Christmas hightlights

It’s been a great Christmas, and Herb will be posting more photos, but here are a few of my favorite moments so far.

Camille sat in Santa’s lap for the first time this year. Up to now, she’d say she wanted to, then freak when the moment came. We never forced it. I thought she’d do the same this year (she declined to sit on Santa’s lap when he came to her preschool last week). But we went to Friendly Center, and she walked right up and climbed on his knee. She even stroked his beard while she talked to him. In fact, I thought she was going to stay there all day. And she remembered every word he said.

My next favorite moment was when Abby glimpsed her new red bike on the way down the stairs. “Mommy! I see it!” When it finally stopped raining, she took it out for a spin. That was beautiful, too.

They actually let us (me, that is) sleep late. Herb got up early to start cooking because friends were joining us for breakfast. I couldn’t figure out why they weren’t up. I took a shower, got dressed. Still no sign of them. When I opened our bedroom door, they were at the other end of the hall, waiting expectantly. It turns out that Camille was afraid they might interrupt Santa in progress and scare him off. “I TOLD you he was done,” Abby said.

My other favorite part of Christmas? They played together for hours in absolute bliss. No fussing, no fighting, no whining. Now that’s a Christmas present.