D.C. Diary: Tunics and Tevas

Festive Greetings from the Holy Family. At long last, here are a few snaps of the three of us in nativity garb for your viewing pleasure. Much to the delight of the Virgin Mary, brave Joseph abandoned his chinos at the last minute for the bare-legs-under-tunic look, complementing his outfit with matching Teva diving sandals and a hessian shoulder bag. Young Alex went down a storm - apparently he was the 'best Baby Jesus ever', perhaps because he was nine months older than the usual Messiah and therefore able to sit up and interact with the animals rather than crying and being sick over his swaddling clothes. I admit he did look pretty adorable, clad in his white babygrow and sporting little golden locks, even if trying to control him was perhaps a litle more challenging than I had anticipated. It was quite a day for Baby Jesus. Not only did he take his first steps just before the service but, sitting in the back pews awaiting our cue, he made the astounding discovery that his left index finger was exactly the correct size to insert into his left nostril. And so I spent much of the next hour trying to prevent him from showing the congregation just how adept he was at this new sport. Fortunately, he was distracted by the arrival of the camel, who he kept trying to stroke, and the cow, by whom he was totally mesmerised (presumably because, like his mother, he thought it was a dog, his favourite animal. I did think it was a bit odd that the nativity included a Dalmation, but assumed this was simply an extension of the creative licence granted to the duck. It was only when I complimented the dog on his fantastic costume that I was told that 'Actually, I'm a cow'). Baby Jesus then abandoned his swaddling clothes altogether to stand on his mother's lap, a miracle of development for a newborn, and before long was flirting with the tinsel-clad angels and chatting away to the Three Kings. It was just as well the service ended when it did - much longer and the young man would have been giving the sermon. This was certainly one Christmas Eve we'll remember for a while...