THE CHRISTENING

The Baby was christened on Sunday.  The weather was fantastic and he behaved beautifully.  Husband made a cake and also decorated some cup cakes I had made: his years of painting lead figures have come to fruition in cake decoration.

The Baby looked lovely in a John Lewis cream linen trousers and shirt and pale blue tank top.  I'm not usually very keen on tank tops but babies and children can get away with all sorts of sartorial weirdness which the rest of us can't.  Daughter has been known to wear strange combinations of red and pink, leggings, shorts and skirts... her lack of self-consciousness is rather appealing and I wish I had the confidence to wear whatever I loved in my wardrobe in the morning when I woke up.  I guess it wouldn't have helped career-wise though.

Following the service at Hayton Church people came back for cake and fizzy wine followed by a barbecue.  It was the first time we've ever had the weather to have a party in our garden: and also the first time we've had a large enough lawn, now the new lawn is more-or-less established and most evidence of the pond has been destroyed.  The one indicator remaining  is that the grass is particularly verdant in the rough area of the former pond hole, due to the fact that we used it as a compost heap for some time and then burnt everything.

The service was perfect as well.  Edward the vicar gave a sermon about children, and how they are not the extremes of the devil incarnate whose wills must be subdued nor are they perfect little angels.  I hope and think that I have never expected either extreme from my children: I've always thought it was rather sad when people talk about newborn babies being manipulative, for example.  They do what comes naturally in order for them to get their needs fulfilled.  I'm also very conscious of not wanting to break their wills: sometimes it feels as if I'm trying to do so with Daughter as she can be so very strong-willed and at times persistently and deliberately disobedient, but I love her spirit and her independence and only hope I can bring her up to channel that correctly and in such a way that she retains her incredible sense of self-worth.  As one of the Mums at school said once, the things that drive you up the wall most about your children are also characteristics that you would not wish to change.

The day felt as if it was a way of welcoming the Baby formally to the world, and at 6 months at an age where he had some appreciation that something special was going on.  He laughed when the Vicar splashed his head with the water and was generally happy.  I think he knew that all this fuss and all these people were here to see him.  As one of his godmothers said, he was a star.  I felt very proud and very happy.

As Scotland Nanny and Grandad then stayed on, after school on Monday we all went down to the River Irthing at Lanercost with a picnic tea and the dingy.  The older two children had a fantastic time rowing upriver with Grandad and splashing around in the water.  The temperature got up to 28 degrees (centigrade): very hot for Cumbria and in fact a bit too hot for the Baby at times.  But the warm sunny weather meant that the whole extended weekend felt like a holiday.  Back to job-hunting and trying to create some work for myself now!