Toddler Theology

The weather here has been fantastic, so we have been taking afternoon strolls to "go see all da doggies" in our neighbors' yards. Yesterday, as we walked past the home of an elderly couple where we had "twick or tweated" a few weeks ago, the kids started chattering about Halloween. I explained to them that Halloween was over and the cars in front of their home were family visitting for Thanksgiving.
P: "Thanksgiving is closed now, Mommy."
Me: "You are right. Thanksgiving is over, but some people are still celebrating."
K: "What's next, Mom?"
Me: "Next we have Grandmother's birthday and then Christmas, Jesus' birthday."
R: "I want to hear Jesus talk."
Me: "Well, sweetie, you can't hear Jesus talk out loud, just in your heart..."(Then I realized I was talking to 2 year olds and they are so literal this was going to be incredibly difficult to explain.) "We can hear God talk to us in other ways. See those pretty trees? They are one way God tells us he loves us. God made them so beautiful and they tell us He loves us."
All 3 kids: "God loves you, trees! Hey trees, God loves you."

Then, this morning we went to pick out our Christmas tree. After we put it up in the living room R said, "Jesus come to our house Cwis-mas?" I won't even try to recount how their Daddy & I fumbled to explain that in a way the kids could understand.

Later this afternoon P said, "Mommy, Jesus loves our Cwis-mas twee."

I am so glad they are making the clear connection between Christmas and its true meaning, but I obviously have a lot of explaining left to do!