Holiday Cheer

Parents have always said to me that the holidays take on such greater significance when you see them through a child's eyes. Although Josie is still too young to know one day from the next, I'm already sensing that there is a degree of truth to that. Last night we took Josie around the corner to Fountain Square to see the first weekly performance of Santa rappelling off of the Great American Building. She couldn't have cared any less about that, but she thought the fireworks were pretty cool. (The photo above is our little bundle all wrapped up in her stroller with the ice skating rink behind her.) It just made me feel all warm & mushy to have our daughter on the Square amid all the holiday lights, music, etc. So, I have no doubt that going to the tree farm to pick out Josie's first Christmas tree next weekend will be just as special. Typically, I'm already annoyed by all the Christmas kitsch by the second day of December, but it's definitely different this year. To prove that, see the link below. (Thanks to Schmittee for passing this on. It's totally disturbing, but makes me crack up for some unknown reason.)

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1132750009

Perhaps it was all of the excitement with the fireworks & daredevil Santa that got Josie's party started last night. Regardless of what started it, the party didn't end until about 7am. Maybe we jinxed ourselves when we celebrated that she went right to bed at 10am (no Nuk, no swaddle, no nothin'), but she woke up at midnight (starving), then again at 1:30 (starving), then again at 3:30 (starving), then again at 5 and stayed up as wide awake as can be until 7am. Her longest stretch was from 7-10am which we very much appreciated, but wouldn't have complained if she slept until at least noon. What a night!!! Oddly enough, she has only taken one 1/2 hour nap today. We don't know what the heck is going on, but hopefully it won't happen again anytime soon. If it's another growth spurt, we may need to go ahead and contact Tyra Banks, because there's a good chance she'll be at least 6 feet tall & ready for the 200th season of "America's Next Top Model" by 2025.

So, it's December. Josie's 4 month birthday is right around the corner. I have an official "back to work" start date of January 7th. It's hard to believe that I carried Josie home wearing a tank top and flip flops & we can't leave the house now without at least 3 layers. Time really does move all too quickly.