Christmas

For several years now -- I guess I'd even go so far as to say for the past 1o years or so -- I've had this vaguely anticlimactic Christmas experience every year. I don't know if I expect the holiday season to be one continuous blur of fudge and angelic choirs and ice skating and amazing Christmas surprises, but whatever my subconscious is expecting has not been happening.

This year I feel I am really on a roll. We decorated for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving and have already hosted the Christmas event we were planning on. On Friday we're off to see the Nutcracker. Mostly, though, I think what is distinguishing this holiday from ones of the recent past is that I am getting really excited about the Piggy's first Christmas. I know as recently as a few months ago I felt like we would probably get him very little for Christmas and I was preaching to people about how we didn't need the clutter and he would never know the difference if we sort of skipped the gift-giving.

Well, so much for that. Just in the past month or two the bubs has developed a much greater ability to really play with things, and I love the look of concentration he gets when he is trying to figure out something new. He is on the cusp of being able to do so many big things, and we have broken down and bought several toys that we think he will really enjoy over the next year. I will keep them a surprise for now, but I am SO EXCITED about Christmas morning this year!!