Santa didn't get the presents under the tree until well after 2 a.m. because he had such a long flight from the frozen north (and he got delayed in Denver, too). But he did such a good job with the gifts and Dennis was one happy little guy opening his presents this morning. Dennis did let us sleep until 9-ish but was woken himself by a dirty diaper and wanted to spread the news to the changing crew.
Last night, on the flight to Birmingham, the flight attendant providing beverage service asked our order. Dennis said "Coke" very clearly. Somehow on this trip he learned what Coke is and knows that the red can contains it. He didn't get Coke, though. He suddenly said "Juice apple. Cup.", and so that's what he got, apple juice in a cup with a straw. He was delighted. We were amazed that he knew what he wanted and told us that clearly. He tried to order the same thing at dinner tonight (we ate at the Chinese restaurant, but no one sang "Deck the Halls/Fa-ra-ra-ra-ra" to us) but they only had orange drink.
This morning, he stumbled sleepily into the living room with me stumbling sleepily only a few steps ahead and armed with the video camera. He first stared out the window at Tabasco, our black Labrador retriever who is usually in a large fenced area but had escaped and was smiling in the window at Dennis. Dennis doesn't see Tabasco that often (since Tabasco usually has a habit of bowling him over with affection and weighs near 90 pounds or so), and he looked confused by the dog, like maybe he wondered if Honey (the golden retriever) turned black and got a haircut while we were gone. But Dennis soon turned his attention to the brand new kitchen set under the tree, a present from all his grandparents. He ran to it first thing and opened all the doors and closed them, turned all the dials, touched every surface. Later when I asked him if he'd like his kitchen appliances to go in our kitchen, he tried to help me move them in there. I tried to put the washing machine that came with his set in our bathroom with our washing machine, and he appeared just after I'd gotten it in there and immediately pushed it out of the bathroom and toward the kitchen. So we put it back with the other pieces and he spent happy hours microwaving Mr. Potato Head parts, cooking and refrigerating wooden pizza pieces, and boiling trains. Clearly we need to get him some more play food! We just didn't want one of those sets with a million plastic pieces that he'll scatter about. We love the wooden sets where you can 'cut' apart the fruit and veggies and 'slice' the bread (the pieces are attached to each other with velcro dots, just like on the pizza Santa got for him).
After he gave the kitchen a preliminary run-through, he turned his attention to the wrapped gifts under the tree. He opened a Fisher Price lift-the-flap farm book, delightedly exclaimed "book. E-I-E-I-O!" and ran over to me and plopped in my lap so I could read it to him. He opened a giant Mr. Potato Head that came with two large and two small potato bodies and lots of eyes, ears, arms, legs, noses, and hats. He loved the hats, saying "hat" and trying them on us, himself, and the potato people. Next he picked out a box, opened it, and discovered "TRAINS!" that he loved. He got a light-and-sounds Take Along James and coal car (from the Thomas line, of course)--it makes train sounds when it rolls and does a steam sound and a whistle when the top button is pressed. He also got a transport car that carries a barrel of oranges (it's even scented). He put these down on the floor and ran back to his bedroom and then to our bedroom in search of his diaper bag where his other four engines were. Once the trains were all together, he played happily with one giant train for a few minutes before reorganizing them several times. We had to remind him about the other presents, a train book and two Thomas dvds plus the aforementioned wooden pizza which came with wooden toppings that velcro on plus a wooden pizza wheel and knife/server utensil.
Then we had breakfast and naps and then David and Dennis went out to retrieve our retriever. Honey stayed with some friends and was spoiled rotten while we were gone. Tabasco and Marzipan were cared for by the same friends (who came over a few times to check on them and feed them) and they looked fat and happy when we drove in LATE last night (EARLY this morning). Soon it was time to go to the airport to pick up Gran and Pop, who had two flights that left on time and arrived EARLY (so they had to wait on us just a bit), and then we had hot chocolate and conversation at their house before heading to CVS (thank you, CVS, for being open so we could visit twice and buy milk and cough medicine and baby wipes--you're the best!). Then supper at the Chinese buffet and home to bed. We're still coughing like chain smokers (all three of us), but we're feeling better and better and hope we'll be somewhat recovered before the Christmas parties tomorrow and Saturday.
It was a good day. Dennis was ecstatic to be home. Last night when he woke up after we brought him in and were getting him ready for bed, he looked sleepily around his room and then smiled hugely. He said "sheep?" and then located his farm. This morning when he woke up, I went in there and he looked at me and asked "plane?" and I told him that we didn't have to fly anywhere today. I think maybe he was a little disappointed, so I told him we'd have to go to the airport to pick up Gran and Pop, and that made him smile.
I wish we'd been able to go to a Christmas church service or live nativity or something, but there's always next year. Tonight we drove around and looked at Christmas lights on our way home from supper, and Dennis looked around and pointed and kept saying "Cree!" (his shorthand for Christmas Tree). We played with his nativity set today and all the characters are reunited. I kept my thoughts on the reason for the season today and thanked God for his incredible Christmas gift to the world, as well as thanking him for all the blessings in my life. I'm also very thankful to be home safely and am looking forward to recovering my health! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday today because everyone in this house certainly did!
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