This time, last year, was a time of anticipation and anxiety.  The baby was due in Feb, and we didn’t know what it would be like to be “parents”.  But it’s been a year since then, and the not-yet-born is now a 10-month-old.  And she is revelling in her first experience of Christmas.

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire
Jack Frost nipping at your nose
Yule-tide carols being sung by a choir
And folks dressed up like Eskimos

Last night, we decorated the house with a Christmas tree, stockings and twinkling lights.  When Pumpkin woke up for her midnight feed, she was so taken-in by the transformation of her familiar surroundings that she simply stood in the room (yes, she can stand now!) with her mouth open… for 10 minutes!  And then she just broke into a smile.  And would not stop smiling for a long time after that.

Have yourself a merry little Christmas.
Let your heart be light,
From now on our troubles
Will be out of sight.

From her point of view, it must have seemed like the sensory equivalent of a triple sundae, don’t you think?  It must be such a fantastic feeling to discover something new and wonderful for the first time! 

And so I’m offering this simple phrase
To kids from one to ninety-two
Although it’s been said many times,
many ways Merry Christmas to you.

We are just getting ready to leave for the traditional Christmas Lunch at my in-laws’.  Later today, we will take Pumpkin to meet Santa Claus at the local mall… 

This weekend is going to be a merry one!