The Holidays: Toddler-Style

First, I had no idea it had been a week since I'd written! Time has just gone by so quickly this week; I swear, time goes faster the closer you get to the end of the year.

In the last week, there's really not been anything that's too exciting to report. Lauren's been going about her normal business, playing and being sweet and loving, but also grumpy and obstinate at times. She's been sticking to her normal language, too, so nothing too exciting there. There were just two phrases that stuck out to me:

- In the car: "I ticklish on my leg. On my knee."
- This morning, as I tried to dress her: "No! Don't take off Lauren's pj's!"

What has been really interesting is to see her interacting with the holidays in a meaningful way. Obviously, she's been too young to really understand what's going on, and it's just fascinating to see how she sees this all unfolding. She definitely likes Christmas lights and the couple of holiday musical snowglobes we have. She likes the tree, but has been surprising good about leaving it alone. Presents seem to puzzle her a bit; she's aware she shouldn't unwrap the ones under the tree, though I've seen her staring at them. We also have her big presents just in one of the rooms upstairs, unwrapped. I've seen her looking at it, but in this funny, distanced sort of way. She hasn't asked me about it or wanted to open it. Yet, anyway.

The big test tonight is going to see Santa. I have no idea what she'll think of him. Again, she knows who he is in this distant, vague sense, but not in any real way. We'll see what happens when she seems him in the flesh! She did say this morning, "No Santa!" when I told her where we're going, so I'm not expecting much.

I just can see the little gears working in her brain about all of this. She clearly understands that the holidays are something special and she seems to understand that it's important to other people. I just don't think she knows just yet what it all means to her, though I know that will all change when she sees that she gets gifts!