The Greatest Christmas Gift of 2007 for Mommy

Tyler, a one year old explorer, is curious about the new 'thing' in the corner of the living room. He has seen it before... but always outside. Mommy keeps calling it a tree, so that must be what it is... but why is it here and why is he not allowed to play with it?

The next morning, that tree-thing looks entirely different. There are bright, flashy balls, shiny strings just within reach and poofy things.... and lights! The whole living room is lit up. Underneath, there are a lot of those boxes wrapped in crinkly toys that Tyler just experienced a month ago (followed by a song and cake!) and he knows that that paper is okay to play with.

Still, no luck. Everytime Tyler tries to sneak over to the tree, somebody catches him. It is frustrating, but Tyler is persistent. Finally, Mommy pulls Tyler into his room, sits down on the floor, and rolls a ball to Tyler. This is Tyler's favorite game. It involves grabbing the ball, and trying to throw it back. However, the ball always rolls away, and if it doesn't roll to Mommy then the dog gets the ball and then the dog gets yelled at. It's a lot of fun, but Tyler is still half focused on playing with that crinkly paper under the lit up tree-thing.

Tyler goes to sleep that night, planning something big to distract Mommy's attention. The next morning, Tyler does not want to eat his toast yet. There is something else he wants to do. Mommy sets him down on the floor again, and he crawls to the table to pull himself up into position. Mommy sees this, but this has become a normal thing for Tyler to do. He has practiced moving himself around by holding onto the table, the couch, the wall... but this time he turns around and puts his arms out in front of him. Mommy sees this and falls to the floor, putting her arms out as well.

Balancing himself carefully, Tyler takes one nervous step after another. Halfway to Mommy, he gets excited and falls on his butt. By now, Tyler has forgotten all about the tree and the noisy paper. The look on Mom's face was a look he'd never seen before. Frustrated, Tyler has to crawl back to the table to get into position. He turns, finds his balance and carefully takes one step after another. Once again, he is so excited that he falls, right on his butt. Tyler begins to cry, but Mommy crawls over and picks him up in her arms. He is happy now, and he wants to try again.

This time, Mommy sits closer to him. She holds her arms much closer. Tyler takes 4 careful steps and falls into a hug with Mommy, which is a wonderful feeling. He wants to do it again, but Mommy sits him in his chair and gives him his toast, which is good. When he is done eating, Daddy and Sissy are in the living room too.

Mommy makes Daddy shut off the TV and Sissy sit on the table. Mommy sits down with Tyler in her lap, kisses his cheek and whispers in his ear, then puts him on his feet. Tyler knows what she wants him to do, and he is excited about it all over again. She holds him until he is balanced, then lets go. He stands for a minute, wobbles a bit trying to remember how to do it, then falls right back into her lap. He is frustrated all over again, but this time Mommy stands him up and lets him hold her finger. It's easier to make those steps when he is holding on to Mommy's finger, so he heads over to Sissy. He is almost there when Mommy lets him go.

Tyler stops, waves his arms around trying to find something to hold on to but does not fall. With a big smile, he rushes over to Sissy, nearly tripping over his own feet and falls into Sissy's arms. Everybody is clapping their hands, so Tyler does the same. From Sissy's lap, he stumbles over to Daddy for a hug, then back to Mommy, then Daddy, then Sissy... and by the end of the day he is feeling very comfortable walking, though he still prefers crawling.

Tyler is very proud of himself when he goes to bed that night. The next morning, he is ready to walk some more before breakfast. This time, however, he is walking from Daddy's hand to Mommy who is sitting by the bright and sparkly tree thing, holding a box with noisy paper for him to play with!