Our Christmas elf showed up one evening last week while the girls were taking a bath. I sent Ella downstairs afterward to get something for me and she spotted him sitting in our Christmas tree. She called upstairs, "Mom...what is this thing down here? It's got a red outfit, brown hair, and a face that looks like mine?"
I just realized that last year we called our elf Bert, but this time around we've been calling him Buddy and I think it suits him better. Ella loves searching the house to see where Buddy has landed each morning as soon as she wakes up. Even Claire is enjoying our little friend, pointing to him repeatedly throughout the day, laughing, and saying "Buuuu-ddy!" Ella is vigilant about making sure nobody ever touches him so that he doesn't lose his magic, but unfortunately doesn't seem too phased by the fact that he reports on her behavior to Santa each night.