The Dunns [dot] C.A.

It’s been a while but here it is!
Xmas day 2009
Marshall woke up at a decent hour, still wearing his santa hat. He came to wake me and Rick up, then went in to wake up Gram. Rick ran downstairs and got the camera ready. Once everyone was awake we came downstairs trailing after Marshall. He headed into the livingroom and FREAKED! (see video). It was so awesome. He woke up Uncle Jamie in the basement and then he was allowed to open up his sock while we waited for Grampy to arrive.

He and Uncle Jamie distributed gifts and we took turns opening them until somewhere around lunchtime. It was a great day. He kept pointing at a big box and saying that it was his airport from Santa (it was the airport, but it was from Auntie Val) and we made him wait to open that one last. He also was quite excited about his Buzz Lightyear toy He loved everything else of course, but those were the top excited factor gifts. He gave equal playing time to all his toys and showed great enthusiasm even when his gifts turned out to be clothes or something fun but not a toy, like toy story sheets for his bed. All around I’d say it was a success.

Uncle Jamie and Gram hung out here while we headed to Mary’s for turkey dinner with Marshall, and when we got back we played some Cadoo Treasure Hunt (board game) with Marshall before bed.

New Years eve
I was working until noon on New Year’s Eve. However, the daycare had decided to close for the 2 weeks over Xmas break since there were only a few children planning to attend. Rick dropped Marshall off at his buddy Philip’s house, and went into the office to do a bit of work. I picked him up around 1230 in Grampy’s big truck (Grampy was in Mexico!). The 2 weeks of excitement must have caught up with him by then because he was overtired and super-cranky. It was a trial to say the least getting him into the seat and into the house when we got home. He couldn’t be reasoned with. He wasn’t making a lot of sense either come to think of it *L* He wanted to go over the bridge again (we had been in Riverview)… poor kid. In any case, we got sorted, and he had a nap.

That night, Uncle Jamie came over, and Rick and I made hors d’oevres and such. I brought Marshall over to my friend Jen’s family New Years party – in the neighbourhood. Wow. What a party! There were so many people there… tons of kids running wild… loud music and lots of kids and adults dancing. The place was packed. Marshall loved it because his friend Jack was there. I took a short video to give Rick and Jamie an idea of what they were missing LOL

When we came back I put Lady Gaga on and Marshall started breakdancing for the boys. heheheh
It was a fun night, and surprisingly, I think we all (except Marshall) made it to midnight!

Playdate with the neighbours
Our neighbour, Marie-Claude had a great idea to get the Greenwood corner kids together for a playdate before the holidays were over. Her and Jocelyn’s son, Marek, is 2.5, and Greg and Pam’s boy Greyson is 1.5. We made a big pot of mac&cheese with brocolli(her idea) and they all came over. It worked well for us too because we had a lot of leftover hors d’oevres from New Year’s and Xmas that we were able to share.

At first, Marek and Marshall butted heads a bit over the play kitchen and some other toys, and Greyson stayed close to his mommy. But it was too long before the kids were in the living room and the adults were in the kitchen chatting.

I knew Marshall would be ok out there, so wasn’t checking in on him. Rick was bouncing back and forth checking on things. I told him not to worry and to relax since our kid would be fine, and leave the checking to the other parents. He relaxed a bit. I heard Marshall go “moooommy, moooommy” but I paid no attention. A few minutes later, Marshall came running out and goes “GUYS! WE HAVE A PROBLEM IN HERE!” and then we heard a kid crying and all the parents rushed out to see what happened. *LOL* Turns out Marek wanted to give Greyson a hug and Greyson wasn’t down with that. Crisis! Kids. So funny.

We had a really nice visit with our neighbours.

I think that pretty much sums up the holidays for us. I’ll let Rick add anything I might have forgotten.