The tale of a toddler and a tree...oh my!

As many of you may know, I was extremely leery of putting up the Keimig family Christmas tree this year.  Before you go considering me a Christmas grinch, please hear out my reasons...
1. We are out of town for the majority of the "holiday" in Minnesota.
2. We often return to Iowa after the "holiday" exhausted, desparate for our usual routines and very much ready to move on from the "holiday."
3. (and probably the most motivating)We now have a very mobile, very curious toddler in our house and I envisioned spending my days redirecting him from the decorations, lights, and pulling the tree onto himself altogether.

I talked to everyone who would listen to me on this topic, "Should I or shouldn't I," "What did you do when you had small children,"etc hoping desperately someone would tell me NOT to put the tree up.  Fortunately I never got the answer I was looking for, and in an effort to welcome some of that holiday spirit into our house, I gave into my internal battle and decided to put up the tree.  We did not go all out, only picking several of our favorite and most meaningful ornaments on the top of the tree (out of Vinnie reach) and the soft and durable ornaments (Vinnie proof) ornaments on the bottom.

So far, Vinnie has been great...much better than I expected!  He will obsess over it each night when we first plug it in, perhaps because the lights draw it to his attention, and occasionally wanders over in pursuit of Darby, but is distracted by an ornament.  I have not been constantly policing it, or pulling him out of piles of branches an needles, as was my worst fear.

So, for what it is worth, I am glad we did it.  If nothing else, we are exposing Vinnie to the tree to make next year and the next all the easier.  The holidays are a time of traditions in my family, and one of the best parts of being a parent is sharing those traditions with my child and even making some new traditions together.  Despite the potential annoyance to ME, it was ultimately important to me to begin sharing the special parts of the holidays with Vinnie.

Below are some of my favorite pictures from our night of tree assembly and decorating...enjoy!