This Christmas has been special. I am grateful for many things.
Especially:
The presence of my big brother – Uncle Ben – which means that all four of us “kids” were together at Christmas. This has not happened often in the last decade.
Furthermore, you can’t imagine a more doting uncle. He is the first to volunteer to take the baby and love her to pieces when she’s up for grabs.
So, so grateful for family – both nuclear and extended.
Then there’s the very presence of a baby at family gatherings. It’s well worth the interrupted activities, half-eaten/lukewarm meals, and sleep loss to be able to bring a shiny little smile-maker to parties and watch her inspire ridiculously huge grins and other silly antics all over the place.
She also gave us a present. She was so close to success, so we practiced extra-hard on Christmas Day, and she finally gave us… a laugh (-ish thing)! Several of them, actually. Of course she seemed to be done by the time we got the video going… but listen to the end and see what you think.
Big brother E is pretty awesome (as long as everything is going his way, ha ha – sigh). These are his “Christmas hands”; he didn’t want to wash the Christmas off.
And I love this, too. One day late for Christmas, but just as beautiful as I could ever hope for.
I hope you’ve had family and friends around you, yummy food, and time to relax this holiday. And lots of love.
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