Magical Tree

My Dad flies in from Texas every December to see his grandkids, and buying us our family Christmas tree has become his tradition.  All of the cousins stayed in a hotel Friday night, which in and of itself is an exciting event for everybody.  All of the kids had a blast Friday night exploring the hotel. They were especially tickled when they stumbled upon the free hot chocolate machine in the lobby!

Saturday afternoon it was cold and pouring down rain.  Not exactly the perfect day to buy a Christmas tree, but promises were made so we were undeterred. The adults did decide to modify the tradition a tinge given the weather.  Instead of schlepping into a muddy field, trying to contend with umbrellas as well as saws, we decided to visit a Christmas tree lot owned by a friend from high school. 

Robby and I picked a "ginormous" tree this year. Our 12 footer almost touches the peak of our vaulted ceiling and is absolutely stunning. Although it was difficult saying goodbye to my Dad, I was excited to drive home and set our treasure up in the living room.  (I tried to warn Scott that we needed a lot of room for the tree, but I don't think he adequately heeded my warning. He was shocked by the sheer mass of our tree.)

While Timmy was busy playing on the floor, I began working on the lights. With Scott on one side and me on the other, we managed to wrap all of the lights around our coniferous giant in under an hour.  We used every strand of lights we own and, after the tree was fully illuminated, he finally agreed to run to Lowes to pick up  another strand (or two) to fill in some dimmer areas. 

I stayed home with Timmy to fix dinner while he and Robby ran out to secure more lights.  The pair came home with a large wheel off 500 colorful LED lights. After nearly 15 years together, he has learned that I like my trees bright and colorful!  After we ate I finished stringing the lights on the tree and called everybody together for the big reveal.  Robby and Scott ooed and ahhed appropriately. Timmy was unimpressed by the large lit tree in front of him, instead occupying himself by trying to touch Charlie Cat's tail. 

Rocking Timmy to sleep in the living room that night with the Christmas tree shining happily in the corner, I felt content. Timmy must have felt the same because his sleepy eyes were heavy when I walked past the tree to take him to his bedroom. All of a sudden he squealed and began to giggle. Despite being lit all evening, he had just then noticed the sparkling Christmas tree!

Timmy quickly worked himself into an excited frenzy over the Christmas tree. Every time I carried him away from the tree he would crane his neck to keep it in view. I abandoned all hopes of putting him to bed, instead opting to put him in front of the tree so that he would giggle and smile. I really wish I had my camera close to capture his reaction. The pure delight was absolutely precious!

My little baby spent the next hour gazing at the tree in amazement. I don't know why he didn't notice it before, but perhaps his "discovering" it on his own added to his excitement. He ended up going to bed later than we anticipated because we couldn't pull him away from his tree. In fact, the only way we could finally calm him down was to unplug the lights. I felt bad about taking away the object of his fascination, but I knew it was the only way he would go to sleep.

I have a feeling that the next few Christmases will be magical again as Timmy discovers all of the illuminated and glittery wonders of the holiday season!