree. It was out on the curb by the time he was in bed. Later in the week we received one more big gift for Simon from my parents, a table & chairs, for him to color & do puzzles at. We also received a big gift ourselves in the form of a check slipped into a holiday letter from the same. Also later in the week we received a large box from Adam’s mom & step-dad full of goodies for all three of us, and another check in another holiday letter from his dad & step-mom. Christmas surprises just kept on going!

The biggest surprise was one we came up with ourselves, but I’ll write about that on my blog. As yet, Simon doesn’t have a whole lot to say about it. :)

So now that I’ve written the official Christmas entry, I’ll follow it up with several batches of pictures that capture as much as the camera did last week. I’m sure you mostly don’t need captions, right? Happy Holidays!