Playing with Sophie

We met Chris, Jordana and Sophia at Rosedale mall to play and have lunch. We weren't even all the way through the mall doors when Xander and Sophia saw each other and ran to each other to give hugs. Now, Sophia is only 5 weeks younger than Xander, but she is quite a bit smaller in size. That didn't seem to matter as their big bear hug turned in to a tackle. And there were several hugs that day...each that ended with Sophia taking Xander down. It was hilarious! We went to the toddler play area and let them loose to run around. Xander kept running around calling for Sophia if she was out of sight for too long. After they were sufficiently wound up, we took them to Macaroni Grill for lunch and let them open their Christmas presents to each other. We had a fun time!

Lots of climbing and playing
I almost got them in the same place and both looking at the camera, but then one (or both) of them would turn away. These were the closest I got.

Sophia feeding Xander fruit snacks

Chris (Sophia's daddy) was the Tickle Monster today.

Christmas (okay, one more time!)

We went to Grandpa Jimmy and Patti's house to celebrate Christmas with them. It was was our 5 present opening in 4 days and all the excitement was really catching up to Xander. It ended up being a very late night for him, but it was worth it. He had lots of good things to eat, some wonderful presents and got to spend time with his grandpa, great-grandpa and Patti. He is even starting to warm up to their black lab, Winston!

Opening a Pooh game
hanging out with daddy
Pichner x 3

Snuggling with his new daddy and baby penguins

Santa came!

Let the paper fly!

After many tries to get us out of bed, Chris' jingling bells and rustling around finally got Xander and I to wake up. I told Xander to go into the living room to see if Santa came. The presents were piled, the stockings were stuffed, but it took the cookie crumbs on the plate to convince him. It only took a minute or two for him to start grabbing and tearing into the paper. Good thing most of them were for him.

Opening the first of many books
helping daddy open his present
daddy reading his card from Xander and baby, which included two tickets for Cirque Du Soleil. A chance for a night out on the town before our little boy is born.
Xander thought that daddy's new pancake spatula was the neatest tool to help him open his presents
Xander only asked Santa for one thing - a new kitchen. After opening all of his presents under the tree, we headed downstairs to see if Santa had delivered. Here is Xander doing a happy dance in celebration!

cutting up some of his new wooden food
baking some bread

Here is daddy with his new toy! Every year it is something else, some new, hard to find gadget. Sigh... Will it ever end??

Christmas Day in Mankato

After opening presents and taking some time to play with them, we packed up and headed to my sister's house in Mankato. Xander loves spending time with his cousins and Em and Annie are so good with him. It was nice to spend the holiday with my brother and two sisters, which hasn't happened in a long time. I don't get to see them or their families nearly enough. Xander had a great time, but was a little wound up from not having a nap and all the excitement was cathcing up with him.

Dressed and ready to go
Looking cute for the camera
Annie is finding out what a hyper two year old is like to do crafts with...
Everyone hanging out, enjoying some good conversation (from the left: BIL Tim, Brother Steve, Sister Brenda and Niece Gretchen)
Dishing up the delicious pies (there were THREE of them!)

BIL Brad and Chris. I am sure they were talking about something nerdy

Christmas Eve

We hung out at home all morning, and then headed down to Owatonna to spend Christmas Eve with great-grandma and the whole family. It was a lot of people, and without a nap, Xander was pretty wound up by the end of the evening. Thankfully, there were lots of cousins to keep him entertained. He slept the whole way home and only took a few minutes to get back to sleep once we got him in the house. Fortunately, we changed himinto his PJs before we left grandma Billie's house, so he was all ready for bed.

Melissa kept Xander playing, which was a nice break for us!
Xander hanging out with Rachel and Elizabeth
Xander and Lucas opening up their presents to each other
Xander checking out his new power tools. Daddy is patiently waiting for his turn, no doubt
great-grandma gave Xander the cutest stuffed elephant, which is even more special because it is a fund raiser for St. Jude's hospital!
Once Xander was tucked in all snug, daddy went to work, helping Santa out by putting the new play kitchen together. It came with lots of pieces and screws!

Chris said it was fairly easy to put together, but I made him a cup of hot chocolate to make it a bit easier on him

Early Christmas with grandma Linda

We kicked off Christmas a little early at grandma Linda's house. We ordered a pizza and opened some presents. Xander thought it was so neat that he got to wear a jingle bell around his neck! He got to give the dog Max his present - a rawhide bone, to keep him occupied while we ate and played. Of course, grandma did way too much, but Xander got some fun things, and most of it gets to stay at her house so that he can play with them when he visits.

Xander's first present of the season - Dora dominoes. He might be a bit young for them, since the game has turned into how high and far he can throw them all!
The games and books are stacking up!
Xander checking out his new Dora bedtime book. We hope that in the near future, grandma will be reading it to him while she tucks him in at her house. A grandma/Xander slumber party is LONG over due!

Xander digging into his stocking that grandma put together - giving Santa a little help!

First time sledding!

Xander has been begging to go sledding for a month! We finally got a little bit of snow, so we jumped at the chance to meet some friends at a park and try out the sled. This was Xander's first time and he had a lot of fun. Even after splashing around in the slush, he was still pretty dry under his winter wear. Only his socks were wet, and they dried quickly in front of the heat in the car. By the time we got to Pizza Luce for lunch, he was all dry and warmed up. We ate lots of good food and Xander, Ava and Lily all got big cups of hot chocolate!

Trying out the sled before our friends showed up
Xander's first trip down a hill and he got to go by himself! It was just a tiny slope, so he wasn't scared at all. He was so cute!
Going down a bigger hill with daddy
Ann and Lily - look at that big smile!
Viet and Ava have a turn
I wonder who this snowball is meant for?
Trying to make a snow angel. Kind of hard with just a little bit of sloppy, wet snow, but he thought it was fun.
Of course the kids couldn't pass up a chance to play at the park, even if it was covered in ice and snow. Xander is definitely our child - he always picks the "lounge chair" swing!
Drying out in the warm car. He had so much fun and we look forward to many more days like this!

Goofy playtime

After lunch, we all took a long nap. When Xander and Chris got up, they went downstairs to play and let me sleep a little longer. When I went down to start some laundry, I found them playing in the new fort they had made. Then it was a submarine, and finally a ramshackle sleigh, which everything is turned into these days (he got that from the Grinch movie). Later, when Chris ran to the store, we put on some Christmas music and danced!

Peek!

doing the bucket dance!

Getting ready for Christmas

Since we were going to be running around non-stop for the next several days, we decided to spend a quiet evening around the house, getting ready for the festivities. So, we got in our PJs really early and had a little bit of holiday fun.

While waiting for dinner, Xander painted a special picture to give to grandma Linda for Christmas
After daddy rolled out the dough, Xander cut out the sugar cookies
Having fun with the sprinkles
And licking the left-over off of the plate!

Of course he had to sample a cookie to make sure it was as yummy as it looked. Oh, the end result was that Xander didn't fall asleep until almost midnight! Sugar really throws off his clock!