At first, I did not have a tree because of her, but then decided to anyway.
She didn't climb it, but she did explore everything as I decorated. She walked across the flap of an open box and sank inside, startled that it wasn't solid enough to hold her. She dove into the garland that dragged on the floor as I was winding it around the tree and got tangled up in it. Then she started flipping ornaments out of their boxes and chasing them around the floor.
I decided to give her one to play with that she couldn't break. It was a small metal bell with a tiny clapper inside. As she walked off with it, the clapper struck the bell with each step she took. She was totally enchanted with the effect. While I finished the tree, Ember pranced around with the bell in her mouth, shaking it to make it ring. It was so damned adorable that putting up the tree just to see that was well worth it.
She was pretty good about leaving the tree alone that year, and only occasionally swiped at ornaments on lower branches. But when I was taking it down, she decided to get in on the action. It was like she thought, "Wow. It IS ok to knock them down. Mom plays that game, too." She climbed inside the tree and started pushing one ornament after another off the branches and onto the floor. Her facial expression was sheer joy at sharing her game with me and she looked proud of her accomplishments. Just as I reached for an ornament, her face would pop up in front of mine from inside the tree and then "Whoosh!" Down went the ornament that I was reaching for. Had to give her the bell again.
Now she is sneakier about swatting the tree. She curls up under it and when I look at her she is all innocence. "Hey, I'm just napping under this lovely tree." But when I walk away I hear a soft "plunk" as an ornament lands on the carpet. She doesn't do it often, fortunately, but sometimes she just can't resist the temptation.
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