Ethan's Early Christmas Acquisition: A New Remote-controlled Helicopter!

Every year, Dad hosts a fun party for some folks at work . . . a great dinner followed by a fun White Elephant gift exchange.  They boys have always been at the house during the party, but have never shown any great interest other than greeting everyone, having some food and then retiring upstairs for TV and bedtime.  Well, I guess things are changing as we round the corner to their 7th birthday . . . 

This year, Ethan, our extrovert, who has never meet a person he didn't adore and want to chat with, was super intrigued by the gift exchange and made his way down as we started and sat in my lap to observe the festivities.  He asked great questions about the proper strategy of a White Elephant (when to steal, how to discern good wrapping from good potential gifts, etc.), and laughed along with us as people opened the various lemons.

His interest spiked off the charges when, as one of the last gifts opened, a remote controlled helicopter was uncovered.  He then really wanted to know how it could end up with us.  I'd selected a gift early in the cycle, so I explained that someone had to steal our gift first before I could I'd then be eligible to make our own steal of the helicopter.  Upon hearing this, Ethan went into full salesman mode . . . displaying our gift (interestingly, 3 artisan beers, a bottle of wine and a troll doll piggy bank) prominently in an effort to entice one of the last three participants.

We ultimately reached the end of the road and, alas, our gift was not stolen and the helicopter resided with another guest - a new kid we've hired this year named Nathan.  Ethan was doing his best to contain his disappointment when Nathan made his way over and asked Ethan if he'd allow him to give him the helicopter even though the exchange was over.  For a kid that already has a bright smile, this led to one of the brightest.

The pictures below represent the post-acquisition love and adoration he felt for this helicopter - genuinely like no other present he's ever received.  I think he was so genuinely proud that he did this all on his own . . . having a twin brother gives both of our boys more confidence to achieve more than they would on their own - but Ethan rarely goes out on a limb like this and it was incredibly nice to see him get a great reward and the satisfaction of accomplishing his acquisition goal!

Ethan literally sitting in "Big Bed" staring lovingly at his new prized possession.

He begged us to let him sleep with it . . . I assumed that he'd push it over to the side to get comfortable, but this picture was taken around 11:30 PM, roughly 4 full hours after his bedtime . . . arm still firmly around the treasure.