The Christmas Tree

It was the weekend after Thanksgiving, when we get the Christmas tree. I was so excited for this this year, mostly because Mudgie was so excited. When we went to get the tree, Mudgie ran up to the biggest tree in the whole place (think 13+ feet tall), and said, "This one is the perfect Christmas tree for us!" Not kidding. Lucky for us, he seemed satisfied with one that could actually fit in our house. After we picked out the tree, we went inside to watch the train. They had a Polar Express train set up going around a Christmas village. It was beautiful, and Mudgie was so into it. He just kept walking around it, fingers in mouth, staring. Aaron was pretty into it as well. We finally got Mudgie out of there by telling him the Christmas tree was on top of our car. When we got out to the parking lot he saw the car and said, "What the heck is that tree doing on top of our car?" I'd never heard him use that language before, and while I'm not really keen on him talking like that, I must admit to laughing hysterically when those words came out of his mouth. Oops!

We had to wait to decorate the tree until it settled a bit, so of course it was the first thing Mudgie asked about when he woke up the next morning. But since we wanted to wait for Daddy, he somehow convinced me to bake cookies with him instead. Let's just say that Mudgie was a big help, and Aaron was really not into it at all (not shocking since I wasn't about to let him scoop flour). After that, Aaron was in a sour mood for the rest of the day.

When Daddy was finally ready to decorate the tree, Mudgie was so hyped up about it that patience and following directions were not his strong suits. It turned into a bit of a screamfest, but in an attempt to make it a fun experience, I took one temperamental child out of the equation by putting Aaron down for an early nap, and let Mudgie go to town on the ornaments. When I came back downstairs, the bottom of the tree was saturated in bells and snowmen! I finished up the tree in peace after Mudgie went down for his nap, and fortunately, he didn't seem too upset about it when he woke up. I have a feeling Christmas day is going to be a similar mix of adorable excitement and fun mixed with uncontrollable emotions due to all the excitement. Hopefully I will be more prepared (mentally) for that than I was today.

The weekend finished off with an adorable bath. Mudgie and Aaron were having fun splashing around, when Mudgie thought it would be funny to try to spit water in Aaron's mouth. Lucky for Mudgie, Aaron thought this was a great game, and they laughed and laughed as they did it over and over again. Yes, it was a little gross to watch, but at least Mudgie had pretty bad aim, and most of it ended up all over Aaron's head instead of in his mouth, and it was easy enough to clean him off since they were already in the tub!

And finally, another installment of Mudgie funnies! Every morning since he could talk, Mudgie wakes up and calls for us. "Mommeee!" or "Daddeee!" We'll go into his room and turn on the light, and then he gets out of bed. Then one day, out of the blue, he just emerges from him room, no calling.

Me: "Mudgie, did you get up all by yourself?"

Mudgie: "Yep. When I was little I called for you and Daddy."

Me: "And now you're a big boy?"

Mudgie: "Yep!"

And just like that, you wake up one morning and they are all grown up!