Baby Doodle's first Christmas

We had a low key Christmas this year. My mother came down from Vermont and my in-laws were here both on Christmas Eve and Day. We went to 4:00 mass on Christmas Eve where the kids put on a play of sorts demonstrating the story of Mary and Joseph. It was cute. Baby Doodle liked seeing the big kids in costume. Though when the regular part of mass got underway he wasn't so content to just sit and be quiet. I spent much of the time in the back swaying him while he stared at the candles and the other babies who were being swayed.
My in-laws arrived early Christmas morning with baked french toast and hot chocolate and coffee from Dunkin Donuts. We ate and drank and were all sugared up for our present opening. Baby Doodle got many wonderful toys and books. His biggest gift was from his grandparents who gave him a Radio Flyer wagon built for two with seat belts and everything. He rode around the house in it having a ball.
I really love Sandra Boynton's books. They're so cute and clever. Baby Doodle got "Hey Wake Up," "Hippos Go Berserk," and "Barnyard Dance." "Hey Wake Up" is definitely my favorite.

I made our Christmas meal which consisted of turkey (actually my mother made the turkey), corn, green beans (using girlfiend's recipe), yams, cranberry sauce and gravy. I also made apple and pumpkin pies and ginger cookies. All were delicious. I really loved my apple pie this time. I used a mix of cortland, staymen and macintosh apples and the recipe from "How to Cook Everything."

My mother is still here today. She's leaving tomorrow. It's been a tough Christmas for her and our family. It's the first Christmas without both of my grandparents. My grandmother died new year's eve last year and my grandfather on Dec. 1st of this year. Death makes me think about the circle of life and how baby Doodle arrived shortly after my grandmother died signifying the next generation's existence, at least in our family.

Baby Doodle in his new wagon wearing the sweater I knitted for him for Christmas.