The Christening

On Sunday 20 July we had Tristan christened in the local St. Markus Lutheran church, with Ane’s three sisters acting as godmothers.

At over 7 months of age, Tristan was quite a bit beyond the usual baptism age. It was partly because we wanted to ensure that Ane’s “American” family could take part, partly because we were not quite sure whether we want him christened at all. In the end, we did what the majority of parents in Denmark do, and decided that a bit of holy water would do no harm – at least not on the head. The positive aspect of waiting so long was that Tristan was able to participate very actively, mainly by grabbing everything that came within range, including the priest’s robe and all his equipment. He also managed to confuse him to the point of losing his thread and starting randomly to repeat parts of the ritual. Luckily, he had much less trouble with the other child to be baptized that day, as she practically slept through the whole thing.

Of course, a christening is also a good excuse to get together with family and friends, and Tristan’s was no exception. The party, attended by about 60 guests, was held at a local community centre that we rented for the occasion. Everything was home-made (apart from the wine), and fairly low-key, with Ane in charge of the menu (and more or less everything else), while I took the role of the man behind a great woman who made it all possible (that is, playing with Tristan while Ane was slaving away in the kitchen). We received invaluable help from several people, first of all from Ane’s friend Pernille, who took full command of the kitchen during proceedings. In the end it all added up to a great day with a lot of fun, as evidenced by the pictures at the side. Tristan got an unbelievable amount of present, including a truckload of Lego bricks. If so far he mainly showed early signs for a great carrier as an optician (by grabbing everyone’s glasses), his interest is now bound to turn towards architecture. Or Lego-retailing.

See also our friend Orsi’s account of the event at: http://www.lyst-orsi.blogspot.com/