Cooper woke us up around 7:30 on Christmas morning. Based on his excitement from the night before, I was expecting him to come into our room, bouncing off the walls and ready to race to the living room to see if Santa had come. But, it was almost like he had forgotten what might be awaiting him. He climbed into bed with us and started to get cozy, waiting for us to fully wake up so someone could go to the playroom with him (his normal routine). I remember Philip and I looking at each other, waiting for a light bulb to go off with Coop. Finally, after 15 minutes or so, Philip asked if Coop wanted to go see if Santa came. Coop's face lit up! Light bulb--SANTA!! He jumped up and down and we quickly, yet quietly, tip-toed passed sleeping Austin's room and into the living room. Coop was so excited to see that Santa came!!
He walked around the room, calmly looking at everything and taking it all in. Loved watching that. He wasn't crazy or running around or screaming with excitement. Just calm and absorbing, with several gasps and tons of smiles.
Coop was so excited to see that Santa ate our gingerbread pirate cookies. And he laughed at the mess of cookie crumbles Santa left behind.
Helping Daddy open his stocking.
Austin woke up about 30 minutes later, and Coop was such a sweet big brother, showing Austin the fun things Santa brought for him, too.
So excited about a new shovel!
Austin was so into helping people unwrap gifts. I don't remember Cooper being that interested in tearing the paper at this age, but Austin was all over it!
The way this present is wrapped makes me happy.
Since his birthday, Coop has been asking for a firetruck with very specific details: a long ladder; a place for a driver in the back; and a front part that swivels. In a lot of his fireman books, this type of truck is called a 'hook and ladder' truck. I searched and searched and searched and searched for months to find a toy truck like this. I even enlisted Fireman Paul to help with the search. He informed me that this type of truck is also called a 'tiller' truck, and on the same night, he and I both found this truck online! It's not necessarily advertised as a kids toy, and some people actually collect cars and trucks made by this company, Hess. But after more research and even posting a few questions on the company's Facebook page, I decided that this was the perfect truck for Coop. It was from the company's Christmas collection from the year 2000, so I had to search a little to find a way to purchase it. But...we found it, bought it, wrapped it up, and Coop LOVES it. I do would all that work all over again because of how happy it made him to open that gift.
Austin loved his new slide from Santa!
Drake even got a stocking full of goodies!
We had such a fun morning. Just the four of us, in our own house. Fire in the fireplace, Christmas music playing, warm coffee for Mama, a yummy breakfast, and enjoying watching the boys play--pretty perfect, if you ask me. (It did cross my mind several times how this time next year, we'll have a little six-month-old rolling around in the wrapping paper!)
