Very lovely, easy and gentle Christmas together.  Charles and I got up for the family service at church, where lots of people cooed at him and he cried during the sermon.  I tried to feed him in the seat, he wasn't having it, I took him quickly into the entrance area, at which point he settled right down and fed to sleep.  I went back in during the sharing of the peace.  We got home to find Tony still in bed, so went back to bed until about noon.  Then we all got up, Tony started cooking and we made phone calls to family and listened to amusing radio while sipping bucks fizz and eating smoked salmon on bread.

The potatoes caused delay again, but I think we sat down around 3:30 or 4.  Tony made fantastic roast leg of lamb, seasoned with tarragon and with cloves of garlic embedded around the outside.   Accompanying we had potatoes, yorkshire puddings, buttered leeks, steamed spring greens, carrots and peas.  Gravy made with the juices of the lamb.  A lovely French red wine given to us by Claudia on her visit last week topped it off.  Charles sat in his chair burbling at us during most of it, and then took turns sitting on our laps while we ate seconds.

When we'd finished stuffing ourselves, we rewound Monsters Inc on the PVR and watched it from the beginning.  I saw it on cinema release but Tony hadn't seen it at all.  A lot of things we found particularly funny now we are parents and I was amused that one of our nicknames for Charles - Boo - is clearly a widespread baby nickname.  I also found myself assessing the unspoken assumptions and behaviours of the film for "do I want Charles to learn this?". He didn't seem that interested except when the music got particularly loud and exciting, as Tony (who was holding him most of the time) is far more interesting.

We finished the film in time to watch Doctor Who and then thought we ought to get around to opening the presents from friends and relatives.  Most of them were for Charles, who was actually far more fascinated by the process of tearing paper.  Tony shredded several pieces of wrapping paper for his entertainment once we'd realised this.  He's started pulling soft things near his hands into his mouth but isn't really very grabby yet, so the lovely noisy twist-and-turn rattle got ignored but the small noisy soft donkey got chewed. Most of what we were given for him needs to be put away for a while.  I think our favourite present is the shiny board book with pictures of babies.  We read it to him a couple of times and he seemed fascinated, though whether with the baby pictures or the shininess was not clear.

Tony and I bought each other a number of Ian Fleming novels and the corresponding Bond films.  The plan is to read the books and then watch the corresponding films together.  Tony started off by reading From Russia With Love when we were in France and is currently part way through Dr No.  I need to catch up.

After presents I made some more phone calls while Tony cleared up and then we both vegged for a bit before bedtime.   Charles protested even more than usual during and after his bath, and was fractious during the night, so I'm leaving Tony to sleep in for now.

On Thursday night Sue and I decided to do a Christmas dinner yesterday, as she'll be spending Christmas Day in Heathrow airport.  We cheated hugely - she bought a pre-stuffed turkey joint from Iceland and I got ready-to-roast potatoes and precooked Yorkshire puddings from the Co-op.  I did at least chop and cook all the vegetables myself.  Nick C came up from London to catch up with her a bit, and crashed with us overnight.  I originally aimed for dinner on the table at 2pm but didn't get the turkey in early enough; I then rescheduled for 2:30 and had fun working out what needed to be cooked when, and it all went swimmingly apart from the potatoes failing to cook properly.  So we ended up eating it sometime after 3pm.  We were saved from hungry grumpiness by smoked salmon and bread nibbles served while dinner was cooking (a cunning trick I have learned from Tony's family), and in general the atmosphere was so relaxed that I refused to get bothered by producing dinner late.

After stuffing ourselves royally we sat and chattered until our bellies could cope with dessert and then returned to the table for mince pies with custard and/or cream, and the cheese and pate platter.  After that we watched Bill Bailey: Part Troll (after which Sue went to bed) and The Transporter (after which the rest of us talked for a while and then went to bed).  We had Christmas lights on the tree and on the bookcases, and lit candles.  In total 3 bottles of red wine were consumed by the four of us during the afternoon and evening, and a small amount of port.  It was a lovely day.

This morning Sue finished packing and was collected by a taxi at 1pm.  Tony went with her to the bus to help her load her baggage on board.  I'm going to miss her hugely, and it's unlikely she'll live with us again even if she returns to the UK.   She's been great company and so often helpful with Charles.  The house will not be the same without her.

This afternoon I have listened to 9 Lessons and Carols from King's and hung up all the Christmas cards.  There are presents under the tree (most of them for Charles) and we have everything we need for tomorrow.  Keith is filling the roof with new insulation before departing for his parents' house and Cat has already gone.  Just the three of us having our first Christmas together.