merry christmas.

christmas eve. at last.

Tonight Quincy quickly learned the word "present". He got to open a couple gifts from us as well as the presents from my side of the family.

The blocks I made went over well.

As did the mini cricket bat and ball from papa.

Until he opened the Hummer Hauler from his cousin Mattias, who must remember what being a toddler is all about because he sure hit the nail on the head. Jeremy couldn't get that thing out of the package quick enough.

Did I mention it hauls a trailer with a dune buggy?

After spending ages playing with the Hummer, he was thrilled with the road from Oma and Opa. He loved "helping" Jeremy put it together and gave him frequent hugs during the process. I'm confident this will get a lot of use in the years to come.

And the finger puppets were a nice surprise from Aunt Rosey and Uncle Scott. They sure got him laughing!

Of course, we had to leave a little something for Santa and his reindeer. Quincy ate all the M+Ms off the gingerbread man, tried on the carrot for a nose, and helped himself to a drink of the milk. I hope Santa doesn't mind.

Wow, I know someone is having sweet dreams!

Santa. Try again.

So yesterday we visited Santa at the mall. Although he was still apprehensive, this time went much better. He wasn't sick for starters. Plus we've been reveling in all things Christmas all month. so he's no stranger to Santa. However, he most definitely prefers images of him to the "real thing".

Back to our visit... He was happy to see him from about 10 feet away, but as we approached, he waved and said "Bye Santa." It was pretty funny. We made it to his lap with a little resistance and only a few tears. As soon as Santa gave him some chocolate, though, he was fine. But there was no way he was gonna look at him. From such a close proximity, I don't think so.

Can you tell I'm happy the boy's not screaming?

On the way home we saw a digger cleaning up one of the nearby beaches. We stopped and he just sat and watched. Now if you ask him what he'd like Santa to bring him, he replies, "yellow deeger."

I'm pretty sure that if he weren't rendered speechless, he would have uttered his first complete sentence here... "Do you see what I see, mama?"

This kid is definitely passionate about his diggers. Let's hope Santa gets the memo.

summer's hiatus

After a three-day hiatus, summer is meant to return tomorrow.

Right now though, I should either be tackling my to-do list or getting some much-needed sleep. Instead I'm playing with a couple photos I took today.

happy st. nick's day

St. Nick was here!

The "umbrella", i.e. the candy cane, was hand's down Q's favorite. He also enjoyed the ladybug, which brought back memories from St. Nick's Day as a child. Incidently, he never did discover that it was chocolate, he just had fun playing with it.

He brought beach towels for the humans and cow's ears for the canines.

What an enjoyable tradition.

Earlier in the day we looked after Bridie from next door. When Q finally woke up from his nap, he was thrilled to see her. He never took his eyes off her as they built Duplo towers and she read him book after book. He couldn't even be bothered looking at his lunch while he ate. He just blindly shoveled it in.

She wanted Q to have a sleepover at her house that night. When that didn't fly, she asked if he could come live with them. We would have visiting rights! With family so far away, I love meaningful contact like this.

Q + the hounds

(I have some gaps to fill in later in the week. For now, though, I just had to share some happy snaps.)

Some good light and an impromptu, stressfree 15-minute photo session resulted in my favorite photos of Quincy and the pups.

What would the boy do without his dogs?

Different species, yet totally in sync. I can't think for the life of me what they were looking at, smelling, or doing. All I know is they were on the same page and completely livin' in the moment.

These next three speak volumes about Quincy's and Kai's relationship. They coexist peacefully. I'd even say they are friends in their own way. Kai's just not all that into unpredictable toddler love. Quincy's favorite time for dog cuddles? When they are napping. If he didn't drop her food all the time, she just might not put up with his affection.

In the second picture, he is totally copying me and growling "Taaaiii" in his roughest, deepest voice. Scary.

And if you want to procrastinate a little more, here is a slideshow of the best 18. Apart from forcing Kai back onto the table after the unexpected lovin', I didn't direct them at all. He busted that move all on his own. Honestly. (Press the button on the bottom right if you want to see the slideshow in all its glory.)