It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Aaron and I are really excited about Christmas this year, because Maisie is finally old enough to start understanding what's going on. She's not quite there yet, but she got the hang of birthdays really quickly, so I think she'll catch on fast.

She loves to see the beautiful lights outside when we're driving, and was thrilled when we said we could have actual lights! on a tree! in our house!!

She had a lot of fun helping us decorate the tree, and trying to keep the cats from knocking down the low-hanging ornaments that she put on. She didn't really understand that our Christmas stockings are decorative, not functional, but she'll figure that one out soon enough!

She also got to have her first encounter of the year with Santa! She, Dylan, my friend Brian and I went to the zoo, where we were surprised to see Santa. Dylan didn't want to say hi, but Maisie was intrigued by the gifts he was offering.

She was not interested in hanging around so I could get a picture, though! Oh well, thanks Santa for trying.