This Is How We Come Full Circle

It wouldn't take much to convince me that it's September and that whole thing about Christmas 2015 already happening was just a dream. That weird thing where time passes faster and faster as you get older has never been so true as it has been this year. Or maybe it's that life moves faster when it's full?

Regardless, Christmas came and went in a blink. A very fast, very lovely blink. Even thought it's September in my head.

The little imp that we call Mila enjoyed Christmas this year in a way that she didn't when she was just a few months old. She started out slow, begging to "go to sleep" instead of opening gifts the first night, but then she figured out that there are treasures to be found beneath all of that useless paper. Practice makes perfect, and by the time she unwrapped the last of her gifts on the fourth round of gift exchanges, she was an expert. "Open!" she proclaimed as she demanded that anyone who was near enough commit to the first tear so she could finish the job.

She hasn't actually stopped yet. There are gifts for people who are not her still beneath our tree. They're making her crazy because COME ON PEOPLE, OPEN THESE. THERE COULD BE CANDY IN THERE!

She's going to be super disappointed when I give in and she finds the box of mens underwear that are meant for the husband. They're not candy underwear either. Because that would be weird. But maybe not as weird as being a 18 month-old girl opening a gift and finding mens underwear.

ANYWAY.

This will forever be the Christmas when Mila discovered that unwrapping gifts is super duper fun. It will also be forever known as the Christmas when she decided that baby dolls are OMG SO AMAZING. All of that careful planning and wish listing and sending of ideas and it all came down to a doll that wasn't on any of her lists. A DOLL. The child who is drawn to cars and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles took a left turn at cliche-ville and found herself in love with a baby that is nearly as big as she is, with a head that's definitely bigger than her own.

A DOLL.

That silly doll has been drug everywhere for the past two days, which is just fine since it's basically the most adorable thing ever. 

Now I just need to convince her that a creepy doll would be even more fun than the one that she already has. I'm thinking this one would be perfect.