Nov 29 2008
Christmas Tree
My husband and I joke or argue about this subject every year; when to put up the Christmas decorations. I say it’s the day after Thanksgiving while he says it’s December 1st. Stores have had out Christmas merchandise since before Halloween and I’ve seen some houses with Christmas lights up for weeks now as well. There really is no right or wrong answer and thankfully my husband loves me because he gave in and let me decorate today; he even helped.
After setting up our pre-lit Christmas tree and putting up the ornaments we wondered if it really was a good idea with a nine month old in the house. Em and I sat on the floor in front of the tree with my back to it; she sat in front of me playing but as soon as I got up to go do something she made a dash for the tree. My husband was there and caught her before she did anything but she has a fascination with lights and now there is this large green object filled with thousands of tiny lights in our living room and we’ve forbid her to touch it. Even better, the tree is filled with shiny ornaments that will catch her attention even if the lights are not on. It probably would not be as big of a deal if our home were bigger.
We only bought her four gifts this year; it’s her first Christmas but she’s going to be nine months old and wont know the difference. My husband watched and laughed while I wrapped up three of the gifts then did the last one himself. Apparently gift wrapping isn’t my best skill and afterwards I could see why he was laughing. 
We bought this dog that you touch his ear, hands, feet and tummy and he talks and teaches you. I think he’s my favorite toy but I have a feeling in a few months I may hate him. He’s filled with music and all my friends who have older kids tell me those are the worst toys. It was only $20 dollars at Walmart which was the best part but I’m kind of worried because most of them on display seemed broken so I’m hoping it wont break for a while. We also bought her a bath toy that is a shark with a button that opens and closes his mouth so you can eat these little fishes that came with the toy. It’s cute and will probably keep my husband and I more entertained than her. I know it seems more like a little boys toy but I thought it was entertaining and she loves playing with toys in the bath tub.
We’ve had our tree up for a little over a week now, and even though it is lit up we will be putting the ornaments on it today. We usually do it Thanksgiving day if we are home, otherwise the day after. We had wedding activities the past two days or it would have all already been done.
You asked about the cartoon person on my banner - I got it from istockphoto.com - they have tons of them. They are not free though, you do have to pay for them and then have some idea how to make a banner. There are people out there that make custom banners for you too. some don’t charge too much. Good luck! (and have a great Christmas with that little one)