Saturday, December 27, 2008

Christmas 2008!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! Ours was very relaxing and fun. M was lavished with gifts from friends and family, and he LOVED every single one. Scott and I have been watching movies at night...a welcome treat!...and all of our Christmas decorations are down and boxed for next year!

Slideshow photos are from making a birthday cake for Jesus (yes, the cake was THAT red and, yes, it did stain his face), singing into the tinkertoy microphone, a few from Christmas morning, and one of M and cousin Layne at a family gathering.



The train set. Yes, it was a hit, but I now concede to toy makers and their recommended age for toys. The train says 3+, and M is not even 2. I didn't even think about this because he plays so well with the set at the bookstore...um, yeah, but it is BOLTED DOWN! Even though M has some kickin' fine motor skills, he lacks the finesse and gentleness to drive the train without causing some major destruction (picture M pushing the train with his hand through the tunnel and then lifting his arm without taking it out of the tunnel.) And so this toy that I had hoped would help him play on his own and allow me to get through a sink of dishes....well, the dream is dashed for now. BUT...he likes his train!

Scott said of M's tiny train town: "A series of natural disasters has hit this week..."
IMG_4119


Here is a bit of the video from Christmas morning when M first saw the train set. Nothing overly exciting...he just got down to playing!

20 comments:

J-momma said...

i just found your blog via another. we got our son the same thing for chritmas and got the same reaction. i was expecting something, but it was like it was no big deal. ha, ha! kids are too funny!

J-momma said...

oh my gosh. i just watched your adoption video and we got our son just a couple weeks after you and his name is Mateo (spanish version of Matthew). wierd. cute blog and pics!

The Family K. said...

Looks like everyone had a great birthday celebration.

Before you call it a day with the train set, look into getting some Suretrack track connectors. You can find them on Amazon. Instead of gluing the tracks together (or duct taping them like I foolishly did), these brackets actually hold the tracks together so little ones don't plow through them a la Godzilla. Well worth the money.

Room for More said...

I am so happy you had a wonderful Christmas. We set an empty place at the Christmas dinner table this year to represent our children in heaven, our child in China, and my mother. Please know I thought of you and prayed for you as Christmas approached. Happy New Year!!
Shannon

taiwanbaby said...

I love the diaper picture, but the one that made me smile is the one of you and M and he's smiling. He loves you alot!!!!! I like the mic. Don't send him to our house to learn any songs!!! ;)

cari

kari said...

great photos! love the ones of M making the cake!! looks like you had a wonderful christmas. miss you all....

kitchu said...

those cake photos are ADORABLE!! looks like you guys had a great christmas!!

J-momma said...

thanks for the suggestion. my husband already stuck it down with double sided carpet tape. that seems to work. we knew before we even gave it to him that the pieces would need to be glued down or Mateo would get really frustrated with it.

Lynn said...

His reaction will be a lot bigger next year when he "gets" it. Chaislyn finally got it this year, her second Christmas with us, last year she had no clue.

Love the train set and table!

Unknown said...

Glad you had a good Christmas. The cake pictures are adorable. We did a b-day cake as well. A new tradition!

The train set is so cool. Sorry it didn't live up to the dream of independent play and mommy time! Soon enough...

Jon and Em said...

for some reason, i'm having trouble leaving this comment...i'll try again. our train table/track was one of the best babysitters we've ever had...once i used a glue gun to attach the tracks to the table. before that, it only caused frustration! it lasted a good couple of years until a friend's little one came over and kept tugging on each and every piece. i then just glued it down again. after several years, it didn't look the best, but i still made some money off of it at a garage sale once the kids were over it. i loved that thing!

we had a red cake, too. it's always been a tradition in our family. is it the kind of frosting that you cook over the stove?? YUM! my favorite!

Tish said...

em...i don't cook anything over the stove.

kidding...a little...you should share the stove-top frosting recipe! oh, and michele's sauce recipe if you have that, too!

Dianne said...

It looks like you had a great Christmas. Jon would have loved that train table too, if his sisters would let him get near it.

Lisa said...

Tish,
That Christmas morning video is just precious and oh so priceless! I think his excitement and eagerness shines right through and the train set is absolutely something that will grow with him!
His sweet tiny voice singsonging on the video is too precious for words....what a cutie pie!!!
Lisa C.

Andrea said...

Wonderful!
He reacts to things just like BEN!
No big production...just another day at the office!

Love ya'll

A

RamblingMother said...

playing is very important business!!

Kim said...

Tish,

You have yourself one HANDSOME little guy!

Adorable photos!

The answer to your question about Max adjusting to having a new sister.....
Max has done great and has not had a hard time. He has not been jealous of Paul or me...we make sure he gets PLENTY of our attention. I think it helps that he is a BIG time Mama's boy and Vivi Jo is a Baba's girl. I would say, at the beginning he was a little territorial over his things. For nearly 2 years he had nothing that was his and then for a year EVERYTHING was his and then Vivi Jo comes in and we start throwing out the SHARE word. WHAT??? Max, KING of the house share?...LOL...really, it has been great for him to learn to share his things and take turns. Okay, to set the record straight...he is still the KING, we just added a QUEEN :-).

((HUGS)),
Kim

Rebecca Lily said...

Grant was a complete stoic when he opened his present from Santa. He LOVED IT but had absolutely no expression. It was hilarious!!

We have that same train table and I KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN. Andy took about 3 hours setting it all up and Grant destroyed the whole thing the same day. We haven't bothered assembling the whole thing again for fear he will just knock it all off.

Great pictures of the cake - holy moley, I don't think I've ever seen a cake that RED! It looks great on his face. :)

xoxo

Anonymous said...

He's delicious! You can see the joy in his face when he started playing with his new train set - too, too sweet!

The pictures of him and the cake batter had be crackin' up! Great shots! but it looks like he's eating ketchup - LOL!

Just Us said...

Love the train set...yours is so elaborate compared to the one Yu-Lin got. I was afraid to put all the pieces out..and I'm glad I didn't. He is similar to M with his motor skills, but what he likes to do it take the tracks apart and try to reconfigure it which of course makes me figure out how the heck I had it set up the first time. Eeek. Amazing how train sets are a universal hit with boys! Merry Christmas.

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