Well...right now we are here in Brampton for the continuation of the Holiday festivities. Olivia celebrated Christmas in Ste.Sauveur with the Savard clan. And man on man...it was busy. We were a bit worried about how Olivia would react to the big gathering and the big family dinners, especially since our last experience with family members was in Florida. That was the peak I'm thinking of her "mommy" separation issues.
When we arrived at our Christmas Eve dinner at Marc's place, we quickly saw all the kids and was fine. Phew! Even the lucky few got to hold her for a few seconds. hahahahha. It was truly memorable because she enjoyed playing with her cousins and running around the great upstair level. We opened the presents before dinner and Olivia was actually starting to get the hang of it. How could she not? All the kids tore into their presents quickly with squeals of glee. There was Olivia, as soon as Mathieu (oh I mean Santa's elf) called out "Pour Olivia!", she went running to grab her gift. She brought it over to Papa and together would tear into the presents. The gift that made her night (and Papa) was a doll stroller. She was going around and around pushing this stroller.
In the end, we changed all the kids into their pjs and hoped they would go down while we ate our late dinner. The kids were winding down and didn't put a fuss. Audrey, Nico and Matt said their "bonne nuit", and there was Melo and Olivia left upstairs. They put a mattress on the floor for Melo to sleep, and we put on a Elmo DVD for Olivia. Well...Melo fell asleep quickly. Olivia? Well...let's just say there were many times when she walked into the kitchen and sat on my lap to munch. It was probably around 11:30ish when she finally fell asleep in my arms. However, it was also time to leave. Sigh. Sooo.. we woke her up again and put on her coat and tucked her into her carseat and drove back to Grandpapa's house. What a night.
Then next day. We ended up having a much needed quiet morning and afternoon. Olivia played in the house and had a morning nap AND an afternoon nap while we were getting ready for another Christmas dinner. And yes...more presents.
In the morning, Olivia, Grandmaman, and I went to Christmas Day mass in the village. It was very beautiful and calm. It was even more calm with the fact that Miss Olivia fell asleep for almost the entire mass. I think I woke her up when I had to carry her to get communion. hahhaha. After mass, we walked back to the car and out of nowhere, SANTA came out of his car! He parked right behind us. What are the chances? hahahaha Olivia got to high-five Santa before we drove back home. It was quite the surprise for Olivia. Certainly made my day. :0)
The family arrived shortly after 6 and we began the festivities again. Christmas' in the past, we had the "opening of the presents" upstairs in the family by the big Christmas tree. This year, because of the number of gifts, we had the event downstairs in the basement. There was much more room. Again, Mathieu did his job and handed out the gifts. The kids were again equally excited by all the spoils of Grandmaman and Grandpapa as you can imagine. Olivia was starting to get the hand of this "gift" opening idea. She was right there ripping the paper and moving on to the next gift. hahahahha. I have to say though she was equally excited about all the snacks that were in the room. Sigh. That's my girl.
We had a lovely Christmas dinner after all the presents were opened. Just as always with the holidays, we were all pretty exhausted. not only because of the late nights and preparation, but all the food! It was just too yummy. Again after dinner, the kids changed into their pjs and this time I was able to put Miss O down in the bedroom. She went down quickly and slept soundly for the night. She woke up around 8ish the next morning and played with her gifts.
Papa ended up doing his Boxing Day tradition with the boys. While the boys "bonded" (while going shopping ironically), we drove to see Grandmaman Anita. It was the first meeting with her great grandmaman. Luckliy there was no traffic and we got to the other side of Montreal under an hour. Which meant...no cranky Olivia. hahahah. When we got there, to Olivia's delight, Grandmaman Anita had a little dog. Even more of treat, her name was "Cookie". One of Olivia's favourite things. Of course, Olivia did not disappoint and lived up to the stories of how active she was. She was very excited about the dog and kept calling her name out and chasing her around. Poor Cookie. As always though, that didn't last long and Melo and Olivia were getting bored. Out came the snacks. Then to entertain them, they played with the magnets on Grandmaman Anita's fridge. Just like toddlers though, when we were leaving, we couldn't find 2 magnets. Ooopps! Sorry. It was a pleasant visit and I hope we will have another chance to see each other again. Of course on the way home, Miss Olivia finally falls asleep in the car as we literally got into Ste. Sauveur. Sigh. I decided to stay in the car for another 10-15 minutes to give her a good power nap.
That night we had another family dinner. But that night, Nico and Melo got to sleep over. Yay! It was a pleasant surprise for Olivia when she woke up to see her cousins playing downstairs. By the end of the weekend, she was calling them by their names. It was totally cute. Sadly, we had to leave that day to go back to Ottawa. The next day would be another road trip to Brampton to see Lola and Lolo. The fun never ends. We drove back and Olivia fell asleep all the way home. She was exhausted.
When we got home, we unloaded the car. I started the laundry. Of course, Olivia had more presents to unwrap. Lucky girl. We invited Nalina over her BFF because we hadn't see them for ages. I know Olivia missed her. They played for a bit and then it was time for dinner. Tomorrow would be another busy day. Another couple of days of family gatherings, opening presents, food, and fun. That's how it should be. I pray that how it's always going to be for Olivia. I hope every year will be like her first Christmas - you don't need all the gifts, but the excitement, the family, the love is the core of any great Christmas. She is so lucky to have that.
