AUBURN — Early Christmas morning Tuesday, Quinn Fournier, 6, got up at 2 a.m. He went into his parents’ room and asked if he could go downstairs.

No, said his parents, Sharon and Traverse. It was still the middle of the night. “We don’t know if Santa came,” his mother said.

Quinn went back to bed but couldn’t sleep. “I was staring at the hallway. I wasn’t sleeping, just staring,” he said.

Finally, he and his sister, Soleil, 9, were allowed to get up at 5:30 a.m.

“I went down the stairs and checked to see the tree. There were presents all around,” Soleil said. “I was really excited.”

With her parents’ permission, she and her brother raced to the tree and opened presents.

“My favorite gift was an iPad mini,” she said. “I got some Legos. I got a lava lamp, some beads for my bracelet, earrings.”

Quinn, an animal lover, got a dinosaur from Santa. “It’s a T. rex,” he said as he played. “He doesn’t make any noise.” Santa also brought him Legos and “more of these animals. I already have a bunch.”

While they had plenty of gifts under their tree, their elf was gone.

Soleil and Quinn explained that each year, their “Elf on a Shelf” appears around Thanksgiving. From Thanksgiving through Dec. 24, the elf watches them during the day, then “flies to Santa at night and says whether we’ve been good or bad,” Soleil said. “Then he comes back and hides.” Each time, he hides in a new spot.

Elves also have been spying on children at another home, according to Jay and Mauri Dufour’s sons.

Camren, 7, and Conner, 5, said their two elves are “Buddy” and “Jingle.” Conner showed off a book about Santa and the elves.

“Our Elf on a Shelf watches us, and he reports to Santa in the night,” Camren said. When Santa comes Dec. 24, the elves go back with him.

Dressed in matching Christmas pajamas, the brothers showed what Santa had brought.

Camren got “Tornado Beyblades,” a toy with a ripcord that makes it spin. Santa also brought “Monsuno” toys, he said. “You throw it on the ground, it pops out.”

Conner demonstrated how his remote-control helicopter worked. When he turned it on, it made a buzzing sound, lit up and took flight, hovering against the ceiling before landing on the carpet. The brothers’ eyes lit up with delight as the toy flew around the living room.

“What did Santa hide behind the tree?” their mother asked.

Ski poles and boots, the boys answered. They didn’t ask for them, but Santa somehow knew.

Like a lot of others, both families celebrated the holiday with grandparents and other family members on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Quinn and Soleil Fournier’s family went to the children’s Christmas Eve Mass at their church. The Dufour boys celebrated their mother’s birthday, which is Christmas Eve.

Camren knows a lot about Santa. “He’s a man who gives you presents,” he said. “His elves help Santa make presents. The elves try out presents before they give them.” Santa gives the toy-making elves a list, “so they know what to make.”

In addition to toy-making elves, there are “scout elves,” like Buddy and Jingle, Camren said. On Dec. 24, “Santa comes at night. He eats the cookies, and any kind of milk — chocolate, strawberry or white milk.”

On Christmas Day, Conner said he likes to eat a lot. “Cupcakes, eggs, ham salad.”

Camren listed some of the best things about Christmas: “We get presents, we get to decorate the tree, we get to play with stuff. It’s fun when you build stuff.”

And, he said, “We get to wear our PJs.”

Even in the afternoon.

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