Half the fun of Christmas is just getting there. It seems like three is the magic age where Christmas really comes to life for little ones. They probably don't grasp every bit of it, but they start to understand giving gifts, and they certainly pick up quickly on receiving. Santa isn't quite so scary - - in fact, he's pretty exciting stuff. Despite still being in transition, in the lead up to Christmas this year, I tried my best to bring it to life for William.
Although I've got Christmas decorations galore in storage in DC and also plenty on the way over from London, I did my part to support the US and Chinese economies by purchasing decorations for our little two bedroom apartment. William loved the Christmas tree skirt most of all... although the soft Santa for the dining room table (he sees you when you're eating...) was a hit as well.
We hung some stockings off the island in our kitchen (thanks to Nana for the stockings this year!), and had fun trying them on and checking them occasionally throughout the weeks to see if Santa had show up yet.
And we made cookies! William has really been into cooking lately and loves to help out. He picked out two cookie cutters and we made gingerbread men and stars.... and there was total joy when he actually got to EAT the first one he made himself!
I almost went artificial this year, but couldn't quite make the leap yet. The smell of a fresh tree is just wonderful and we got a small one to place on a corner table in the apartment. William loved hanging ornaments, although the candy cane decorations drove him up the wall as he couldn't understand why we would just leave them there without eating any. Renata and William also would surprise me a few times a week with new decorations like a classic paper chain for garland around the tree.
I bought three books about Christmas - one about the birth of Jesus, The Night Before Christmas, and The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. By far, the Grinch was the most requested read... until we bought a video of the classic Rudolph the Rednose Reindeer. It was all over for the Grinch.
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