Holiday Monkey

"Monkey" being Lauren, of course.

Tonight is Christmas Eve, and I'm feeling like it's the first one that really counts. The first year, she was just (nearly) 9 months old and had no idea what was going on. She was equally enthralled with the lights on the tree and the paper in the gifts as the gifts themselves, as is common at that age. Last year, she waas a year and a half and understood the gift thing a little more, though she remained mostly unimpressed.

This year, though, the magic has begun. We've really been working hard to sell the whole Santa mystique and I think she's getting it. We've been doing the advent calendar and while I don't think she understands the countdown bit, she sees Santa on it and gets excited. Tonight, at her Grandma and Grandpa Schumacher's, she was given quite a few gifts and (of course) really enjoyed it. She did a beautiful job of looking at each gift and going and giving the giver a hug when told. Of course, she got enamored of one of the very first things she opened and so missed a little bit of the others, but she did take her time. It was very sweet.

After leaving their house, we drove around and looked at Christmas lights. She really seemed to like that. Then we got an exhausted girl into her pj's and listened to a recording of her Papa reading "Night Before Christmas." We then set out the cookies and beer (a tradition I remember when I was little) for Santa and sent her off to bed. Jeremy and I then set up her kitchen from Santa and got everything staged for tomorrow. I'm so excited to see her face in the morning and see what she thinks of it all!

Merry Christmas!