Dear Graham, 29 Months

Dear Graham,

December was all about Christmas and you couldn’t have been happier to celebrate those 31 days (yes, even the days after Christmas). In late November we went through the painstaking process of buying a Christmas tree with your daddy and you loved running around the tree lot. Up and down the rows of trees we ran while your daddy singlehandedly inspected each one for a pine needle that might have been out of place. Once the tree was home and in place, we put you down for a nap and did most of the decorating while you napped. This meant you woke up to the wondrous glory of a decorated Christmas tree and the phrase “your eyes lit up” literally happened in front of us.

“There’s a bell, momma!” “There’s a snowman, momma!” “There’s a train, momma!” you exclaimed as you went from ornament to ornament. Then, you were surprised again when we set up the train that ran around the base of the tree. Every morning during the month of December involved you “driving” the train before we went out the door for school.

Your daddy and I had bets on if you would like Santa this year, and your first attempt occurred when Santa paid a visit to your school. When I picked you up that afternoon, I asked your teacher how the big visit went. She said she didn’t know as they took groups of kids at separate times and she stayed in the classroom, so I proceeded to ask you if you had fun when seeing Santa or if you cried. You told me you cried, and I silently congratulated myself on winning the bet. Then, when we were leaving the school the teacher at the front desk said you won the prize for seeing Santa as you ran right to the front of the line and got up on his lap and smiled away. Silently, I cursed your daddy for being right.

During the third weekend in December your daddy had a long overnight in Huntsville, AL that required him to be there for about 32 hours. The stars aligned and there were open seats on the departing and returning flights, so you and I went along with your daddy. It was the first time you have flown on an airplane that your daddy was flying and you got to go into the cockpit with daddy before we departed and you loved it. Unfortunately the weather didn’t cooperate with us as much as the flights did so we had to spend more time in the hotel than we would have liked. During that time, we were on the bed playing as a family and you started giggling. We began asking you, “Who’s got the giggles?” and you would say, “I’s got the giggles.” Over and over, which resulted in your daddy and me having the giggles as well. It is one of those memories that is forever etched in my brain.

 

Your language really exploded in December and the concepts and thoughts you put together continually surprise me. Your pronouns, like saying I’s got the giggles, are a bit off but you’re too cute to correct. For example, when saying that daddy has to fix something, you’ll note: “Him has to fix it.” Or when talking about your friends at school you’ll say “Them are nice.”

We flew to Florida for Christmas and you got lots of family time in. You were really good for the trip, with the exception of taking naps. You simply didn’t want to take them. One day we watching you on the monitor and noticed you had taken all of your clothes off except your diaper and threw them out of your crib. Apparently you were doing anything you could think of to stay awake.

Following making cookies, lots of singing of jingle bells, and church on Christmas Eve, you came out on Christmas morning and were amazed to see a Thomas the Train set that Santa left for you. You were not amazed by the fact that the cookies we left for Santa were gone. When we told you that Santa must have eaten the cookies, you simply responded, “No.” Despite our best convincing, you did not think that Santa ate those cookies. You were showered with lots of fun gifts (including your own jump house!) but your best reaction came from a gift your great-Pooter and Karen gave you, which was a remote controlled Thomas. When you opened it you started jumping up and down in excitement and couldn’t wait to use it (which didn’t bode well for the delay in battery installation).  

 

When we arrived back home, one morning on the way to school you noticed that the Christmas lights weren’t on anymore. And so I tried to explain to you that Christmas was over and that we would have to wait until next Christmas to put lights up again.

To which you replied, “I want to do it again.”

Love,

Mommy