Christmas day is over.

Christmas 2011 was as usual spent at my in-laws'. This time round, toddler A2 was walking and awared of the happenings around him. He was a curious boy and when his grandfather started the fire at the fireplace, he was looking on nearby. Toddler A1 being the wise one stood at a distance. He does know that fire is hot and dangerous.

This was Christmas eve and we had an elaborate apperitif. Champagne with fingerfood. Toddler A2 had his dinner and was still stuffing himself with cheese cubes, cherry tomatoes and crackers after. We were amazed and afraid that he would suffer a tummy upset.

The next day, we prepared for the feast. Rather, the kids' grandparents. As usual, the grandfather opened up the fresh oysters and laid them up nicely on the silver plate. The grandmother prepared a vegetable starter for Seb among other yummies. One relative brought along his homemade foie gras, spice bread and log cake.

Here is a pic of toddler A2 all dressed up and playing with the TV remote control. I got him new clothes for christmas as he often wore hand-me downs. He is really no longer a baby.

And the presents waiting to be opened. In this family, we opened the presents on the afternoon of christmas as that was when everyone got togather. In France, normally, kids would wake up in the morning and rushed down to the christmas tree looking for the gifts that Santa left behind. Well, we would have to find an explaination on why we are different to toddler A1 soon as this year, he was bombarded with so many stories of Santa Claus. I think he is a big fan of that man now though he avoided one at the garden shop the other day. Yeah, Santa with his huge white beard can look scary to young kids.

And this last pic showed toddler A1 playing with his brother's toy. It is SMARTMAX and is a set of magnetic bars and balls. With imagination, one can build lots of things with it. All the kids at the house were playing with it.
The lunch was great except for a hiccup when toddler A1 threw a big tantrum. Seb and I took turns to be with him. Seb was away from the table most of the time and he mentioned that this was the christmas where he drank the least. Poor father cos' great wine was served.

We stayed in Chartres until Boxing day before heading back home and getting on with the usual routine.

Christmas went and a new year is here already. I sincerely wish everyone a happy new year 2012.