Illinois Christmas - Part 2

The following day all of us anxiously awaited the arrival of Dave's sister Amy's family.

Meanwhile, Caleb got to spend quite a bit of one-on-one
quality time with Grandpa and drug him around

the house by his finger for a good portion of the morning. When he finally
sat still for a moment, Caleb wanted Grandpa
to look through the same books over and over. Needless to say,
when Caleb took a nap, Grandpa needed a rest too.

Grandma was busy in the kitchen preparing cupcakes to celebrate
Jesus's birthday. So that they were safe for Luke to eat, she made
them egg and dairy free. They tasted pretty much like normal
cupcakes to my surprise.

Getting lots of attention from your grandparents is great and all, but the real fun begins when your energetic cousins arrive! Caleb greeted Luke and Lydia at the door and then they were off through the house. One minute Caleb would be chasing them and the next he'd be leading the pack down the hallway. Even though they are older than him, both Luke and Lydia were great about including Caleb and being gentle with him.

Grandma had some My Little Ponies and other toys
to check out before we opened the new ones.

Who's that big kid?

Caleb was very fascinated with the pony shoes and
kept walking around with them on his thumbs.

We didn't keep the kids waiting too long to dig into their gifts though. Right after supper, everyone gathered in the living room and quickly unwrapped all of those packages.

Luke was a pro.

Looks like the train set is a hit!
(Caleb kept running over to see and try out what
Luke got rather than opening his own gifts at first.)

Caleb received a set of dishes from Grandma Swan to go with
his hand-me-down play kitchen that used to be mine.

He also got some very realistic play food. He tried to lick
this ice cream cone and attempted to take a bite out of a
slice of bologna and a slice of cheese that came in the set.

Yay! A Little People barn, tractor, and animals from Grandma and Grandpa!

Dave got the bibles and antenna thing he asked for...

....and I got six seasons of the Waltons! I was super excited
about this especially since we don't have cable or satellite.

Baby Girl even got a special gift from the Tyndalls. Luke has
a blue dog named Hungry that he takes everywhere. The dog
in this picture is a pink version of Hungry. I'm hoping she latches on
to this fluffy friend rather than to my hair like her brother!

The next day the Tyndalls went to visit a couple Lincoln tourist spots. Meanwhile, Caleb took a nap and then we headed to see one of Dave's high school friends named Christine and her kids. Again, Caleb jumped right in and was thrilled to have other kids to chase and be chased by around the house. That evening, the cousins were reunited and spent more time playing toys and trying out the piano.

Maybe Lydia, who is taking piano lessons,
can teach those boys a thing or two.

Uh oh, Luke! I think Caleb is eying Hungry!

That night Caleb for some reason decided that he was going to be the rule enforcer of the family. At dinner, he said "no no" to Luke who was standing on his chair to try to reach the table better. He also told Grandma "no no" when she tried to stand on a chair to reach something up high in the cabinet and got after Lydia the next day when she was walking across the couch cushions. This just shows that he knows what he is supposed to do and not do even if he doesn't always follow the rules himself! I think it was Keith who said Caleb might just grow up to be a policeman, making sure everyone does what they are supposed to do. For now, we'll just have to work on getting him to do what he is supposed to do.

After the kids went to sleep that night, each of the adults took turns filling the stockings Grandma McKinstry made. This tradition started before Grandma McKinstry was married. The way it works now is that each adult buys one thing to put in each person's stocking. We take turns playing Santa and the following morning everyone opens their stocking.

The adults' stockings have their first initial and the grandkids'
stockings have their name and a little picture cross stitched on them.

Caleb understood this tradition better this year than last.

David and Goliath!

Here Caleb is playing with his bulldozer as well as the as
the ambulance he snuck away from Luke's pile of stocking stuffers.

Sadly, we had to head home soon after the stockings were emptied but I'm so thankful he had a few days to play with his cousins. It was also great that he got some quality time with his grandparents so they can see all the new things he's doing and saying these days. Caleb also enjoyed listening to Aunt Amy's singing and getting some attention from his uncle Keith as well. Hopefully we will all see each other again soon once our little girl arrives!