Sophie's 2nd Christmas

**I am a behind on posting this entry. Oops!               

                                                                                                       

What a wonderful Christmas we had! Sophie's first Christmas was great, but she didn't do much but lie there while we opened her gifts (lazy 4 month old...just kidding). While that Christmas will always hold a special place in my heart, I was looking forward to the Christmas when she could actually open her gifts and get excited about them. I know I will get even better reactions out of her in future years, but I was pretty darn satisfied with this Christmas and Christmas Eve!

We started our Christmas Eve with Joe's family. Sophie loved spending time with her Paw Paw and Grandma (and her aunts, uncles, and cousins, of course). She also loved her gift from cousin Anna - a ball tent and plastic balls. She loved the plastic balls so much that she tried to run away with them so no one else would touch them! Silly girl.

We had Christmas Eve dinner at my family's house. Sophie tried a bunch of different things, but wanted to sit on Grandpa's lap and eat off of his plate instead of in her own seat. After dinner, we opened gifts.

The funniest moment was when my dad opened one of his gifts - a bag of mini Snickers. As soon as Sophie (who was on the other side of the room) saw the bag she took off towards my dad. (I will never know how she knew that the bag had candy inside.) She pulled herself up on my niece, practically shoving her out of the way, and put her arms up so that my dad would pick her up. He opened up a piece of the candy and held it to her mouth so that she would take a small bite. Nope. My kid grabbed the whole thing and shoved it in her mouth. I told you that she has a sweet tooth!

We had a visitor at my parents' house - Santa! Sophie wasn't too impressed. Last year, Sophie stopped crying when Santa held her. She even pushed my niece away from Santa (with her foot) while she was being held (even at a young age she was trouble). This year Sophie seemed afraid of Santa. It took some coaxing, but we finally got her to sit with him for some pictures.

I was so excited on Christmas morning. The stockings were filled and the gifts were under the tree. Sophie really enjoyed opening up her gifts. She went straight for the school bus and started playing with it. She ripped open presents (sometimes with assistance), played with gifts, and even 'ohhh'ed a few times. My parents came over to watch her open up presents, and Sophie had fun showing off all of her new things to them. She enjoyed decorating my dad, too.

After opening gifts and having breakfast, we went to church, followed by brunch with Joe's extended family. When we go home Sophie took a nap and then came downstairs to try out all of her new toys. She really liked her gifts and seemed to be happy to have new things to play with.

Sitting in her box of blocks

Christmas was so wonderful this year. I can't wait until next Christmas tops this one!