the most wonderful time of the year

That song that seemed trite and overbearing is now one of the most truthful things these days. Life with a 2-year-old is wonderful. And fun. (for the most part, that is.) Especially this time of year.

To summarize, anything with lights is "Christmas" to 2-year-old Jacob. For example, when he sees a house decked out with christmas lights, he says: "Christmas!" To the tree, he proclaims, "Christmas!"

Little snippets of christmas carols come wafting from the crib: "...then one foggy...eve" or "down the chimney with Saint Nick..." or "Frosty the snowman had a very shiny nose..." Combining them in a 2-year-old rap just seems perfect.

It's so sweet how he is really "getting" Christmas already. He loves to play with the manger (thank god it's plastic). He knows Mary and Joseph and calls the angel a "butterfly." We've talked about them in the past but now that he can put names to faces (while holding little action figures), it's all coming together.

Last year and the year before I wondered how I was going to begin to perpetrate the whole Santa myth...it seemed like it would require a herculean effort. But like most things with parenting, for good or ill, it's just kind of happening. And any forethought now seems naive and a waste of time. Without really being able to pin point where he got informed, he has a good working knowledge of santa, frosty, rudolph--all the essentials. And of course, Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus--and the butterfly.