Week 30: Christmas Wishes

Emily sat in Santa’s lap for the first time since she was about Will’s age last weekend. Actually, Will did too, and I’ll be curious to see how the picture turns out with Emily’s deer-caught-in-headlights look and Will staring at Santa in disbelief. It’s better than the alternative, I’m sure, both kids crying.

There is something very un-special about Santa in the mall though. Seems so pedestrian, like Santa has nothing better to do this time of year than sit around the mall in Moscow. I guess I feel that way because I probably stopped believing in Santa when a Mall Santa asked me if I wanted a Vanilla Ice tape for Christmas.

Emily wants, “not an alive dog, a white dog with pink stripes that barks”. Hurray for commercials. Last year she wanted a CD player, which was great, she still uses it almost every day. But some cheap, cheesy toy dog? Elf sweatshop comes to mind…

But I’m sure I asked for, and received, many bad gifts in my day. I vaguely remember one year I got the She-Ra Castle, the pinnacle of eighties awesomeness. My poor parents.

But I don’t know what William wants from Santa. A big plastic spoon and a tangerine? Those seem to be his favorite toys at the moment. If he really could say, he’s probably want a magazine so he could rip it apart and shove small pieces of paper in his mouth as fast as possible, or some kind of electrical wiring. He’s totally compulsive about wanting things he absolutely cannot have. I’ve mentioned it before, but this kid, let him loose on the floor in our bedroom and he’s at Ian’s feet trying to get at the printer. And it’s not like he’s lacking in the toy department, he just finds them totally boring.

Yesterday I got out our “play yard” (which in my opinion is erring on the side of too politically correct, let’s call it what it is, a cage for babies), so Will could be contained for a few minutes while I got some things done. I tend to be of the belief that good baby proofing can replace the need for baby containment devices, but with our impending move and Christmas, it’s just good for my peace of mind. Will seemed to like the play yard for about five minutes, when he thought it was a pretty cool baby fort. However, he quickly realized that it severely inhibited his mobility (aha! It’s intended purpose!) and decided he wanted out. Life’s cruel joke for him at the moment is that he learned to pull up this weekend, but is still a bit too short to actually reach a lot of things he could safely pull up on.

Will has such big goals for such a little person, and I can see it frustrates him that he can’t do everything he wants. Foreshadowing to some epic toddler showdowns? Perhaps. I remember when Emily was small, thinking that as soon as she was mobile she would be happier, then as soon as she could talk. It’s true, in a way. But it’s true in the same way that you don’t magically wake up in the second trimester of pregnancy feeling great again.

Looking back, I’d say the theme of this journal has been that I can’t believe how fast these kids grow up, but for Will I’d say it’s probably not fast enough. When Will was two weeks old, Sara and Cameron visited us with their baby, Evan, who was about the same age Will is right now. Evan seemed like such a big chunk of baby then, and I can’t believe that Will is that size now. He’s so determined and opinionated, I think if he could really have his way, he’d ask for a map for Christmas, so he could start charting his future explorations and conquests.