This Christmas is a special one. It is my sweet baby's first Christmas. Being only 10 months old Mel doesn't understand Christmas but that doesn't stop us from having fun.
December started with a Christmas 5K on Fort Gordon. The Holly Jolly Run was a family fun run that handed out jingle bells and encouraged us to wear ugly Christmas sweaters.
We don't own Christmas sweaters so Meric and I had some fun with snowman t-shirts and pajama pants. Mel on the other hand sported a onesie that read "this is my TACKY Christmas sweater" and fuzzy red socks.
The outfits won us a prize in the costume contest.
Later in the month Meric and I took Mel to look at Christmas lights. "Lights of the South" is a special light display that covers several acres. You can either take a hayride or walk the trail to view the lights.
When we got there it was crazy busy (it took about 30 minutes just to get into the parking lot) and the line to the hay ride was quite long.
Being us, Meric and I decided to walk (about 1-2 miles) to view the lights. Walking really was nice.
The evening wasn't too cold and walking allowed us to take our time and really let Mel enjoy looking at all the lights.
Speaking of lights, once again I decorated our back room by draping Christmas light all about the walls and ceiling. I hung all of the lights and then waited until Meric was home to plug them in. I wanted both of us to see the look on Mel's face when she saw them for the first time. Her face was well worth the wait. She was in awe of all the colors and lights.
This year I did have to make a minor adjustment to the way I decorate. Normally I hang the stockings by the fireplace and put our tiny tree on the floor in the corner. This year the stockings and tree are up and out of the reach of our very own curious little monkey.
For Mel's first Christmas I didn't want to go over board on presents. Meric and I got Mel stacking cups, monkey toys, a book and stuffed her stocking with treats.
On Christmas morning I let her open a present and play with it for a little while before moving on to the next thing.
One of the goodies in her stocking was a Hostess Cupcake, a.k.a breakfast. Mel loved it! Of course she didn't take a nap and was wired all day but she loved it.
We opened presents slowly throughout the day and enjoyed a nice relaxing day. We got to Skype a little with our families and they got to see Mel open her presents from them.
Between the lights, the presents, the toys and the treats Mel loved Christmas! I am looking forward to next year with my funny little monkey!
