Baby Christmas Presents

To say it hasn't yet been born, the baby did pretty well for Christmas presents this year!

First up (in the stocking) was a rather hilarious moustache dummy. Someone always gets a comedy moustache.

I think it will look quite startling, especially when coupled with the buff baby rattle. The effect will be particularly striking if we have a girl.

Later in the day, baby was the (presumably) grateful recipient of a gyro-bowl. Allegedly unspillable (although my aunt did manage to demonstrate that this is not *always* the case), the bowl twists and turns as the unthinking toddler waves its arms about whilst holding said bowl by the handles. Ingenious!

I was most touched, however, by a gift that carries with it a dose of family history. This is Shetley (full name Shetley, Shetley, Off You Trot), the rocking horse bought as a Christmas present for my youngest brother Thom 20 years ago. Long since passed on to younger cousins, I had no idea that Shetley was even still in existence. But somehow or other Thom discovered that he (Shetley that is, not Thom himself) was in storage in the loft of a distant relative. With Mum's help Shetley was restored (a work in progress: the poor pony is still earless!) and presented to us on Christmas Day for the future use of our own child. Of course it'll be a while before the little one is old enough to ride it, but I look forward to passing on the story of how the baby's Uncle Thom used to ride the very same horse when he was two years old.

We still don't have the baby yet, but I have a feeling it won't be long. It's hard to explain how, but things have been feeling kind of different for the last couple of days (ever since I was Mary in the crib service on Christmas Eve and had to do an arm-waving, leg-kicking dance as part of the act!) - my assembled siblings would love the baby to be born before they leave, but as most of them are going home tomorrow we are running out of time for that. Although tomorrow is the 27th, which is when Noah says the baby will be born. Let's see if he's right!