Our Attempts at Holiday Cheer

I have very good intentions, really I do.  I also have this apparently unrealistic vision of an iconic Christmas filled with happy children and twinkling cactus lights and sweet songs.  So far, none of that has happened yet.

Don’t get me wrong, there are many things I’ve really enjoyed about the last month or so.  I love that Elayna yells ‘Surprise!’ every time she sees a gift-wrapped store display.  I love that she can be bribed with candy canes.  I love that she’s trying to sing Jesus the ‘Happy Birthday’ song when we use her advent wreath.  But aside from that, our jam-packed holiday-celebration-o’rama isn’t really happening.

Last night, we attempted to take Elayna to see Santa at Kierland.  I love the Santa there – he’s a great Santa, the house is adorable, and usually there’s a great holiday vibe.  We’ve been the last 2 years.

2008:     Wonder of all wonders, she adored Santa.  Or at least she sat with him.  No crying.  We waited over an hour to see Santa but there was fake snow and carolers and we felt very festive.

 

2009:  Elayna is completely not in the mood.  She barely sits with Aaron in the close proximity of Santa.  Again, we had waited over an hour but the mood was great and Ms. Claus danced with the kids.

 

2010: 

If you can’t tell from the picture, Elayna is clinging to Aaron in panic and SCREAMING!  She is not going anywhere near Santa and he doesn’t appear all that thrilled with her either.  This year, we went before sunset and there was no crowd, no singing, no Ms Claus, no – well – anything.  It was wonderful to not fight the crowds but somehow seemed anti-climatic. 

But most of all, I’m left wondering where my sweet little holiday cherub is.  What I mostly have had over the last few days is this…..

Our devious hiding spot

We’ve purchased a play kitchen for Elayna for Christmas.  This is the middle-of-the-line variety – a step up from the standard grubby nursery set but not nearly as fancy as the Pottery Barn version.  It’s cute and fun and I think she’ll love it.  It’s also huge.

Yesterday, I threatened life and limb to keep her off the front porch after it was delivered.  Last night Aaron and I figured out a very devious hiding spot.

Think she’ll figure it out?

Last Little Gym Class

Today was Elayna’s last Little Gym class.  We’ve been going once a week for the last 6 months.  For the most part, Little Gym is a great play-time and exercise…. although I’m learning that Elayna would much rather do her own thing than the actual class activities.

A few examples:

 

Charging around the room with her hula hoop.

Swinging from the high-bar.  She LOVES this and will go again and again if I let her.  She’s by far the bravest kid in her class.

Hijacking the ball to play on the balance beam with it.  Notice all the other kids are actually playing on the mat.

Resting during bubble-time.  What kid skips bubbles?

Getting a stamp on her belly.  Thanks Ms Rachel!

Christmas Decorations

Last Sunday, Aaron and I spent the better part of the day trashing our house and putting up Christmas decorations.  This was accomplished with a ridiculous amount of bad Christmas music, spiked eggnog, and Elayna at the movies with Aunt Lic.

Elayna’s reactions post-decoration have been mixed.

She ignores the tree, lights, stockings, and candles for the most part.  She has managed to break Joseph’s head off on the nativity scene.  But her favorite thing by far is a poor little mini-tree we’ve installed in her room.  We have mini-ornaments that she happily puts on and then removes in a glorious version of the ‘Clean-up’ song.  ‘Ta-Da!’  On.  Off.  On.  Off.  Repeat.

Love it!

My 2-Year Old Teenage Daughter

Elayna is truly growing and learning at an exponential rate.  Daily she has new words, sentences, or can figure out amazing tasks without help.  She can mostly dress herself, is mostly potty-trained (we still have a few accidents), and daily adds new words to her vocabulary (bagel?  Christmas tree?).  I’m awed by her every day.

Not so amazing:  a few teenager-ish behaviors.  Including:

• Turning on and off any light-switch – usually in the room we’re in just to annoy us.  It’s like a disco around our house.
• Prancing with her hands on her hips.  I rather love this one – I think she’s adorable as a diva.
• Storming in a huff to her room and slamming her door.  I believe this is her new temper tantrum … and actually very effective outlet for her frustration.  It also saves us from enforcing the time out.
• Fun new saying like “Mommy, leave me alone”, “I do it!”, and “DON’T WANT IT!”

Of course, she makes up for her little outbursts with a lot of love, kisses, and “See ya soon!”s. She really is pretty adorable.