Infestation! Week One

Dear Ian,

Our home has been overtaken!  Thanksgiving has come and gone, so that means that Santa will soon be on his way.  Seeing Christmas magic through your eyes makes this season even more special for your Daddy and me, and I love coming up with new things and ideas to make that magic as real as I can for you.  Enter our new roommate.

At first, I was a little hesitant to let an elf into our home.  I mean, they are busy, often naughty little guys, and I must say, he keeps some late hours.  But, Daddy and I conferred with Santa, and we thought it would be a good idea in the end.  So, on November 17th, our new little friend joined our family.  Our first order of business was coming up with a name for our new elf friend.  You promptly decided on Otter, and just like that, he was welcomed into our home.  We gave him his very own tiny house key, and he's been able to come and go as he pleases.

So far, things with Otter have been fairly quiet.  Maybe he's just settling into a routine.  Maybe he's being nice to Mommy, since I just had surgery and all.  But regardless, Otter has brought some good, clean elvish fun into our house.  And he's actually been kinda helpful. 

On his first night at our house, he returned from his nightly visit to the North Pole to check in with Santa and decided to leave you a little note.  You were so excited to see that Otter had written your name.  And he had used your crayons!

The next night, Otter realized that you were having some trouble with one of your toys.  Since elves help Santa make a lot of the toys for Christmas, it's only fitting that he helped put your crane back together.  Here Mommy snapped a picture of Otter using your toy drill to reassemble the lifting arm on your toy crane.

The next couple of nights, Mommy was up at the hospital having surgery and recovering, so Daddy and I let Otter know where you'd be.  The first night you spent the night with Grandma and Grandpa Brooks, so Otter showed up there with a little chocolate treat.  And then, when you went to stay with Grandma and Papa Davis, he brought you and Payton a chocolate chip cookie, even though the two of you got into a secret stash of Skittles.  Wonder what Santa thought of that...

Anyhoo.  Now we are all back at home, and last night, I heard a bit of a ruckus after we had all gone to bed.  Turns out, Otter is getting a little more... comfortable... in our house.  He talked a few of your stuffed friends into a late night board game.

Here's a picture of Piglet, Tigger, Donald and Otter playing a round of The Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel Game.  You got such a kick out of this.  It's so funny to see your reaction every morning as we got on an Otter hunt.

So, tonight, Otter is off again to the North Pole to let Santa know how you've been doing.  We'll look forward to seeing what he's up to tomorrow and sharing more magic.

I love you, Bear.
Mommy