Presents, Hairbows and Helping

I'm afraid of presents. Last year, I was excited to get Nora a Christmas gift and a birthday gift. I hid them both in plain sight and she never noticed. She wasn't quite one yet.

This year is different. Nora knows somehow what a present is. She knows how to spot things I'm hiding from a mile away. She knows who Santa is (she said "Santa. Ho, Ho, Ho" to the bearded butcher in Central Market tonight. He wasn't so thrilled). She has already gotten a few presents for Christmas and her birthday, which are woefully close together. Last night, after she opened two gifts she asked for more. That's when I got scared. I think maybe I should just call off her birthday until she knows better. Too many presents. Too overwhelming. Too much stuff. Ugh.

But enough about presents - on to hairbows. I have been agonizing about Nora's hair for a month now. Do I cut it? Should she have bangs? Does it look too much like a mullet? And for all my thinking about it, nothing has happened. She still has wispy wavy hair that goes into her face too often. But she is so close to not having bangs, to being able to tuck it behind her ear. She refuses to wear anything in her hair. She likes to say "hairbow" but that is about it. But somehow, Miss Laura conned her into wearing a Pebbles-looking hairstyle today for her Christmas party. And when we got home I somehow conned her into a ponytail. And when I looked at her with the hairbow in - especially the ponytail - I couldn't deny it anymore. My baby is a little girl. She looked so big and grown up with her hair all "done." Maybe that is why I haven't cut her hair. Maybe I am already - at 23 months - trying to keep Nora as my little baby.

And helping. Nora is such a helper. She loads the dishwasher, turns on her nebulizer, brings her dishes to the sink. She cleans her books and shelves with diaper wipes, puts her coat away, turns the Christmas Tree lights on and off. And the other night she even helped Uncle Andrew with his laundry. He was so patient as she took each piece out of the dryer and put it in his basket. Then he handed her each piece from the washer and she put it enthusiastically in the dryer. She loves to help. And most times, when she's done, she'll look at me and say, "Yeah, Nora!"

My little growing helper will get lots of love, attention and presents this Christmas and birthday season. And my best present will be to have time away from work to spend with her.