Tis the Season

When Elise was born, it definitely breathed new life into holidays for us. For years before she was born, we were in that weird stage where holidays were pretty much just equated with hectic travel and rushing from place to place - there was little joy or excitement that surrounded it. Experiencing any holiday through the eyes of a little one puts it into a whole new, exciting perspective, but Christmas is by far the best example of this. Perhaps because there is so much lead up to it and so much elaborate celebration around it, Christmas is really exciting for children and parents. We began to really enjoy the holidays again even when Elise had no idea what was going on - and it has only gotten more fun as she has begun to figure it out. Last year, we did a decent job of emphasizing what we think is most important about Christmas (giving, sharing, family) and tried to do our best at downplaying the whole "getting stuff" aspect. For the most part, it actually worked!

Last year, Elise really enjoyed picking out gifts for her brother and cousins, and loved giving gifts to her parents and grandparents maybe even more than getting all the gifts bestowed upon her (and there were many - and she was overwhelmed). Because it was so successful, we thought we would try to once again take her to a store to pick out gifts for her loved ones and place a huge emphasis on the joy of giving. This year's experience was a little different, as she ran around picking up almost every thing in the entire store and asking if she could put it on her Christmas list, and then repeatedly asking when she was going to get to pick out a gift for herself every time I tried to get her back on task. I can't blame her really - we rarely, if ever, go into a toy store - and I can see how it was completely overwhelmingly exciting (last year when we did this she just had not idea what was going on or what to expect). She eventually settled down and settled on some thoughtful gifts for her brother and cousins, but it was much more of a struggle to not focus on "me, me, me" this year than last (and I imagine that it will only get harder).

Luke's first real Christmas (last year he was still figuring out how to drink from a bottle so I don't really think it counts) has started off to be full of all the wonder and excitement you could hope for as a parent. He has been absolutely enthralled by the Christmas tree - he spent at least 20 minutes pointing and smiling at it the first time he saw it - and is equally excited about our Giant Christmas Winnie the Pooh. Both kids really enjoyed putting some decorations on the tree, although for the first few days Lucas really struggled with self control about pulling ornaments off the tree and throwing them. He now seems to have adopted this bizarre awe and respect for the tree and ornaments and simply points, pats and kisses the tree and Christmas balls.

We are excited about all the other fun holiday wonder to come!