Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone!

We celebrated in style (being Liam's first Christmas) and went upisland to Courtenay with the family where we stayed at a golf resort called Crowne Isle in a villa. We arrived a couple of days before absolutely loaded to the hilt with gifts (Ian's biggest packing challenge yet!) plus all of our usual paraphernalia. We have become more refined since our early baby travelling days and have narrowed down our stuff to about 3/4 of a car full now (hey - that's good for us!). After an uneventful drive up - except for one meltdown half way where we had to stop in the biggest mall on the island on the busiest shopping day of the year in the middle of a nasty rain storm with Liam screaming his head off and us dodging cars like mice in a maze while we bolted for indoors - we settled into our cozy digs and unpacked our 10 days worth of stuff for 3 days. Unfortunately Sir Snotsalot had yet another cold with a nasty cough and so did mummy so we decided to stay put and ordered room service before crawling into bed. The resort did not have cribs (??????) but luckily we had a king sized bed so we all squished in just fine - well Liam was comfy in the middle anyway while we dangled over our respective sides (something we've become very accustomed to).

Christmas Eve morning we went out for breakfast followed by a bit of shopping at a baby boutique store where we picked up some silicone feeding spoons. At lunch I discovered that Liam just loved the rubberiness of the spoons and would bite as hard as he could on the spoon without letting go. Rather like a puppy with his chew too. Unfortunately when he did let go the contents of the spoon would catapult and land up everywhere (mostly on me of course). After about 3 catapults I started dodging the flying mashed up peas like a monkey doing the break dance. By afternoon the rest of the family had arrived and we enjoyed a pasta dinner cooked up by Grandpa Derek followed by gift opening. Liam got thoroughly spoiled by his grandparents and Aunty Caylin - amongst other things he got a TMX Ernie - you press his tummy and he bends over and starts talking, then flips on his back, kicking his legs and asking rubber ducky (his friend from Sesame Street) for help, then flips back on his feet and says thanks! At first Ernie scared the crap out of Liam and he started crying, but after a while he warmed up to him and played with his fuzzy black hair. His favourite toy was a little car that you sit on and has a steering wheel with all sorts of lights and buttons. He's too small to push it around yet but loves the steering wheel which we put into his lap so he could entertain himself with all the flashing gadgets. He also got a set of big, bright reading books with animals, words and colours and from us he got a Hokey Pokey Elmo book, Dancing Elmo book with buttons you push throughout the book that make various noises, a polar bear that you put over the bath tub that shoots water through it and also protects his head from accidentally hitting the tap and a gorgeous Paddington Bear like woolly coat with wooden buttons. Ian had also picked up a Canucks hockey tracksuit in Vancouver a few weeks before which he looked too adorable in. All in all he loved all his new toys although I did spend a large amount of time trying to get the wrapping paper out of his mouth! We finished off the night with drinks and a few rounds of mexican train, a dominos type game my parents learned in the Domninican Republic.

Christmas morning dawned cold and windy. Liam woke up at around 5am and after a milk breakfast decided to give me an early Christmas present of barf over my shoulder and down my back (in the bed of course). After a rinse down in the shower he was wide awake so I resorted to having to get up and make myself some strong coffee. About 3 hours the rest of the family surfaced, ate breakfast, opened a few more presents and then got ready to go up the mountain for a half day of skiing. Since Liam and I were still snotty & coughing we decided to stay behind and play with our new toys. An hour after everyone departed Ian called me from the lodge to say that it was an absolute blizzard and you couldn't see in front of your face - it had taken them almost an hour to drive up the hill. So everyone came back around lunch and we spent the rest of the afternoon lazing around before dinner at 5pm. Dinner was a lovely buffet put on my the resort and we were joined by Grandma Marg & Uncle Tom. While we enjoyed our food & drinks accompanied by a piano player in the background, Liam sat in his high chair and munched on Mum Mum's (his favourite snack) looking ultra cute in his grey wool pants, shirt, tie & argyle sweater. After stuffing our faces we headed back to the villa for more gift opening and more spoiling for Liam (who got some new t-shirts, pajamas & a set of blocks) and more drinks and games. All in all it was a great day and a wonderful first Christmas for Liam! Christmas is so exciting when you have a child - can't wait till he's older and gets all fired up for Santa coming - better remember to eat the cookies and drink the milk!