Christmas Eve Traditions

In my family growing up, there was always the tradition for us kids to open at least one pre-determined gift on Christmas Eve. It was almost always PJ's so we were appropriately festive come Christmas morning. Sometimes there was a second gift, which was typically a Christmas book.

Ian had two presents from my parents marked "To be opened on Christmas Eve". After dinner (when Shawn and Ian had a ravioli fight...not messy at all), we started opening his gifts. He didn't know what to do with the wrapping paper. Mr. Demolition didn't seem to have that instinct in this case. By next year, he'll be conditioned for Christmas, no doubt.

Like any kid, he didn't show particular enthusiasm for the PJ's. They were footies with snowmen on them... so cute. He tossed them aside and looked at me like "now what?".

The next gift was much more exciting. It was a Frosty the Snowman book (nice theme mom, as always) that plays the Frosty song when you open the cover. He opened and closed the book a dozen times. He was enthralled. This is a good thing since he hasn't really shown interest in books at all yet, but loves music. To tie music to reading might just get him interested.

So, now Ian is nestled snug in his snowman jammies after a bath and reading of Frosty (he actually lasted about 3 pages before he lost interest...baby steps!). If only he knew that as of 7:30pm Pacific Time, Santa has been spotted by NASA over Cape Canaveral. As long as the Midwest storms don't slow him down, he'll be here in about 4 hours!

Thanks Grama & Paga (mom & dad) for the adorable PJ's and great book. It's nice to keep some Christmas traditions alive!

p.s. Please pardon the lovely socks in these pictures. Shawn dressed Ian today and decided that knee highs were necessary over his thermals.

"Hey, I thought I wasn't supposed to touch these!"

"Whoa! It plays music! This is the best book ever!"

"Mom, check this out. These kids are actually having fun in that snow stuff. It must be fiction."

"I can't believe it. It says here that Frosty smokes a pipe. He's setting a bad example. He's going to melt prematurely, doesn't he know that?"

"Look at this! There are 10 books in the Read with Music series. Facinating!"