We love Christmas

I love Christmas. Love it. The whole month of it. And as fun as Christmas has been in the past, it's already gotten better: not only is Kalina as excited as I am (with a little nudging from me, of course), but it's Elise's first. We will be celebrating accordingly.

We began the holiday baking on Monday with cinnamon-sugar almonds. We made a triple batch so we'd have lots of holiday cheer to share.

We're also working on Christmas cards together. Kalina chooses the card (we have two options) and the address label, and I do the writing. So far, she's only chosen the "cardinal card" and the gingerbread man address labels, so I have to substitute occasionally. She's also happy to fold the photos we're sending as she puts them in the card, so if yours arrives creased, I do apologize.

I force Kalina to listen to a Christmas CD a day, even though she'd rather listen to the telling of the Three Little Pigs over and over and over. (Sometimes I suspect she doesn't really listen, but simply uses it as an excuse to not do what Mommy wants to do, but we take turns anyway.) Kalina's taste in music is extremely picky (so picky that she's been known to dance without it--apparenly no music is good enough for some of her moves), but she's admitted to liking Jingle Bells, We Need A Little Christmas and that Christmas song that's sung by children to the tune of Pachelbel's Canon. She also seems to like Rudolph (the white-tailed deer).

Elise, for her part, loves it when Mommy sings Christmas carols to her and moves her little arms in time to the music. The girl is very easy to please. I suspect she'll love a brightly lit Christmas tree as well.

I've also taken Kalina out to look at Christmas decorations, and we've spent some nice time in Target's Christmas section, at the display in the mall and passing Christmas lights in our neighborhood (thank you, kind people, for decorating your houses!). We both excitedly point out Christmas trees and reindeer whenever we see them.

I've tried to explain the real meaning of Christmas several times, but my attempts often end up fumbled, with me almost as confused as Kalina. I try not to focus on the presents, but my complex stories generally end in "and that's why we give presents to each other," as I strive to reconcile the traditions in my own mind. Finally, I turned it over to Veggie Tales, who have more experience in such things than I do. After watching the show about St. Nick, I asked Kalina if she'd learned anything. "No," she said. *sigh* I suppose at 2 1/2 it's still not too important for Kalina to understand the intricacies of theology in the context of mass culture.

And then we talk about what presents we're going to get for our family members. I won't spoil surprises, but Kalina is thinking various animals and fire trucks will be popular this year.

Perhaps best of all, though, is our advent calendar. Bought on a whim after I'd completed an unexpected freelance assignment, it's a Playmobil forest scene that grows with each day before Christmas. Worth every penny. What sold me is that it contains a whole family of white-tailed deer, and foxes, to boot. Just by seeing the picture, Kalina has already determined that the deer and foxes will all be friends. (Side note: whenever I ask Kalina who her friends are, animals top the list. A few family members occasionally are mentioned.) Every day she wonders if she'll get a deer.

We love the calendar. Both of us. It's all I can do not to tear into each box and set up the entire scene right now. Kalina seems to have more patience than I do, but maybe just because she's reliant on my willpower and not her own (little does she know how fragile my willpower is on this matter!). Every morning when we open a box her face absolutely lights up as she pulls out the toy (as does mine, I'm sure)--even though the first day was just a tree and some grass, and the second day was just another tree and a little plant. She eats it up. Today some birds came to visit, complete with a bird feeder. I've peeked ahead and I know that the deer family will show up, fawn, then buck, then doe, on the 5th, 6th and 7th. If we had to wait any longer I'd be switching them out for the foliage.

And so, we'll keep counting down until the big day, at which point we'll have to find something new to do. At least we'll have new toys then. (Kidding--Christmas is not about toys, for heaven's sake! It only seems that way to small children and tired parents. :) )