Opening and Reading

It is typically late, so I'm not going to write a lot as it's been a long day. A good day, but a long one. Instead I'll just post a few pictures and caption them to give you a sense of this Christmas day, 2008.



The first thing we do here in Phoenix Farrell Land is tour past the stockings in a weird age-ordered Conga line and proceed to the Christmas tree area where we discover our Santa gifts. These are unwrapped gifts we get to discover before the actual opening of gifts commences. Kiernan's Santa gift this year was a set of planet books. The above picture captures his reaction as well as any words could. This picture shows what he did the moment he found his Santa gift.



Still reading the Santa gift. We have yet to move on to stockings, or have breakfast or coffee or even think about opening an actual, wrapped gift. Still reading. Guinea Pig stands vigil. No matter what new toys or action figures show up, it will always be Guinea Pig providing the first line of defense.


After unloading stockings, Kiernan decided to try some breakfast. Which around here means pie. In this case, pumpkin pie and mince pie. I am a total pie person. I am all for having pie for breakfast. But Christmas morning I always crave something savory. This craving makes me happy, because it reminds me of my mom, and gives me a sense of warmth I really cannot explain (and doubt I need to...you're all pretty sharp cookies). Mom always makes this amazing breakfast casserole. Full of sausage and cheese and fury. One year I requested the recipe from her, but I couldn't bring myself to bake it. It's hers and it reminds me of home and childhood. Better to long for it.

Kiernan has no such qualms. He enjoys his pie unfettered.


A couple of days ago I posted about the Planet Heroes, and I told you all about Earth Ace, the Planet Hero who represents our planet Earth. This is him, pictured above. Kiernan would receive two more Planet Heroes from Aunt Amy this Christmas day, Zip from Mercury and Dazzle from Venus. While they represent planets, there is no escaping that they immediately became stars in Kiernan's universe.

In the picture above, Earth Ace reads a beautiful card from Kiernan's Aunt Joanne and Uncle Mitch. This Christmas they gave to us by giving for us, expressing their love by donating to concerns they thought would truly concern each one of us. Grance and Gammy received the honor of a donation to a wonderful NPR show called Radio Lab. Aunt Amy's donation was to the excellent This American Life, another NPR show. Ours was all about Obama. Which was perfect for us.

In addition to the wonderful sentiment of the gift, Joanne employed her prodigious skills as a writer to pen heartfelt and moving letters to each of us explaining our respective donations, and in so doing laying out for us essentially what it is about us that she and Mitch and Dorian are thankful for. A gift straight from the heart.

Yeah. So I handed it to one of Kiernan's toys for safe keeping. Hey, Earth Ace regularly saves the Solar System. I think he can handle a card.

[BTW, if you are not familiar with This American Life, check it out. Especially if you love stories about people. It has been a staple of my life for many years now. And if you know This American Life, you really should give Radio Lab a spin.]


Kiernan was really a dream this Christmas morning when it came to understanding the whole concept of taking turns in the opening of gifts. He had a couple of moments where he wanted to jump in line, but by and large he was cool with taking turns. Part of the reason is captured in the above picture. He received a lot of books. And he wanted to pause to read them on the spot. On his own. He did not demand to have these books read to him. He sat right down and started paging through them on his own. Such a cool kid.


Here he is again, several gifts later and now on the couch, reading to himself again. I think this book is from Aunt Claudia and Uncle Jim. I just love the look on his face when he reads. I love the way he concentrates. Now, the look on his face when he opens toys, like the Planet Heroes toys mentioned above, is priceless in a different way. A jitterbug classic excitement that is completely infectious. But the look on his face upon cracking open a new book...I cannot get over that.



Finally a couple of simple pictures of him tearing into gifts. Just so you can see him doing that. Just so you don't think we relegate him only to reading and no classic kids-going-crazy-being-kids fun. He can tear wrapping paper with the best of them.



Once again, Happy Holidays and much love to you all.