Shall We Dance?

When Anja came into the world, time stilled itself for a moment. Christmas and New Years and all that comes with the holidays kept a watchful distance while Daddy & I studied her features. Neither email nor phone calls, nor office, nor the hustley-bustley city could squeeze themselves between she and I, if only for a few months.

This holiday season was anything but quiet. Some of it organic, sharing quality time with family, but otherwise pure Christmas machinery, cranked up just for the little one. We had a real Christmas. Anja was thrilled with her tea set and fire truck, her pink piggy bank and bat&ball set.

When our neighbors left on holiday in mid December, they gave us their perfect Christmas tree. It was the first time I've had a tree in my house since I was a child. A tree in my house, I kept thinking. I have a tree. In my house. Very Pagan - celebrating a thriving green tree during the shortest days of winter - promise of a fertile future. So how odd to cut and drag the tree indoors... Nonetheless it smelled so sweet. At night when everyone had gone to bed, with the house dark except for the shimmering colored tree lights, it was magical. Weeks later when the crispy tree was ready to be taken outside, I carefully pried the ornaments from its branches one by one. "No!" Anja cried, "Don't take my Christmas!"

The 3's arrived almost overnight. Anja's legs have shed the tootsie-roll look. Chipmunk cheeks nearly gone. She isn't shy about telling me that "dinner is funky" or to be careful not to bump into her [imaginary] cousins Jake & Bajo, both 3 years old. She means to hold up 3 fingers, but rather, shows you the sign language symbol for 'I love you'. Often mistaken for identifying herself as a MetalHead. That's alright. The finger business is a lot harder than it looks, you know. As Anja grows, so does her love of expressing herself. For us there is nothing as joyful as watching her.

Top: Anja at the beach Christmas day, Middle: Auntie Diana gets a snuggle, Above: (clockwise) Cousin Riley-Roo, Uncle Brian, Auntie Shawneen, Birthday Girl & Devyn