Christmas is just more fun with little kids around. Even though Lucy hasn't a clue who Santa is, and was just as entertained by cookie tins and carpet lint as she was by her presents, having her at Majorworld made it feel more like Christmas to me. And I think everybody else liked having her there too. Her loot: lots of noisy bright toys, including a toy laptop computer, various darling outfits (even a camoflauge dress), and many books. Not a bad haul for someone who couldn't even write out her own list yet.
Lucy or no, Christmas at the Majors' is always fun. We eat and drink and laugh a lot. We play games, watch movies, and get in the hot tub or the lake or the occasional good-natured argument. Bill and Patsy's house was built to entertain large groups of people, and sleep almost as many (depending on how you feel about spending the night on an air mattress), and they are about the best hosts you could ask for.
This year, we played Liar's Dice and Pictionary (as opposed to the usual Chicken Foot and Spades). Taylor was the big winner at Liar's Dice, which was funny given that it is essentially a drinking/gambling game and she is only 13 (not that she was misbehaving in any way, just kicking our butts). Pictionary was fun until the part where Jason got the word "vibrate," and naturally, he chose to illustrate something far too...obvious, which I proceeded to guess correctly. In front of my extended family. That embarrasing moment was topped Christmas day by my spilling a full glass of red wine on Patsy's lovely pale carpet. She said, as we all furiously scrubbed the dark splash with hydrogen peroxide, "I usually don't serve red wine, except to family." And we all agreed that we were the exact people who shouldn't be allowed to drink red, and I in particular was made to drink white for the remainder. But I still think they will invite us back.
Lucy enjoyed playing with wrapping paper, crawling around on the floor and banging on the coffee tables. And she had no shortage of relatives to hold her and feed her sugar cookies. She even ate her own Christmas dinner made up largely of casseroles, which, as it turns out, make perfect baby food. She had a big time, even if she'll never remember it. Luckily, this will likely be the best-documented Christmas of her life.