Joy

The other afternoon Oliver and I just happened to be in town when they were putting up the town Christmas tree; a little holiday shiver went up my spine. I love seeing our little town all dressed up for the holidays - lights, garlands and, of course, the big tree.

Thus far Oliver's exposure to Christmas trees, all lit up and adorned for the holiday, has been the town tree (40 feet) and Papa and LeLe's tree (8.5 feet). Because of this, whenever I say "Christmas tree," Oliver says "up, up, up." Davis and I attempted to change this by getting a "normal"- sized tree for our house. Just before we left Maine on Monday we went into the woods and cut down a perfect little tree for Oliver. As it turns out the tree we cut is one from the juniper family - a family to which both Davis and I are allergic. Ah yes, moments after wresting our little tree into the car Davis and I both broke out into hives. Amidst scratching we discussed pulling over and abandoning our tree, but decided against it. Our tree is now, safely, on our front porch. It looks like next year will be our year to introduce Oliver to Oliver-sized Christmas trees.

While we have no indoor tree to mark the holiday season, the holidays themselves give us pause to reflect upon our everyday joys (which sometimes get lost in the chaos).

Joys like playing in the bathtub.

The joy of snuggling.

And the joy of Anna. Anna, who looks remarkably like Manny Ramirez in this picture, has been living with Papa and LeLe. While we miss Anna she is much happier living in Maine, and is a much better behaved dog. Oliver has become borderline obsessed with Miss Anna Banana Pants. He has located all the pictures of her in our house, identifies her on Davis' shirts, and requests to see her when we Skype Papa and LeLe. On our last visit he also woke up each day with "Anna." Ah yes, the little Rocket who goes from 0 to 1 million in less than a second would be dead asleep, sit up and say "Anna," climb off the bed and knock on the door until either Davis or I let him out to find her. Anna was magnanimous and let Oliver climb all over her - I think it was because of the food he continuously fed her.

I am looking forward to more holiday shivers and moments of joy. I am also looking forward to introducing Oliver to Christmas and seeing the season through his eyes.