Our Christmas

All went very well and we saw everyone, and ate everything and enjoyed it all. We had three nights in Belgium, with a huge seafood feast at Jan's moms on the 24th. He and I had a platter (I say this, because we had the platter to ourselves... there were 3 of them!) of fresh crab, lobster, prawns, shrimp, smoked salmon, snails (which we both passed on) but it was incredibly decadent and nice to have something so different to what we'd be enjoying on the 25th. Jan's brother Vincent met his niece for the first time and entertained her with funny faces and weird noises. I have a feeling both of her uncles are going to fulfill their role similarly with cheeky jokes and rude body language. I know she will adore it, and I think that is pretty much what uncles should be about, along with the love and support.

We flew to England on the 25th and arrived at 1pm, a couple of hours before the big turkey lunch. This year we did things differently with presents after the meal, a wise and long overdue decision as it allowed the chefs to sit and relax and enjoy all the present opening. The next day I very bravely carved up the leftover carcass and as instructed 'got my fingers right into the bird' to get out all the good bits. Thank god that was after the meal. But, hey, anything to help out granny. I even vacuumed.

Halía gave me a great present, and slept through the night twice while we were away. I couldn't enjoy it so much the first time, as I had to wake her up at 5 or so to drain the boobs that were expecting her. But the second night was bliss until she stirred at 7am. I, of course, got very excited that this was it! We broke her out of her rhythm, and look! here she is ready to sleep through the night. Ha ha. Hasn't happened since. But to her credit she had barely been able to sleep during the day and was all smiles through the travelling, even if she was woken up every 10 mins. Just falls asleep in the car - oh look, we are at the airport, out you get. Just falls asleep before they start boarding - oops, come on, put your seat belt on. Just gets comfy in my arms - ok, lets get off the plane. And so on, in the car to the next destination, repeat for 3 days. I would be tempted to resort to such sleep deprivation as a standard tool to get a full nights sleep, but I guess I value her 2 naps during the day more. This is her catching some sleep in some cafe somewhere...

Well, I have more things to say, but will share them later, as I'm off to bed.

Happy New Year everyone