Mon beau sapin

'Twas the afternoon nap on Saturday past, when all through the house, mama and dada were trimming the tree. Julian was snoring, bundled up snuggly on the sofa while we hurriedly put together and trimmed our giant tree. Just as we were about finished, he woke up from his slumber, all cozy and warm, sat up on the sofa and did a groggy little double take as he noticed the tree. We don't have a picture but the image is permanently etched in our minds. What a magical moment. He rubbed his eyes and looked again. "Wooowwww," he exclaimed! Wow, indeed ;0)

He crawled backwards off the sofa, just like we taught him, and came to get a closer look. He stopped in front of each ornament to take it all in and enjoy. He couldn't resist and reached for a ball which he dropped on the floor and which bounced as balls do. We quickly picked it up and explained that these were special balls that were not for playing, but just for looking. He was agreeable and kept looking around with his hands by his side though you could tell it took all the self-discipline he could muster to not reach out for more. We thought everything would work out fine, but then after dinner, he went for another and threw it on the floor with all his might expecting a bounce...but instead it shattered into very fine glass dust. He got scared and so did we. We thought all those balls were plastic!

So we untrimmed the tree, went to Canadian Tire and bought all new ornaments made of "durable shatter proof plastic" came back home and retrimmed the tree. It was a lot of work, but I love our new decorations. Of course we kept our important lifestage ornaments though we made sure to place them higher in the tree. Here's a peak at our story in ornaments:

Clockwise from top-left: Our snowflake wedding ornament. Our new house ornament (my favourite) lights up and has a built in music box which plays 'I'll be home for Christmas' as you turn the little brass crank. The next two circle ornaments are my best idea yet: Martha Stewart gift tags from Sears! They are paper and ribbon but are shiny and pretty and completely Julian proof not to mention $2 for a pack of 10! Then comes our 2006 parents to be ornament which is freakily accurate: daddy wears glasses and reads books while mommy knits away plus they are birds like Stephen and I (our last names are both birds!). Julian's one year Christmas ornament is a bear in a Jolly Jumper which you'll remember was his pride and Joy throughout a big part of the year. And finally a couple more Julian-proof but still pretty and elegant (not to mention cheap, cheap, cheap) ornaments from Canadian Tire -- a very pretty gold leaf and Julian's favourite ornamnents by far, the appum (aka apples).

Happy holidays!