Wednesday, December 26, 2007

A Festivus for the Rest of Us


Ok, first things first. We've been beset upon by the cold germs this week and Harry has had a rough couple of nights lately. It all started on the Saturday before Christmas when we were out all day and I realised that the throbbing in my head was quite sinister. Turns out I had myself a nasty sinus headache...and Harry must have been on her way to one herself. So it was nights full of coughing and tetchy days leading up to December 25th. However on Christmas Eve she turned a corner and didn't wake up until 9am! And even that was due to a wake-up call from Papa because Grandpa and Nana were due any minute.


And so ensued the mass unwrapping of 2007. Our great ambitions to have the doll bed unwrapped last were thwarted by the opening of Jan's pillow for said bed and of course once that was open the doll bed went into pole position. In fact Harriet disappeared into her room for quite a while with the bed in tow in order to make it nice and dark so that Doll could go to sleep.


We did end up cajoling her out into the open and besides the doll bed, the tea set was another big hit. Everyone was made a nice, hot cup of tea (Grandpa of course had sugar) and if it was too hot Harry even offered the extra service of blowing on it for you. In this photo Harriet's opening up her new doll that we bought for her. We had been searching for an anatomically correct doll like the one in the cafe that we regularly go to, but the specimen we received fell short of the mark. Harriet, of course, couldn't have cared less. New doll you say? Brilliant! Here she is undaunted by the mammoth box in front of her.



Once unwrapped, New Doll (also called 'Haircut Doll', 'William' and 'Your Doll') was given such tender loving care that you may have been mistaken for thinking it an actual infant. She lovingly dressed her in the dress Zoe (woman from down the road) had made for Harriet's Doll, brushed her hair with her own baby hair brush, laid her down in the new doll bed, and wrapped her up in the blanket. You can see by this photo, taken mere minutes after the opening of the box, just how quickly she was embraced into the Harriet Circle of Love.


Jan and Mike headed off to Newcastle for lunch and we drove over to Mal and Mark's new house for Christmas lunch. Harry was most taken with Bean's cradle and cot. Doll was lovingly laid to rest in each, as well as carefully blanketed in each reclined position.


Lunch was served and Harriet took her rightful position at the head of table. She ate her fill and then proudly proclaimed "I finished my food" as she slid off her chair and into the lounge room where multiple Kris Kringle presents lay in wait for toddler hands to unwrap them. Papa Jimbo dealt with the tears as Harriet was informed that not all items lying in wrapping paper were to be liberated by her.



As you can see it caused her a few tears. Considering that it was quite late in the afternoon, she was sick and she'd just been denied what she thought was her Christmas-given right, it was handled remarkably well. Not long after, when we did all adjourn to the lounge room for gift exhanging, I wondered where Harriet was.....



...I wandered back into the dining room to find her happily chowing down on a whole pile of cherries. On her own. Stockinged feet in the air. I asked her if she wanted to come into the lounge room and she said "No Mama. I am happy here with my cherries.". It was priceless!


And so she was. Here she is with one cherry stuffed in her cheeks like a cherry-loving squirrel.

Then today we went to Georgia's stepdad's place in Elizabeth Bay today to watch the start of the Sydney to Hobart race. Harriet finally met Toby and Sophie and was delighted to see Georgia and Nathan again - as were we!
In this photo you'd be forgiven for thinking she's just having a little crack-up over something or other. But in reality this is her yoga pose known as the 'bee'. She's actually closing her eyes and humming here, it's just that she loves doing it so much that she grins and squishes her eyes shut in a very non-yoga-like manner.
We hope that all of you have had a happy and safe Festivus period. Harriet has had an absolute ball and despite being overwhelmed, overtired and overstimulated, she has been a total delight and has taken it all in without so much as a raised eyebrow. Sorry for the abridged version of events, but this is a late night write-up and I am due to meet my pillow asap. And poor Judy is still waiting for the November Perth trip write-up, so I have to get on to it in the new year (how embarassing!).

4 comments:

TheThingsIdTellYou said...

That photo with her and the cherry in her mouth is priceless.

Anonymous said...

oh harriet you are quite entertaining. you would be a delight to have around, especially at christmas! love the yoga pose, and the feet on the table. very very cute.

Rachel said...

Gorgeous photos! Love the one with the feet up in the air!

Do you have a DVD/book for the Yoga, or do you attend a class with Harriet??

Just curious, as I think it would be something my daughter would love too :]

casso said...

Thanks guys!

Melissa - That photo is even funnier in colour but I am a b&w fiend atm. She just had this perfect little cherry-sized lump!

Narelle - I can only imagine how adorable Greta must be on a day-to-day basis.

Rachel - No, Harry just does yoga poses with me. Actually I must say that we do have alittle book called 'Sleepy Little Yoga' that she loves (which is where she got 'bee' from). But Narelle (funnily enough!) also told me about a DVD of yoga for toddlers. I found it in an ABC store, but didn't buy it because we're not showing Harry DVDs/television yet, so am leaving it a little longer.