Festival of Lights!

Ryder lighting his first Hanukah Candle

Chase, with his buddy Max, lighting the first of 8 candles

Applesauce all over me!!!

Hanukkah becomes a whole new celebration when you see it through the eyes of children. Of course, when your kids are 1 year old and do not fully get the concept, the celebration becomes more fun for the parents. Convinced that Chase and Ryder would remember Hanukkah, if not forever;), then clearly by day 8 they would remember it from the day before, I made some small efforts. We lit candles every day, including a wooden menorah which allowed them to do the "lighting," We gave them presents, we ate latkes, we sang hanukkah songs and played dreidel, and every morning at breakfast I read them hanukkah stories. All that and I do not think they remembered a thing. I never got either one of them to say the word hanukkah, but unlike many of their pals, they did not say the word present either. They did not seem to get as excited about the books as they do about "Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?" And the potato latkes barely hit their mouth before they decided they did not like it....though they loved smearing applesauce all over themselves. We had Hanukkah parties with friends, with playgroups, with family on all sides. They received way too many gifts, everything from cell phones and keys, to remote control cars, to the entire product line (almost) of Little People. Tickle Me Cookie, which scared Chase initially, is amongst the favorites with the words "Cookie, Cookie, Cookie" being repeated endlessly. They received the tools necessary to help Mommy clean, and to my great delight, they love their new Lego's. They love their new keyboard, the vacuum cleaner is a huge hit, and the airplane that hangs in the room is always identified upon entrance. The guitar Uncle Mat gave them ranks pretty high but since they can't say guitar, they just repeat "Mat, Mat, Mat!" All of these gifts (and so many more) but it was never about the gifts for them. I would show them a present and they would not get excited. Now that they have these things, they love it, but it seems they never expected gifts, not even by day 8. They're my boys!!! Their favorite part was simply lighting the candles. They got so excited when they lit their wooden menorah and seemed to be intrigued by the blazing fire in the real menorah. They truly enjoyed the festival of lights