Anyway, back to Christmas... Rowan is old enough to understand that something different was going on, but not to the extent that he was too excited to go to sleep on Christmas Eve (despite plying him with sugar from his first ever hot chocolate!).
First hot chocolate (with marshmallows, of course)
Cuddles on Christmas Eve
Throughout December, we have had regular shouts of "reindeer" and "Santa beard" from him, so he at least knew the association. Surprisingly, our Christmas tree survived despite Rowan pushing it over once, and pulling baubles off on a daily basis. He did put them back in different places, so we had a very interesting yet lop-sided tree by the time Christmas arrived.
Gareth and I woke up before Rowan on Christmas day (no doubt the last time that will happen for some years!) and we both took his stocking into his room (Santa had thoughtfully left it on the outside of Rowan's door) when he woke up around 9am. He was thrilled to find a chocolate in his stocking, and happily ate it whilst opening the presents. Although he did direct Gareth and I to open a fair amount on his behalf.
Rowan's handmade stocking. I was pleased
with how this turned out - it's lined and everything!
After his stocking was emptied, we went downstairs for breakfast and found Santa had delivered a present to Rowan, and also one for the whole family. However, a boy led by his stomach, Rowan had his breakfast first before seeing what Santa had left. Rowan was happily playing with his new Aqua-doodle pad from Santa, and then noticed more presents under the tree. He helped Gareth unwrap Santa's present to the family (a calendar with a tag reading "To help you find time together") and then proceeded to go steadily hyperactive throughout the day. He was too excited to nap, and was put to bed early at 5:30pm, where he promptly fell straight to sleep. He still has several Christmas and birthday presents to open - I think if we allowed him to open everything on one day it would have been too overwhelming for him. Everyone has been very generous, and we want to ensure he enjoys (and appreciates) everything that has been given to him.
Rowan helping Tangent open his present. I love the look of
anticipation on Tan!
Opening more presents
Unfortunately, we didn't have our dinner together as a family as Rowan was too excitable (and fighting the tale-end of a cold). However, it was nice enjoying a quiet meal with Gareth after Rowan was settled in bed. We did make sure Rowan had his birthday cake in the afternoon, so I don't imagine he would have wanted much 'proper' dinner anyway.
For Rowan's birthday cake, I made a Christmas yule log
with Lindt chocolate ganache
Everyone says Christmas with children is a magical time, and it is. It is also absolutely exhausting! I think it's going to take a month to recover our energy.
3 comments:
Aw,what a lovely day! Thank you so much for my card as well! xx
What a lovely blog, excellant photos, you will have so much fun being snap happy. The stocking looks fantastic, are you taking orders for next year?
No worries Amy. I'm glad you got the card - I couldn't remember if the address in my contacts was your old on. I hope you all had a nice Christmas too, and all the best for 2015.
Anon- Thank you :) I have a lot to learn re. photography, but looking forward to a new challenge. I haven't had any requests for stockings yet, but I have loads of fabric left over (I was lucky to find a heap of cheap scraps in the remnants bin of my local shop).
Best wishes for the New Year.
Post a Comment