Pomerleau Family Blog: Christmas Festivities 2012

This year the Christmas holidays were so much more fun because Brandon really understood and got excited for presents and Santa. We watched the Polar Express together and it is Brandon's favorite movie. He loves the train in the movie. Brandon helped me make and decorate sugar cookies for my work's Cookie Exchange. He loved listening to Christmas carols and watching all the Christmas ads on TV. He is beginning to understand the magic of the Christmas holiday and it is exciting to see it through his eyes.

This year we went to Al's Nursery and got our Christmas tree. Brandon loves the giant electric train that they have at Al's Nursery and all the festive Christmas decorations. We found a nice big 8 ft tall noble tree and took it home. Brandon helped me decorate it (although not as much as I liked). I also found that he loves to pull the ornaments off the tree. I kind of thought that may be the case so I put all the fragile ones up high. As Brandon is so into trains, I got him a train music box that he loved turning and watching the trains go around the Christmas tree.

Electric train at Al's

Watching Al's Nursery train

Brandon at Al's Nursery

Sean and Brandon at Al's

Brandon at our Christmas tree this year

Brandon helped me decorate the tree

Love this picture of Brandon peeping at the Christmas tree through the stairway

Brandon and his train music box

We went with the Mowery family to the zoo lights. Brandon loved seeing his bud Logan and they got to go on the zoo train together. Brandon loved the zoo train so much that he cried hard when he had to get off. The lights were very pretty and were all of various animals. It was a beautiful and magical way to begin the Christmas season. Unfortunately for us, the weather was bad and rainy but we survived and both Logan and Brandon had so much fun.

Brandon having so much fun on the zoo train

Brandon and his pal Logan on the zoo train

Zoo lights

Brandon and Logan loving the zoo lights

Sean and I celebrated Sean's 31st birthday at Urban Fondue. My mom came and baby sat Brandon and we got a yummy adult dinner out. Urban Fondue was super yummy; Sean and I really love fondue.

I took Brandon to Macy's Santa House in downtown Portland to see Santa and the beautiful village they have. Brandon did not like Santa at all when he first saw him and tried to escape. I went and saw Santa with him and he did better the second time around. Brandon loved all the Christmas decorations and the electric train display they had that he got to press the button on. They also had a neat monorail that Brandon enjoyed climbing in and playing with.

Brandon was like get me out of Santa's lap

Brandon showing Elmo his electric train

Brandon getting off the monorail train

Brandon and Mommy before visiting Santa

Brandon, mommy, and Santa

Probably the best Christmas activity Brandon did this holiday season was going on the Portland Holiday train. The Holiday train is an old steam engine from the early 1900s that was restored. The route is about 40 minutes and goes along the Portland waterfront so you can see all the beautiful lights and the water. They had Santa in the train and the kids got to go from train car to train car. Brandon at first was scared to walk around the train but quickly got over it and had so much fun exploring the train. He even warmed up to Santa and gave Santa a hug!