Merry Christmas!

Nana and Papa Charlie came to our house to share Christmas with us this year. Their visit was made extra special with some additional visitors, Chris and Michelle and Auntie Nikki.

On Christmas Eve Oliver dawned his red and green Mickey pajamas and helped Daddy put milk and cookies out for Santa and some nuts for the reindeer. I am not sure how he really felt about the idea of Santa coming down the chimney and leaving him presents while he was sleeping when we explained that to him. But Ollie did seem pleased in the morning to see the milk was drank and was happy to help Santa eat the rest of the cookie he left behind.

It was fun to watch Oliver dig into the presents that he has been anxiously waiting to open since they were first put under the tree. Although it was tough for him to stay motivated to open the rest once he discovered one or two toys that were too exciting to not open up and play with right away.

The next day we went to the San Diego Zoo. It was the busiest I have ever seen it. But we did get some great views of the hippos and tigers. At one point Oliver made himself at home in front of the tiger's window. I don't know if the other Zoo guests got a bigger kick out of the tigers or the two year stretched out in front of the glass growling right along with the animals.

Legoland

Last week I took the week off work and spent some quality time with Oliver and Joe. It was nice to have a couple days with them to relax and enjoy each other's company. We went to Legoland over the weekend and Oliver had a blast palying with his little bud Emily. Considering no naps were taken that day by either, it was a pretty successful day with happy children and lots of rides for each of them.

The Parla version of a small party...

So what was supposed to be a small party turned out much larger than anticipated. All our neighbors were kind enough to come celebrate Oliver's birthday with us. Here are some pictures.

Jolly Old St. Nicholas

This weekend we made an impromptu visit to Santa Claus. We were shopping at the outlet mall and Joe took Oliver by just to say hi to Santa while I was shopping. Well, simply saying hi was not enough for Oliver so when they came back to find me, Oliver kept asking for Santa and when we asked if he would like to take his picture with Santa, he nodded yes with enthusiasm. So we went back to the store to take a picture with Santa.

All the other children in the room were wearing beautiful dresses and appropriate holiday attire. Not my little monkey - he had on jeans and green t-shirt with a monster that said feed me and his hair was a mess. The photographer shared a tip that some other parents has used hand sanitizer as a substitute for hair gel. So being desperate for the picture to turn out nicely if we were going to fork over the money for the picture, Joe began work on Oliver’s head with the hand sanitizer and some bottled water. We also turned around Ollie’s shirt so that it was at least just a solid green tee.

Oliver was so excited to go sit on Santa’s lap. I was actually surprised at how comfortable he was with Santa. He told Santa his name and nodded yes to Santa’s questions. And when we was done he got a candy cane and a coloring book. This is the end result – Oliver was quite the little ham.