I’ve always loved Christmas but now Harry’s on the scene, it’s better than ever. And despite the early start this year – Harry had us downstairs opening presents at half past six – there was something magical about Christmas morning.
Although Harry is a bit too young to understand what Christmas is all about, he definitely knew that something was going on.
We took him to the carol service at Chirk Methodist Church on Christmas Eve and he sat rapt while the vicar related the story of the Nativity. Harry sitting still for half an hour is quite remarkable in itself, and the occasion certainly added to the festive feeling in the Wright household.
On Christmas Day itself, Melissa dashed downstairs ahead of us and laid Harry’s presents out across the front room floor. His reaction when he walked in was brilliant. He kept shouting ‘wow’, before tearing into the wrapping paper, and shouting ‘wow’ again and again.
Then it was up to me to get the toys out of the packaging – which is easier said than done, especially with an eager toddler on your shoulder. One toy even had to be unscrewed from its packaging, which is surely taking security a bit too far.
Anyway, after half an hour or so, Harry had unwrapped all of his presents and, despite the array of new toys to play with, was only interested in one thing: unwrapping more Christmas presents.
By the time we’d visited the grandparents, Harry was exhausted. Needless to say he was fast asleep by half six in the evening, which at least gave Melissa and I the chance to catch our breath.
Of course, next year things will be different again and Harry will be even more excited. I can’t wait.
Friday 31 December 2010
Friday 24 December 2010
Painting
I’m a very proud man. I’ve just been given my first painting from Harry and it is now stuck proudly to my office wall.
I’m not sure what my colleagues make of my greeny-black splodge, and I’ll admit it is, how can I put this, a little bit abstract, but it means the world to me. It is sitting next to the half a dozen carefully selected pictures of Harry that – and I apologise in advance for sounding a bit soppy – bring a smile to my face whenever I’m at my desk.
Harry does love getting mucky and painting fits the bill perfectly. I tried it the other evening and after 15 minutes, Harry had paint all over his hands, face, arms and hair. The kitchen floor was also liberally splattered with paint.
Mind you, that was fairly tame compared to Melissa’s Christmas card making experiment. I only saw the aftermath, but there was glitter everywhere and, as I’ve now discovered, it’s incredibly difficult to get rid of.
Having said that, the cards looked good in the end and Harry’s obviously very proud of his handiwork. Whenever he spots one of the cards he helped make, he shouts ‘Harry’ and points excitedly at his chest.
Speaking of Christmas, Harry is still a little bit too young to understand what it’s all about but he does now recognise Santa. He also does impressions of him, saying ‘ho ho ho’ whenever he spots a Father Christmas.
But when he met Father Christmas on Llangollen Railway’s Santa Special, Harry suddenly went very shy. And when he was asked what he’d like for Christmas, Harry replied “ham”. It’s an unusual request, but I think Santa might be able to manage that one.
I’m not sure what my colleagues make of my greeny-black splodge, and I’ll admit it is, how can I put this, a little bit abstract, but it means the world to me. It is sitting next to the half a dozen carefully selected pictures of Harry that – and I apologise in advance for sounding a bit soppy – bring a smile to my face whenever I’m at my desk.
Harry does love getting mucky and painting fits the bill perfectly. I tried it the other evening and after 15 minutes, Harry had paint all over his hands, face, arms and hair. The kitchen floor was also liberally splattered with paint.
Mind you, that was fairly tame compared to Melissa’s Christmas card making experiment. I only saw the aftermath, but there was glitter everywhere and, as I’ve now discovered, it’s incredibly difficult to get rid of.
Having said that, the cards looked good in the end and Harry’s obviously very proud of his handiwork. Whenever he spots one of the cards he helped make, he shouts ‘Harry’ and points excitedly at his chest.
Speaking of Christmas, Harry is still a little bit too young to understand what it’s all about but he does now recognise Santa. He also does impressions of him, saying ‘ho ho ho’ whenever he spots a Father Christmas.
But when he met Father Christmas on Llangollen Railway’s Santa Special, Harry suddenly went very shy. And when he was asked what he’d like for Christmas, Harry replied “ham”. It’s an unusual request, but I think Santa might be able to manage that one.
Sleeping
HARRY’S sleeping is a funny thing. When he first goes to bed at night, I swear you could put a brass band outside his room and he wouldn’t wake up.
But after about four in the morning, he’s awake at the slightest sound – including the creak of floorboards.
As you can imagine, this makes visiting the toilet in the night something of a challenge.
Sleeping in the day is another challenge altogether. Take last Sunday.
We decided to pop to Eagles Meadow in Wrexham to get the last of our Christmas shopping done and, much to our relief, Harry dropped off in his pushchair shortly after we arrived.
With Harry still fast asleep when we’d finished the shopping, we thought it best not to disturb him by putting him back in the car and decided to have some lunch instead.
The restaurant looked fairly quiet, so we wheeled Harry inside hoping to eat our lunch before he woke up.
Unfortunately, our table was right next to what has to be one of the noisiest coffee machines in the world. Whenever somebody ordered a hot drink, there was a bang, followed by a loud tapping and the sound of steam being released.
Every time this happened, Melissa or I would check Harry nervously, expecting him to wake up.
We had managed to eat our starter before it was all too much for him and he woke up, slightly dazed.
Of course, we then had to negotiate our main meals while keeping Harry entertained.
Fortunately – and perhaps surprisingly – we discovered that he quite liked the seafood sauce on my pasta; dipping pieces of bread in it kept him quiet just about long enough for us to finish our food.
It didn’t make for a particularly enjoyable meal, however, as Harry insisted on standing on the seat and shouting ‘ba-ba’ at baby on the table next to us.
Put it this way, I was left wondering whether it would have been easier to risk waking him by putting him in the car after all.
But after about four in the morning, he’s awake at the slightest sound – including the creak of floorboards.
As you can imagine, this makes visiting the toilet in the night something of a challenge.
Sleeping in the day is another challenge altogether. Take last Sunday.
We decided to pop to Eagles Meadow in Wrexham to get the last of our Christmas shopping done and, much to our relief, Harry dropped off in his pushchair shortly after we arrived.
With Harry still fast asleep when we’d finished the shopping, we thought it best not to disturb him by putting him back in the car and decided to have some lunch instead.
The restaurant looked fairly quiet, so we wheeled Harry inside hoping to eat our lunch before he woke up.
Unfortunately, our table was right next to what has to be one of the noisiest coffee machines in the world. Whenever somebody ordered a hot drink, there was a bang, followed by a loud tapping and the sound of steam being released.
Every time this happened, Melissa or I would check Harry nervously, expecting him to wake up.
We had managed to eat our starter before it was all too much for him and he woke up, slightly dazed.
Of course, we then had to negotiate our main meals while keeping Harry entertained.
Fortunately – and perhaps surprisingly – we discovered that he quite liked the seafood sauce on my pasta; dipping pieces of bread in it kept him quiet just about long enough for us to finish our food.
It didn’t make for a particularly enjoyable meal, however, as Harry insisted on standing on the seat and shouting ‘ba-ba’ at baby on the table next to us.
Put it this way, I was left wondering whether it would have been easier to risk waking him by putting him in the car after all.
Friday 3 December 2010
Let it snow...
Harry’s got a new favourite word: snow. With the wintry weather we’ve been enjoying (if that’s the right word), Harry’s had plenty of opportunity to see snow first hand and he loves it.
When it started snowing last Friday, Melissa said that Harry was absolutely fascinated, sitting in the window watching it until it was dark. He was still excited when I arrived home from work, running to greet me shouting ‘snow’ as I walked through the door.
But while watching the snow is one thing, letting Harry go outside to play in it is an altogether more complicated process, requiring wrapping him up in so many layers that he can hardly walk. Fortunately, he doesn’t seem to mind; the only problem is that if he falls over, he can’t get himself upright again.
Of course I was all for taking him sledging but, as he’s had a bit of a cough lately, commonsense (or Melissa, more precisely) prevailed, so it looks like I’ll have to wait a bit longer.
Anyway, the cold weather has got Melissa feeling festive and Sunday saw us putting up the Christmas decorations. Harry was keen to help, but struggled to spot the difference between baubles and a football; Melissa wasn’t impressed as he kicked them around the living room. Apparently that was my fault.
Apart from the baubles, though, Harry was surprisingly gentle with the decorations. I say surprisingly because I was very concerned about mixing Harry with decorations – it’s not exactly a match made in heaven.
Harry is still – thankfully – a bit too young to understand what Christmas is all about so although he was certainly excited about the decorations, sleepless nights until December 25 shouldn’t be a problem.
Something tells me things will be very different this time next year, though.
When it started snowing last Friday, Melissa said that Harry was absolutely fascinated, sitting in the window watching it until it was dark. He was still excited when I arrived home from work, running to greet me shouting ‘snow’ as I walked through the door.
But while watching the snow is one thing, letting Harry go outside to play in it is an altogether more complicated process, requiring wrapping him up in so many layers that he can hardly walk. Fortunately, he doesn’t seem to mind; the only problem is that if he falls over, he can’t get himself upright again.
Of course I was all for taking him sledging but, as he’s had a bit of a cough lately, commonsense (or Melissa, more precisely) prevailed, so it looks like I’ll have to wait a bit longer.
Anyway, the cold weather has got Melissa feeling festive and Sunday saw us putting up the Christmas decorations. Harry was keen to help, but struggled to spot the difference between baubles and a football; Melissa wasn’t impressed as he kicked them around the living room. Apparently that was my fault.
Apart from the baubles, though, Harry was surprisingly gentle with the decorations. I say surprisingly because I was very concerned about mixing Harry with decorations – it’s not exactly a match made in heaven.
Harry is still – thankfully – a bit too young to understand what Christmas is all about so although he was certainly excited about the decorations, sleepless nights until December 25 shouldn’t be a problem.
Something tells me things will be very different this time next year, though.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
