Yesterday we decked the halls and trimmed the tree and loved seeing Gwendolyn so excited. At four, Miss G definitely understands the concept and she cannot wait for Christmas day. She is very serious about it all and it is so darling. She listens intently to everything and you can see her little mind working and processing it all in a new more mature way than in years past. She is really thinking about her Santa letter — she hasn't been ready to write it yet — these are serious decisions after all. And she furrows her brow with determination when we talk about giving gifts to others, so proud as she helps wrap and tie bows.
We started the tree trimming yesterday morning by helping to decorate Little Star's tree at the stable and bringing him his gift. Gwendolyn held onto Little Star's present the entire drive there and couldn't wait to give it to him — an ornament that is a cameo of him. He nickered lovingly and I think was quite pleased with her acknowledgement of his good looks. 
It was a gorgeous day and Gwendolyn put Christmas bell bows in his mane and Diane added a little one to his tail — he looked extra fancy and jingle jangled as Gwendolyn walked him around to the stalls to show him off to the big guys. It simply melts me when Little Star stops to nuzzle up to Gwendolyn's hand or cheek, so gentle and affectionate. And Gwendolyn adores every special snuggle, always looking up at me afterward with an expression that says, Did you see that? He loves me.
Yep, total melt.
For the first time Gwendolyn picked out our tree. We always include her and ask which one she wants, but this time she made us stop and notice a certain tree that wasn't even on our radar. We were strolling through the tree lot and chatting about what makes a good tree (not too tall, not too short, not too bushy, not too thin) when Gwendolyn let out a big GUH! otherwise known as: Hold the phone, I found the best tree ever! And she did. It fit all our perfect tree tips and she was so very proud of her tree-selecting self.
Every year we start the decorating by first decorating Gwendolyn in the lights. Bill wraps them all around her and this year she started giggling before we even turned them on. She likes to turn them on and off, on and off, and we love seeing her smile and hearing her excitement. It made me remember this sound she made while tree decorating one year:
When it comes to decorating, Gwendolyn is always in charge. She gives Daddy the go-ahead on his light placement skills and she picks every ornament and its appropriate place. It's actually turned into a really sentimental process because we talk about who gave us the ornament or what year it is from, she inspects each one, and then directs where on the tree it should go. In fact this year she was excited to help with all the decorating and made sounds we've never heard when the stockings came out — she was very specific that her stocking go in the middle. She was a little puzzled by my “Fa La La” banner until we started singing the song and then she gave the okay The final step was putting the star on the top of the tree and Gwendolyn gave a big Ahhhhh of approval.
It feels great having the house so festive and seeing the wonderment through Gwendolyn's eyes. I think we will work on her Santa letter this week and continue talking about what this season means since we have a serious student taking notes.