O Christmas Tree

Christmas, for me, is largely about tradition. There's something comforting and cozy about hauling up the tubs of decorations the day after Thanksgiving while listening to Christmas music. This year we had a big helper!

Here's a little clip of Ryan's reaction to the lights:


Both Adam and I grew up receiving one special ornament each year from our parents and kept various other ornaments created in school, Sunday school, camp, and received from other family and friends. When we got married, we discovered our parents had the exact same "Keepsake" boxes in which we stored our treasured memories, so now we have 2 matching (and perfectly stacking=bonus) boxes of ornaments! I enjoy getting them out every year and finding the perfect place for each on our tree. Our tree sure wouldn't win any home decor awards, but it is meaningful and special to us.

We wanted to continue the tradition with Ryan, so last year he received a "Baby's First Christmas" ornament and this year I stopped by the Hallmark in the Centre Mall to choose his 2010 ornament. There were many cute things to choose from, but I wanted it to reflect something about the year and something he enjoyed. My friends actually pointed it out, but as soon as I looked closer, I knew it was perfect!

It's the 2010 Hallmark Keepsake Ornament that's a tiny version of a Fisher Price "The Zoo Keeper Says" See 'n Say.  Not only do I remember playing with this toy as a child, but Adam's mom still has their actual See 'n Say from when Adam was a toddler and Ryan absolutely loves playing with it at their house!

We let Ryan open the ornament so we could put it on the tree. The string and ring are too small for him to pull, but he loves watching the arrow go around and listening to the familiar voice say "Listen to the seal count to three! Arhh! Arhh! Arhh!"  We put it on the tree and continued decorating, but pretty soon he was holding it in his hand again! He had plucked it off the tree and carried it around the rest of the night, occasionally bringing it up to us to pull the string for him. I'm really glad I picked out a plastic, practically unbreakable ornament, because he threw it multiple times and of course tried to eat it once or twice. We moved up all the other ornaments so only the top half is decorated and I just took the hook out of the top and let him carry around his See 'n Say!

I'm not sure if we'll continue the Fisher-Price nostalgic toys series, but I am almost tempted to pick up a 2009 ornament on Amazon of other classic toys from my childhood. I'd have a hard time deciding between these two: 


Except if I had bought the Chatter Telephone last year and saw that it was going for a $100 bucks this year, I might be tempted to sell it and buy the $10 bus.

The kid would never know.