The Joy of Christmas (Trees)

Marty's biggest regret about marrying me is that I am allergic to pine trees, thus we are unable to have a "real" Christmas tree in the house (he is a wonderful husband for sacrificing his life-long Rockwellian dream of having a real tree so that I enjoy the holidays hive-free. I love you, Marty!). However, whether its a real pine tree or an artificial one, any kind of Christmas tree is proving to be a source of endless entertainment for our one and a half year old and, in turn, for us.

First of all, decorating a Christmas tree with a toddler is an interesting process all in itself. Elise loved pulling the decorations out of their boxes, putting the decorations on the floor under the tree (she quickly gave up trying to put them on the tree), and pulling the decorations off the branches once Marty or I put them on. The whole process was hilarious. "I can see why it would be confusing, Ellie, but those are not the kind of balls you throw." She only broke two ornaments, which, considering the craziness that surrounded this activity, was pretty good. And really, it's for just this kind of reason that crazy clue was invented.

And the fun doesn't stop once the tree is up and decorated! (Although I am finding it less and less fun to remind her to leave the ornaments ON the tree, please - she loves pulling them off! She is worse than a cat!) Ellie's new favorite games also revolve around the Christmas tree. The lights on our Christmas tree are on a switch that you just have to press a button to turn them on/off. Ellie quickly figured out how to do this, and she could probably stay occupied turning the tree lights on and off for hours. She presses the button to turn the lights off, gasps, and cries "Oh no!", then presses the button to turn the lights on, beams, and cheers "Alright!" This game doesn't get old for her or for us. It has us in stitches every time.

The other Christmas tree game is playing peek-a-boo behind the tree. She stands behind the tree, very still and quiet, and then sticks her head around the corner of the tree and says "peek-hue" which is just too adorable for words, especially when she doesn't knock the ornaments off in the process. This game also does not get old, and has provided hours of entertainment. Adding to all of her Christmas delight, is a 2 foot Christmas Winnie the Pooh Bear, courtesy of my cousin Colin (who I think is technically Ellie's first cousin, once removed) that is holding a little lantern and a pot of honey and he rocks back and forth in a Christmas Joy kind of way. Ellie loves Christmas Pooh so much, that she will actually stop in the middle of Peek a Boo or Lights On and Off to run over and give Pooh a quick hug and kiss.

Last year, I got excited about Christmas for the first time in decades because having a child breathed new found life into the holiday for me. Even though she had no clue it was happening, it was her first Christmas so it was special and wonderful to see it all through her eyes. This year, she again has no clue that it's happening, but the fact that she can delight for hours over something as simple as a Christmas tree, reminds me that, to quote my cousin Sarah, this really can be the most wonderful time of the year (corny but true!). And we have many, many fun-filled Christmas adventures to come.