I have been having so much fun with AJ the last few days. He is so incredibly excited about Christmas, that it�s impossible not to get caught up in it with him. Each day he does something so cute that it makes my heart ache. On Thursday after school, his friend M. walked home with us and The Girl Next Door was waiting in our driveway when we arrived. I took the three of them inside, made them cookies and hot chocolate, and listened to them sing �Jingle Bells� and �Santa Claus is Coming to Town.� Yesterday he was about to explode for not being able to tell us about the presents he got for us at the Santa shopping day at his school (parents provide money and kids can shop and get gifts wrapped at school with the help of their teachers and parent volunteers), so I let him tell me about what he picked out for his dad. Then he was all excited that we had a secret together.

Today we spent the day at my mother-in-law�s. My sister-in-law brought AJ a Veggie Tales Christmas CD. I was very anti Veggie Tales for a long time, a knee-jerk reaction to Christian propaganda. But then I saw a few and they�re actually pretty hilarious � the one that spoof The Mikado is absolutely brilliant. This one was not as good, but okay. But my attention waned and I went in the kitchen to help my mother-in-law with the dishes. A few minutes later, AJ came running in. �Mommy!� he said with awe and amazement, �The movie said Baby Jesus is the Son of God!�

When we came home, a package was sitting on the front porch. AJ started jumping up and down in his car seat. �I wonder who it�s from. Who do you think it�s for? Do you think it�s for all of us?� Fortunately, it was for all of us. It was a box from my parents. I pulled out each wrapped package and handed it to AJ. He fingered each one, read the label aloud and put it under the tree. At the bottom of the package were a few things for him right now. First we took out a small New Mexico state flag, picked up while they were on vacation this fall. AJ waved it triumphantly. Second, a small tin ornament of Kokopelli dressed as Santa. AJ hung it on the tree. Finally, we pulled out a sleek silver calculator embossed with the name and address of my father�s dentist. AJ was most excited about this. He is sleeping with it right now. It was too precious to part with for even a few hours.

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