Christmas Morning

Gage, like usual, wakes up early whenever he doesn't have to go to school. However, it's a struggle getting him to open his eyes whenever I have to dress him for school, hmmmm.....

Since both the wife and her sister had not woken up yet, I entertained him for a while and kept him away from all of the presents under the Christmas tree.

After nearly two hours of distracting the kiddo, he took off and ran into the tree room and jumped on the couch. At first, he didn't really notice anything, but then turned towards the tree and said "Wow, look at the presents daddy!" At that point, the wife was still getting ready, so I had to further distract him and told him to run to mom and tell her about the presents. He jumps off the couch and runs over to our master bathroom and tells the wife "Xuanie, Santa came and brought presents! Come look!!!! Hurry!!!!"

If there's one memoryI don't want to forget, it was the look on his face.

Family

Recently, dad's family from South Africa paid us a visit and we actually met our cousins, Ashna, Roshil, and Yaksha for the first time. Xuan, Gage and I had a wonderful time and miss them dearly, since they had to leave and continue their trip.

Anyway, we spent just about every hour possible with them, since they were only here for 4 days. I've uploaded a few more pictures on the flicker website. Click on the link to your left or send me an email for permission to view them.

Growing up quickly

Yesterday, for the first time ever, Gage told me that he was going potty and then asked me not to help. He walked into the bathroom, turn around, flipped on the lights, again reminded me that I just needed to leave him alone and closed the door. After 30 seconds or so, he came back out, having used the potty by himself, and went back to watching his movie.

Given, he did forget to flush, wash his hands or turn off the light, but I gently reminded him about those details, at which point he turned around and went back into the bathroom and finished his business.

I was so proud of my little man but at the same time, a little sad, that he didn't need my help anymore (I did walk into the bathroom, a short time after, and quickly scanned the area for any mishaps" and cleaned it up). I've run into other parents who have reminded us that we need to be able to cherish each and every day, because time will pass quickly, and they couldn't be more correct.

I think the following post does an amazing job of recounting those moments, that we tend to forget. Enjoy.

A Visit to Santa

This year, Gage finally got the whole Santa thing, including the part of "being a good boy" to get a bunch of presents. We finally got around to the mall for the picture and the little man put on a good show.

Say Cheese

Sometimes, all it takes to brighten my day is one these smiles -- Enjoy.