We made a conscious choice not to make a big fuss of holidays, as long as little gosling did not understand what was happening around him. We did not do any fuss at all, really. So, the first holiday we truly celebrated together was Saint Nicholas; he was 20 months old. 

We aligned his boots nicely, alongside ours, by the door, before going to sleep last December 5th, explaining to him that Saint Nicholas was sure to pass by during the night and leave something for each of us. Don’t know how much he really understood. The next morning, he was quite intrigued when we excitedly lured him, first thing upon waking up, towards the boots. He had understood however that the items in his boots were meant for him :))) and he loved his presents. 

Saint Nicholas brought him a small, grey, soft stuffed bunny (Mr. Rabbit or “Pti”), that he picked up with bright eyes and a huge smile on his face. “Pti” has become his doudou at the creche and for a while, it was like his shadow – we could not leave the house without him. Little gosling also got a copy of Raymond Briggs’ “The Snowman”. He only got around to or interested enough in the book at Christmas and to my great surprise, it was the first book that he had the patience to sit through until the end. He really enjoyed the “nămă” story.

We enjoyed his first reactions and I was happy to see all that he has been enjoying his presents! A great first celebration and spot on presents!