Joan's First Christmas
Joan brought a new kind of joy to this year's festivities and gatherings. Usually, let's be honest, it's all about the food with my family. And while mum cooked an incredible spread, possibly her most delicious yet, with goose fat potatoes and killer gravy (see here for the usual menu), baby Joan was undoubtedly the most scrumptious thing on Christmas day.
Ben, Joan and I started our morning at home with presents and snuggles in bed. We then went for a walk by the beach, with Joan in a little Santa suit (sorry/not sorry), before heading to mum and dad's house for fruit salad, coffee and presents by the Christmas tree. More family arrived a couple of hours later and we all sat down to Christmas lunch. Have I mentioned how much fun it is to indulge a breastfeeding appetite? It is.
Joan napped through lunch, clearly not aware of how delicious mum's overnight pork and stuffed, rolled turkey breast were. Next year she'll be eating the feast with us and I wonder what she'll like best...the potatoes, perhaps? Or the ham? It was all outrageously good, the plum pudding too. As a child, I remember feeling genuinely perplexed as to how my family could find plum pudding tasty. Though with each passing year, I found the fruity, spiced pudding and sweet, boozy cream would appeal more and more, until suddenly I was in love and longing for the pud in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Mum gave us a pudding portion to take home and that evening Ben and I ate a little plum pudding with a lot of boozy sauce, two spoons on the one plate as we watched Elf with baby Joan asleep in our arms.
My, what a sweet Christmas.
Some presents we bought for Joan:
♥ Some Pure Baby clothes on sale, including this dress
♥ A mobile from She and Little
♥ Finger puppets from The Nook♥ And she was gifted some books, clothes, blocks and activity centre play things from friends and family. What a spoilt baby! One lovely Aunty sent Joan 25 books for the 25 days leading up to Christmas! We're loving reading, even if we only get a few pages in before bed. On Christmas Eve we read one of my favourites as a child, Angelina's Christmas. I have a feeling each year will get more magical...