So, it’s the last day of 2024! Where did the year go? Thinking about it, as always, we filled it pretty full.

Today, we’ve got a very excited 3 year old whose special friend (our 8 year old Goddaughter) is staying with her Mum & Dad. It’s been a lovely week, but I’m pleased for another child to be here for Soph to play with.

This week we haven’t done a lot because we’ve mostly been recovering from Christmas and our various illnesses. But we’ve been to a party at Granny’s house, the shops, Speckled Frogs play centre and church – which was especially wonderful because Nathan took the service at ASSF!

Other observations:

Our time at home has been really nice, if a little quiet. On Christmas day, we snacked on party food, and when Nathan went down with a migraine, we decided to postpone the roast. We had it on Boxing Day instead, which actually made everything much more relaxed.

People say that a baby’s first Christmas is the best, but I disagree. Their fourth is the best. Sophia’s joy and excitement this season, and especially with the special services and arrival of presents this week, has been magical. I watched them both open their stockings on Christmas Day morning. Aidan engaged with it as much as he was able to. But it was just on a new level with Sophia!

We decided to buy them a joint present this year. It’s a play couch, which is a pile of large, foam cushions of different shapes. They can be arranged to make many, many different things. The only limit is your imagination! In the first 48 hours we had a Christmas Tree, a car, a bus, a stage, a house, a cave and then finally, Sophia decided it was a church! We’d just got back from ASSF and she decided that one side was the door to a toilet and the other was the door to the office, just like it is at church, and then she did her Bible reading from in the middle!

What Sophia said: one bedtime, she was lying on the floor showing Aidan a book, and just as I was about to say ‘I think it’s time for bed’, Sophia said, ‘actually, we don’t want you to tell us to go to sleep’.

How could I help but laugh?!

Anyway, this will be the last blog of 2024! Thank you for reading along. See you in 2025! X