Tinselly loveliness

Oh, I love tinsel. And not even in an ironic way.
Alas, our tinsel did not make it to the tree this year. I just forgot about it. It was all I could do to get the lights up before Anna attacked the tree, arms laden with ornaments. She was really into decorating this year, and did a great job. She even took a fast shower (in lieu of the plodding bath) so that we could put up the little tree as well.
Yah, that's right. Two trees. The big one is in the front room, where we have the space. But the fireplace is in the back room, and that's we'd rather open gifts on a chilly Christmas morning. So there's a little Alberta Spruce on the shelf, which brings a touch of home to mind whenever I see it.

We put the trees up on Thursday, since it was a snowy day. And as I write this, it is snowing again. That makes four snow falls this season, which is about double all of last winter. For me, snow makes all the difference when it comes to Christmas cheer. Last year, while my parents and brother basked in the glow of a snow-free holiday, I found it hard to get into the spirit of it all. I need snow and cold.

So it's gently snowing out there, the Christmas lights are on, and it's around 6:00 a.m. Everyone else is asleep. I wish I was too, but our Little Man had other plans. Thinking of the past month, I can count on one hand the number of times he's slept through the night without crying and making his way to our bed. Luckily, Isaac's a fairly affable co-sleeper. But he does have a couple of bad habits that are starting to wear us down. First, he sleeps horizontally with his head by Jon (ideally, ON Jon's ear; go figure) and his feet pressing into me. I've been trying to sleep on my side, pretending I'm getting a back rub or something. Eventually my leg falls asleep and I roll over, subsequently getting kicked in the side or belly. One night he managed to punch me in the eye and almost knock the wind out of me with his feet. I think he has a future as a hockey player.
Anyway, once I get tired of this and get out of bed his second bad habit emerges. I call this the Knowledge of Absence. Little Dude just knows when I'm gone and wakes up, negating my quiet morning coffee. Today I'm testing an idea: can I swap myself for a soft pillow? So far so good.

This weekend will be relatively mellow, unlike the (American) Thanksgiving holiday. I threw Anna's fifth birthday party on that Saturday, which took up the whole weekend. Of course I was glad to do it, and Anna really appreciated the celebration of it all, but the weekend wasn't what I would call relaxing. I felt bad about that for Jon's sake since he had just finished up a stressful project at work. There was also the usual run of illnesses that weekend which didn't help. Fever, nausea, serious mucous, coughs, aches, sore throats in various combinations in various people. Despite it all, the party was fun and warrants it's own post, I think. Stay tuned.

In other Decembery news, I report that I am about done with Christmas shopping. This year I did 90% of it online. You know those magazines that come in the mail in November every year? I actually took a chance and ordered from them. Hearth Song and Chinaberry to be exact. I haven't opened the H.S. box yet, but I am impressed with Chinaberry. Among other things we got an Advent calendar which I quite like.
Despite this great shopping accomplishment, I still found myself at the mall last night, right before dinner, with both kids. Why? Why?! For myself, of course. Jon met us there and while the kids played around I purchased actual clothes. I even tried them on first. I have no excuse for this indulgence other than to say that it's a bit chilly to wear threadbare clothes with holes in them. As you recall, it's actually snowing out there.

Sleepytime Bird

One of the gadgets my parents own is a record-to-CD converter. You remember records, right? Like CDs, only huge and double sided. I love this device since I'm able to pass on some of my childhood musical memories to my own kids. Like Sesame Street's Sleepytime Bird, Music Machine, Little Marcy (whose voice drives Jon up the wall - tee hee!), and various stories. It was a little weird to find out that we owned about 6 Smurf recordings (but possibly timely, given the recent movie), and even weirder to try to explain to Anna what Smurfs are.
We were listening to one of my newly minted CDs driving home last night, and I found it sweet that Anna fell asleep listening to songs with which I was so familiar. Truth is, we've been using CDs (mostly audible books) a lot to help Anna fall asleep. She seems to be following the same pattern of sleep disturbances that I had as a child, which makes me sad. Sleep and I have never satisfactorily connected, and I really wanted things to be different for Anna. But try as I might to control the "nurture" of things, "nature" is just a little stronger than I in some areas. And so it is that we've had two horrible horrible nights of sleep recently, and there is something a little depressing about starting off the week as a zombie.

On the bright side, we managed to eke out some fun events recently. Jon and I managed to get it together enough to see the latest Harry Potter movie. Against my advice, he mentally tallied up the cost of this movie (which was an IMAX, since that was the only showing that fit our schedule) including babysitter, etc. And it was a whopping $80! No wonder we rarely go out to movies. But I'm glad we did - some movies (like this one, and Super 8 which we saw while in Canada - I just love suspenseful alien movies) really do best on a big screen and the costs are easier to justify. That's what I tell myself, anyway.

We've also done quite a bit of swimming, and I love seeing Anna improve dramatically in this area. She's always been water shy (no water in the face, please!) but is at least tolerating the discomfort more and more. And she adores the pool, so that counts for a lot. Isaac is less comfortable, so taking them both swimming is nearly impossible for one person. I've been lucky to have some help from family and friends on these last trips, and we have one more swim outing planned this week. It will be just me and Anna and I'm glad to get some one-on-one time.

That's it for now. Isaac decided not to nap this afternoon, so I have to do some extra domestic juggling today. Thank goodness for television! I need them distracted while I make a grocery list. Joining a CSA was fun, but requires a little extra time on the planning front.

I'll sign off with this modified quote from Jon. Can you name the movie?
"I must not fear.
Fuss is the mind-killer.
Whining is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my children.
I will permit their fuss to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fuss has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain."