oh christmas tree

we trimmed our tree last weekend. i always enjoy pulling out the boxes + bins of ornaments and there's always a lot of, "ohhhh, yeah! remember this one! i love this one!" kind of chatter going on. probably no surprise, but i have a pretty sweet collection of vintage ornaments- but i also have some precious handmade ones that i treasure just as much, if not more. we decided to tackle the trimming of the tree while dotty took her afternoon nap... thought it would be a little bit more of a quiet, peaceful activity that henry and i could do together without having to worry about a pair of 19 month old grabby hands going wild on my boxes of vintage glass ornaments. so henry, matt and i had hot chocolates and hot ciders and listened to a holiday station on pandora and watched the snow fall. and after a couple hours, a certain baby bird woke up and was ready to come out and see what all the hub-bub was about.

she's been enjoying our neighbor's lights across the street each night- we have different night time rituals, and a new addition has been to peek out the curtains and look at the lights. and dotty says, "niggggh" and we sort of oooh and ahh over them for a bit, and look for the moon, which we sometimes find and sometimes don't.

note the bed head.

her first inspection of the tree was all i had hoped it would be- quiet, gentle and curious. and between you and me, i was on the fence about getting a tree this year because i just felt like my life for the next 4 weeks would revolve around policing that tree and guarding my precious shiny brites. just didn't know if i had it in me... but so far so good. she zeroed in on this dorothy (from the wizard of oz) ornament and boy, was she smitten. she kept leaning in and hugging it and just loving on it, my heart was kind of melting as i was snapping these pics.

after a couple mintues, she perked up and got more excited about all the niggghhhs and the BALLS! and the sparkly things, and she was working her way around that tree at a pretty good clip. but still being more on the gentle side, which was comforting to me. i mean, of course i fear the breakage, but i've also heard these nightmare stories of kids eating ornaments, so i was a little bit on the edge of my seat. a lot more scattered, excited circling around and inspecting and then

back to that dorothy one.

it was pure joy.

and to think i had considered *not* getting a tree.

Comments

[PaiselyJade]

Oh she is so cute! I am loving the fact that all 4 of mine are at the age of not pulling the ornaments off now... but she sounds like she is doing really well!

[Alison]

Aaahhh this is just the sweetest of posts!
How adorable is that little bird of yours? Love that photo of her kissing Dorothy.
She is so sweet I want to pop her on the top of my tree as a little angel, just adorable.
Thank you for sharing all this sweetness.
love
Alison
x

[Cassandra]

Oh, the magic of a tree. Your photo documentation of Dottie's trip around the tree is fantastic. Especially love that "lovin' chomp" on the Dorothy ornament.

Happy holidays, sweet girl!

[subpolka]

Oh, man...I know it's a total cliche, but posts like this really make my biological clock go "HAAAAAY GIRL!!!" I've never been one for the babies - (my own, at least; I'm totally down with OPB (Other People's Babies)) - but damned if your kiddos aren't the sweetest things ever. The look on her face in that second-to-last-picture is just Awww; I would give anything to experience the untainted joy that comes with being a youngsta one more time. :)

[Viv]

Hello Frecklewonder, I am a new reader and am already a fan. I love today's narrative and was very touched by the true holiday spirit of this entry.

[eryn]

those last two of her, tasting dorothy *ha!* and smiling at the tree, are utterly adorable and heart-melting. they make me giddy for next year, when my daughter can more fully interact with our tree without fear of bringing down the whole she-bang.

she is a doll!

[Veronica]

How magical! I love your posts, they make *my* heart melt just reading. Thank you for sharing :)

[erinlucy]

so so so cute! I love her little sleepy baby face looking at the dorothy ornament, and little pointing fingers!!
Does she hate when you have to brush out that nest in her hair?

[keith]

Amazing post, Jenny. So lovely.

[aguilar.betty@gmail.com]

How funny she would gravitate to the Dorothy ornament... the first in her collection, right? I hope to take her and Henry to get their picture taken with Santa! Running out of time...