Holy Night!

So, I bet you'd like to know how this Christmas went? Well, Daddy carried me in the door Christmas night after ALL the festivities and looked at Mommy and said smiled. He said simply that it was the best Christmas ever. Mommy wholeheartedly agreed. THAT is how good it went.
It all started Christmas Eve when we got home from church and dinner. Mommy and Daddy got me all ready for bed in my Santa jammies and then headed for the kitchen to get Santa's snacks ready. I never really "got" this last year...I was too little. But now I'm BIG! So putting cookies, donut holes (yeah really, Santa likes those) and carrots on a plate with a big glass of milk thrilled me. We put it near the chimney - and I was a bit worried about Santa falling on it. But Daddy assured me he had no worries about Santa smashing the treats.
These pictures are of Mommy and Daddy pretending to eat the things we left out for Santa. Of course they wouldn't actually steal them from Santa but they had fun pretending, I'm told. I like the picture of Mommy considering the milk. I'm pretty sure that's what ironic means. Mommy has a love/hate relationship with dairy...no need to say more.
I went to bed like a champ...and woke up at 8:05am. THAT was Mommy's and Daddy's Christmas present from ME! I haven't slept that for two years! I crept over to them and said, "Did Santa come???" Daddy rushed downstairs to check on the plate of food...and brought it up to show us that he HAD come to our house! I was so excited. We all rushed downstairs and the first thing I saw was my unwrapped present. A horse!!!!! I love being a Cowboy Woody and named my horse "Cowboy" right away. I then opened my stocking and presents right away. I was screeching and talking so fast that Mommy and Daddy just laughed at me...and smiled.
I was very proud of all my prizes and we played for a bit before Mommy made chocolate chip pancakes. Yummy! We ate, got dressed, and played some more. Then we headed over to Bondi's and Poppy's for brunch. We had the greatest meal ever - breakfast pizza! I ate a big pizza with eggs, tomatoes, bacon, cheese and green peppers. Then CC, Uncle Paul, Nonny and GG came over and we unwrapped a few prizes. They all stayed over but we had to get going to our next adventure!
We piled in the car and headed out to Grandma's and Grandpa's. I got more and more presents there and was so overwhelmed all day, I could hardly look at what I opened before I went on to the next gift! Auntie Melissa, Uncle Bill and all my other loving family came over and I even got to see my cousin, Logan! We ate lots of food but I just wanted to play with my toys. I was allowed to get up from the table early. : ) What a fun time with family!!! After being there for awhile, it was time to head over to Nonny's for a late dinner. Yep, another location and another dinner. We haven't been hungry since! (haha)
Here I am riding my new bike...pronounced "bay-k". It's a big boy one so when you push the pedals back, it brakes! I got frustrated at first, but practiced all the next day around our dining room table and got the hang of it before going outside with it. I'm a pro now! Woohoo!!
Here I am working out...with my weights and workout bag. I even have an ID card with my picture on it. "Feel my muscles!!!"
At Nonny's, we had dinner and got to see Reese's and Uncle Max and Aunt Lynnie. Then stockings and a few more gifts. Before we left, Uncle Max read from the Bible and we said a prayer. I jumped up at the chance to say something and grabbed the Bible I had just gotten from Nonny. I mimicked Max and read about "the Lord" and "the Lord Jesus" and paraphrased what he said in my own words from my own Bible. Everyone just watched me intently and Mommy had tears flyin' out of her eyes by the time I was done. It was pretty amazing. Really.

Before we went home, Mommy's Uncle Matt was talking with me. Mommy said, "TJ, can you count to 10 or 20 for Uncle Matt?" I just laughed, put my hands up and said, "I don't have to, Mom. He knows!!!" Everyone roared - it was hilarious! Mommy could say nothing...I was right! Uncle Matt already knew how to count to 20. How silly of her.

So by the time we got home and Daddy carried me through the door, we had agreed that it was the best Christmas ever. We got to see all of our loving families, received the most wonderful and thoughtful and generous gifts ever, and remembered what Christmas is all about. AND...drum roll, please...I behaved like a little man all day. No whining, a little crying (just for a second), and zero meltdowns. For all the running around we did, Mommy and Daddy were quite proud.

Merry Christmas, Everyone!!!!!!!!!!
Love, TJ