Aloha Two!

Another day (or two) in paradise. We have had a great stretch of weather so far - 80ish with sun and then hazy afternoons just when you think maybe you should be heading inside to get out of the sun. T. is loving the beach and sand and ocean and pool - quite the water baby our girl. She and Scott play together all day, except when she's being mad about trying for a nap. Happily she remains happy, even being underslept. I guess she figures there will be lots of rainy days for sleeping when we get home. Clever girl.

And one last video. Of her pining for her grandmother. All she talks about really... 'Where's Grandma?' All damned day.

Aloha!

I won't bore you with VacationLand stories, but suffice to say we are all here in one piece and enjoying hot sun and good friends. Love it! T. did well on the plane - not quite as much sleeping as I had hoped, but happy anyway. She's still a bit off on the sleep front but seems to love the holiday lifestyle as much as we do. Especially with all the fun attention and people everywhere. A few images from the first day of play (1. "that's me! in the window!" 2. this makes it a much better boat when dad drives it 3. T. and Auntie Kathy doing a tour).

Why We Should Babyproof

The photo is a bit underexposed, saying a bit more about the dark, seedy underbelly that is home for young Talia Grace. This photo will probably be used in her tell-all book about being underloved from her very beginnings. Is it bad that I still haven't moved the booze off the shelf though? I keep thinking I'll have new shelving to store it in one of these days, so why bother moving it now?? Poor thing. What will I do if she figures out how to unscrew the tops?

Happily, this photo also means that we are back home after our 2 weeks at Grandma & Poppa's. It was a nice time with them and I think T. is now wondering where all the people are. Good news - in 3 sleeps we'll be with lots of people again when we get to Hawaii with Terry and Chelsea. Jan Q. will be there and of course, our wonderful hosts Pete & Kathy will be there too. Our little extrovert will be in her element!

Scott is finishing up the bathroom and had a helper this week:


The bathroom looks fabulous I think. Well worth the exile. Cute Talia though is a bit dad-crazy after all the separation and wouldn't leave Scott alone while he worked. Would whine any time I moved her away. It was too cute and I do love their sweet little world.

There is probably lots more to write but I'm up to my eyeballs in laundry, so this will have to do for now. More later, unless I'm too busy getting a sunburn on the beach...

A.

Holding Patterns

Waiting is hard work. It is taxing and tiring and just plain beats the sh*t out of me. I am bundles of nervous energy, bouncing around our life with no direction, no purpose, no focus - just boing, boing, boing all day and unfortunately, all night. My daughter finally starts sleeping through the night more than once a week and I am now up for hours at a time. Oh the injustice.

This process of waiting for the work situation to be resolved is arduous to be sure, but feels necessary too, which makes it a bit more possible. I have good friends who are taking my "side" and who can laugh with me through this anguish and I have good resources who are being generous with their guidance and support. I'm not sure if I needed more proof that God provides, but just in case, here it is.

In the meantime, Talia is just being more and more of herself. This week was a busy one - the nursery and the SuperBowl on Sunday, Belated Robbie Burns dinner on Monday, Roots of Empathy on Tuesday and a doctor's appointment today to figure out her funny rash, which it seems is actually ecsema (sp??).



My favourite was the Roots of Empathy. We visit with a Grade 3 class at Gleneagles School and the students are encouraged to learn emotional literacy and empathy by watching Talia and engaging with her through play and songs. She totally loves it - I put her on the green blanket and she takes off to go investigate all the new faces and shoelaces. She is delighted by all the new toys but has a special love for Dolly, a life-like babydoll that she will actually lie down and cuddle with. It's a fun first, to watch our daughter in 'public' being herself and just plain loving the self that she is. There is a boy in the class who probably has some behavioural issues and had much of the instructor's attention. He was leaning towards full disruption, but Talia kept crawling towards him, and would sit and stare at him and just seemed to like him. By the end, he was playing peek-a-boo with her and was clearly pleased as punch to have been singled out for her attention. A good reminder that we aren't born with our social filters developed enough to squint at the odd ones in the world.

In this last photo taken yesterday, I got a glimpse of Auntie Katie. I leave you with it - she should be so lucky to have hint o'Katie about her all her life.

Confessions of a Broken Mother

I'm not sure if my mother option is broken. More like I am realizing (again) that I remain a very broken person who now also has to mother and that can be a bit of a bad combination. Unavoidable perhaps but undesirable too.

There is a 'situation' at work that perhaps I will write more about once it is resolved. For now, suffice it to say that any situation triggers my anxiety and this one triggers it times about 17 or so. I don't remember this kind of stomach-churning, obsessive-thinking, disordered anxiety since the Engagement Fiasco of 2002. All by itself, it's an upsetting weakness to live with and I am always surprised to find out that it still lurks so close to the surface.

So anxiety-ridden I am, but now I have this sweet young thing living with me who requires lots of care and attention. I know this. I know that the situation is going to be resolved one way or the other and I know there is not much to be done about it and that life must continue to be lived. I know that life for me right now means loving Talia Grace - feeding her, playing with her, singing with her, keeping an eye on her, teaching her the words to Jimmy Buffet hits. And yet...

And yet, I find myself staring off into space while she crawls around the house playing by herself. I find myself holding her distractedly while I ruminate again on my hard-done-by-ness. No songs, no books, no laughing, no games... just bleak me.

Yuck. Just masses and masses of yuck.

She's only 8 months old and already she has to live with her mother's mental illness, already she pays the price for my brokenness. Somehow, I thought I would be better than this, that I would be able to keep this part of me to myself so that she wouldn't have to have it be something she needs to cope with. But holy hell, I just can't stop. And of course, if someone else was telling me this story, I would giggle at their silly optimism but it's not someone else, it's ME and I know better. I knew this was a possibility and I knew I would be ready for it and I knew that I would NOT expose her to this.

Ha.

In the meantime, she thrives away. She is a total furniture surfer and makes her way around our entire house with ease, climbing up when she can and crawling between holds. She is very persistent (see Karen, it's written down!) when trying to get somewhere or something. Today she was playing (and I use the term loosely) with Sam next door and wanted to check out his ride-on-train. He was less interested in being checked out, and backed away from my crawling daughter who realized what was happening and burst into tears, crawling all the time. Perhaps she thought she would distract him with her tears and get him to stop?? Manipulating the boys already?? It's a possibility I suppose. Mostly it still makes me smirk that she gets so annoyed but I imagine that the cute will eventually wear off and I'll be writing one of these days about her her willfullness bringing me down.

Also fun is her learning names for things. She definitely knows who her monkey is and is happy to give him a shake if asked where Monkey is. She knows certain games and will smile with anticipation when she knows the funny part is coming. She has big smiles for Daddy any time he walks through a door and would spend all day, every day with him if she could. She definitely knows Grandma too and is thrilled to see her time after time. It's fun to see her recognize the people in her life - Uncle Andrew and Auntie Anna are definitely always welcomed and I think probably more people than that, but then it gets hard to differentiate between her knowing people and her just being really social and glad to see any smiling face.

I will stop here. Life at this moment is noted. All will be well. Probably.

Who Will She Be?

I wonder this a lot - who is emerging? Who is she going to be? What will she love to do? How will she live in the world? This is one of the lovely parts of parenting - watching her come into herself. At 7 and a half months, she is still so much a mystery (as I'm sure she will always remain, at least to some extent) but she gives us hints every once in a while.

Like watching her get around, I wonder if she's going to be so physically capable all the time? Is it my own unfulfilled desire for athleticism that is attributing prowess to her young self? She is so good at moving around, but more than that, at solving getting-around problems with her little body. Looking at the available surfaces around her and figuring out how to use them to get to where she wants to go - I think it's amazing.


She also very people-oriented, and seems to love being around faces. Small faces are her favourite but anyone smiling at her will do. She has an easy smile for just about anyone but also has a streak of fickle running through her that is always a surprise and always with surprising people like my dad, or Brian or Terry. Hmm... all men who adore her. Is that a problem?

What else? She is very funny still - you may recall I thought she was funny in utero and darned if she isn't still cracking me up. She gets an impish grin when she thinks she's fooling with me and had great fun psyching out a friend by extending a toy then pulling it away and then laughing and laughing...

She is probably a bit clever too I think. Clever as in, seems to understand that "stop" means... well, stop. She will indeed stop and look over at me and often change paths (like when she's heading for the fireplace, for example). However, she is also clever as in, "I stopped everytime when she was looking at me but now she has turned away so I will quickly climb up the kitchen drawers - she didn't say to stop forever!"

Now of course, I realize that I have yet again exposed my first-time-parentitis, perhaps reading in a tiny bit more into her ways than is reasonable. But I did want to write them down so that I can see how close we are as she emerges more fully over the years ahead.

What is for sure, is that she is lovely, lovely, lovely and everyday we are surprised again that we were given the best one.

Splish Splash

So first time out at the pool - quite fun! Scotty was in charge of the dipping part and I did the changing and the photography.


She was initially a bit clingy with Dad, but mostly because of the noise I think - the pool is quite echo-y. But it didn't take long for her to get into her groove and try out all of her previously-in-the bath-only moves. Lots of kicking and duck-chasing mostly. She also got dunked a few times and seemed none the worse for it. She is clearly her father's daughter, not at all fazed by the change in water temperature going from the family hot tub to the pool and back a couple of times.



She also succeeded in charming the pants off of several old ladies in the dressing room. Well, they may have already been pant-less but she was charming nonetheless.



Now I'm madly looking up 'how to teach your baby to swim' online so that we can be a bit more productive next time out. And hopefully next time out, Mummy will join in the fun too!


And now for the post-swim sleep effect - fingers crossed!

Some Talia Concert For You

I'm not sure if this is really singing per se, but it's what we call singing in our house these days. Adding the percussion was a new trick today. Maybe I'll buy her a tambourine next. Our sweet girl is being a pleasure these last few days and we sure enjoy it!

New Year, New Moves

I think this falls under the category of "Only First-Time Parents" - we just can't help ourselves from seeing what she can do. So of course we're pretending she is learning to walk. Of course we help teach her to climb up every piece of furniture we have. It's just so darned fun to watch.

Also a bit tricky to live with though.

But first, the fun (happy news - I learned how to flip my video so you don't have to look at it all sideways now!):

The outfit makes me laugh, watching it again - poor girl. But it was end of the day, and we had already burned through one pair of matching pants that maybe didn't make her legs look so... less long than her torso. Again, poor girl. I will try to dress her better for future shoots.

In addition to these wobbly steps, we has recently learned to pull herself up on furniture, as modeled here:

I don't know if anyone else can see the hint of evil intent in her eyes, but she definitely is enjoying her new power and the attention it gets her. Mostly because inattention has cost her a blow to the head or two. For the second time in a month, Andrew has come rushing upstairs to make sure his niece is not unconscious after hearing the unmistakable thud of her head hitting the floor. I like to believe this is teaching her balance, but so far no one else is buying it.

Of course, now that she can pull herself up around the house, there is no reason not to do so everywhere, at anytime. Like say for instance, in her crib at bedtime. Last night Mum and Dad were babysitting and I had promised an easy bedtime. However, when we got home, Mum had that "We're such good grandparents" smirk on her face that hints at a story to be told. Indeed, young Talia had done all of her evening stuff with grandma as she always does: a bowl full of rice (no choking hazards when grandma is doing the feeding!), some playtime, a story and a bottle. A song, some tucking in, and sleep will follow. Unless a grand-daughter decides that she would rather flip herself over and climb up the side of the crib. For the first time. Several times. Happily, Poppa got there right as Mum's back was giving out from leaning over the crib and he finally convinced her that it was indeed bedtime.

So a new addition to our bedtime routine is returning to the room about 10 minutes or so later and tucking her back in and reminding her that it is time to sleep... she is not convinced, and we find her sleeping at odd locations in the crib but she does finally sleep so all's not lost. Yet.

Finally a photo of her latest look - this is her snorting laugh face. It's over-exposed, so you can't really see the nose snorted up, but the teeth bared is a key element. I will try to capture the sound effects on video soon, but for the time being I leave you with this.

So Merry, So Lovely, So Done

Christmas Day with Daddy

I will confess to being a tiny bit... grinchy? about Christmas. Or more specifically, about the pressure of "Talia's First Christmas" and the feeling that every tradition we are ever going to include had to start this year.

However, by the weekend before Christmas, I was oddly over it and instead enjoying being in the midst of my favourite things. On Saturday night, Brian and Anna came up for drinks. Candles were lit and Christmas music was playing and I have no idea what we talked about but I know I had that quiet, "This is Christmas" feeling in my heart. They are those dreamy in-laws that you hear about but never truly believe exist - people you'd want to be friends with if you didn't have the good fortune to be related to them. So nice.

Scott was working Sunday, so that morning I went down to Melissa and Dave's to have brunch with them and the Haugland family. Karen was collecting baking items to take on their own traditional Cookie Drop on the Downtown Eastside and I managed to have something to donate this year. Dave had made Nutella and Banana French Toast and it was DEE-licious. But mostly it was nice to be with these long-time friends and watch all of our kids playing (someone pointed out that Talia is Josh's MiniMe, sharing the same coif as they do) and find it surprisingly rest-full - that rest that comes when you catch yourself not having to try at being I think.

That night around 9pm little hands were knocking on our door which we opened to discover young Chanida with a present for us from Uncle Terry. A quick visit with our Lambkin neighbours turned into rum and eggnog with Andy and again, it was another friend making us glad to have something to share for yet another taste of Christmas.

On Christmas Eve, Mark and Heidi came over with Lael for our traditional Christmas Eve Brunch, something we have done together most of the last 5 years. Multiplying our pleasure was the arrival of Terry and Chelsea with the very latest photos of Inutero Crawford looking awfully cute at 18 weeks. We managed to convince them to stay and eat and I will tell you that having some of my favourite people gathered around the table is the deepest gladness I know. By noon, they were all on their way but the Spirit of Christmas remained, reminding me why we like this tradition so much.

And then our new tradition began. Andrew, Talia and I loaded into the car (with enough gear to get us through to her second birthday I think) to catch the 3:30 ferry to Langdale. The Caldwell Family Christmas was being held at Hopkins, a Rolston cabin that we spent many a holiday in as we were growing up. Katie, Jared, Mum & Dad had already been there for a day and had decked the halls with boughs of cedar and berries and jingle bells. It was like a storybook for me I think, but I couldn't tell you why exactly. Just what I needed though.

For the next three days, we ate good food and drank Caesars and told stories and opened stockings and watched A Muppet's Christmas Carol and walked on the beach and lost the dog and just enjoyed being family together. Scott was working both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day nights, and I missed him a lot more than I had intended. Happily, he was able to spend most of Christmas Day and all of Boxing Day night with us and had a taste of the wonder.

Talia celebrated Christmas by crawling on hands and knees for the first time. She had a very appreciative audience but does seem to prefer dragging herself forward on her belly for the time being.

At almost 7 months, I must tell you that she remains a delight. She is very mobile on her belly but vastly prefers being upright, holding on to something. She is still figuring out how to get herself standing and Scott and I will probably regret encouraging her to do so, but it is so fun to watch her puzzling it out. I am sure she is just weeks away from being able to pull herself around the living room and we will have to remove the many, many hazards we have collected over the years.

She laughs a lot, but I'm often not clear on what it is that is cracking her up. She has also started singing. I'm not sure what else to call it - long 'aahhs' changing pitch all the time. We often will do duets and she will happily sing to almost any tune. She is keen on books and stories and still loves the wooden ring toy from Uncle Brian. She is starting to find peek-a-boo amusing which also means that she finds it less amusing to be left alone. I console myself knowing this is a short phase but wonder when I will stop saying "Mummy's right here" every time I pee...

I think that is all I have to type about Christmas. 2008 looms, full of new things I know! What joy...

Auntie Katie's Here!

And Uncle Jared too! they arrived today and got greeted by T. Her very first airport trip I think, and I'm sure it was all she had dreamed it would be. We went out for lunch to the Flying Beaver and she sat in a highchair and ate her banana and rice cakes that I had carefully packed in ziplock bags, along with her bib and a washcloth.

And it hit me: Holy shit. We have a baby.

Every once in a while it just sneaks up on me, you know?

The Good, the Bad & the Broccoli

Adventures in baby food continue. Broccoli on Thursday night and roasted sweet potato on Saturday night and rice with pear and a banana tonight. We went back to plain because while Sweet T did indeed LOOoove the broccoli and the sweet potatoes, both nights after she ate them, she slept really poorly, waking at 10ish quite inconsolable and quite unlike herself. I do not know for certain of course, whether or not the foods and the sleep are connected, but I think we will back off nonetheless.

I am also confused about how much she should be eating, and how often and feel like this is just one new area of parenting that I am fucking up. Friday, I half-heartedly tried giving her some rice cereal and some banana after the broccoli fiasco but she didn't eat it and I didn't try later cause I was busy doing something else like watching TV or something. The tonight she ate TONS and I hadn't offered anything all day... again, a combination of lazy and afraid after last night.

Oh well, we'll just keep on keeping on and see what happens. But she does love that broccoli...

God Bless Us, Everyone!

I went to write a Christmas letter but no matter how I approach it, it seems obnoxious. So I will just admit that mostly I want to send photos of Talia from this year, and also tell our friends that 2007 was such a great year and we’re just really, really thankful for it.

We’re thankful for our daughter. We could go on and on about this, but we won’t. If you want details, we’re glad to send them, but mostly she’s funny and cute and charming and healthy and what’s not to love about that?

We’re thankful for our friends.

We’re thankful for Pete & Kathy’s hospitality and friendship and generosity with us. We had a great time in Hawaii with them again this year, as well as a fun visit in Bellevue after Talia was born this summer. This winter, we are burning wood that was split in the backyard by Scott and Pete while Kathy and I went shopping for cribs. Evidence of their care for us is everywhere.

We’re thankful for Terry & Chelsea moving back to the ‘hood after many (too many) years away. We look forward to watching them do family nearby in the coming year, and are extra glad to have a nurse on hand for the medical questions and a cop on hand for back-up discipline!

We’re thankful for Mark & Heidi & Wade & Lael and our laughs and dinners with them. They have been great friends over these last years, due in part to Mark & Scott's shared love of Scotch and Alison & Heidi's great patience with them.

We’re thankful for the Purcells – our visits with them are so GREAT! and having Brynne participate in Talia’s birth and particularly pray for us in those first moments of being a family… what delight for all of us.

We’re thankful for Jan & Kate & Halia – they spent 4 months in Vancouver this summer and having Kate back was especially perfect for me. Sharing the last months of pregnancy and the first months of motherhood with an old friend is oddly wonderful and was an unexpected goodness.

And we’re thankful for Amy & Melissa and Karen. Our foursome still meets to eat and drink together several times through the year and it is lovely to see each grow into families. Now as Karen & Ross & Alex and Josh fight Josh’s cancer, we join them as best we know how with emails and lasagnas and prayers for healing.

We're thankful for our family photographer, Brooke. She is too, too skilled and has kept good track of our family so far (see here & here, scrolling down; also, the family photos on this page are her work!). That she is a good friend is a treat too. And our other Make-A-Wish friend Mandy - well, she has kept our T. dressed since birth by sharing her own daughters' clothes and she keeps me sane with emails through the week. So nice.

We’re thankful for our neighbourhood – 14^th Street is probably the best place to live in North Vancouver. Andy, Jolie, Chanida & Samuel are next door and everyday I am amazed to find them there again! We share milk and coffee beans and gardening tips and lawnmowers. We also get to watch God at work in their community of faith, and have a witness to God at work in our own. Right next door! So great…

We’re thankful for our fellowship of faith: our homegroup continues to be a great circle of friends. Scott, Margaret, Dave, Yvonne, Stuart, Adrienne, Kelly, James – we continue to wrestle God-life with them and are amazed all the time at the richness of a life of faith together. We have recently been joined by Mike, Jenny, Rob, Tamara, Dave and Paula and feel all the richer for it.

We’re thankful for our family. This year there were losses in our extended family: Uncle Murray died in June, Scott’s great-aunt Thelma died this fall and my great-uncle Colin just died in November. It is good to have the larger story of our lives retold through our re-gathering to celebrate their lives. It was particularly lovely for me to watch my cousins Kelly and Mike love their dad so well through the last days of his illness – they are living proof of our great heritage of care and compassion.

We are thankful for Shannon and Shiaheem both. Shannon remains my other sister and has enjoyed outrageous success in her work at UrbanPromise and is grossly underpaid :) . We had a great visit in April when I met up with her and Katie and we spent a weekend eating and drinking our way through Philadelphia. Shannon is a great hostess and is still family to me in all the best ways. In the meantime, Shiaheem is working his way into adulthood and took several major leaps forward on December 6th when his daughter Saniyah was born. He and Ayeesha are doing well by all accounts and in talking to him, I know he is taking fatherhood really seriously. It is a bit unexpected to be sharing new parenting with him, but it is the unexpected part that makes life so lovely I think.

We are thankful to have been able to celebrate Morris & Joanne’s 50^th Wedding Anniversary with them in August. They are wonderful models of teamwork and adventure in marriage, having just built their 6^th home together this year. Barb, Kenny, David & Caitlynn do lots of what makes them happy – driving for David, horseback riding for Caitlynn and Disneyland this year for all four of them. Brian & Anna remain great friends and cheerleaders, sharing their wisdom, coffee and dinners with us as often as we take advantage and their sons Matt, Dylan & Gavin are funny, clever, good-looking types we enjoy having around.

This year has been the year of new-grandparenting for Alex and Denise and so far they excel. They delight in Talia in the truest sense of the word and it is so wonderful to share her with them. They take good care of Scott & me too, and we seem to be turning into a Sunday Night Dinner kind of family – so nice! Katie and Jared came west to meet Talia in June and will be back again this Christmas to see what a difference 6 months makes. Katie is the best kind of sister, laughing at jokes and crying at the sad and sharing as much of her life with us as she can so many miles away. Andrew though, is only a few stairs away, living downstairs in the house we own together. He is proving to be an awesome uncle and shows up for “T Time” often. Talia’s first-grand-daughter/first-niece-ness is bringing out the best in the Caldwell family and we are thankful for that too.

This is a long list already and it hardly feels long enough. If you are reading this, know we are thankful for you. Thankful for each person who brings a taste of goodness to our world and reminds us that God is good and provides good things.

As you think through your own 2007, may you too be surprised by how many good things you come across.

With our hopes for more still in 2008,

Scott, Alison & Talia

For Kate: What Baby-Led Weaning Looks Like

I was just reading Kate's blog and saw that she has been reading up on Baby-Led Weaning! So clever, so smart. We are trying that in our home too, along with a bit of mush - like most parenting choices, I am just mashing together other people's ideas that fit with my own philosophy and laziness. So I like not having to puree every meal we eat, I like not having to buy jars and jars of food, and I like good manners. Ergo, my daughter will eat un-mashed foods herself and I will give her some food to eat off a spoon. Maybe I'll end up with a child who will eat anything using impeccable table manners or maybe I'll end up with a child who gags on everything and can't be taken out in public while eating. I'll let you know.

If we had to judge based on current attempts, I'd lean towards the latter - here is what yesterday afternoon's meal looked like:


If you open the photo and zoom in on her pants, you'll see banana mashed into her crotch - I understand those pelican bibs are the answer to this particular dilemma. Said banana (and mango) is up to her elbows and can be found in the deepest recesses of her nasal passages. Also, behind her ears. But she ate it, and with pleasure, so we're calling it a win.

So far, in addition to disgusting rice mush (which she likes), she has tried sweet potatoes, carrot (steamed and raw), avocado, applesauce, banana, mango, cantaloupe, pureed pears, and yesterday some yellow pepper. She is least kean on the cooked carrots and sweet potatoes. Oh, and she did gnaw on a french fry offered to her on the ferry by her grandfather.

I would say overall, I like it. I do still offer rice on a spoon, usually mixed with fruit. However, I don't put it in her mouth anymore. I hold it about 4 inches in front of her mouth and then she pulls the spoon into her mouth to gum on it. This is much messier, but since the alternative is chasing her mouth while she bobs and weaves like Mohammed Ali, we're sticking with it. I don't know how much food she gets either, but we're believing that this phase of eating is mostly for pleasure so I'm not worrying too much about it.

Now, there is this teency, tine-cy downside. You know, the part where they suddenly stop eating, throw their mouth open sound-lessly and turn very red? I think it's called choking? Good news - the first-aid Scott taught us works. Oddly, she really enjoyed yellow pepper but darned if one of her larger bites didn't slide right down her throat. Once it was dislodged, she went back to chatting as per usual and was glad to eat more banana - Mummy was done with yellow pepper for the day.

The choking and the mess combine to make it a less than an ideal choice for grandmothers and aunts. My mom tries to act cool but I can tell it's killing her. Not the concept - I think she actually kind of likes the concept. It's the sticky fingers. And ears, and elbows and really, anything within an 18-inch diameter of the ground zero that is Talia with food in her hands.

I'll look forward to hearing how it goes for you friend! Do send photos!

A.

Blessed are the Magic Makers

The card read "Dear Talia, Happy first Dutch Christmas! Love, Sinter Claus." The parcel was a cellophane wonder tied with red twine. It was sitting on our front porch waiting to be discovered VERY early this morning. Scott brought it in to me - he was on his way to work and I was enjoying a few last minutes of rest when he bounded in. Literally bounded. He was so delighted! The Spirit of Christmas had truly come down in our midst, a miracle on its own.

Sadly, he had to take his delight with him to the firehall. I think though, that he wanted us to open the present! Otherwise it would have stayed hidden, right? After breakfast, Talia opened her very first gift ever. Enjoy. (Sorry about the sideways-ness - I don't know how to flip the image in any of my editing software.)

The gift itself is so lovely. It's handmade and perfect. It whispers, "This niece is loved." She has been playing with it all morning so it also passes the 'will be used' test.

But the gift is secondary to the giving for us. Because more than a new toy was given this morning. This morning we received the gift of magic in our home. We received a new family tradition. We received the Spirit of Christmas. We received love from family in a way that felt like love from family. We received wonder, and a hint of the magic that is God with Us.

I have heard many debates, especially in our little Christian circles about the rights and wrongs of including Santa Claus in Christmas. For me, and for our house I think, Santa Claus (or Sinter Clause as the case may be) will be the truest part of magic and make-believe. What else is this season for, beyond hoping when hope might make us foolish and believing in the face of doubt?

On this, our first Dutch Christmas, we are thankful for the Magic Makers who started us out right. All of our love to them, wherever they are.