Touch! Touch!

Trey is fascinated with all things Christmas this year. As soon as we put up the tree, he exclaimed "Christmas tree!" as if he'd always known what it is (of course, it comes out more like "tre-tra-tree!"). Last year, we hid the tree behind the baby gate for fear of the damage a crawling Trey might do. This year, he is capable of causing even more trouble, but he's also old enough to know better, so we took our chances and put the tree up in the living room.

Trey, of course, is mesmerized by the tree. With lights, and glitter, and colorful balls, who wouldn't be? We have told Trey he is allowed to look at the tree, and he is allowed to gently touch the branches, but he is not allowed to touch the ornaments. Trey has been pretty good about this so far, but sometimes temptation overtakes him and he can't help but touch an ornament or two. Daddy says that putting the tree up and telling him not to touch it is so cruel, it is akin to taking Mommy into a wedding dress boutique and telling her she is not allowed to open her eyes and look!

Trey knows he is not supposed to touch the ornaments on the Christmas tree. He will walk up to the tree and look at it, and then shake his finger in a scolding way and say "touch! touch!" (sort of like "no no, don't touch!"). Sometimes he will poke that cute little finger out just far enough to barely touch an ornament, as if he is trying to see just how far he can push it. But he is doing pretty well: Trey has taken only one ornament off the tree so far, and his curiosity has resulted in only one ornament casualty (and it was an ornament we weren't too fond of anyway!).

We have also been playing the "Elf on the Shelf" game this year, thanks to Aunt Dabney and Uncle P, who gave it to Trey as a gift. The game, in a nutshell is this: Santa sends a little elf to your house to watch the children and report back to Santa about whether they were good or bad. The elf sits on a shelf and watches things, and then moves to a different place each morning. You can't touch the elf, or else he will lose his magic.

We aren't sure Trey understands the "elf is watching you" part of the story, but he does enjoy looking for the elf each day, and he knows he is not supposed to touch the elf. Trey will look around and find the elf, and then point to him and say "touch! touch!", just as he does with the Christmas tree. We are having a lot of fun with this game, and with all things Christmas this year. As much as we have always loved the Christmas season, it is so much fun to discover everything again through the eyes of a child.

(And, in case you're wondering, the handkerchief in Trey's hand is the little toy blanket that is part of Mommy's play tea set Trey inherited. He doesn't really play tea, but he likes to take all the pieces out and put them back in the case - the "boy" way of playing tea!)