One of my favorite parts of Christmas is the advent calendar. We had one growing up that had little pockets for each day, which my mom filled with candy. We kids took turns with the candy. When the pockets were empty, it was Christmas!

This year we have two advent calendars. The first is this classy number from the National Gallery. There’s a window for each day that reveals some artistic depiction of the annunciation of Mary.

The second one looks basically like this; it has little cloth figures that Velcro onto the background and make a manger scene. C especially enjoys it.

Time is relative. As a child we couldn’t empty those candy pockets fast enough for Christmas to come. By contrast, tonight I can’t believe there is just one last window to open, and only the Christ child sits in his pocket, waiting to be tucked into the manger.

I am told that if I don’t write things down about this time in C’s life, that I will forget. This seems ridiculous to me, out of the question; how could I forget? Yet the people who say so have been there, so I believe them, so… here are some random images from the last couple of weeks, advent-calendar style. Each is a little window into she-who-is. Each is a little piece that makes up a larger picture.

Image 1. We took C to see the “miracle of lights” display at a local state park, tucked into the van, hot chocolate in hand (warm chocolate for her). This elicited a dreamy “Yay! Bubble!” from her as we exited the park. (Read here for more about Bubble.)

Image 2. The tower she built (and rebuilt, and built yet again) out of the holiday tins that sit on our coffee table.

Image 3. Her first candy cane. “Can-ka canes.” Sticky goodness. She’s learning how to wipe her hands on a napkin or bib, but in the meantime, she uses her hair. I think the Can-ka cane preceded bathtime.

Image 4. An aborted visit with St. Nick, who seemed to have a spring on his lap, so quickly did she recoil from him, an abject rejection of the whole ritual.

Image 5. Random observation while driving around looking at lights: “How-ah top a’tee!”
Translation: A star is on top of the tree!
Translation of the translation: “How-ah” is star, as in “twinkle twinkle little star, how-ah wonder what you are.”

Image 6. She has started imitating me when I call to my husband upstairs. She’s got the loud singsong down perfect, and it’s hilarious to hear her call him by his first name rather than Daddy. Our laughing at her only eggs her on. (Not Christmas related, but worth remembering.)

Image 7. Snowflakes… which she started out pronouncing “fo-fakes,” or my preferred spelling, “faux-fakes,” which seems apt—snowflakes do seem too good to be true, don’t they? These beautiful improbable things. They can’t be real, yet they are, and we had our first flurry a few nights ago.

Image 8. There’s a song by the Bobs called “Helmet” that says, “I’ve got my helmet on, nothing will do me wrong.” This was written for our child, who puts on an old Astros batting helmet that one of her parents got at Helmet Day at the Astros game too many years ago. The “bay-baw hat” is an important component to many games.

Image 9. C’s Christmas caroling: She requests the John Denver Christmas CD by asking for the “tih-tar.” Her grandparents taught her “Jingle Bells,” featuring “laughing all the way, HA HA HA.” Frosty the Snowman is king.

Image 10. The Christmas card photo. After several attempts at posed shots and natural-light shots that resulted in a blond blur, R just snapped the photo—C in front of the tree, smiling like an angel.

Image 11…

Image 12…

There’s room for two more, and that will round out the twelve days of Christmas. Appropriate, a Christmas calendar rather than an Advent one. Advent is about waiting, but that’s not right, because she is here, love-made-flesh and dwelling among us, full of grace and truth.

Peace, love and happiness to all.


*John 1:14 – “And the Word became flesh and lived among us, full of grace and truth.”