Mary, Full of Grace

I haven't blogged in a long time. I missed some things I was going to do, like make note of things I was grateful for every day in November & write Liam's 18 month post (he's still super cool at 19 months, so that will be coming soon). I've been too busy doing stuff like finishing quilts & stockings, decorating the house, having pillow fights on the floor, and making what are possibly the most tedious Christmas gifts ever to have the time to blog.

 But, this little gem took place in our house the other day and I'm afraid if I wait any longer I'll forget to write it down ... Last week Liam & I took a little trip to Target to pick up this sweet Fisher Price nativity set:

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 Sadly, our little family hasn't actually owned a full nativity set in the past, and since I really wanted to make sure we had one this year, I decided we should get one that Liam can play with. I know he doesn't understand it this year, but he does enjoy going over the the hearth, where it is set up, and making the animals and people give each other kisses and eat the hay.

 Anyway, on Monday I was at work & my hubby was at home with Liam for a while before he took him to my parents' for the day. At some point during their playing, Liam hurled a Matchbox car at his daddy's forehead, drawing blood. Since we do not aspire to have our child cause head injuries, he was disciplined. In this instance, being disciplined was more upsetting to our little man than it is normally and he became inconsolable - wailing for me. After a couple of minutes, Liam started pointing and reaching for this little friend ...

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the Mary figure from the nativity. He knows that she is baby Jesus' mommy, so he always calls her "Mommy" when he is playing with the set. Apparently, she also is a good stand-in for Liam's real mommy, because as soon as his daddy handed Mary to Liam, he hugged her to his chest saying, "mommy, mommy," and started his sniffly and hiccuping wind-down process.

Thanks, Mary, for filling in and providing the mommy comfort Liam needed when I wasn't there. Do you think it would be creepy if I started handing Mary to babysitters or nursery workers when we leave Liam and saying, "if he gets upset, just give this to him - he thinks it's a tiny version of me"?