Merry Xmas to all... And to all a Goodnight!

Abigail had a great Christmas this year. Last year's was fun too, mainly for Christopher and I, because at only 4 months I doubt that Abbie had any concept that something special was going on! I could be wrong, but I am willing to bet on it...

This year, with all the flurried animation and activity going on, Abbie had a definite sense that something out of the ordinary was taking place. When she thought we weren't looking, she furtively kept on going over to the Xmas tree to check it out... She got ornaments off of it, inspecting them closely while blabbing on, and then stealthily put them back on the branches... I found several Santas laying upside down between the branches of the tree, and other ornaments stuffed inside its lower offshoots. There is also a snowman who is now missing a leg (*sigh*), while others have gone AWOL... We hope to find them some time next year. Abbie was also curious about the colorful gifts underneath, and approached them with circumspection and a question mark hanging over her head in the imaginary cloud of her inner thoughts. Some of the wrapping paper had Santa Clause on it, and she'd go "Ho, ho, ho!" every time she'd see him.

Well, it all finally revealed itself to her! We gave Abbie her gifts: the curly, shiny strings came undone, and the brightly colored paper was torn off to reveal a new world of toys, books, and clothes! Abbie had blast unwrapping her gifts once she got the hint that it was ok to do so. Oh, the possibilities!!! The happy and surprised look in her eyes, her squeals of joy and delight, her sweeping laughter, made this the most wonderful Xmas of all. She was the cutest, happiest little girl in the world to us, and, just as much, we felt as the happiest and luckiest of parents. She kept on going from one toy to the other, unsure about which one she wanted to play with first. She danced and she jumped up excitedly. She made us laugh so much!

Here are several pictures of Abigail's Christmas :)

Here she is opening her first gift:



Goodness me! It's a book, her favorite gifts of all!!



With her Da-dee and her new book:



Checking out the Doll that her friend William gave her!



With another book:



With her new soft PJs!



Tearing open her Aquadoodle...



... and trying it out!



Might as well taste the pen, too. Thank goodness it's only water!



Feeding her new Baby (we were surprised: she never had a toy bottle, but as soon as I gave her her new Aqua Baby and the Bottle, she started feeding the doll!)



As any good mother would do, she's checking to see if the product is still good... After all, who knows how long it's been sitting on the shelves...



The funniest thing of all: after we opened all her gifts, Abbie started to put her books and most of her new toys away, in one of the xmas bags...! She's such a tidy baby :)



It was a great, heartwarming day. We are forever grateful that we are able to provide these special moments for our little girl. We know that not everyone is as fortunate... As always, we keep a prayer in our hearts for our families and friends, for those who are no longer here with us, for everyone. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a Goodnight.

... Thou tree most fair and lovely!

Yesterday we set up our Christmas tree. Granted, a little earlier than we normally would (usually Thanksgiving Day), but since Abbie is super charged with energy all the time and we will be preparing a big Thanksgiving dinner, we thought we'd better get a head-start! What we would normally do in one day needs to be spread out in two or more days, now.

Abigail was totally taken with the tree and the lights, and got into all of the ornaments. She climbed onto and into our storage boxes, and discovered a whole new world of fun she had no idea existed: colored, shiny balls, bows, little figurines, wooden ornaments, stringy lights... Abbie was extremely chatty, too, and expressed her opinions on our performance trimming the tree. Admittedly, she also helped quite a bit by choosing the decorations, handing them to me, and also by taking down the ones she thought weren't placed properly: she has a keen decorative style, and set us back on the straight and narrow path when we strayed (which apparently we did often).

Abbie danced to the Christmas music and gave it an honest shot at singing as well. We all had a total, absolute blast! The tree has a lot less ornaments than is normally would, yet it took twice as long to decorate, I can't imagine why... ! It was a special evening, I will cherish it for a long time. The perfect prelude to Christmas!