Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! This is my favorite holiday, so I was ecstatic when I woke up on Christmas day and felt a teeny bit less sick... fever had gone down and my energy was 100% better. Evan was much better except for the never-ending stream of green snot. Jerry still had no symptoms & was excited to get out of the house.

We went to my parent's house on Christmas morning and had fun. Evan enjoyed the holiday. He wasn't that excited about opening gifts, but he liked delivering them. My dad (playing Santa, as usual), would hand Evan a gift and say, "Give this to Uncle Bob..." And Evan would carry the gift to his uncle, then everyone would clap, and then Evan would clap for himself, sometimes squeeling with delight. A few times he delivered "mommy's present" to Aunt Suzy. Not sure what that was all about!

He loved being around family and being the center of attention. He would go back and forth between hanging out with his cousins in the back bedroom, and joining the adults in the living room. He loved his cousins and followed them around, and kissed and hugged them (Sophia and Jilli are 11 and Ben is 9).

He didn't really get into opening gifts until the end, when he did participate in some ripping. One of his favorite gifts is a train set given to him by his grandpa Stogsdill. He gets really impatient when we are putting the track together, saying, "UHH!!" in a really loud voice, which basically means, "I'd like to get started now! Can you please hurry?" Sometimes after the track is put together, he sits on it and we have to redo it. He also got a Lion King hog that you feed bugs to (and it says funny things, and farts). He thinks it's quite funny. And he got lots of clothes, and some blocks from us, and most importantly (from Santa) -- a big wheel made for his age, which he pushes with his feet. He likes to sit in it for dinner and throughout the day. It's like his throne.

The day after Christmas, Jerry got sick, and we've all been sick off and on since then. This is a bad time of year for sickness! But I'm pretty happy this time of year, so I can't complain too much.

Daycare update
We've found a daycare provider. Her name is Selena, and she has two boys, ages 3 and 5. She lives in a cute bungalow near downtown and stays home with her boys and watches a 9-month old girl and Evan. He has a great time over there. She says he and the 3 year-old run around in circles in the house, play with trains and the pretend kitchen, and burn lots of energy. She has a hard time putting him down for a nap because he doesn't want to stop playing, so he naps for her later in the day.

Acting kinda toddler-ish
Jerry and I have felt especially sleepy lately, and not just due to our colds. Evan is acting more and more like a toddler, getting upset over little things and insisting on his way more often. He hasn't had the official tantrum where he kicks and screams on the floor, but he does seem quite passionate. We're good at setting boundaries and sticking to "no," but it's hard when he acts like the world is coming to an end and his little heart is broken because we won't let him play with the cat water. He's still a great kid with a loving heart, and we know this stubbornness is totally normal, but we're so tired!