My name is Scott T. Holland. I'm a newspaper columnist-editor-designer, a self-published author and a marketing-sales-Web-whatever else guy for my parents' family business, now living in Gurnee, Ill. The site is about my life, which includes a beautiful wife, our four young sons... plus way too much time watching the Cubs and bad television. That said, if you don't find me interesting, this blog will likely bore you to tears.
Sunday, January 01, 2012
Christmas morning in Gurnee
Charlie's first Christmas went fairly well by any standard. He actually slept in a bit (a welcome blessing since Kristie and I were up plenty late getting everything in order — I think it was my second or third straight night seeing the clock hit 2 a.m.). Jack once again was on his absolute best behavior (my favorite Christmas tradition), exhibiting uncommon patience, manners and general helpfulness. We were able to get all three boys fed before moving on to presents, which meant it was after 10:30 a.m. when the stockings got unstuffed.
As was the case the night before, Charlie was mostly interested in taking bows off packages and moving on. He also was pretty intent on eating Cheerios, and at one point he caught wind of his regular old toys and headed off to play with them. Kristie was wise enough to unbox most of his toys before wrapping so he would have instant access, and with a couple of toys that proved to be a great move as he started playing with them before the box was totally unwrapped.
Doodle was over the moon excited for just about everything, and for both boys one of the most popular gifts of the day was a drug store impulse by — the little capsules that, when placed in a cup of warm water, turn into small sponges in the shape of dinosaurs (Jack) and sea creatures (Max).
Jack tried not to show any interest in the book I picked for him ("Where the Sidewalk Ends") and was mightily confused when a gift he swore he'd seen in the van did not show up under the tree. He also had advance knowledge of the day's "big present," an Imaginarium train table that still isn't 100 percent assembled. But again, Jack's Christmas morning behavior is beyond reproach, so a good time was had by all.
Another "big" items was a mid-1980s vintage McDonald's playset well loved by Kristie and Aunt Kelly in their day. Both older kids knew just what to do with it immediately and were pretty happy pretending to prepare fast food for anyone who wanted it, as well as anyone who didn't want it, but we both played along (for the most part... there also was lots of train table work going on). And now, the pictures, and two videos.
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