We are almost a week into having Kenny in our house. We introduced him last Saturday evening and he has been showing up daily since Sunday morning. One thing I have learned about having an elf in a house with a two year old is that I am limited on his positioning each day. I have to make sure that he is in a location that he is not easily accesible but still easily noticed. While Kenzie will tell us over and over again, "Kenny off limits", she is still 2 and most 2 year olds have the self control of a puppy. So, you will notice that Kenny seems to move mostly between our dining room table and the bar in the kitchen. That limits me on what he can do. I figure we have a few years of this because next year Will might be trying to get a hold of him. We will make it work though. Kenzie loves to run through the house looking for Kenny each morning. She talks to him quite often as well and has told him a few more times that she wants candy for Christmas. She has also requested a reindeer and a snowman now. Not sure how Santa is going to pull that one off yet.
On day 1 Kenny showed up with a present for Kenzie. She was super excited with her tree. We told her though that she had to wait until the next day to have it because he was sitting in it and we weren't allowed to touch him to move him and get the tree. She did well and was super stoked the next day when the tree was still here and able to be moved into her room.
Kenny's other purpose is that he brings us our advent activity each day. He actually brought us our first one the day before we were originally planning to start (November 30) because we needed to pick out our tree on a weekend when Daddy was home.
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Kenzie liked picking out a tree. We got a nice, fat tree this year. Will slept through the entire ordeal. Much like Kenzie did on her first Christmas.
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On Day 2, Kenny showed up on our dining room table with a picture he colored for both kids. Kenzie thought it was funny that he used her crayons and she made sure to let me know that she was going to want them back.
It made perfect sense that Kenny colored a picture for the kids because our activity for the day was to do a Christmas craft. Usually I plan something a bit more elaborate for craft days, but this was an add on day at the last minute because usually we would be getting the tree on December 1st. Due to the way the weeks fall though this year, that wasn't how it worked out. Instead, we went to Hobby Lobby and I let Kenzie pick out an easy craft to do.
She chose a train frame that she could color with these three included markers. She enjoyed coloring her train. It is now sitting on the table behind our love seat waiting for a cute Christmas picture to be put into it.
On Day 3, Kenny did the funniest thing yet. For me, at least. Kenzie wasn't as enthused but I think Kenny might show up doing this again next year when she understands more. He went fishing in our fish tank. He didn't catch much...
The day's activity was to go pick out Christmas outfits (dress for Kenzie and something nice for Will) for Christmas Eve, the Christmas party, and to see Santa. Last year this was so much easier. We only had to hit up one store and we were done. This year it took four stores to find something... for Will. Kenzie was easy.
Kenzie chose a really pretty black and white dress with a red tie. It had to have red because she is wearing her "ruby slippers" from Halloween as her dress shoes. I gave her a couple of options and this is the one she chose. I love it! She is going to look so grown up. Will was harder to find. I first found cute little shoes (soft shoes) for him to wear. My initial plan was to use the black pants from his Thanksgiving outfit and just get a shirt but I couldn't find anything that I thought was dressy enough. So, I ended up getting him a whole outfit, as well. These kids are going to look so nice! I can't wait. Now, to just figure out how to keep Kenzie from ruining her outfit with food at the Christmas party and Buca on Christmas Eve. White clothing isn't smart with a 2 year old. Couldn't pass up this cuteness though.
On Day 3 Kenny decided to do one of Kenzie's puzzles with some friends. I had to have Steven swiftly remove the puzzle from her room as we were getting ready to put her to bed. I would have loved to have Kenny doing the puzzle with one of her "guys" (the stuffed animals she sleeps with) but that meant that there would be the chance of her waking up in the middle of the night and realizing one was missing. Yes, she randomly wakes up and takes stock of her guys.If one has fallen out of the crib during the night she starts crying and yelling wanting one of us to come in and run a rescue mission. Usually it is her little alligator that fits through the slats on the crib easily and tends to drop to the floor during the night.
The day's activity was mailing the Christmas cards. This may seem like a fairly boring activity, but our child loves the post office. I haven't yet figured out why. Needless to say, she was crazy excited to mail the cards. Sorry the picture of her mailing them in blurry. I had to take it really fast because she was on hyper speed or something and refused to pose. =)
On Day 4 Kenny got into our decorations box (well, he got into one of about 8 of the ones that holds inside decorations. We like Christmas in this house. Kenzie thought it was pretty funny that he was on the light and that he had taken her ornament that she picked out last year (the monkey with the M) and used it as a decoration.
The day's activity was to decorate the Christmas tree. Steven and I put the lights on the night before so it was all ready for Kenzie to help us add bulbs and other ornaments. She always loves this part of Christmas.
I think they might have been plotting our plan of attack. We managed to get the fattest (though not the tallest) tree this year. We have a TON of ornaments and because we put it in a corner, they all go in the front and on the sides. It is quite a feat to get it all done. Kenzie had a blast handing us the ornaments. She only hung a few. Thank goodness or all our ornaments would have been in one spot on top of one another. We haven't yet tinseled. Getting it all done in one night is difficult so we stretch it out.
Kenzie is definitely enjoying having Kenny around. She loves to hunt him down every morning. I hope she continues to feel as much excitement as the season goes on.
Who else has an elf inhabiting their house this month? Any good ideas for how he or she shows up every morning that works for toddlers? Especially ones that like to touch everything? I'm always looking for new ideas! =)
On day 1 Kenny showed up with a present for Kenzie. She was super excited with her tree. We told her though that she had to wait until the next day to have it because he was sitting in it and we weren't allowed to touch him to move him and get the tree. She did well and was super stoked the next day when the tree was still here and able to be moved into her room.
Kenzie liked picking out a tree. We got a nice, fat tree this year. Will slept through the entire ordeal. Much like Kenzie did on her first Christmas.
On Day 2, Kenny showed up on our dining room table with a picture he colored for both kids. Kenzie thought it was funny that he used her crayons and she made sure to let me know that she was going to want them back.
It made perfect sense that Kenny colored a picture for the kids because our activity for the day was to do a Christmas craft. Usually I plan something a bit more elaborate for craft days, but this was an add on day at the last minute because usually we would be getting the tree on December 1st. Due to the way the weeks fall though this year, that wasn't how it worked out. Instead, we went to Hobby Lobby and I let Kenzie pick out an easy craft to do.
She chose a train frame that she could color with these three included markers. She enjoyed coloring her train. It is now sitting on the table behind our love seat waiting for a cute Christmas picture to be put into it.
On Day 3, Kenny did the funniest thing yet. For me, at least. Kenzie wasn't as enthused but I think Kenny might show up doing this again next year when she understands more. He went fishing in our fish tank. He didn't catch much...
The day's activity was to go pick out Christmas outfits (dress for Kenzie and something nice for Will) for Christmas Eve, the Christmas party, and to see Santa. Last year this was so much easier. We only had to hit up one store and we were done. This year it took four stores to find something... for Will. Kenzie was easy.
Kenzie chose a really pretty black and white dress with a red tie. It had to have red because she is wearing her "ruby slippers" from Halloween as her dress shoes. I gave her a couple of options and this is the one she chose. I love it! She is going to look so grown up. Will was harder to find. I first found cute little shoes (soft shoes) for him to wear. My initial plan was to use the black pants from his Thanksgiving outfit and just get a shirt but I couldn't find anything that I thought was dressy enough. So, I ended up getting him a whole outfit, as well. These kids are going to look so nice! I can't wait. Now, to just figure out how to keep Kenzie from ruining her outfit with food at the Christmas party and Buca on Christmas Eve. White clothing isn't smart with a 2 year old. Couldn't pass up this cuteness though.
On Day 3 Kenny decided to do one of Kenzie's puzzles with some friends. I had to have Steven swiftly remove the puzzle from her room as we were getting ready to put her to bed. I would have loved to have Kenny doing the puzzle with one of her "guys" (the stuffed animals she sleeps with) but that meant that there would be the chance of her waking up in the middle of the night and realizing one was missing. Yes, she randomly wakes up and takes stock of her guys.If one has fallen out of the crib during the night she starts crying and yelling wanting one of us to come in and run a rescue mission. Usually it is her little alligator that fits through the slats on the crib easily and tends to drop to the floor during the night.
The day's activity was mailing the Christmas cards. This may seem like a fairly boring activity, but our child loves the post office. I haven't yet figured out why. Needless to say, she was crazy excited to mail the cards. Sorry the picture of her mailing them in blurry. I had to take it really fast because she was on hyper speed or something and refused to pose. =)
On Day 4 Kenny got into our decorations box (well, he got into one of about 8 of the ones that holds inside decorations. We like Christmas in this house. Kenzie thought it was pretty funny that he was on the light and that he had taken her ornament that she picked out last year (the monkey with the M) and used it as a decoration.
The day's activity was to decorate the Christmas tree. Steven and I put the lights on the night before so it was all ready for Kenzie to help us add bulbs and other ornaments. She always loves this part of Christmas.
I think they might have been plotting our plan of attack. We managed to get the fattest (though not the tallest) tree this year. We have a TON of ornaments and because we put it in a corner, they all go in the front and on the sides. It is quite a feat to get it all done. Kenzie had a blast handing us the ornaments. She only hung a few. Thank goodness or all our ornaments would have been in one spot on top of one another. We haven't yet tinseled. Getting it all done in one night is difficult so we stretch it out.
Kenzie is definitely enjoying having Kenny around. She loves to hunt him down every morning. I hope she continues to feel as much excitement as the season goes on.
Who else has an elf inhabiting their house this month? Any good ideas for how he or she shows up every morning that works for toddlers? Especially ones that like to touch everything? I'm always looking for new ideas! =)
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