One small Christmas Tree, just for Elem

Since this is the first Christmas Elem has actually been able to understand and seem to enjoy, I really wanted to start putting into place some fun and memorable family traditions! So first one this year, Elem and I went shopping for one small Christmas tree, just for him. We bought a 3 ft green tree from good ole Target and then headed to the ornament section. I also wanted him to have the chance to pick out his own ornaments for his tree. And then every year we will only decorate his small tree with his own ornaments he has picked out. I have a feeling it will be very...unique. Once he realized what he was supposed to be picking, he really got into it. Currently Elem is on a huge "ball" fix and he is obsessed and loves every kind of ball you can find. That being said, all the ornaments that were round, were called balls and he loved them all. Really really loved them. So I kinda of steered him towards the shatter proof ones and then let him choose away. And I am happy to say, my son has some great taste. He chose these awesome red ball ones that had jungle bells inside. And then he also chose these tiny bright colored and striped balls too. He would have chosen every ball/round ornament in the store if I would have let him, but then I started showing him all the other cool ones. He was pretty interested, and we got some great finds!

We headed home, and later that week Seth, Elem and I all set up and decorated his tree in his room, at the foot of his bed. We went ahead and pulled the balls out first, since they seemed to be the biggest hit. Of course he spent time playing with them, jingling them, throwing them, and even playing on his little basketball goal with them....

he DID eventually get the idea, and actually did a great job! He was so determined to get one up on the tree, and in the end he hung a couple with a little assistance from me. Just look at that determination. (And might I add, take a look at the balls he chose-very stylish and cute if I do say so myself.


We had so much fun, although it was short lived. Elem was only interested in decorating the tree for about 15 minutes-but her at least we all did it together! And a memory is a memory-and this one is a great one. Here we are all decorating away-trying to help Elem hang them "all by himself".
With mommy-

With daddy-


Lets take a few minutes to honor appreciation to the ornaments of his choice. (19 month old choices mind you)
The dinosaur-which I am not at all stunned by-due to the overwhelming love for Barney around my house these days-this little fellow fits right in! And not to mention when elem was choosing him, he was making growling sounds and saying, "raaahhh" over and over. Him likey the dino.

the snowmen, and the deadly ice cycle. At least thats what I call it. The snow men, are lets just say, very very "cute", haha. Nothing I would have chosen for the tree, but he likes snowmen what can I say. Now the ice cycle, I think he chose because it looks like a bat. He is loving bats around the house these days, so thats all I can figure. But this thing is HUGE, and pointy, and nothing I would have chosen for a "kid friendly" ornament, but he picked it out, so I went with it.

Loving on the snow men. He really likes them, and calls them, "noh mun". He gives them kisses.

Ahhh and the feather. the lone feather makes a nice addition to the tree dont you think? Well Elem loves it! After I attached it, he kept trying to pull it off, dont think he was certain why I stuck it in the tree, but hey once again, he chose it, so on the tree it went!


And the final outcome-one lovely small Christmas Tree, just for him (Home Alone anyone? anyone?)

He really does love the tree, and every morning when he gets up he says, "light on?", and "hi tree". He is totally digging the Christmas tree idea, and loves even more to mess with it. Although he is doing great with it, and only takes the balls off of it about once every couple of days, he does like to take the plug in for the lights and plug it into the wall. So I know its not safe and all, but I catch him doing it all the time! And he is actually pretty good at it. He crawls right back behind it and next to the bed and just plugs it right in. I am so excited about this tradition, and am so happy he loves the Christmas Tree! Seth and I am big Christmas people-we love the season, the lights, the music, all of it! So hopefully Elem will enjoy it just as much as we do!