twas the night before christmas

and all through the house...



After at least four hours of work, little trouble, and no aggravation, we have the train table put together, a gift for Timothy from Gee Gee and Gramps. Because Timothy doesn't go to sleep until 9:00 or sometimes 10:00, we let him help us. I don't imagine that it would have gone so smoothly at 01:00. Tim helped put some of the screws in their holes and used the screwdriver. He did most of the unpacking, except for the parts like the trains themselves, which we hid from him. He'll get those in the morning when he comes down to find it all set up and ready for play. When he went to bed, it was still only partially finished. Mostly, he played with whatever was at hand: packaging, table parts, track, tools. He enjoys being part of the action most of all.

Paul and I are looking forward to Christmas morning in a way that we haven't since we were children ourselves. Tim's delight with presents and toys has brought the magic of Christmas back to us.