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Technically, last year was TJ’s first Easter, but he was too young to even smile when the Easter Bunny was mentioned. This year, he was very excited. Sadly, I could not find my camera to take pictures.
The lead-up to Easter drummed up excitement via television shows on Noggin and Nick Jr. He knew all about the Easter Bunny and hunting for Easter eggs, so we made sure he wasn’t disappointed.
His Easter basket held some Rice Krispie treats, a few toys, and some plastic eggs filled with candy. He’d picked out the basket himself at the grocery store, but the fillings were a surprise.
After he emptied his basket, took apart the plastic eggs, and put them back together, we told him that the Easter Bunny had hidden some eggs for him to find. Wearing only his diaper at this point in time, he said, “Yay!” and ran excitedly to find the hidden eggs.
He found almost the whole dozen that had been hidden without any help… until the last one. I think he was so excited he just looked right past it! It was in the seat of his rocking snail. The best part was, when we took the Easter eggs to put them in the fridge for later, he took the plastic eggs from his Easter basket and hid them himself. It was so cute.
We picked up Grandma Kitty to go to Grandma Debbie’s house for Easter dinner. (Sunday dinners are at lunch time in my family.) TJ was excited to see that the Easter Bunny had hidden some Easter eggs at Grandma Debbie’s house, too. He smiled whenever he talked about the “Easter Egg Hun,” making sure to enunciate every letter except for the “t” in “hunt.”
While the rest of us enjoyed a delicious ham dinner with all the trimmings, TJ ate his usual selection of corn and mashed potatoes, which passes as an acceptable meal for him. He was allowed to have dessert with the family: Grandma Debbie had made three types of pie. TJ opted for chocolate pie with whipped cream. With extra whipped cream.
A few hours later, it was time to visit Great Grandma’s house. (Although TJ calls her Great Great Grandma. We joke that she’s just extra great!) His cousin Eli, who is only four months younger than him, was also going down for a visit. When we told him that Eli would be there, he jumped up and down shouting, “E-wiIII! Pway wiv E-wiiii!” It was so cute.
Of course, when Eli and TJ saw each other at Great Grandma’s house, they played it “cool,” and barely acknowledged each other at first. Then Great Grandma brought out the plastic eggs for the kids (TJ, Eli, and Eli’s older sister Zoe), and they had a blast. TJ and Eli chased each other through the whole house. I think they recognize each other as friends, at last, even though friendship doesn’t yet go hand in hand with sharing toys.
So we had a great day together as a family. Between the ages of 2 and 3 is a great time for holidays. “Baby’s first” holidays are special in their own right, but baby’s second holidays are exciting when they actually can grasp that something special is going on.
That’s me: Christina Gleason. I’m a writer, editor, and disability advocate. I'm a multiply disabled autistic lady doing my best in this world built for abled people. I’m a geek for grammar, fantasy, and casual gaming. I hate vegetables. I cannot reliably speak, so I’ll happily conduct business over email or messaging instead.
