We're continuing to have fun with our new Christmas Countdown calendar.
Day 6: Write a letter to Santa.
Gabe has not mentioned anything to us about not believing in Santa Claus anymore, but clearly the thought has crossed his mind. "Dear Santa - Is Rudolph real? Is the Grinch real? Are your elves real? Are Christmas trees real? Is the Island of Misfit toys real? Are Nutcracker books real? Is the Elf on the Shelf real? Well answer them to me by letter too. Ok. I hope you've got a deal. [he's bargaining with the big guy] Merry Christmas. Also what I want for Christmas is on the back. Love from Gabe San Antonio. P.S. Can you also cure my cough?" [maybe Santa will put some Robitussin in his stocking]
Dante, on the other hand, is very practical and gets right down to business. "Well Santa I want a ceaboard [keyboard] for Christmas. And Carmine well he might want a ball for Christmas. And my Dad might want some tolls [tools]. And my mom might want an Alex and Ani bracelet [he's been listening!]. And my brother might want a palled [pallee is what they call their stuffed animals]. Santa Merry Christmas and Happy new year. From Dante. To Santa." I love how he makes sure that Santa knows what we all want, instead of just writing his own list. That's very Dante : )
Day 7: Bake and decorate sugar cookies.
This is one of their favorite Christmas activities every year. The aftermath is slightly horrifying - it looks like someone dropped a bomb full of sprinkles in my kitchen - but I've learned to embrace the mess in the name of fun. It was great to see Carmine really getting in on the action this year, too : )
Day 8: Decorate the tree outside.
We now have a very festive 7-foot evergreen in our backyard, the bottom half of which is beautifully decorated with ornaments.
Day 9: Have snowman pancakes for dinner.
I saw this idea online somewhere, and I knew I had to do it. The boys were thrilled. Pancakes, bacon, chocolate chips, marshmallows, and whipped cream for dinner - what's not to love?
Day 10: Dante chooses his favorite dinner. No photo for this one, but we enjoyed some delicious pizza that night!
Carmine is fully into the whole Christmas experience this year. We haven't gone to visit Santa at the mall yet, but we did stop and say hi to him there one day. Well, I said hi, and Carmine sat in his stroller, positively dumbfounded and unable to say a single word - and anyone who knows Carmine knows that that's saying something, because even at just under three years old, the child is not afraid to speak his mind.
We saw Santa again last weekend, at a local nursery, but this Santa was on a tractor - double excitement for my tractor-loving little boy! We took a ride on the barrel train with Santa driving, and the boys all got candy canes. A very unique and fun Santa sighting, for sure.
And of course no Christmas season would be complete without the myriad of Christmas shows which, thanks to our DVR, we can now watch over and over and over and over and over again.
I also took Gabe and Dante to see "A Christmas Story" at the movie theater last weekend, which was super fun. One of my all-time favorite christmas movies, and they absolutely loved it - and it was of course way more cool to see it in the theater, with popcorn, and with no distractions. And the other day at home we watched "Elf" - another favorite of mine. It's always so fun when you can start to share these slightly more grownup movies with them, and see them appreciating it for the very first time.
Dante mentioned to me yesterday that he might like to go see The Nutcracker some time. I told him we can't go this year (too late to get tickets), but maybe next year that could be a special Christmas thing for he and I to do. I'd be thrilled!
I'm not a huge ballet fan, but The Nutcracker is a fabulous show, and I kind of assumed that since I had three boys, I'd be missing out on that experience. But if he's into it, we'll get all decked out and go next December! I think he'd really enjoy it - he seems to really and truly appreciate art and music, and that would be such a cool thing to share with him. And his commentary, I'm sure, would be priceless. He already told me that the ballet is "like with puppets, except they're real people."
Carmine's favorite song is "The First Toymaker to the King," and he can also often be heard in his crib at nighttime singing "Jingle bells, jingle bells, HEY!"
He's suddenly talking a lot about being scared of the dark, and of the shadows in his room. And the other day we had a thunderstorm (bizarro weather for December), and he said he was scared of the "unther." I guess this is the age at which fears really start to crop up. The strange thing is that neither Gabe or Dante were talking much at all when they were this age, so it's such a different experience for me to hear Carmine telling me plain as day what's scaring him, or what he's thinking about.
His level of communication at this age is probably not all that advanced, but to someone whose other two kids were very late talkers, it's positively astounding to me. And I'm so, so thankful that he is talking so well. I don't always like what he says - such as when he tells me to "Stop talking - I'm saying something!" or "No, I can't not do that!" - but even when he's being less than polite, it's still nice to know that he's able to get his point across.
There's no mystery as to where he learns how to be fresh, given that he gets plenty of 'lessons' from his big brothers. There are times where I am honestly terrified at what it's going to be like a few years from now, when there are real, far more serious issues for us to butt heads on, which is why I try very very hard to choose my battles now, when the stakes are not quite as high.
And for all his efforts to assert themselves and be 'big kids,' and make their own decisions, they're both still sweet little boys who, whether they know it or not, are happy to have a mommy and daddy who look out for them.
Gabe definitely does have moments where he realizes this, and he has not gotten too old to tell me I'm the "best mommy ever," so I soak up that gem every time I hear it.
This Christmas has served to illustrate to me very clearly that he is on the brink of maybe not believing for much longer. His 20 questions to Santa is one example. And his illustration of the "Christmas Devil" is another. (Actually, that's probably just an example of the fact that he's watched too many Tim Burton movies.)
But he said something a few weeks ago that also told me that, even when he doesn't believe in Santa anymore, and even though he's more than happy to point out to you every single toy in the Toys R Us flyer that he wants for Christmas - the meaning of Christmas isn't lost on him.
We had gone on the Polar Express train ride in Woonsocket - a pricey, but FABULOUS event that, aside from Carmine screaming at the top of his lungs (happily, but still screaming) and literally trying to climb over the seats, was a really awesome time for all of us, and I'm so glad we did it.
On the train, in addition to having hot chocolate and some of the best sugar cookies I've ever eaten - even better than the ones I make! - every child received a special jingle bell from Santa.
As we rode home (the bells safely stashed out of the children's reach for the 50-minute car ride home, so that Scott didn't go insane from the sound of jingle bells and drive the car off the side of the road), Gabe commented "When I heard that bell, I felt the true meaning of Christmas - it's family, fun, and love."
By George, I think he's got it!
Comments