We got the tree decorated. Justin was able to help put things on the lower branches. Ryan was able to take things off of the lower branches. It became a race to see who was faster. My busy little boys! Justin wanted to climb on a chair to reach higher, but we nixed that and forced him to stay within his reach. Parents can be so mean. The first ornament on the tree was one that Justin made at the Embassy Christmas party. He was so proud of the ornament. It is, well, let's just say that it is a treasure because my 2 year old made it. I don't think we have to insure it or anything. He had so much fun with his "project" too. My mom got him started on the idea of doing projects. Projects can be a variety of things involving glue, paint, markers, crayons, etc. I need to be better about getting projects for him to do. It isn't like I don't have anything. A lot of my teaching stuff is here and I have several things that Justin can do. It just gets to be a pain with Tiny helping all the time and Justin needing help but not wanting to have help.
Okay, back to Christmas. Yep, in that picture Tiny has something small in his mouth. Justin makes it nearly impossible to keep things even close to baby proof. Actually, since Tiny is over a year now I guess it is 'toddler' proof. My baby is so big! Ryan loves to stick anything and everything in his mouth except when I want him too. He will eat ants, paper, rubberbands, and the like, but will turn up his nose at new foods. Why is it that kids do that? Don't say that those things taste better than my cooking. At the Embassy party, Justin was a bit shy of Santa. When the gifts started coming out of the bag, Daddy was able to persuade him that maybe approaching Santa was not such a bad idea. It took awhile, but Justin did warm up enough to get his present and talk Santa's ear off. Probably better when he was shy. Ryan, on the other hand, was very different. He cried even getting near Santa. The picture of me with Tiny and Santa was the happiest Tiny was during the whole Santa time. Isn't it strange? I know it is common for small children to be afraid or shy of Santa, but my kids are generally so outgoing and love everyone. Justin was already blabbing about Santa non-stop, yet seeing him in the flesh was another story. Probably even stranger than kids being afraid around Santa is the need we parents feel to push our kids onto the lap of this stranger (don't we usually say DON'T go to strangers?) and try to get a picture. What are we thinking? Beats me.