With special guest star Nils appearing as . . . . .

Nils made two special appearances this holiday season. The first was at Grandma and Grandpa Holst's house on Santa Lucia Day. The Swedes commemorate Santa Lucia Day by having their oldest daughter serve them breakfast in bed. Very clever mom and dad. Very clever indeed! To keep little brothers out of trouble, little boys dress up as star boys and very little boys dress up as tomtar. Here is Lucia (sans crown of candles) with Nils as Tomten.

Tomtens are endearing little creatures who live in your house but are rarely seen. (You didn't know this, did you?) They are generally helpful but occassionally mischevious. A visit to the Ebner Household at Christmastime will reveal a small but growing collection of tomtar. So I was quite pleased to learn that nisse, another name for tomten, is a nickname for Nils and that there is a beloved children's book called Nils Holgersson's Wonderful Journey Through Sweden about a boy who turns into a tomten and travels around the country on the back of a swan.

Alas, Nils fell asleep shortly after this photo was taken and slept through much of the party.

Nils' second appearance of the season was on Christmas Eve in a very special role. Yes, that is Nils' wrapped in swaddling clothes with Mom as Mary. I think this picture is particularly funny because Nils appears to be blessing someone off camera. Very papal of him. Again, Nils fell asleep shortly after the shot was taken and like a good baby Jesus, no crying he made. Although we are pretty sure the original baby Jesus cried occasionally. He was fully human after all.

Paul was cast in the role of Joseph, but sadly Tazo was turned down for the role of sheep.

First Annual Holiday Toy Safety Award

If you are at all like me you should NOT go to the website www.healthytoys.org. You will discover all sorts of horrible things about your toys and other baby items. Like the nipples on your favorite bottle are apparently laced with arsenic. Really, Dr. Brown? You had to put arsenic in the nipples? Really?

After a quick visit to the site (ha!) we discovered what's lurking in some of Nils' new Christmas toys. And thus the Holiday Toy Safety Award is born.

And the award goes to. . . .it's a tie!

Laugh and Learn Love to Play Puppy from Yia Yia (Paul's mom) has been entertaining us from beneath the Christmas tree for several weeks now. If you get within a few feet of Puppy, he sings "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOP-I-love-you-yellow-foot" and then he hums "La Cucaracha." We're not sure why he stops at "P." Puppy has a really great rating on healthytoys.org which tests for a variety of chemicals. Unfortunately he does have a little bromine in his ears. Bromine, according to the site, is "used as a surrogate for brominated flame retardants" and has "been associated with thyroid problems, learning and memory impairment, and decreased fertility." Super. But the amount is negligible and besides, what's the likelihood that baby will suck on Puppy's ear?


Sophie la girafe from Grandma (my mom) is handmade with food paint and "100% natural rubber derived from the sap of the Hevea tree". Sophie is great for teething and, as you can see in the picture to the right, comes just in time. We especially love Sophie's story which reveals that before 1961 "the only animal toys available were farm animals or pet figures" and that when Sophie was created on "Thursday 25th May (Saint Sophie's Day) whence her name. . .young mothers starightaway saw that she was a must for their children."

There is one more award to dispense. The "gift intended for Nils' but which was promptly appropriated by the dog" goes to Alexandra (Paul's sister).



Yes, Tazo is wearing pajamas in this photo. Christmas comes but once a year.