Merry Christmas!

Ezra's second Christmas was a good one.  A very good one.

We got a late start - he didn't wake up until about 10:30 or so...and even then, he wasn't happy about being woken up.  See, he decided to take a little nap on Christmas Eve from 9:30 to 10:45...and then be up until 3am.  Yay for Ezra & Mommy play time!  Hummph.  It did give me a few minutes to enjoy some coffee & a cinnamon roll before we got him up.  Yum.

Once he started playing with some of his new trucks and such, his mood lifted & all was right in Ezra-town.  His haul was bountiful and we're literally tripping over the toys now.  And this is after I bagged up a ton of toys a few days ago in preparation for all the new additions.

He's one lucky little boy :)

And apparently is a natural when it comes to dunking.  Who knew a little ginger would be so good at basketball?!

He also loves his Cabbage Patch Kid.  He hugs him and gives him kisses.  It's so sweet.

Here's the tree with all but a few presents still under it.  He'd "accidentally" opened one a few days ago and we all got to open one on Christmas Eve.  Even still, it's clear to see that he was about to require another room for all of his stuff.

The way he opened on Christmas Eve, we expected him to tear through wrapping paper like a honeybadger getting to, well, whatever it wanted.  Instead, he was happy to sit and play with whatever we'd just help him open.  

Here he is, just trying to play with his truck/cell phone.  

Now here's a happy kid!  I was hoping for a little more paper-flying, but this is good, too ;-)

 Then he opened his talking cookie jar/shape sorter...and it stole his attention for the next 10 minutes.  I'd just like to point out that, if he could talk, he'd be asking what in the hell cookies are & why isn't he allowed to eat them?

Once he got over his new cookie jar obsession, he played some b-ball & even took a quick break to give his Lucy some love.  Notice that Lucy is sporting her new Redskins jersey, courtesy of Santa Claus.

Here's a short video of him unwrapping his tool bench...

 After we'd finished unwrapping all of his toys, I forced him to sit still for 30 seconds so I could get a picture of him with his haul.  Clearly, he was not okay with this...

Later, he got dressed in some new clothes from his cousins (that I'd washed prior to wrapping just so he could wear them!), and got to work on building some stuff with his new tool bench.  He looks like such a little man in his flannel, doing manly things like cutting wood :)

"I've just gotta double-check this one, guys."

There was a lot of playing & exploring going on for the rest of the day.  We did take him for a bike ride around the block to see all the Christmas decorations & lights one more time before they start coming down.  He really likes the giant, inflated penguins & snowmen :)

All-in-all, Christmas 2011 was awesome.  Time to get started on shopping for next year ;-)

Cheers!