The Kershaw house has been full of Christmas spirit this month. We started off the season with our usual search for a Christmas tree. This year we went to a new lot, and I was a little nervous since it meant breaking tradition. However, the lot we went to was great, although the trees were a little yellow from the rains. We settled on a short and full tree for Eva's first Christmas tree. We were going to wait to put up the tree until after we got the carpets cleaned (man are they gross!) but I was just plain too excited to wait. So, the tree went up and the carpets will have to wait :). We have had much better luck with keeping the cats and the baby out of the tree than I ever could have hoped for, given how the cats were with it last year. But just to be safe, Daddy attached the tree base to a big piece of plywood to keep it a little more sturdy. That being said, our little girl does enjoy rolling under the tree, looking at the lights, and occasionally pulling off a needle or two to chew on.
Having a baby has really brought a new level of joy into the holiday season for me. I am more excited to see her open her presents this year than I ever have been about opening my own. It truly is better to give than to receive. It has been so hard not to give her a couple of her presents early, but I have resisted (can't say as much for Grandma Adams). I can't wait for this weekend. I have no idea how she'll be -- if she'll open the presents, not care about a thing, get more excited about the boxes than the toys inside, you just never know. But I don't care. However she will be, will be a memory I cherish forever: our first Christmas as a family.
All the holiday preparation hasn't distracted me enough to not notice how much Eva has grown up in the last couple weeks. She loves to pull up on things and is getting much more daring in terms of exploring on her own. She likes to play in the kitchen right now, which is great for Mommy since I spend so much time in there cooking, cleaning, doing dishes, prepping bottles, etc. Her favorite room in the house is still the bathroom, specifically the bathtub. Yesterday I watched her fly down the hallway while I was baking, so I finished what I was doing and went after her to find her. I found her in the bathroom next to the tub, pulling off her clothing and giggling. She was not pleased when I explained to her that 2 p.m. is not bathtime and she'd have to wait a while to get in.
She also loves to try to make us laugh by starting games of peek a boo, hanging upside-down, and swinging by her arms around the house. Her laugh has become a deep, belly laugh that warms your heart on even the most frustrating and tiring of days. She has started wearing some of her 12 month clothes because her little round belly was starting to pop out of the bottoms of her tee shirts. She seems to really be growing fast lately!
I'm really looking forward to a weekend filled with laughs and family!
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