Of My Little (not-)St. Nick, on Christmas Eve

I originally intended this to be an Advent Calendar wrapup post, with pictures from some of our Advent highlights. That’s a much more appropriate post for my last one before the Great Blogosphere Blackout Of The Last Week Of The Year, but I don’t have time or energy to shrink and upload all those photos. It’s easier to type. So today I’m going to share a couple of cute kid-isms to last you until I come back around New Year’s, or earlier if I get inspired (but don’t count on it. Bloggers need a vacation too!).

We have grandparents on the premises, and at dinner last night there transpired an exchange that illustrates my third-born’s character with pristine clarity. “Alex,” Grandpa said, “I’m going to have to leave you tomorrow. I have to go to work, you know. It’s a big night for me.”

It took Alex a minute to catch on, and then he started laughing at the idea that Grandpa was Santa Claus. Nicholas, however, looked sideways at Grandpa and bided his time until the joke had spun out. Then he cocked his head and gave his most impish smile. “Hi, Santa,” he said, making it clear that not only did he get the joke, he knew how to participate in it. At THREE.

Twenty minutes later, he put on his big brother’s Santa hat and came over to me as we were preparing to go visit the “Magic Tree.” “Mommy, what do you want for Christmas?” he asked.

“Oh, my,” I said, and sighed. “Time to write!”

Nicholas frowned, thought for a minute, and then pulled his hands up and held them out, placing empty air into mine. “There you go,” he said.

As Christian said when he was eighteen months old, “We’re gonna have trouble with this one.”

Here’s the Magic Tree, just for fun. Have a holy and peaceful Christmas! See you in 2013!