Sew Laura, Sew!

Laura and I celebrated Christmas this year in California, with our families. It was a wonderful trip, one that I should probably write about, but at a later date. Right now I wanted to share pictures of Laura with one of her new toys.
One day, well before her birthday, Laura and I were at Joann's where she spotted a sewing machine "just for little girls!" It was small, partly pink, and extremely cheap looking, and she just had to have it. It cost a mere $24 and I could have bought it for her right then and there, but she told me that she was going to put it on her birthday list. I was all for that plan, thinking that delayed gratification was something good for her to learn about. I went back later, under cover of darkness, and snatched it right up. I hid it in the garage and completely forgot about it. Seriously. In fact I so totally forgot about it that a few weeks after her birthday, when Laura saw a bag in the garage and asked me what was in it, I had to open the bag to find out (and then quickly snap the bag closed while squeaking out "nothing!" to my very curious daughter).

In the end, the sewing machine was under the tree as a gift from Santa. Laura opened it and was thrilled and told me later that it was just what she always wanted. We finally took it out of the box a few days ago, put in the necessary batteries, and fired it up. She has to use her hand to work the pedal since her legs aren't long enough, and it is loud and I'm fairly certain it will break any day now, but she loves it. Loves it. And I love seeing how happy she is, and that she, the wild and crazy child who jumped three feet in the air today over the mention of a juice box, can sit calmly and sew. She has big plans for a blanket for her babies, but right now is content to just sew in a straight line on the fabric that Santa also provided. Her complete and utter satisfaction with her new toy, along with the shock and surprise of getting just what she wanted was pretty much the best part of my Christmas this year. How DID Santa know to get it for her?

This is my favorite picture. Look how serious she is!