Christmas Recap, by Ellie.

Hi friends, Ellie here!  This is my blog post to tell you all about my very first Christmas.  My mommy said I could do the Christmas recap.

On Christmas Eve morning, Mommy and Daddy decided to go see trains and Critter Castles at the Botanical Gardens.  They loaded me up in the car and we drove downtown and waited in a long line.  When we got inside, the gardens were warm and cozy, so I took a nap.  The next thing I knew, we were leaving.  Mommy took some pictures, there's trains in the pictures.  Someone built little houses and replicas of famous buildings from plants.  Maybe next year, I'll stay awake. Mommy and Daddy keep talking about how much fun they had, and I feel left out.

(All made of plants.)

(Mommy loved this balloon.)

(The train tracks were made of plants.)

(That Bjorn thing is really comfy.)

When we went home, friends came over and we unwrapped some presents and the big people ate cake pops.  No one ever gives me cake pops.  I got to see one of my friends who is younger than me.  He is bigger than me, but I'm faster and I hit harder.  I hope Santa didn't notice.  I have a feeling that I'll get in trouble for hitting soon, and that all these little babies will be bigger than me.  Hmm.... This could be a problem.

(What, it's a love pat!?)

(Getting a little help with my presents.)

(My family.  Mommy used her tripod to take this.)

We went to church with our friends and everyone sang pretty songs.  This nice guy stood up front and talked.  My "cousin" Jack asked "Who's Herod?" I was wondering, too, because Herod sounds like trouble.  At the end, the grown ups held candles and kept them far away from me.  After we said hi to all of our church friends, we went home and Mommy and Daddy told me to go to bed.  They said that Santa only visits kids who are asleep.  Mommy kept tracking Santa and saying that he was in places like Australia and New Zealand.   

In the morning, I woke up really early to see about this Santa business.  I guess he came to our house, because I had a stocking and presents.  Our family all had a lazy breakfast while we opened stockings.  Santa got me some cool books and he wrapped them in paper.  Paper is my favorite present.

(Woah, I like this paper!)

(I like clothes.)

 I think Santa ignored the whole hitting thing this year, because he also brought me a drum.  Mommy said that next year, we'll have an elf to monitor my behavior.

I opened about a billion presents and a ton of paper.  All that paper wore me out, so I took a break during present opening for a nap.  When we were all done with presents, Mommy and Daddy and I took a walk around our neighborhood and Mommy and Daddy bought batteries.  They said it was a "rite of passage" to get batteries on Christmas.  I'm not sure what that means, but I think it's a rule for parents or something.  Daddy said all these noise making toys will "drive him to drink."  If he's thinking about drinking my milk, he's in a lot of trouble.

For dinner, we went to see friends.  They got me a new baby to be friends with for Christmas.  She was smaller than me, which is unusual.  I tried to say hi, but she didn't really do much.  Good thing her big sister is my friend, too, because she played with me.  We ate turkey, potatoes, and cranberries, and I fed myself.  Some more friends came over for pie and cookies. 

(Hi, baby!)

(Christmas joy, right here.)

(Photo by Daddy.)

You know, I think Christmas might be my favorite holiday.  The morning after Christmas, my family all piled in the car to drive to a far off land called Illinois for more family fun, but Mommy says that's another blog post.

Happy New Year, friends!

Love, Ellie

PS. Here's a little video that makes my parents laugh.