These are a few more...

...of my favourite things.

Well, our first Christmas as a family unit has come and gone and it was just about everything one could have hoped for. There was warmness...

Yes, that would be a knock-off Snuggie. We're that lame. But he loves it and I have to admit, it's warm and toasty (I still refuse to wear the sleeves though, just on principle)

and fuzziness...



and of course, undeniable cuteness...



and plenty of that Christmas magic hanging in the air, the kind that was there when I was a kid and seems to have returned in spades. It was wonderful.

Everything pictured above are truly my most favourite things in the world, but we acquired some treasures this year that just really tickled me to no end, so I thought I would share a few of them with you.

We of course loaded up on toys for little A since she didn't have any age appropriate ones. In the weeks leading up to Christmas it was becoming increasingly difficult to make the handful of interesting toys that she did have any more interesting and I, of course, since she had no concept of what was coming, was becoming ever more anxious for the 25th to arrive so we could rip everything open and get to playing. I had started so early that honestly, on Christmas morning, I forgot what a few of the boxes contained (that could have just been an early morning mental lapse...there wasn't THAT much stuff).

I had gotten her some wooden toys, stacking and sorting, that sort of thing and she also got duplicates of those in plastic. I know wooden toys are all the rage right now, and they are beautiful and something which I can see withstanding the sands of time, but surprisingly, I find myself keeping those out of reach or really only for carefully supervised play since I've discovered that one of little A's favourite activities is to take the bucket of plastic sorting shapes and dump them on her head while lying down. Same goes for the ring stacking toy. I bought her the Melissa and Doug version and her grandparents sent her the Fisher Price version and I have yet to bring out the M & D one since Christmas morning. During the first test drive, the stacking rings naturally ended up discarded on the floor and the most fascinating element of the toy was the wooden peg, which instilled horrific visions of poked out eyes and dislodged uvula's. Maybe she's just a bit too young for them yet, I don't know.



But that's a bit off topic. Santa brought the Fisher Price farm, which I thought might take some time for little A to warm up to or perhaps she'd have to be a bit older to really want to play with it, but she loves it :) She makes her way over to it and opens and closes the little doors, plays with the animals and the best part...her favourite is the sheep. I love playing with her and watching her discover it for herself.

My other favourite gift of hers came from her father. He bought her
Snacktime, the Barenaked Ladies kids album. I love this on two levels; one, the album itself is really good and two, I had put this on my own Amazon wish list that I gave him as a rough guide for present ideas and he picked up on the subtle hint. He's awesome. I played it on Boxing Day morning and just giggled and beamed to myself as I listened. I got unreasonably excited about the first song in the Snacktime trilogy (middle of the album) where a bunch of Canadian celebrities tell what their favourite snacks are. Gord Downie, David Suzuki, Geddy Lee...very cool. I found myself humming the songs all day.

Perhaps my most favourite gift of hers was this book, You Are My Miracle. Don't even think, just go buy it if you have children. Don't read it in the bookstore though, it's a crying book. Meaning, it'll have you sobbing by the third page. As a matter of fact, I get choked up just thinking about it. It's so beautiful in illustration and in sentiment and perfectly conveys those tender and fleeting moments parents experience with a child. Unfortunately, I don't think I'll ever be able to read it to her, since I completely lose it before I even crack the cover. I think it'll just be the kind of book that I open up every once in a while and cry and will keep to give to her when she grows up...and cry. Don't let all the crying throw you off...it's a must have in my opinion.

I was hoping to show off some holiday crafts here as well, but this post has already taken me days to compose and really all I want to do today (now New Years Day) is sit and do very little. I was promised last night's leftover lobster in today's scrambled eggs with mimosa's and I'm not sure how much more patient I can be. I might need to kick the constable's butt out of bed here before too long.

I hope everyone had a lovely and safe holiday. Cheers y'all. Until later...