Meet Teu // Countdown to Christmas

This is the first Christmas we were lucky enough to have an elf visit us. Apparently Santa wanted to wait until he was sure Marcus had somewhat of an idea of what was going on with a strange little elf moving around our house.

We informed Marcus that he was in charge of naming the elf. After several minutes of the deer in the headlight stares (from Marcus), along with a few prompts for names (we threw out names like Mickey, Toodles, Donald, Goofy - see a theme?) we were greeted with silence. Finally, Marcus piped up, "Two!" I repeatedly asked if Marcus meant, "Toodles." Each time I was greeted with a resounding "NO! TWO!" So, our elf became Two. Except neither Scott nor I could quiet digest the name. We then did what any other parent would do. We made the name slightly our own. We kept the pronunciation of the name "two," but changed the spelling to "Teu."

And, that's how "Teu" came to be.

Since December 1 Teu has been so generous as to leave Marcus a new Christmas/winter themed book each morning. Thanks to Teu, Marcus and I have gotten into a routine of finding Teu, grabbing our new book, and snuggling up to read the book before moving along with our day. It's one of the best ways to start our day and I love it.

On Christmas Eve Teu will pack up all the seasonal books and take them back to the North Pole, until next year, of course.

Most nights Teu simply moves from one location to the next. However, there have been a few evenings where Teu has gotten creative…

One morning we woke to Teu's rendition of a snowman. I guess if you don't have real snow you get creative!
Teu thought it would be sweet if Marcus and Teu, and Twinkles, could all match.

Teu and Twinkle are big on sweets. They thought our candy cane decorations were a pretty sweet spot to hang out.
Teu couldn't help but hang out on the mistletoe.
Teu and Twinkle took a spin with Thomas.

Teu found it fun to add silliness to our family picture.
One morning Teu and Twinkle made their own donuts with Cheerios, frosting, and sprinkles (of course), and were so kind to leave Marcus his own donuts. 

Teu doesn't do too many mischievous things, as the point of his visit to our home is to encourage good behavior.

May it also be pointed out a second elf joined Teu not too long ago. Marcus won the little elf during our Santa Train experience. Elf number two was named Twinkle, and he and Teu became fast friends, and go everywhere together.

While Marcus doesn't totally get the gist of our elf/elves his excitement when finding Teu and Twinkle each morning makes my heart swell. Sharing the holiday joy with him is by definition, priceless.

What fun and mischief has your elf been up to this season?

 Linking up with Beth for her Christmas Countdown!