Scout's first Christmas...
30 December 2006, 07:57
Because this whole blog has ceased to be about me (me! ME!) and has become about our gorgeous progeny.
We spent Chrissie in Newcastle, and whilst Melbourne charged up the open fires and broke out the mittens, and nearby mountains enjoyed a white christmas (totally true), we quaffed champagne (and a rather agreeable cellar stash) with Matt’s Uncle John and his two cousins, “S” and “D”, in relatively balmy temps.
Scout checks out the Couch Scene
During my childhood, my family has always been of the “massive-roast-dinner-on-xmas-eve-open-pressies-on-xmas-day-
and-visit-extended family-on-xmas-night” ilk. That tradition has long ceased to exist, given our family’s exodus from Newcastle in ‘89 and my insistence on living in different cities/countries to my folks ever since. McG and I don’t really have a “tradition” yet, so we were happy to ride the Miller Family Christmas Carousel.
Which turned out to be all about Christmas Breakfast, which seemed a bit weird to me, until I discovered that the tradition came about after the girls tried to get out of going to church one year and made up for it by cooking a Christmas breakfast. That, I understood.
We opened pressies after breakfast in the Tree Room (yep, John’s house is so freakin’ massive that he had an entire room set out for the Tree, a massive towering monolith, cordoned off to protect babies and dogs).
“Is this one mine, too?”
Scout was thoroughly spoilt and I even managed to procure bling from me husband, in a rare(ish) display of romantic mettle. Pressie opening was followed by a christmas fanfare of champagne (lots of), sauvignon blanc and pinot noir. We never made it to the dessert wine, so stuffed and zonked were we. Oh. And a seafood and roast chicken lunch. We didn’t just drink, you know…
Scout had her first trip to the Beach on Christmas Eve. The water was freezing, the day overcast, but she loved it. We went again day after Boxing Day and she forged ahead until she was waist deep in the water, dragging McG along. She wasn’t scared at all. Even when a wave (fairly small, granted, we were only in the Newcastle Baths, not the open water) crashed over her. Our girl is a-gonna be a beach babe. Look out!
“Dad, those waves look fully sick”
And whilst we slip, slop and slapped Scout to within an inch of her life, we forgot about ourselves and got hideously sunburnt. I rarely sunburn, and if I do I usually fade within a day, but this one knocked me around a bit. I’d forgotten that Newcastle sun is a wee bit fiercer than Melbourne’s rays…
One of the best parts of the holiday, though, was that Uncle John took Scout under his wing in a major way. We were staying in the guest room, but had never had much success with having Scout sleep in the same room as us – she doesn’t sleep well and neither do we. The only other option was the sunroom in the opposite corner of the house which would have meant us getting a baby monitor (which we got anyway, don’t know why we hadn’t bought one sooner).
“Uncle John, are you, like, for real?”
Then John said “She can sleep in my room and I’ll get up to her in the middle of the night.” I’m sorry, John? You’ll do what? Are you certifiable??? He insisted, so we put the portacot in his room and out of the 5 nights we were there, she woke up and needed resettling once. (At least, that’s what John told us, we didn’t hear a thing and slept like absolute logs.) In fact, on Christmas Eve, around midnight, John was woken, not by her cries, but by her singing. Our little girl was carolling in her sleep. Bless.
I actually didn’t want to leave Newcastle! John and the girls totally doted on Scout the whole time. Even “D”, who professed to be scared of babies (worried she’d drop them etc.) and wouldn’t go near Scout at previous events, was cuddling our little alien by the end. Our Newcastle jaunt was marked by good food, great wine, excellent company and hanging out at the beach. Christmas in Australia doesn’t get any better than that, my friends. No sirree.
Permanent Link | - It’s great to take the kid to the seaside and swim. Some of the areas I recommend to live bayside in Melbourne are the sandbelt areas south of Brighton, ie Hampton. A stone’s throw from beach, pristine waters, and no thru traffic congestion, relatively inexpensive and a great clean healthy place for children to grow in.
— david mishima Jan 4, 09:04 PM #
