Christmas Eve at Home

On Christmas Eve, we had our own family Christmas after lunch. Ryan got a bit of a head start as he tipped over and started tearing paper off one of his presents earlier in the day, but we rescued it in time.

I think he was pretty excited to get started.

First, the traditional "kid in front of the tree" picture:

Next, the less-well-known "kid sitting on a stack of presents with a slightly constipated expression" picture.

Now, it's time to see what Santa brought Ryan in his stocking (Santa sends his helper elves a little early if you're planning to be out of town on Christmas morning).

Duh, everyone knows that.

Oh the anticipation...

"Are you serious, Santa? Clothes? I was hopping for an ipad."

On to another present...

Hmm..this looks familiar.

Oh yeah! It's my  The Zoo Keeper Says 2010 Hallmark Ornament--the replacement one with a ring attached!

Let's try another one...

Ryan loves Eric Carle books, especially 1,2,3 to the Zoo: A Counting Book and Today is Monday. Just don't try to pull out A House for Hermit Crab. There's no substituting hermit crabs for "Wendesday Zoooooooup!

Now he has the board book for Brown Bear Brown Bear, What Do You See?

He's really getting the hang of this "opening presents" thing.

I picked up this Wind-Up Tractor Book from the Usborne Books booth at the Winterfest Vendor Fair. It has a wind-up (RED!) tractor that travels around three different paths and there are punch-out characters and scenery you can set up along the route. It was kind of a splurge, but it's something special Ryan can enjoy for years to come. As he gets older, we can start acting out the story with the characters and finding all of the details in the tracks.  For now, he just likes watching it whiz around the track!

Before Ryan opened his final present, he had a little fun playing with some of Daddy's.