Peter's Christmas

Peter was wise enough to understand that when people are putting trees inside their houses and lights outside their houses that something is up. He must have also remembered those big parties that he went to when he was 7 months old. Whatever it was, he knew he was going to have some fun.

 

Monday, December 22nd saw us scrambling in the evening to get out to the post office in time to mail out our Christmas cards so they'd get to people before they became belated Christmas cards. While Mommy and Daddy were busy fixing the pictures to the cards and getting the cards stuffed into their envelopes, Peter was wandering around the lobby, doing what he always does – attracting attention. Fortunately, we were not the only procrastinators, and another Daddy with two little girls came to drop off their family's cards. Little Jackie and Caroline were 3 ½ and 2 years old apiece, and they liked Peter. To say they lavished attention on him would be an understatement. They gave him hugs and kisses aplenty, and when it was time for them to go they protested that, no, they wanted to stay with Peter. Peter, I'm sure, would have liked them to stay, but he didn't protest much because he was in something of a daze by that point.

 

Tuesday the 23rd was another snowy day and was also a day of preparation for the coming two days. I had to go out to the mall in the evening to pick up some stuff while Mommy did some baking. When I got back I was greeted with the sight of Peter helping her work. He did some mixing and other helpful things, but was very good and very focused on his work. He's a good boy, that Peter.

 

Wednesday, Christmas Eve. The day was to be broken into two parts: Brunch with Grandpa, Grandma and Aunt Sarah in the morning chez Pierre, then over to Auntie Trucker's in the evening. Peter had an enjoyable time at the brunch, charming and delighting everyone. He got an adjustable backboard as a present, and after the brunch he had an excellent time getting everyone to help him do acrobatic slam dunks, as the net was still a little too high for him. His energy level did run low in the early afternoon, however, and he wound up taking a good 2 hour nap. When he woke up we all went to his Aunt's house, and he spent about 5 hours running around, playing with his cousins. But when time came to open presents, we learned something new about Peter. If you give him the gift of clothing, he gets upset. Really upset. Like offended-fundamentalist upset. You thought you gave him a nice sweater? No, that was a slap in the face. Fortunately he was able to run around after that so his mood didn't go too far to the South. Of course, when it came time to go, Mr. Angry came out again, but at least he fell asleep within minutes of being put in the car.

 

Thursday, Christmas Day. We were up around 8:30 in the morning, and out to church for 10:15 mass in no time. After mass we went back to Auntie Tucker's house before people moved on in different directions, and again loading Peter back into the car was not fun as he was more interested in playing. We took him home and put him down for a nap, and again he was out cold for a couple hours. After he woke up we drove out to Auntie Vi's house to drop off some stuff from our car, and when his Mom delivered that stuff (and left him in the car with his Dad) Peter got upset again. Was it because Mommy left us for a couple minutes, or was it because he knew his cousins were inside? Both? Anyway, Mommy came back and we drove over to his Granny's house for dinner with Granny and Aunt Sarah. Once we pulled up in front of her house Peter again lit up. Peter played with the kitties and was his normal charming self. And luckily for him he didn't get any clothes as presents (interestingly, his parents "got" very small outfits that might not fit them, but maybe they'd fit Peter? Hmmmm.). A good time was had by all, and, again, Peter was asleep in the car within minutes of us leaving.

 

Now, on to recovery…