Wonder

One of the greatest things about celebrating the holidays with the four and under set is that every year, it's brand new again.

We put up the Christmas tree on Saturday.

Alyssa couldn't stand the wait and was so excited.

Olivia was excited because...if her sister is excited, well, damn, it must be something AWESOME that's about to happen.

Anyway, as I put the tree together and then strung the lights, Olivia stared in wonder, awed by the beauty of the lights once they were turned on.

She 'helped' put ornaments on the tree (I moved a few after finding that there were several branches with five and six ornaments hanging from them.)

She sang along with the Christmas songs we had playing on the cd player.

Alyssa was so kind to her sister. She made sure Olivia had an ornament to hang every few minutes and she was quick to explain to Olivia what each one was or what it meant.

O was only three weeks old at her first Christmas. Our Christmas tree had been thrown up haphazardly during one of my moments home between visiting Olivia in the hopsital.

Alyssa decorated that tree all by her three year and ten month old self. There were puzzle pieces and stuffed horses serving as ornaments that year.

Honestly, I'm glad that kids four and under tend to have vague memories. I'd hate to think what A's memories are of that Christmas.

But it got better. Olivia's second Christmas was a nice, quiet, safe one. She wasn't walking or even crawling that year, so we were able to decorate the tree without worrying about a toddler tugging on it.

And each year has been better still.

This is our first Christmas in our new house. We have the same tree, the same ornaments, new places to put these things and new memories to build.

I'm so excited.

Almost as excited as a four year old who is in awe of the blue and orange and PINK lights staring out at her from a plastic Christmas tree.