Christmas, Take Three: The Year It All Came Together - Part 1

LG's first Christmas was fun, in that she wore a lot of different outfits. But she was sort of a lump, in that she just kind of sat where we laid her, and occasionally chewed on stuff.

Her second Christmas had its moments, too. She liked to look at lights; she opened presents with a little prompting; and she knew that Santa said "Ho, Ho, Ho."

But this year? This year we took the Holidays to a completely new level. Despite at least seven bouts of illness afflicting the three of us over the course of a month, it honestly might have been the best Christmas ever.

What's that? You'd like this explained in list form with helpful photographic proof? Here you go.

1. She took a much more active role in making wrapping paper for her gifts. Yes, we did do this last year, but you'll notice that she's being way more deliberate about it. You can even see individual footprints. Dexterity is a wonderful thing.

Most of the paint was on the paper or her feet, too. At least, in these pictures.

2. We finally managed to keep up with the Advent Calendar. Every morning before school, she carefully pulled an ornament out of one of the pockets, and just as carefully placed it on the tree. This is absolutely the first year that we didn't skip two or three days at a time because we just forgot about it. Plus, she only broke two or three of them, which puts her basically on par with Hollie and I in terms of how many we've had to repair each year.

And every day, we'd count the ornaments and point out every one we already hung.

3. She actively appreciates Christmas music. Seriously, we're going to be singing "Jingle Bells" and "Frosty the Snowman" until June. Prior to Christmas, she did know the words to a few songs, like "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" and "Mary Had a Little Lamb." But we hit some kind of memory milestone just as we started playing Holiday music around the house. My only regret is that she loved The Chipmunks Christmas and The Muppets' Red & Green Christmas albums so much that we didn't really listen to the more standard songs. Yet she somehow still knows the words to "Jingle Bell Rock" anyway.

4. She made her own gifts, and handed them out. In case it's hard to tell, we dipped pretzels in chocolate and then covered them in various toppings. LG handed them out individually to every single person in our family on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and it was just as adorable as you'd imagine. So cute, in fact, that we forgot to take pictures of it.

I promise, no one was sick when we made these. But we sanitized constantly anyway.

5. While I'll readily admit that this is related to Christmas only inasmuch as it was on our visit to Johnson's Corner Farm to see Santa, my elation at seeing her play with all these carpentry toys knows no bounds. And it completely justifies the kid's tool set we bought for Christmas.

I love that she's using each tool more-or-less correctly. She clearly pays attention when I fix things around the house.

6. Anything even remotely Christmas-related held her attention. Here, we were watching Mrs. Claus read Twas the Night Before Christmas. Granted, she didn't want to go sit near Mrs. Claus, but given our history with her husband in years past, this was a stellar improvement. She just loves stories so much; it doesn't matter who's reading.

Granted, once she started the next story, LG wanted to go get some cookies. In fairness, it was dinner time.

7. She adored Christmas specials. We're judicious about TV at our house. Half an hour of whatever she wants after her bath (unless she's sick, in which case all bets are off). But we did make exceptions for Christmas specials these past few weeks (though, to be fair, most of those were after bath, too). She can tell you the plot of Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer backwards and forwards. LG is particularly fond of Bumble's redemption by the end of the show. She loves to tell you how he puts the star on the tree. Come to think of it, she also likes to tell you how the Grinch gives all the toys back, too. 

But giving these animated specials a run for their money is the Muppet Family Christmas from 1987. There's almost no plot, but it's wall-to-wall Muppets. And you really can't go wrong with that. It doesn't hurt that halfway through watching it the first time, a group of carolers made their way past our house, stopped, and serenaded us with poorly played trumpet accompaniment. It was awesome.

8. Our visit with Santa went much better this year. We're not entirely sure why, but our theory is 1 year older + tractor - lap = tolerable Santa experience.

The cookie probably didn't hurt either.

9. The Macy's light show was just as fascinating the third time around. After three trips to the light show, it's officially a tradition for LG now. Add to that the fact that she could follow along and sing the songs as they played, and it was just glorious. Last year she wanted to run around halfway through the show, but this time, she didn't want it to end.

Ask her about it, and she'll still tell you how Frosty waved his arms.

Thus ends Part 1 of the Best Christmas Ever (til next year). Tune in later this week for Part 2.