Deck the Halls

After seeing Santa, we pushed our luck just a little longer and picked up a tree from Eastern Market.  We got it home, soaked it overnight in water and put it up when Mark returned from the Redskins game.  Meanwhile, I spent naptime putting up other holiday decorations - hanging the stockings, the mistletoe, and putting out Mark's substantial collection of reindeer.  James showed appropriate interest in the tree as it soaked, but didnt' get too excited until we moved it to the middle of the living room for decorating.  He loved all of the stuffed reindeer (honestly, there are as many moose as reindeer.  It's a fine line...)

We strung the lights on the tree to a chorus of "ooohs" from James and then started putting an assortment of carefully curated ornaments.  We skipped the beads and garland this year - not need to tempt the tot unnecessarily.  Meanwhile, Mark baked some chocolate chip cookies for a Monday cookie swap.

So did the test tree serve it's function?  Well, a toddler's impulse is a powerful thing.  But James seems to have his eye on a couple of ornaments in particular and appears to be learning how to look without pulling them off.  Turn away for just an instant though, and he's likely to have stashed his favorites in special spot.  I think we might just avoid total destruction.  If we make it to the new year with the status quo, I'll consider that a success.