We recently went to one of the early childhood programs in our school district (the Parents As Teachers program that I work for). It was called "Frosty and Friends" - the politically correct holiday activity. Maria enjoyed the activities: using glue on a Q-tip to paint an ornament, a magnetic fishing pole game, peppermint playdough, the coolest pretend snow, pasta snowflakes... and then it was time to visit Santa. She saw him across the room while we were squishing the playdough. She immediately said, "No, Ho-Ho." But eventually she waved at him. We got in line to say hello to Santa and Maria had a death-grip on the back of my neck and hair (I have the scratches to prove it!) I sat next to Santa with Maria on my lap. Surprisingly, she didn't scream or freak out, but she wanted to be as far away from him as possible! Actually, she did better than I thought. But she still isn't a big fan of the Big Red Guy.
We have been procrastinating putting up the holiday decorations due to Maria's dislike of Nonna's holiday fare. Nonna actually had to put away some of her Santas and the musical snowmen she loved last year. But I think all of the snowmen and Santas are finally growing on her. Today she took a marathon nap, and I got the tree up and some sparse decorations. We decided to put up the 4 1/2 foot tree I used to have in my apartment. Somehow our house has shrunk, now that Maria has taken over 95 % of it! So rather than take away the majority of her playspace, we went with the smaller tree. She didn't freak out when she came down from her nap either, so I have hope for a Jolly little one by the time Christmas comes!
I have also been fighting a yucky stomach bug this week. Just when I thought it was over, I decided to go grocery shopping... big mistake. Thankfully, Charles was at home with Maria, and she didn't have to be drug into that. I'm feeling better now, but that's also what I said this morning before the grocery store mess...
Posts
