Christmas

What can I say about Christmas that I haven't already said in years past? We loaded the car with presents, we drove to NJ, and after a furious hour of unwrapping on Christmas morning, everybody had new clothes to wear and new toys to play with. It is a time-honored tradition.

Of course the kids' tastes and interests have changed in the 365 days between last Christmas and this one. Andres, who is somehow 10 years old, now only wants technology presents. (He already has an old iPod, a newer iPad, and an Xbox.) In addition to Xbox Live, he wanted a Fitbit, a remote controlled car, and various Xbox games to play with his friends. He got the car and the games; we passed on the FitBit (what 10 year old needs to count his steps?), and I'm not sure I want him on Xbox Live yet either. His big gift was a GoPro. I'm hoping that he takes it skiing and biking, and that we can create some movies together...all part of my plan to help turn him into something other than just a consumer of YouTube videos. He also got clothes, books, and socks.

Quality time with Tita.

GoPro!

Lucia, on the other hand, is only 5 and still wants toys, toys, toys, especially anything having to do with PawPatrol and Peppa Pig. Santa delivered a lot of those this year. I don't fully understand the universe of these characters, or why any child needs so many figures and vehicles, but I will give much credit to Lucia for being able to sit for hours at a time and play with these toys, either by herself or with friends (or, for the bulk of this week, with cousin Luis). She has quite an imagination. She has also developed a legitimate British accent, learned from watching episode after episode of Peppa Pig. (She's self-conscious about performing it on demand for parents and family, but when she's playing with the Peppa toys by herself, she'll often lapse into it.) She also got clothes, books, and socks.

Lucia enjoys her new PawPatrol puzzle.

Celia is perhaps hardest to shop for now because she's in between the "MORE TOYS" and "MORE TECH" phases. Her interests are, in no particular order: art, dance, basketball, fashion, and reading. Her big gifts this year were an embroidered jacket from her dance school, a cool new purse, and a pair of snazzy pink and black basketball high-tops from Cristina. (She's taken to basketball recently, and when I nixed her request for special shoes a month ago, the idea of these shoes becoming a Christmas gift was born.) She also got clothes, books, and socks.

Eva is unimpressed.

The kids.

So overall, I think everyone emerged from Christmas morning having been gifted many things that they wanted, though nobody would claim that we (or Santa) had checked all of the boxes. As it should be. (For my part, I was gifted good scotch, coffee, and books, which was more than enough.)

After the wrapping paper was all cleared away most of the rest of the week was spent with cousins Luis and Eva. And this is, perhaps, the greatest difference between Christmas now and Christmas six or seven years ago. Then, Natalia and I would schedule trips to Pennsylvania, Delaware, and countless boroughs of New Jersey to see friends and check in on their families. The only day we didn't seem to be on the move was Christmas day itself. But now, with our own extended family growing, trips to friends' houses have basically fallen away in favor of lots of cousin time. And that's a lot of fun. Luis and Lucia get along fabulously, especially now, because of their shared devotion to PawPatrol. Celia dotes on Eva. Andres sort of goes between both of them, alternately roughhousing with his older cousin and playing gently with his younger one. And this year, as a bit of an added bonus, the kids even got to see Cousin Joey, as he and Sarah were in Philly hanging out with the Grammy-nominated wing of the family.

It was a peaceful way to end the year. School starts again soon, and we still have a long winter ahead of us. Hopefully more fun and interesting adventures await. Onto 2018!