See? here I am, in need of a hair cut, with a festive amount of banana on my shoulder. Quinten took this picture, he loves to take pictures of me, in all my glory. Whoo.
Here's the scoop on the Christmas festivities that have been going on: we have been packing and throwing cardboard boxes all over our house. Thus, it seemed like the perfect time to buy a Christmas tree, look for 30 minutes in the attic for a box that was in the storage shed, and whip out some classy Christmas decorations.
We bought the tree yesterday, but were too tired to do anything about it. So, it was in it's natural state in the living room, shedding glorious tiny pine needles all over the floor. It's a Christmas tradition at our house to forget to hose down the tree, or shake it, or whatever you are supposed to do to get rid of dead needles. Quinten informed us that it didn't look very pretty without lights.
Today? We decorated.
I am a Christmas tree decoration fiend. I mean, it's my favorite. I think it feeds my obsessive compulsive disorder er, tendency, to handle teeny tiny little ornaments, all detailed and pretty in their little boxes. That, and the fact that half of the ornaments were BROKEN when I was growing up due to my Mother's amazing storage method of throwing everything in a cardboard box and shaking it for three minutes before flinging it into the barn, makes me appreciate ornaments.
I did appreciate my Mom and her Devil May Care attitude about ornaments today though, as my children pawed and stepped on delicate Hallmark ornaments I said, "What the hey! They are LOVING it!" and I don't think I could have done that without her example. So, thanks Mom.
This Christmas Season has been extra special because Sheldon has turned into a little firecracker. Last Christmas was stressful because he was seven months old and not even sitting up yet. It has been a rough first year for us, with low muscle tone there is always the fear that something more may be going on, plus the general frustration of having a baby who is sleepy and cuddly all the time, with apparently no motivation to reach milestones. I was in Mama Bear mode last Christmas, growling, concerned, and trying to find a way to help Sheldon come out of his Shell. We finally started Physical Therapy, and really in the last three months he has blossomed.
He is running around, well, stumbling around. He is full of words, especially "I do" and "Me".
He loves to climb on things, and take things away from his brother, and tries to grab scissors when I'm not looking, and I can't tell you how thrilled I am. He spent LITERALLY A YEAR hanging around, watching the world go by. Now, I feel like I am finally getting to KNOW him, and it is so much fun to interact with him. Thank you everyone who prayed for him (AND me) and gave advice and comforting words throughout the year. Thank you.
So, decorating the tree this year was extra fun because Sheldon was a PARTICIPANT! And, he loved it.
