The Start of Christmas

For Amelia's first Christmas we've introduced her to a couple of traditions. The first was the awkward meeting with Santa. My aunt was kind enough to invite us to brunch with Santa at her country club. She was also kind enough to pick the 11:30 seating instead of the 9am. The group at our table included a number of children under the age of 5 (my cousin's in-law family all came with their small children as well.) Some got the idea of Santa, but most were still a little too small to understand. One of the cousins wanted a Barbie that trains dogs to swim. I thought she had totally made that up, but it turns out it's an actual Barbie. There's also one that has Barbie potty training puppies. I think she made the right choice.

Amelia did well being held by Santa, but was immediately confused when he handed her a puppy dog toy and called it a bear. You could tell she wanted to correct him. Or maybe I'm just projecting a little. :)

It rapidly got awkward and she was ready to be done. The lesson for next year is that Amelia needs more eggnog before we send her to Santa.

The club was decorated beautifully for the holidays. There were also Balloonologists (people who make balloon animals) and face painters. We decided to skip that this year, but we did try and get a nice family photo.

Amelia only cooperated from a distance.


The weekend after brunch, we picked out our Christmas tree. As I am slightly obsessed with Christmas, this was a very big deal. We found a Christmas tree lot in the playground of a local church, and picked out just the right size. It was Amelia approved and we were set to go. (Note: we put the tree on a side table so Amelia and Teddy can't reach the branches or the ornaments or the presents shoved under the table. Otherwise we would totally have one of those trees that barely fits in the house.)

Last weekend we had a visit from Matt's mom and step-dad. I would have pictures from it, but Amelia would not stop moving the entire time. She barely stopped to eat, and was very enamored of her new toys. One of them plays a song that I can already hear in my dreams. But she loves the music and claps along with it, so we deal. We also had a short visit from Auntie She and Uncle Mike, with daughter Becca who brought in even more presents! Amelia was a little overwhelmed, but very excited. Most importantly she got her stocking that her great grandmother (Matt's father's mother) knitted for her, so she's all set for Santa. I did decide to hold off on celebrating Santa Lucia Day for a couple more years. I think I was in my teens before I had to put the ring of lit candles on my head, so she can wait a couple of years before her light bulb version.

Amelia has now mastered pulling herself up, and is slowly working on pivoting while standing and has cruised a couple of steps. At the rate she's been going, I'm assuming she'll be full on walking sometime in January. At that point I think we're going to have to put a collar with a bell on her just to keep track of her. She loves to follow people around and needs to know what's going on at all times. I'm not sure how it happened, but I think she inherited some traits from Teddy.

That's all for now, but I promise more pictures and video soon. We've just been so tired from chasing her, that we practically fall asleep right when we put her down. Which wouldn't be so lame except she goes to bed at 7.

Happy holidays to all.