Christmas Eve

As our neighbor put it, Julia had her first "cognizant" Christmas Eve today. She got the hang of joy-through-acquisition immediately. With Mom's help, she tore into Present #1, a baby doll, and loved it. But the second we asked, "Do you want to open another present?" she was off to the next package in the pile. "Ope? Ope? Ope?" she'd ask, after dispatching one package (pants, a cool toy house, etc.) and reaching for the next. She actually handled the end of the line pretty well, though on her way to bed she did have to ask "Ope?" a few more times. Luckily, a non-denominationally altruistic elf is presently ensuring that she'll have a few more things to ope in the morning.