Nest & Cage: Christmas!

Christmas morning started off the same way it has for the past 4 years – with all of us sitting downstairs and waiting for Ian to wake up. And waiting… and waiting… Finally I went up and woke him up around 9am then ran back downstairs to grab my camera.

I wish I had thought to turn on the video part of the camera rather than taking pictures because his soft, awed “Wow!” when he saw the fire station Santa left was classic. He walked over and examined it carefully before starting to play. We let him enjoy for a few minutes and then reminded him of the pile of presents waiting to be unwrapped. The next hour was present carnage.

After the presents had all been unwrapped we had a small bite to eat and headed over to my Mom’s for another round of carnage. With James and Sophia there as well it was AWESOME carnage. James is so funny about his presents. He gets SO excited about each present it feels like you have made his dreams come true every time he opens one. Sophia wandered the room happily until she curled up on Whit’s lap to doze. Evie slept the whole time. Ian was his usual happy, slightly worried self (so many people talking and doing things all at once). He finally reached Christmas nirvana when he and James escaped upstairs to play with their presents.

After we finished unwrapping the last gift and making sure nothing had been thrown out with the wrapping paper we got to relax a little while. It was Papa’s first time meeting Evelyn so he held her for a while (and amazingly did not fall asleep!). Everyone has been amazed at how much she looks like her brother.

Then it was on to James and Susan’s for another Christmas! This one was a little more low key, either because there was less present carnage or because we were all Christmased out. Either way, it was nice to sit and relax and be slowly eaten by their extremely comfortable couch. Ian showed us all the Christmas stuff he had helped Grandpa set up when he had come to visit a few weeks ago.

For Christmas dinner it was back to Moms. It was delicious, as usual! There is something magic about soft lighting, good food, and a Christmas tree in the corner. I also had an actual glass of wine (it’s been a while) so that helped my mood to be mellow despite the multiple kids running around.

Christmas evening ended with me back on Jacque’s couch, with Christmas cookies and eggnog, and a warm baby on my lap. All in all, it was a very merry Christmas.

The next day we went to see Grandma and Grandpa in Chilmark to complete our round of Christmas visits. Everyone remarks about how crazy it is to have so many families to visit on Christmas but I actually think we are pretty lucky. Most people have to pick and choose who they want to see – we don’t have to. We get to see and enjoy our whole family.