Austin had a bunch of books about Santa and Christmas, so he had a basic concept of what was to come, but lacked an accurate conceptual framework of what was to come. One day (in a stream of thought) Austin informed Christine that Santa was going to come visit, park his car in he driveway, play with Austin, eat dinner, and give Austin presents. Essentially, Austin perceived Santa to be a long lost Uncle who was going to come visit as would any traditional house guest. By Christmas night, we had him understanding that the Reindeer were going to bring Santa to Austin's house (no, the reindeer were NOT allowed inside), Santa was going to come while we were sleeping, Austin would leave cookies an milk out for Santa to eat, and Santa would leave Austin presents under the tree. So the seeds were planted...
Christmas Eve was a nice small celebration at our house, after Keith came home from work. By 3:30 everyone was here (Grandma/Grandpa Waldron and Kevin/Peggy) for appetizers, gifts, dinner and dessert.
Austin was really cool while opening presents...he got on his "Santa" hat and handed out gifts to everyone in the room, helping them open the gifts as well. Strangely, he had a genuine interest in handing out gifts more than opening his own (something we fully anticipate being different next year, for sure). And when he did open his own, it was a tedious task...tearing off one little piece of wrapping paper at a time (also something we expect to be different by next year). As usual, Austin was very spoiled by everyone's generosity.
After getting Austin ready for bed by putting on his Christmas pyjamas, it was time put out the goods for Santa. Austin selected 2 cookies for Santa (that HE made) and placed on a plate in the dining room beside a cup of milk that Austin helped to pour.
Before he went to bed, Austin had one last surprise...
...a blanket from Grandma Waldron that she had been making for the last 3 months. Apparently, Grandpa Waldron's absence during hunting season is Austin's gain...and he was very excited to go to sleep that night with his new blanket.
On Christmas morning, Austin awoke like any other morning. He called Keith into his bedroom and asked him to turn on the light to read a book; he had forgotten that it was Christmas morning. After a short conversation...
- K: "What did you put on the table last night before you went to bed?"
- A: "Cookies and milk"
- K: "Who were the cookies and milk for?"
- A: "Santa"
- K: "When was Santa going to come?"
- A: "(While) Austin sleeping"
- K: "What was he going to bring Austin?"
- A: "Motorcycle"
- K: "He was going to bring you presents?"
- A: "Uh-huh"
- K: "Where was he going to put them?"
- A: (LIGHT-BULB ILLUMINATES OVER HIS HEAD) "UNDER THE TREE!!!!"
Again, Austin insisted on wearing his Santa hat (to start)...and he helped handout and open all the gifts under the tree.
His most favorite toy was indeed a motorcycle...
...but he he has taken quite a liking to the Mr Potato Head, as well.
Later in the morning, Christine was leaving to go to church and told him that she would be back soon, she was going to say happy birthday to baby Jesus. Well...he was not going to let her go by herself (despite telling her 5 minutes earlier that he would rather stay at home and play) and he accompanied her to church, only to be disappointed that there was no REAL baby Jesus and no one was singing 'Happy Birthday'. As the service ended, Austin and Christine sang 'Happy Birthday' and then she took Austin up to the nativity scene where Austin got to say "Happy Birthday Baby Jesus".
After returning home and eating lunch, we got in the car and went to Great Grandma and Great Grandpa's house...where Austin slept for the first 3 hours. Keith and Christine had fun visiting with Carey, Candy, Allisa and Adam...who we only get an opportunity to see a few times every year (at the most). Once Austin woke up, it was time for him to play the role of Santa one last time, giving out gifts to everyone in the room.
As you can see, we had a wonderful Christmas holiday...we hope that everyone else had a happy, healthy, and Merry Christmas as well.
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