Day 4.

On the 4th day of Christmas, Brooke Mary gave to me...

4 bedtime stories

3 cuddly hugs

2 stunning brown eyes

& an always-smiling, healthy baby.

Day 3.

On the 3rd day of Christmas, Brooke Mary gave to me...

3 cuddly hugs

2 stunning brown eyes

& an always-smiling, healthy baby.

Day 2.

On the 2nd day of Christmas, Brooke Mary gave to me...

2 stunning brown eyes

& an always-smiling, healthy baby.

12 days of Xmas.

On the 1st day of Christmas, Brooke Mary gave to me...

...an always-smiling, healthy baby.

Santa? No thanks.

Oh Santa, Santa, Santa... Brooke wants nothing to do with you, my friend. Nothing. Like please don't come within 50 feet of her. If she were old enough, she might just file a restraining order against you. If you would shave your beard and mustache you might have a chance with her. And I say might because you're still wearing a goofy outfit and have an oddly deep voice. Don't get me wrong, she loves cartoon-you. Pictures of you, drawings of you, stuffed little versions of you - she adores those. She even says "Ho" if you ask her what Santa says (just one "Ho", not 3.) But real-life you? A big fat No Thanks!

We had breakfast with Santa this morning. Clearly, it did not go well. Not at all surprising. In fact, before the husband even had a chance to give Brooke to Santa, I warned him that she would be a screamer. It wasn't 2 full seconds after being placed on his lap that she lost it. Just giant sobs. After I snapped a few of the obligatory photos, I passed off the camera and attempted to console my sad little lady. Santa tried to bribe her with a present in exchange for fewer tears, but it didn't work. She was all "Screw the present, Mom. Get me outta here!" Oh well, it was hilarious from start to finish & we now have the 1st Visit with Santa photo to show all her friends when she's 12 :)

After traumatizing her with a visit with Santa, she got to share a donut with Mommy. So all was forgiven. Oh and she got to open her present. (She opened the present one tiny piece of wrapping paper at a time. Christmas morning is going to take FOREVER!) We were the best parents ever at that point - definitely forgiven!

Troublemaker.

With a capital "T".

Did you know that when you pull one out another one magically appears? Silly me for leaving the Container of Fun in the middle of the floor for little monsters in footed jammies to find. I got to play a fun game of 52 Wipe Pick-up. The best part is that she made two piles, one next to her and one behind her, as if she were weeding out the defective ones for us. What a little helper she is! So not kidding about giving her an empty wipes container for Christmas...

Jolly Ol' St. Nick.

Happy St. Nick's Day! Brooke's 1st St. Nick's Day, to be exact. If you're like the husband, you don't even know what this day entails, as you've never celebrated it. The outrage! It's been a family tradition of mine as long as I can remember to celebrate this lovely holiday. I grew up leaving my shoe by the fireplace for St. Nick, and our kids will, too.

Because the husband has never experienced St. Nick's night, his shoe was left out last night with Brooke's. It's hilarious to me to see his big shoe next to hers. (And, yes, that is an orange in his shoe and just a clementine in hers. I thought I was so clever when I came up with that.) In addition to the nuts, oranges, and candy, St. Nick always left us a new Christmas book and/or movie. So, he continued the tradition with my little family, leaving a new Elmo book for the Big Lady and Daddy's favorite Christmas movie. And just for fun, he also left Daddy's (& Mommy's, who am I kidding?) favorite Christmas cookies. Yep, the cheap shortbread ones from Kroger. $1.00 worth of heaven, kids.

Brooke-o loved her goodies from St. Nick! The Elmo book was a hit; she loved all the little pictures inside. And, it's made of cloth, so she won't swallow cardboard when she eats it - bonus!

And then she found the Dum-Dums. When I wasn't looking. And opened one. All by herself. And decided that right before lunch would be the perfect time to eat it. She was sooo proud of herself. She was laughing hysterically, in between licks. And so was Mommy, in between taking pictures. What a goofball.