Silver Bells

It's mid-December, and the craziness of the season is upon us. It's so easy to get swept away in what needs to get done at the expense of what's right in front of our eyes: a 2 year old who desperately wants all of our attention.

He is jealous for us - often slowly

moving his head in between ours during conversations just to say "Hi!" or even "I want to talk too!"

He craves our every waking minute, often grabbing our hands and quite literally dragging us away from things - cooking, sitting at a computer, cleaning - to come play in his room. There isn't a bigger wake up call than realizing that I have allowed something trivial to take a precious moment hostage. I know all too well how unbelievably fast he's changing and growing and how short each stage actually is.

So, I'm trying to keep my priorities straight this Christmas. No matter what I'm doing, it can be stopped for Daniel. Stoves can be turned off and email can wait. The decision isn't always easy in the moment, but the memory it yields is always far more rewarding than the checklist item I abandoned.

It's already been a fun start to the holidays... fun Christmas photos, a cookie making session with a Texas cookie cutter and long horns, lots of new songs (read: Daniel/Mommy/Daddy the Red Nosed Reindeer), a beautiful tree that has to be literally hit from time to time in order to keep all the lights on, and nightly trips to the neighbors' houses to admire their lawn light creations (in the absence of our own).

Maybe my favorite memory this season has been Daniel's first request of Santa. He was missing 2 pieces to his wooden alphabet puzzle and we couldn't find them. Daniel said (toward the ceiling), "Santa, please bring me the G and the Q and put them right over there," as he gestured toward the counter. Fernando said, "Daniel, Santa can bring you lots of letters!" But Daniel was insistent: "No, I want the G and the Q. Only two letters. Santa bring them and put them right over there."

For a two year old, he's fairly practical.