Last Christmas Ella had been home a little less than two months. She was only eight months old and had no idea what was going on around her during all the festivities. She actually conked right out in the middle of opening presents and slept on the floor right in front of the tree.

This year is an incredibly different story. My now twenty (20!!!) month old is thrilled with the changes that she’s seen in our house, especially the lights. Every morning she insists that the first thing we do upon arriving down stairs is turn on the lights on the Christmas tree. The very first time we did this, we sat on the floor together and whispered in awe inspiring fashion about the different colors. Well, now every morning we have to sit and examine each color. She instructs me to place my hand behind each little bulb while she whispers the color that illuminates my hand and proclaims them all to be ‘pretty!’ It really is the cutest thing.

Throughout the day she’ll remember that there are other areas inside the house that have the same brightly colored lights strung out for her to enjoy. She’ll take my hand and lead me to the lights that she would like to have turned on and will then ooh and ahh over them. Other times she’ll hang out among the display of Christmas cards and examine the faces of her friends (and try to share her milk with them through the photograph.)

It’s been a hectic month so far, but feels like it’s calming down in the past few days. I am really looking forward to spending Christmas Eve, Day and the days following with family and watching them enjoy Ella and vice versa. I expect that the holidays will always be a tough time of year for me, but it really is amazing and brings me a great deal of peace to experience it all through my daughter’s eyes. She helps me take a step back and relax about all the stresses and heartache that are felt more strongly this time of year. For those of you waiting over the holidays, I hope that you only have wonderful ones to come.

photo credit: Rebecca H.

More Reading:
Matched With a Baby Due at Christmas
The Ornament Tradition
Getting Through the Holidays as You Wait