A Toddler-Tastic (and Spastic) Christmas
12 Comments posted by Kristi on Wednesday, December 26, 2007 at 10:46 PM
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There is something purely magical about witnessing Christmas through the eyes of a child.There is also something purely chaotic that occurs when that child is the first baby born to a big Italian family in 15 years.
I've often told the hubs that if we had ended up with twins instead of a singleton, we still would have been about two babies short in order to adequately satisfy the babylust that has overtaken my family members. She received so many gifts that it is now almost two days after Christmas and she still has five left to open. There simply hasn't been enough time for her to mow through her stack. And of the many, many gifts she received, the hubs and I bought her but a few.
We've been to my grandma's house twice in two days (for Christmas dinner and Christmas dinner II-in our family, it's "Go Big Or Stay Home" in terms of food preparation, so every major holiday meal nets enough in leftovers to feed the same 18 people a full meal the next day as well), and we kiss our daughter goodbye the second we step through the door, as she's whisked away by a family member, only to emerge when it's time to go home. To say Isabella had a wonderful and gift-laden Christmas is to put it mildly. She is a very lucky little girl.
Here are some highlights from the past five days.
A few days before Christmas, Isabella played in the snow for the first time and built a snowman. I snapped no fewer than 4,000 pictures of Isabella's snowman adventure. The reason? The 12+ inches of snow combined with massive over-bundling produced the most magnificent effect: immobility. Once placed in the snow, Isabella could not move. And given that any photo I've taken of her in the past month or so consists of a blur of movement or the back of her head, this was an opportunity not to be missed.
When Christmas morning arrived, auntie Karrie arose early to open presents with her niece. Here, Isabella opens a package of vegetables from her vegetarian auntie.
While she won't touch real vegetables with a ten-foot pole when they're on her highchair tray, she's enjoying playing with her fake ones in her new kitchen from her grandma. Green pepper and hot dog soup, anyone?
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Fashionista auntie Karrie also hooked up Isabella with this super-fly bomber hat, for when she starts taking flying lessons in the spring.
It was a very musical Christmas in my house, courtesy of my grandma, who bought Isabella this collection of charming stuffed toys, each of which plays a little jingle that's pleasant the first four times your daughter presses the button to turn it on, and wrist-slittingly annoying the next 10,234.
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And finally, it's worth mentioning that Isabella has a new BFF, and his name Duj. Isabella is a little wary around males these days, but my sister's boyfriend Jud has captured her heart, as she spent the four days they stayed with us calling his name (albeit backwards) and seeking out his attention whenever he was around.
As for me, my Christmas was good. Great, even. The hubs and I set a small limit on the amount we spent on each other, as our gift this year is a new floor for our kitchen. But what I did receive was pretty amazing- all 753 pages of it.
Merry (late) Christmas! Glad to hear it went so well. I cannot believe how big Isabella is getting. The picture with the new hat--holy cow, she looks like a little girl. Man, time flies.
Aww, he printed your blog posts? How sweet!!
Isabella got many cute toys; maybe you should put some away for a rainy day? She looks darling in the pink hat!
Great gift idea!
Isabella's the only grandchild... ah yes. My eldest was the only on BOTH SIDES for 2 years, until his cousin was born. And then, until his brother was born another year later on my husband's side.
Spoiled is putting it mildly.
We still get piles of presents every Christmas. And at my mom's house, it's multiplied by 6 (almost 7!) grandchildren. Crazy, but not bad.
Glad your Christmas was so good!
That's so sweet the hubs printed out all your posts and bound them. What a thoughful gift! What a great guy! Isabella looks absolutely adorable in the red plaid (I'm assuming it was her Christmas outfit). Very sweet!
753 pages? WHOA! That is very cool!
The pics are great. I love Isabella's Christmas outfit. Those stuffed toys would find their way to a box very quickly in my house. K got a teddy bear that reads 'Twas The Night Before Christmas. Actually pretty cute & not terribly annoying. Thankfully!
I want that pink bomber hat!
Isabella is a doll baby. She is so darn cute. And I am so impressed with the gift from the hubs. What an incredibly thoughtful gift. I find those kinds of gifts 1,000 times more meaningful and memorable than expensive, material things.
Wow! And wow, and wow.
Wow #1 -- Your blog is now a book!
Wow #2 -- You have a snowman! I'm so jealous...
Wow #3 -- Isabella is so cute in that kitchen. What nice gifts.
She looks fab in plaid!
(Will you be seeing publication?)
ohhh ask your sister where she got those veggies... those look so cool... glad you all had a great time and love the photos...
I was knocked out by that rocking Christmas outfit Isabella wore. How long did it take to get her into it? She looks so adorable, it makes me misty eyed. She's a very lucky girl, to have so much love. And that was a marvelous idea to print out the first year of the blog!
Aww, merry christmas from Aunt Karrie & Duj. Why does the time have to fly by so fast?!