Christmas in Toronto

We weren't able to get down to Ohio for Christmas because Shif's grandmother passed away that week.  It was a tough week and we spent a lot of time with her family.  But Shif did insist that we get a Christmas tree since I'd be missing the holiday with my family.  And she surprised me one night when I was out shopping by putting out all our Christmas decorations and hanging lights.  So sweet!  Our little family of three spent Christmas Day together, opening a few presents and just hanging out.  We're headed to Ohio later this week to celebrate a delayed holiday with my family.  

Zain sees the tree for the first time.   

We were a little surprised that Zain hasn't really wreaked havoc on the tree (it's still up!).  Although as I look at it right now, I notice that there are no ornaments on the bottom three feet of the tree.  :-) He loves the lights and likes to remind us frequently of their existence.  And he always asks us to turn them on if they aren't on.  He actually asks in some sort of sentence. The only word we can identify is "da", which has always been his word for light (it was one of his first "words" and he uses it frequently - he really likes lights).  But he's thrilled when we understand him and he runs over to the tree and waits for us to plug in the lights.  He also tries to identify the colors of the lights.  He's wrong about 80% of the time, but it's cool that he's trying.

Seeing the "da" on the stairs for the first time

This is traditionally the job of the man of the house, right?

Zain spent more time in Binda's present than she did

We figured we have one more year before we actually have to "do" Christmas, but we did get Z a few gifts to unwrap.  Like any normal toddler, he was more interested in the wrapping paper than the presents.  But he seems to be taking the unwrapping very seriously here.

His first backpack!

He didn't really like wearing the backpack, but he loved the buckle.  Buckles are a favorite right now.  And "buckle" is one of his best-pronounced words.

That evening, Shif showed us how Muslims (and Jews and Hindus and Buddhists) typically spend Christmas Day - dinner at a Chinese restaurant! (We skipped the other part of the tradition, the movie.)  

Merry belated Christmas!