I have always thought that I was quite pragmatic. Often, I would say that it helps me to keep
things in perspective, but occasionally I think I let myself take the joy out
of some experiences by over-thinking them.
Christmas is a good example of this.
I have always thought that it was weird when parents get carried away
with the idea of Christmas for a baby.
Babies have no idea what is going on, and the pile of presents that they
receive is a meaningless array of brightly coloured parcels. It is from this thinking that I always
thought that when Christmas came around, we would just continue to buy Milly
just whatever she needed, a few toys, books, clothes, etc. Things that we would have bought for her
regardless of the time of year. We even
discussed whether we should wrap up her presents. At the end of the day, we will be the ones
undoing them. In that case, does it make
it selfish that the idea of having extra presents to open makes the idea
appealing???
As we have planned this Christmas with Milly, I realise
that I have got it all wrong. Come
Christmas Day, it is true that Milly will have no idea what is happening and
will treat it as any other day, only requiring the critical trifecta of food,
sleep, and a fresh nappy. She might
notice that there are a few more people looking at her, but for all intents and
purposes, it will be just another day.
But, what I have realised is that a day will come when she thinks that
Christmas is the most exciting day of the year, and after that, a time when she
will want to know how she spent her first Christmas. How miserable would we sound if all we could
say is that we didn’t bother because she was too young. I haven’t got the heart to do that, the
thought of it makes me quite sad really.
So, everything will be wrapped, and we will make sure that there is a
photo taken of Milly surrounded by all of her presents that can be tucked away
into her memory box. We have also
purchased a little Christmassy jumper that she can wear on the day, which I am
sure she will look incredibly cute in, well she does in everything else!!!
With this being our third year of having to buy presents
for young children, thanks to our nephews, we were not surprised by the variety
of things that we could have bought for Milly.
It would have been very easy to get carried away and spend A LOT of
money (this is something that is not just restricted to Christmas, and that I
am very guilty of!!), but we have tried to be practical and restrict ourselves
to buying things that we think are fun, and that will help her development over
the next year. It was also important
that we didn’t buy too much. As Milly is
approaching 3 months, most of the toys that we have bought for her are yet to
played with. To be honest she has only
really started to look at them when she has her play time, but it won’t be long
before she is grabbing exactly what she wants.
This is something that started to become clear over the last few weeks
while Elaine has been playing with her.
Milly has started to identify a few favourite toys and reach out towards
them, following the same toys as they are moved around. But, it must be said, one of her favourite
games at the moment seems to be spitting out her dummy and watching Daddy come
and fetch it. Every time that this
happens, she has the cheekiest little grin on her face that makes it all
worthwhile. That said, over the whole Christmas period I noticed
that she has been smiling more and more, and I have learned how to make her
smile myself (she likes her cheek tickled!!!), and her smile is so big and
accompanied by some of the most excited noises, that it can only be a matter of time before
she is laughing. But then, in general,
it is noticeable that she seems to be a lot more engaged with us in everything
she does and she has started to make some new noises, and having conversations
with herself. All exciting
developments. 
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