Greetings and salutations! I hope all have have had a wonderful Christmas and that the new year is treating you well. Our Christmas was a lovely one as always and Molly was completely spoiled rotten. Her wardrobe is full to bursting point and the Mount Everest of toys continues to grow.
My mother always has a beautifully laid table and her Christmas tree is one in a million. Everything matches in green, gold and red. Our Christmas in Sydney is a warm one, so we do our cooking the day before and have a cold lunch, which also allows us to relax a bit instead of standing in a steaming kitchen or by the piping hot BBQ as we always cook our turkey in the Weber. This year instead of muggy humid and rainy, we got a glorious day of blue skies and sunshine. The kids had a ball in the back yard and I even had wee rest on the grass and a cuddle with Gypsy, my sisters labradoodle, whom I completely love and adore. My grandmother made it and was able to stay for the whole day. I know that she was in pain and suffers in silence, but it was so nice to have her there with us.
As always, during Christmas my thoughts drift to those who are missing from our tables. My aunt Mikki, my friend and second mum Krysia, My brother in-laws sister Mandy and my gorgeous friend Vicky. All so young, stolen from our lives way too early. I think of their smiles and how they laughed. I remember them all in their beauty and I raise a glass for them. I miss all of them.
Christmas has no religious or commercial meaning to me. For me at least, it is a time for family and friends, when differences are laid aside and we re-connect with our loved ones. It is a time for opening your heart and showing your loved ones just how much you do love them, not with gifts, but with shared laughs and joy and taking time out to spend with one another. And we had a wonderful one this year.
Our latest milestone is my miniature Harry Houdini managed to make her escape from her cot. On Monday night she put on quite a show at bed time and we had a nightmare of a time trying to get her into bed. My husband being the technology geek that he is, set up a infrared video camera in Molly's room when she was born. It's been a really handy tool, as it allows us to see that she is OK and if she is really awake or just moving and crying in her sleep, so we don't go in and disturb her unless we really have to. So she was having a tantrum and screaming so loud it put Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween to shame. As Jon and I sat and watched our little girl scream the roof of our place on camera, she started trying to get her leg over the side of the cot. I said to Jon, "she's going to get out!" and his response was "Nah...she won't" and then I ran, but I heard the thud before I got to her bedroom door. The little monkey had finally gotten free.
After all the commotion and tears, she finally settled down in her big bed. We have a side rail fitted for her and I also lay big fluffy cushions on the floor just in case. It's a real slap in the face wake up call. She's growing up at a monumental pace and I feel like I am left behind eating her dust. Nevertheless, bedtime is still a bit of a nightmare, but she loves her big bed. So now she's a real little girl and the time has come to dismantle her cot and re-arrange her bedroom.
Children really do grow quickly. Today it's all cuddles and kisses and leaping out of cots. Tomorrow it's "get away from me mum, you're so embarrassing!" ha ha. I am looking forward to all the ups and downs with Molly, but right now I'm trying to cherish every moment of her being so small and enjoying the simplest of things, because those awful angst riddled teenage years are definitely going to sting.
