Christmas Eve ALREADY!!! I haven't got time to update because it's 11.36pm and I'm tired out, and tomorrow will be INTENSE with the boys from early o'clock. We've spent the evening finishing the wrapping (I did most of it a week or so ago) and stuffing stockings and arranging presents under the (very small and up off the floor!) tree. The boys were fairly wild with excitement this year, it's so sweet!
I sort of see it as Matthew's "first" real experience of Christmas, because he's 2 and a half (can you believe it?!) and really gets it this year. Arthur is just totally into Christmas and very excited - keeps hearing sleigh bells as he's dropping off to sleep the last couple of nights, which wake him with an excited jump and then he's all wired telling me about it and wondering! Tonight he took ages to fall asleep and would not stop talking about Father Christmas, and how he hoped the reindeer liked the carrot we left out, etc. So sweet! I love this, it's so much fun for me even, hehe!
It's Nathan's REAL first Christmas, of course! He's 11 months old, it's crazy. His birthday is actually in just over 2 weeks. I can't get my head around that, but mainly because Christmas and New Year are in the way, and you know how it's hard to think beyond that before Christmas happens. But, RIGHT after Christmas I need to hurry and think about what to give/do on his birthday! It's hard straight after him having presents at Christmas, because I have run out of ideas, and we've had two one-year-olds in the last 3 years already, so we don't really need any more one-year-old type things in the house! Aaargh, what to get him?! I have to think about it.
He's doing so well!! He finally got his first tooth, two days shy of 11 months old! I'm amazed by that, since Arthur was 8.5 months, and Matthew was 7.5 months! Even with his age adjustment he's way later than them! My older boys also teethed in the same order at the same pace, pretty much - they had 5 teeth at the age Nathan was when he got his first! Also, Nathan's first tooth is not the classic bottom front tooth. His bottom gum is still bald! ;) His first tooth is the right TOP front tooth. His left one is starting to look "active" under the gum, and he's currently teething again. My mum was joking that he'd have his two front teeth for Christmas (and nothing else at all!), like the song, hehe! But, he's just a little one-toothed-boy at the moment. :) I have photos, just not uploaded at the mo, tsk.
Also, a week ago Nathan was standing at the sofa facing out into the room. I sat a few feet away from him with the camera, thinking he was in a lovely position to take a good photo, and he beamed from ear to ear and set off walking towards me!! He did it again and again, about 4 or 5 times in a row, and then started to get tired and fell after a couple of steps. He took between 4 and 6 steps every time before he either reached me victoriously (much excited squealing and high-pitched praise from me *sigh* I'm so excited about my babies walking for the first time!!), or else he toppled. He even walked in a little semi-circle at one point to turn back to the sofa, and didn't fall doing that, but he did take it slowly and was distracted by Matthew at the time so maybe that helped?
Anyway, I'm so excited about that! Nathan is my earliest walker, but only by a bit. With his age adjusted (to 10 months old) he's by far the earliest, but without the adjustment he's still 2 weeks earlier than the others (they were both about 11 months and 3 weeks when the started like he has). It's funny to me that Nathan has set off walking in EXACTLY the same way that Matthew did - as he stood at the sofa facing out, and I sat down to take a photo of him! How funny! He hasn't done much walking since then, only one or two steps at a time, but today he walked a few steps to Neil for the first time, so maybe he's had his "lull" (it was like he'd forgotten how on earth he did it the day after the first walking!) and is getting the hang of it again. He is SO PROUD of himself when he's walking, and you know he's going to try just by his sort of panty breathing and little breathy squeals (he gets excited about the very idea of trying it, it seems, bless him!), and his eyes sparkle and he smiles soooo big and stretches his arms out in front of him like he's really excited. Then he sets off smiling and doing gaspy squeals all the way. It's seriously the cutest thing ever. *sigh* I completely adore that baby boy.
We've done some Christmas crafts (the boys and I) but I'm behind on the baking this year, and haven't even marzipaned the Christmas cakes yet!!! Let alone ice them! I'm so frustrated with myself, tsk! But oh well. Maybe I'll miraculously get them done tomorrow and we'll eat some on Boxing Day?
We're doing Christmas just as we did last year - just Neil and the boys and me at home, no family. My brother (and Sarah and Thea) and my grandparents are staying with my parents in France for Christmas. Neil's mum is staying home in Yorkshire this year, and his brother and youngest sister are there for Christmas. Rosemary and my two little nieces are home, about an hour from here, but we have no plans yet to see them. Normally we see them in the week that follows Christmas, but Neil has to work that week this year. His old company used to be closed that week so he never worked it before.
Except Monday morning!!! I have my first scan on Monday morning (I just started my 2nd trimester, is that not crazy?!) and I can't wait! Neil is off work for the morning to attend it, and my grandparents will be home by then to watch the older two for us (we're taking Nathan with us). We still haven't told the boys about Babydot, and don't plan to for a good while yet, though they seem receptive to the idea of babies and our family growing at the moment.
I can't wait for tomorrow morning, just to see the boys' faces when they reach the point on the stairs where they can lean over a bit and see the presents. I wish I had a remote control camera just set up ready, but I'll be sooooo bleary at that moment in time, and behind them for sure, because they'll likely forge the way!
Now I have to chew a carrot in a reindeer-like manner, consume a mince pie (what a chore, hehe!) and then brush my teeth and go to bed. I'm more excited about Christmas Day this year than I have been for years. It was always the highlight of the year for me as a child, and the excitement didn't wear off in my teens either. It kind of waned once I was married and Christmas was what we made it, not what my parents made it for me, sort of. Now I love that my children are just getting to that FUN age where they're as excited about Christmas as I remember being, and I get to be the parent involved! :) So much fun!
The boys wrote (dictated) adorable letters to Father Christmas earlier in the month! I can't believe how much I've missed writing here, with my huge gaps between entries :( I haven't even written about France and Arthur's birthday yet, and those seem to be way in the past to me now :(
Anyway. I will get to those (I hope)! In Arthur's letter to Father Christmas he said that he wanted "a toy Jesus that has a button on the back which when you press it he says, "Everybody please be good!"", hehehe! I had SO MUCH TROUBLE keeping a straight face while I solemnly wrote down what he was telling me! ;) He even adopted a somewhat "holy" tone for the "Everybody please be good!" line - very calm and even-toned, hehe! He cracks me up, that boy! :)
Arthur was supposed to be a shepherd in his first ever Nativity play at church last Sunday, but we've been ill with two fortnight-long "colds" (that have behaved way more like flu with dreadful coughs that are still going - the doctor told me that the first one was now considered an influenza strain. Arthur and Nathan had high temps with that one, but Matthew and I didn't) back to back, so it has been a fun month. We've missed a lot of church what with being unwell before going to France, then being in France, then a month not well again! Tsk! Arthur attended one rehearsal for the Nativity play and then we were ill again. He was none the wiser that he missed being in a play, so that's good, but I'm a bit sad that his first Nativity didn't go ahead for him! But oh well! If he doesn't go to school he won't have as many of those as most children do, so I was looking forward to it! Hopefully there'll be other church Nativity plays he can be involved in at future Christmasses!
Okay, I have to go to bed, it's past midnight. But I'm glad to have "snuck" an update in! :)
