Christmas Chaos

It's all over but the shouting. This was A's third Christmas and she definitely got into it this year, even if she didn't exactly understand everything that went on (she kept asking Santa for goofy stuff like candy canes, not realizing she could ask for something more elaborate and have a good chance at getting it). As usual my mom went way overboard and sent a gazillion gifts (including a princess flashlight, which was a huge hit). The kid was on overload all day on Christmas. As usual she refused to nap and by late afternoon she was so tired that she was delirious (I think she may have been hallucinating and speaking in tongues at that point).

We had four days of family togetherness (including one snowstorm that prevented us from leaving the house altogether). At some point A started singing "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" which is great except that she always misses a line. After "and they shouted out with glee" she goes back to "then one foggy Christmas Eve . . ." This essentially means that she was caught in an infinite loop. The song went on for several days.

The kid also participated in her first stage production on Sunday - a Christmas play at church. She played an elf (an elf who wanders around aimlessly, apparently). I don't think she full understood that she was IN the play, as she kept wandering off the stage and shouting "Hi, Mama!" periodically. Nonetheless, I have to say that she was an excessively cute elf.

We are still struggling to find room in A's bedroom for all of her new stuff. Santa, who doesn't have a lot of foresight sometimes, bought her a Go, Diego, Go rescue center. (P set aside some of his tips from his bartending job and went shopping all by himself like a big boy!) Anything with a lot of pieces and/or Play-Doh went straight to the top of her closet. (Yes, I will let her play with them, but only under close supervision.)

I have another four-day weekend coming up for New Year's, which means more togetherness (and more attempts at housebreaking our child). I need to de-Christmasify the house, too. I just have no tolerance for Christmas stuff once the day itself has passed. I also need to move out all the sweets and stuff. I need to weigh in at Weight Watchers on Saturday and I have a feeling that it ain't gonna be pretty.

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