Discovering Christmas

Let's just say we've made some discoveries the last few days. A couple of weeks ago, crazy us braved the weather, the train and the crowds to particpate in that silly world record breaking Christmas caroling group. Yes, we did & had fun doing it! Here we are singing with 12,000+ other voices. Directly in front of the WLS booth, if you look reallllllly close, maybe you can see us! Yes, that's us right beside fellow CLCers Stacy & Caitlyn. Fancy seeing someone we know rightwhere we landed the stroller. Oh what fun.... Anyway, so we made history with that big sing along. THEN finally, the Magnificent Mile Festival of Lights began with none other than Mickey Mouse himself leading the parade. Minnie Mouse came along later. Thankfully, Grace caught a glimpse of a few princess-ish ladies. No matter it was not Cinderella or Belle as she hoped. The no show was Tigger. Interestingly, he was also absent at the Winnie the Pooh & Friends production earlier in the day. If you recall, that bouncy guy was no where around at the zoo with the other Pooh friends. I digress.... Rounding out the evening downtown, Santa Claus rode in on his sleigh accompanied by a blizzard of paper snow. Delight-FULL! Now we've discovered Christmas parades and Santa. We are sure we like decorating gingerbread houses and singing Jingle Bells with a frenzy of other people. Forward to Thanksgiving Day and the famous Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. THAT is a parade! Gracie just so happened in the room when Island Princess made her debut; singing, swirling & twirling, capturing my Gracie's heart. Now we've discovered Barbie & just how lovely she is with her blue gown and feathers behind her head. Couple this wide eyed princess wonder with a cousin who has a Christmas wish list....viola! Now we've got a letter to Santa with wishes of our own. Over the last few weeks, we've happily watched the scary lawn ornaments turn festive with Christmas cheer...snowmen & Santa, to the messiah in the manger. Gracie wants to decorate for Christmas. She wants to have a Christmas tree. In efforts to appease the little miss without totally losing my senses after driving 6 hours in the rain from St Louis back to Chi-town, I pull out her little baby tree. Moments later, she's adorning her little EVERgreen with unbreakable pretties; ever so carefully placing this one & that in her cozy "teddy bear" jammies, as papa called them. She's happy now...but not for long. Come tomorrow evening, we will put up our big tree, twinkle lights and all. I'm happy to have one so delighted in helping me adorn the tree with memories from here to China; from pewter Edelweiss to blown glass from Lake Como to Baby's 1st Christmas rocking horse. It's the most wonderful time of the year indeed! Hope you enjoyed this Smilebox of Christmas discoveries & firsts for the growing up Grace.