Twas two days before Christmas and all through the house, all the creatures were stirring, even the mouse...
that lives behind the refridgerator after Woody brought it inside for a snack and forgot about it.
Fred, Simon, Josephine and I planned to do our little family Christmas on the 23rd. I cooked up a 'special' lunch that included hamburgers and cheesy fries and the adults exchanged gifts while Simon napped. Josephine was the proud recipient of a rotary fan and an electric kettle for her new apartment along with various and sundry items (including but not limited to aspirin, toothpaste, condoms and coconut oil) in a stocking. When Simon woke up, Josephine gave him his gift which at first he didn't understand...
...and then wholeheartedly enjoyed.
Josephine had one last evening on-duty looking after Simon while Fred and I enjoyed a Christmas cocktail with friends. My Peace Corps friend, Sara, inherited a beautiful piece of property overlooking the Vila Bay. However, the house, the empty swimming pool and particularly the deck are not child-proofed. It would either be a very stressful evening making sure Simon did not plunge to his death or a relaxing evening while Jojo babysat. We chose to go with option two. I brought a couple plates of Christmas cookies and both Fred and I drank kava with gusto.
For Christmas Eve day, I spend most of my time running around preparing for the meal that we were to host that evening for three friends. By about 11am, I had finished all of my shopping and Fred, Simon and I went to wish Lucy (my ni-Vanuatu housemate while I was a volunteer) and her family a Merry Christmas. I had planned with Bergmans, Lucy's husband, to purchase two five-year kava plants that Fred could leave in the garden until he was ready to use them in 2012. Bergmans doesn't plant kava, but he told us that he has a friend who does. So everyone, four adults and four children, piled into our little Bongo Van and off we went into the bush. We could only go so far in the van but we were told that the garden was 'close by' so we decided to walk. One hour later, we finally arrived (true island time!). Despite the unexpected bush hike, we enjoyed the walk and Fred was super happy with his plant. (the ni-Vanuatu man is standing next to it - this plant will provide enough kava for 20 people to drink happily.... we have some party planning to do!)
For Christmas Eve, our friends Elodie, Olivier and Yohann came to celebrate at our house. Simon was absolutely exhausted from the bush walk and so everyone decided to go to the beach to watch the sun set (and to occupy Simon until 7pm when it was time to go to bed). We, of course, took some kava with us and celebrated the birth of Jesus Christ with a shell (What?! Isn't that how it's done?!). Simon fell asleep shortly after we started up the van to head back to home and snuggled contentedly into his bed until morning while we celebrated Christmas in the dining room. We started with fois gras and moved on to smoked-salmon eggs benedict coupled with (too many) bottles of white wine and champagne. Morning comes early with a 1 yr old and Fred and I regretted the last two or three glasses that we drank before sliding into bed around 12:30am.
Santa even visits small island nations and so when we woke up on the 25th, our stockings were full and there were even some presents under our little tree. We were a bit sad that our boxes from the US and from France did not make it for the big day, but this will give us another reason to celebrate when they actually do come!
Amidst the various balls, books, trucks and other gadgets that Simon received, his very favorite present was a doll stroller (he - I wonder who got him that in an effort not to perpetuate gender stereotypes?!). It's so funny to watch him with the stroller, though. I showed him how to tenderly strap a stuffed animal into the stroller to push around... but he was having none of it. He loves the stroller because it is something that he can easily race around corners, lift onto our coffee table and roll over the cat with. He loves it because it means he can transport three balls and four trucks all at once. He loves it because he can fully control it... a total, stereotypical boy through and through.
Santa was also good to Fred...
And to Kendra...
And he even remembered to fill a stocking for Simon!
I don't have any photos from our fabulous Christmas Day meal with our newest friends, Dominique and Anna Gibert and their sons Theo and Matthieu. However, we had a wonderful traditional French dinner with them (duck confit... mmmmm!), went swimming and finished with a rousing game of Pictionary. Simon was in seventh heaven getting to play with all new toys and spent most of the day happily vroomvrooming little cars around a mat on their lawn.
Fred and I are both off of work until after the New Year (except for a short stint at the office for me today... you can see I'm working hard!), and so we enjoyed Monday and Tuesday after Christmas en famille. We spent a lot of time playing at the house in the least amount of clothing possible...
Swimming at a local swimming pool where we've bought a membership...
Visiting gardens that we had never seen before...
And watching Simon push his stroller around the nakamal while we have our evening shells of kava.
One of Fred's Christmas presents was a 3 day trip to sea with his friend Olivier while I watch Simon. So he's gone and I'm alone with this guy. Oh, poor me.
I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas with your families and the 2012 will be a healthy, happy and prosperous New Year for all!
What a wonderful post. Amaya and I enjoyed looking at your pictures and Amaya asks, "Mom, when am I going to see Simon again?" Happy New Year!
Posted by: Amy Jo | January 01, 2012 at 09:15 AM
What a wonderful update on your Christmas! Hope those packages get there soon. Simon gets cuter every day. If it weren't so hot there, I'd be on the next plane. Joyeux Noel et bonne annee. You are living in 2012 right now, while we are a whole year behind you. But not for long. Love you three lots! xxx ooo
Posted by: MomGates | January 01, 2012 at 03:36 AM
Joyeux Noel et bonne annee!
Um, I'm all for avoiding gender stereotypes, but do you have to let the kid push a pink stroller around the neighborhood?
Boys will turn anything into the toy they want it to be. (like not giving them a toy gun, they'll just use cars or whatever to be a gun)
So his pink "bulldozer" just seems weird. Funny enough, I have a bulldozer toy that I never got around to giving a friend's son here.
Don't scar the boy with pink. Let a boy be a boy. :)
(we can discuss the angst of my parents buying me a dollhouse later)
Posted by: Eric Hanthorne | December 31, 2011 at 06:20 AM
What a wonderful Christmas celebration! Full of friends, family and love... the stuff of the very best celebrations. We love you! Marissa, Mark and Sofia :)
Posted by: Marissa | December 30, 2011 at 04:57 PM
Wonderful! So neat to see you all and how you celebrate there in paradise. We really have to make a trip out there. I love how Simon uses his stroller, what a guy! Gretchen says she misses you all.
Posted by: William Gates | December 29, 2011 at 02:26 AM
Super récit!
Joyeux Noël à vous trois!
Posted by: Miguel | December 28, 2011 at 03:30 PM