When Wrapping Paper Was Magic

I was scrolling through old photos today (you know, avoiding actual Christmas prep) and found these gems from Theo’s first Christmas. He was maybe six months old and absolutely mesmerized by the crinkly texture of wrapping paper

When Wrapping Paper Was Magic

. Forget the actual presents - this kid was having the time of his life with the packaging.

Of course, everything had to go straight to the mouth for ‘testing’

The inevitable ‘everything goes in the mouth’ phase

. I swear babies have a sixth sense for finding the least safe thing in any room to immediately try to eat. But that laugh when he discovered how the paper crinkled

That baby laugh that melts your heart every time

• pure magic. Marcus was such a good sport, sitting on the kitchen floor for an hour handing him new pieces of paper to explore

Daddy’s little helper, even at 6 months old

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Now he’s ten and rolling his eyes at my ‘embarrassing baby photos,’ but I caught him smiling at these earlier. Some things never change - he’s still our curious little explorer, just with bigger questions about dinosaurs instead of fascination with wrapping paper textures.