They Shouted Out With Glee

La Luz's first school Christmas party was this morning. I decided to take the day off because I was worried that I would get stuck at the office and be late, as usual. I loved every minute of my day off with La Luz and even managed to be a bit productive while she napped. It worked out perfectly that I took the day off because there was no after care at La Luz's school and Christian has been busy all day grading his exams.

The Christmas party was totally entertaining. I had no real expectations going into it, assuming that there isn't much you can do with toddlers. The girls came out of their classrooms wearing reindeer shirts made out of their hand and footprints and headband antlers. The reactions as they left their classrooms and discovered that there parents were waiting for them in the entry hall to celebrate were hilarious. Some of the girls did the obvious screaming and jumping. Others scanned the crowd, craning their necks with looks of anxiety as they searched for familiar faces, and some saw their parents' faces in the crowd and immediately flipped out and started bawling uncontrollably until their mom or dad rescued them. La Luz was one of the few kids who was just generally excited at the idea of a party, at school, with parents, and, most importantly, presents and unrestricted cheetos and sugar.

After a very disorganized photo session wherein all of the girls were lined up and asked (bribed) to stay in place, the kids made it through one round of Jingle Bells (which, incidentally, never sounds better than when sung by a 2 and 1/2 year old) and then dispersed to run around the hallways and eat Christmas candy. Santa made a guest appearance but La Luz would not sit on his lap. I hoped that she would feel courageous after watching her friends sit on his lap but that did not work. She made sure, however, to get Christian to hold her and walk within shouting distance of him. She yelled from about three feet away, "Santa, may I please have an orange car? Thanks".

Most of the pictures have her classmates in them. This might be the only one I have just of her: