Simon's Christmas IV is in the books! It got off to a rough start on Christmas Eve. The boy was not being pleasant at all, and not particularly interested in establishing Christmas traditions. Sprinkle in the new surroundings, and maybe a little of the lack of "holiday weather," and things just felt kind of weird. Thank God for A Christmas Story running all day on TBS. Regardless, I had my first fatherly endeavor around building something the night before. We bought Simon this epic table with Cars themed wood track toys, and it took about 2.5 hours to build.
Simon got a good night of sleep, even if we didn't (he's still battling some coughing and cold symptoms), and the Cars table blew his mind. In fact, he played with it most of the day. Getting him to take a break for food, getting dressed or other activities pretty much was a futile effort. In fact, he still has presents he hasn't opened yet!
Diana and I again made a pact to not get gifts for each other, because of the forthcoming home purchase. I did cheat, however, and got her an inexpensive Pandora charm for her bracelet. I'm not very good at pacts.
We invited my mom and brother over, as well as my aunt and uncle, for dinner. Diana's mobility is improving, and due to excellent planning, she even worked in some down time to get her foot up. It was kind of a Thanksgiving type spread... a turkey breast, mashed potatoes and such, and it was delicious. If I wasn't such a picky eater, I'd weigh 300 pounds, because Diana is an exceptional cook, and she just keeps getting better.
Simon got a few more gifts, and did open those from my mom, because that's what grandparents live for. She scored a couple of toys that fulfill his other character obsessions, including Buzz Lightyear and Woody from Toy Story, and a little "sail car" with the Jake and Neverland Pirates characters. I saw him do something that, given our concerns over his development, really made me happy... he was making Buzz fly around. It's such a relief to see him imagining and not just organizing with toys.
After the family folk left, we followed up with some phone calls to various places around the country, and settled in to watch The Family Stone, one of the movies on our holiday rotation. Admittedly, things felt a little weird this year, but it was a good day. I think we'll still brave the crowds at WDW to see the Christmas lights there before they take them down, as Diana hasn't been there in four weeks because of the surgery.
For me, the biggest gift is the people who are closest to me. I feel very fortunate to have people looking out for me, and people to look out for. This was a challenging year to say the least, but I think Team Puzzoni has come out strong. We use "living the dream" as something of goofy cliché, but I think it's a pretty accurate way to describe what I'm feeling these days. Things are pretty solid, I don't need more than that.
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