Christmas is special no matter how you celebrate it, but adding a toddler to the mix adds an extra Ho!Ho!Ho! to it all. Cora Sophia has certainly kept us in stitches this Christmas. Here are some random moments we’ve enjoyed…
Nativity devotional…every night before bed we’ve been reading a story about the different characters who played a significant role in the first Christmas. Cora learned quite a bit about the angel, shepherds, wise men, baby Jesus, Mary, and “Jo-sah”. In an attempt to get Cora to say Jo-seph she replied “Jo-sephia Brown!!!”
Christmas programs…In her day care program, Cora’s class was singing Jingle Bells and Angels Watching Over Me. For a little girl who loves to sing all the time and in tune, we were quite surprised when her class took the stage with bells in hand and all she did was keep her mouth shut until the end of the song when she decided to whop her neighbor upside the head with her bell(yes, it was on purpose.)…Her church Christmas program went a little smoother. We practiced and practiced Away in a Manger and cora was quite good at it. The morning of the program, she walked on stage in her angel costume and stood quietly, waiting to start the song. She studied the audience and spotted the pastor’s wife. “HI KERI!” she yelled and waved. She continued eyeing the congregation and her eyes caught on the sound booth in the balcony “Hi Daddy! HI DADDY!” Then the piano began the intro to their song. Cora pointed in the direction of the piano and told the teen behind her “It’s Away in a manger!” The toddlers began singing, all except Cora. She looked around and then began “Away in a manger…” looked around some more as the other children continued singing, and then started again “Away in a manger”….giggling ensued from those seated and Cora recognized her audience. Three more times she started the song until the wee choir stopped singing. The program was a success, even if Jesus slept in five different mangers.
Read My Bible Daddy…I wish I’d been present for this moment…the evening of my star performance as one of the supremes, Geron and Cora had a daddy daughter date. They went out for Tahtoes(tacos) and played at home. At bedtime Cora asked Geron for her Bible. He handed it to her, she opened it and questioned Geron “Read me my Bible, Daddy”, handing it to him, opened. Geron looked down, and saw she’d opened to Luke 2, the Christmas story. Of course he read it to her!
As for presents, Cora has had PLENTY to open and has opened Cohen’s, too. She’d been dying to open the gifts sitting under our tree and I discovered that she had torn into one. I reprimanded her for it and she left the gifts alone after that. The night we went over to some friends’ house for dinner, they gave Cora a present. “Thant you, Amanda! Thant you!” she delighted as she hugged the gift Amanda had just handed her. Geron leaned down and said “Sweetheart, you can open that.” Expecting chaos, I watched as tiny scrap after scrap was torn away from the wrapped package. And I began kicking myself for being a stickler for wrapping paper instead of bags. Next year, next year.
Having a little one at Christmas certainly adds much cheer to every gathering. Watching them race through the house chasing the bigger kids and sticking their tiny finger in the icing on the cake at the edge of the dessert table every time they pass by, to exclaiming “It’s Strobbycake!!!”at the site of their new Strawberry Shortcake coloring book, to baking cookies for santa claus and trying to sneak an extra cookie off the tray , to “Read me my Bible, Daddy”, Christmas is extra special when you celebrate it with a child.
