Merry (Belated) Christmas!

 I hope you enjoyed a wonderful Christmas, Hanukah or whatever holiday your family celebrates. For us, our Christmas looked a bit different yet still was merry and magical. We missed the large family Christmas party and what a fun time the cousins will have when they all get together again in person! We got to see both sets of grandparents, although nerf gun battles while wearing masks is a bit interesting. 

Christmas is full of magic for our boys, from our elf Bernie who visits for the season to the surprises from Santa under the tree. We were even gifted a kit to grow candy canes from seeds this year, which was so special to see. I'll tell you, there's something about a freshly grown candy cane!

Some of the magic is lost on Teddy, although he fully embraces the fun of opening presents. He seems to find that most exciting when they're not his and when he's not supposed to open them. We had to keep our gifts in boxes tucked in the back of the tree or they all would have been opened by Teddy. Yet, on Christmas Eve, he had no desire to unwrap his last present, so it stayed under the tree untouched. 

Teddy, however, fully appreciates the time with family at the holidays. He was so excited to visit with both sets of grandparents. He jumped for joy to see them and then promptly dragged them off somewhere to play with him (often the basement). The best was that when Teddy wanted to go outside, he knew exactly who to approach. He got his coat and boots on and then went to grab Grandpa's hand. If anyone was going outside when it was 15 degrees, it was going to be Grandpa. He also learned that if he was dragging Grandpa to the basement to play, he needed to let Grandpa grab his mug of coffee first. 

We were blessed to spend a bit of time with my grandpa, who is 98 years old. There's something so special to see him and Teddy interact. Neither of them listen (because one's partially deaf and the other is Teddy). Both think they are right no matter what. Both lack a concept of safety (because one's 98 and the other is Teddy). Yet that doesn't stop Teddy from hopping on Grandpa's lap, even when there's no room, or trying to push him down the stairs on his walker. (We put the kibosh on that one.) Teddy pushed Grandpa into the other room, and the two of them were in there alone arguing with each other over whether Grandpa would get on the floor. (As in, Teddy kept instructing Grandpa to get on the floor, and Grandpa kept refusing because we'd never get him up.) Teddy seems to realize Grandpa is not going to comply with all his wishes and instead climbs on his lap, pushes him around and shares toys with him. I  love watching the two of them because they've both come so far from when my grandpa would ask me, "When's he going to talk? When's he going to walk?" Teddy's learned to do so much, and my grandpa has learned to understand Teddy even without a word spoken. 

These two melt my heart (and crack me up).

Despite some rather chilly days, we managed walks every day of the long holiday weekend. I absolutely love being outdoors, particularly in the woods, so those were highlights of my days. Teddy also could happily spend most of his time outside and seems to have little regard for how chilly it might be. 

Everyone complained it was cold, but no one else would carry the portable heater.

All in all, it was a wonderful Christmas. We're so blessed and grateful for our health, memories made and all the good of the past year.