Category Archives: Gifts

Well this morning was…not quite what I expected. I thought Owen would wake up and be super excited about Santa…but all he wanted to do was play his Xbox game. 🙁

We excitedly said “Owen, who came to visit last night?” and in the most quiet and bored voice simply said “Santa.” Not quite the response I expected. About 20 minutes later we convinced him it was time to check out what Santa left—and he was a bit more enthusiastic. Here we are coming down the stairs to find the stockings…

And then it was off to see the presents…where he got upset because Santa ate “his” (Owen’s) cookies—even though Owen didn’t want any himself last night or this morning—and then back to happy again remembering there were presents to open.

Of course, he was happy to pose with all the presents:

And smiled with one when I asked him to:

And enjoyed playing with some of the things:

But honestly, he seemed less than thrilled with most of his stuff (though I guess to be fair, it’s hard to get excited about clothes or games when they’re in a box). I mean, he enjoyed opening them (which I guess is good enough, right?) but then they were pretty much immediately tossed aside and it was on to the next present. (Yes, I know he’s three. But it was just such a change from last year when he wanted to play with everything as he opened it). He did like a few things (meaning he expressed some awe over them—like both new Xbox Lego games, his Cars cars, and his Indiana Jones minifigs)…but the biggest hit wasn’t even from us or Santa—it was a bug vacuum and fishing rod (that you put your iPhone in to pretend fish) from Tom’s mom that were both immediately turned into guns. And an activity box that was for Katie.

I guess I was expecting too much from a 3yo, right?

And less than an hour later, he was already done playing with everything new and wanted to play the stupid xbox game I had hoped would be forgotten about with the appearance of two new games. 🙁 I feel bad that I’m a little upset, but I just keep telling myself it’s not a big deal, it’s not a big deal, it’s not a big deal because I know he’ll eventually play with everything and like the games, etc…but it was just a bit disappointing because it wasn’t what I envisioned (and you think by now I’d know better).

There were lots of smiles and fun moments, though. 🙂

We Skyped with Grandma Marsha and Uncle Rob while Owen opened the presents they sent and some from Santa and mom and dad.

We had labeled everything with big name tags because Owen knows his name, so with just about every package he picked up he said “O-W-E-N spells me—Owen” and it was completely adorable. So then it was funny when we caught him opening a package for me and we said “Owen, is that yours?” YES! “Owen, whose name is on the label?” He looks for the label, sees it’s not Owen and immediately says “I’m sorry! So so sorry!” 🙂

Katie enjoyed the tags on one of her gifts:

And Charlie enjoyed a box in the middle of the floor—and watching everything from her perch:

And he was excited about this Captain America figure…

…until Tom pressed the button to make it speak and it freaked Owen out:

And he liked his trampoline…for about 15 seconds. (That was free so it may end up being gifted elsewhere because we don’t really have room for it if he’s not loving it.)

So overall I’d say it was a success, even if it didn’t go quite as we planned.