Ho Oh Ho

My phone rings out singing a few lines of Santa baby and she is up and dancing before I answer. What does Santa say I ask her when her skewed little hop is done, "ho oh ho" she giggles with her hands on her belly which she tries to shake like jelly. Adorable and spunky my little girl!

At bedtime she asks for her cow which was supposed to stuff a stocking but instead is her new bedtime stuffy. I see it now, how alive Christmas is now that she is old enough to see it with her own magical eyes.

Baby Jesus, I show her in the manager on the piano surrounded by sparkling lights and at night I tell her "goodnight Baby, mommy loves you, daddy loves you, baby Jesus loves you." on the nights Jon works and can't say goodnight on his own. Someday that will be a comfort to her but now it's just words... Just like last year Santa was just a guy in a red suit and this year he is a visual reminder of joy and an emotional trigger to happiness.

It's evolving, my Christmas spirit, from a sense of obligation to new eyes watching with the wonder and excitement of a child. My child.