Santa, Toys and "Holding You"

Santa and Mrs. Claus have come and gone and he and she were really generous with the kids. But I'm not sure that even Santa knows what the kids will like of all the toys that he gives them. They sure pick some surprise favorites. Maya really likes Julian's car racing set, while he barely looks at it. Julian is enamered with his train set. He'll sit in the middle and lets the train go around him while he controls it. Yesterday we lost the locomotive by bringing it with us to the coast to play. We should have stepped in as parents earlier and told him not to bring it. Fortunately Ebay has one that we can get for replacement. Sheesh.

The rest of this post is really a little piece of advice (if you want it). Julian used to be pretty cuddly but now he's more independent and doesn't need that stuff so much. Maya still is very cuddly so it reminds me to soak it up as much as possible 'cuz it ain't gonna last. As I was writing this Amanda gave me Maya who said, "hello dadda, holding you". So now she's on my lap and here I am typing enjoying being close to at least one of the kids. Julian still has his moments but Maya more regularly will seek me out. So for as long as it lasts I'll try to enjoy it as much as possible. Now I can appreciate why people decide to keep having kids. I think they really appreciate the cuddly guys in between 1 and 3 years of age. Add ten years to that and you can imagine it's a bit different. Just some impressions from a dadda. No matter how old your kids or your parents, just grab them every now and again and remind them it's ok to be cuddly as well as independent. Parents and kids grow up so fast.