Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve was wonderful. The three of us stayed home all day. We had a lot of presents for Noah, so we slowly opened them most of them throughout the day, and then decided in the early evening to put all the rest of them under the tree. We wanted Noah to be able to experience the whole "stack of presents under the tree" thing, since he was enjoying receiving presents so much this year.
It was really fun. We only gave Noah one present that he didn't really care for, and I had anticipated that he would react that way to that present. It was the Rockin' Shapes Elmo that sings. I bought it when I finally saw it in stock somewhere, because for a couple of months there Noah was beyond obsessed with Elmo. But I realized shortly after I bought it that there wasn't a lot of play potential there. And I was right. Noah doesn't give a hoot about it. I'm pretty confident I will be returning the Rockin' Elmo and guitar I bought. We didn't give it to Noah for the same reason.
However, besides that one bomb, everything else was greatly appreciated.
He LOVED his play kitchen. We put it together during his nap and then had it sitting out for him when he woke up. He played with it for an hour and a half straight. It was amazing.
I honestly don't know why he wasn't wearing pants. I obviously didn't think ahead and realize I would want to take pictures.
Another big hit was this present:
It was in the big pile of gifts we put under the tree, and he pulled this one out first. It made me laugh, because it was the biggest package, and he obviously already had the whole “bigger is better” idea in his head.
The present ended up being this set of musical instruments:
This was by no means the classiest present we bought him. It was actually only $30. But I knew he would love it, and he does, so that's what really matters. Yes, that guitar is freaking loud, but if it gets too annoying I will just hide it. ;)
Another gift was this Melissa and Doug Magnetic Alphabet Puzzle book:
I thought this would be the best thing, but the magnets aren't very strong at all, so I actually don't like it that much. Plus Noah already knows his entire alphabet, and recently got his Baby Einstein Alphabooks which he loves, so these are kind of superfluous in our house.
A better puzzle was this one, also by Melissa and Doug:
We have a video of Noah right after he got this. He took every shape out, and then put every shape right back in exactly where it went.
It took him 1 try. He felt he had mastered it, and moved on to the next present. Not that he didn't like it. He did. He has played with it everyday since then. Within 2 or 3 days after Christmas, he could name every shape in the puzzle (square, circle, diamond, rectangle, triangle, heart, star, and oval). This kid loves to learn.
Next he opened this big box of Duplo:
Noah has had Mega Bloks since he was 7 months old (and started playing with them that young, too). They definitely served their purpose in this house, and were well used (and will be saved for future children). But Mega Bloks are too simple for him now, and don’t have enough potential. So we’ve moved on to Duplo. He got three big sets this Christmas, and has definitely played with them tons ever since.
I think his last present to open was this set of foot that velcros together and comes with a cutting board and play knife:
"Ohh, this looks interesting..."
He really did like this stuff.
I honestly can't remember if he got any more present from us on Christmas Eve. We had been slowly giving him presents beforehand, so he got two Little People's farms (the big one and a smaller one), a bunch of small Tonka cars, the Fisher Price Drill and Hammer set (this thing ROCKS!), and some other stuff I can't remember right now.
If you just count the presents that we got him, they replaced everything he had before - everything he was extremely bored with. But he also got some great presents from his grandparents, and a great aunt and uncle, and his Uncle Nick and Aunt Hilary, including more Duplo sets, the Little People's Airport, the Little People's Stand and Play Rampway, some books, a travel sized Etch-a-Sketch, and some huge floor puzzles.
He got very few presents that aren't currently interesting to him. Almost everything was age appropriate (at least for Noah), and it will all keep him engaged for at least a couple of more years (not that I'm saying he won't get any more presents for the next two years!). There is nothing that he will grow out of using very quickly.
Noah had really gotten to the point where he was in desperate need of new toys that were more age appropriate, and allowed him to use his imagination, so all of these presents were very welcome.
I realized on Boxing Day that I completely forgot to give him his double-sided easel. I bought it two months ago, and was waiting very impatiently for Christmas so I could give it to him. Then when I was wrapping presents on Christmas Eve morning, I completely forgot about it. It was being stored under the stairs, and all the other presents were in one of the spare rooms, so it got overlooked. I may save it for his birthday, or I will give it to him in the next couple of months when he seems bored.
I was going to post about the rest of our Christmas here, but I will write about them in a separate post. This ended up being long enough!
