1m2aSandbox

Traditions are a big part of my family; as much as I love new situations and challenges, I cling voraciously to the rituals and rites that I’ve grown up with or developed with Brian.  One of the things that excited me most about becoming a mother was the opportunity to introduce my child to these traditions, the anticipation you feel as they approach, and the familiarity and joy you get when they happen.  It’s like snuggling under your favorite down comforter: you look at it, calling to you from your bed; you think longingly about snuggling under it all day, anticipation perhaps even hastening yours steps home; and when you finally do curl up in it at night, it’s even better than you remembered, immediately enfolding you, conforming to you, multiplying your own warmth exponentially in a soft, cushiony kind of heaven.

Not that I like my down comforter or anything.

Back to traditions, though – they’re an important part of our family life, and today Madeleine was introduced to yet another very important one.

Yep, Madeleine met the Big Man himself.

Sure, she’s only six months old, and probably doesn’t have a lot to say to Santa.  But frankly, she didn’t have much choice; Brian and I were going, with or without her.

The 4 a.m. breathing check.

But you can’t.  And now you’re convinced she’s not breathing at all and you’re on your way to a full-blown panic-attack.  So you creep into her room, risking a wake up.

Don’t pretend you haven’t done it.  I’ve practically held a mirror in front of her mouth myself. 

You’re looking at your Christmas shopping list, trying to decide what to get everyone.  As you work, you glance over to your sleeping cherub.  Was there ever such a beautiful baby?  Back to your list: what could you give people that would bring them real joy?  Back to Cherub: who can resist that face?

And so, just as chocolate and peanut butter collided to bring us Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups, your shopping list somehow seamlessly merges with your desire to stare at Cherub’s face for hours at a time.  Pictures of Baby for everyone this year!  Who wouldn’t love it?

The holidays are rapidly gaining momentum and I’m becoming a wee bit scared.  I mean, I knew this year would be different from every other thus far; I knew all my elaborate cookie decorating, our 80+ person Christmas party, our constant entertaining would be severely curtailed.

But I didn’t quite understand I’d have to give up the shopping thing.

We’re plowing ahead with the solid foods thing.  Maddie’s still going with the rice cereal after her “dinner” nursing, enjoying bananas as a mid-morning snack, and today we added sweet potatoes as her afternoon snack.  Interestingly enough, she devoured the sweet potatoes while she’s a bit ambivalent about the bananas. 

We had our first snowfall of the season last night and awoke to the perfect winter morning; with about an inch of snow on the ground, the trees were topped in powdered sugar and the back yard was snug under a lovely white velvet blanket.  Madeleine’s eyes grew as big as saucers when she saw it for the first time, and she turned to me with a smile on her face as if to say, “Did you do this just for me?”

We ran a few errands before church this morning, strolling around the Upper West Side.  Maddie was in her infant car seat / stroller base, so she was seeing everything in reverse.  With her Kangaroo Kuddler tucked up under her chin, she looked like a miniature empress snuggled under a thick blanket on a sleigh ride.  She was clutching the edge of the Kuddler, refusing to keep her hands tucked toastily under the blanket, screaming with glee.