Frances Jennifer

Frances and Katy...

2010-09-25T12:00:00.000-07:00

Well, my baby sister Katy has arrived - and in her honour we are creating a new blog. So to follow us in all our doings, please see http://www.francesandkaty.blogspot.com/

It's September!! (aka waiting for baby)

2010-09-23T12:00:00.000-07:00

Now, Mummy and Daddy have been telling me for ages that the baby would be coming 'in September'. So when the calendar got changed over to September I was very excited and went around clapping my hands and saying 'It's Septembah!' in a most excitable way. Mummy and Daddy had to do some hasty retrenchment and say it wasn't coming til the end of September and also it might even be October if it was late. Mummy tried to explain that babies didn't really do timetables but I was sceptical.

Anyway, the parents have been compensating (and perhaps just trying to enjoy themselves) by taking me on lots of jolly outings before the baby comes. Before Mummy stopped work, Daddy took me to the Natural History Museum, where I was ecstatically happy because 'Tyrannosaurus not broken any more!'. I explored things with great gusto and also enjoyed the Darwin centre bit with the screens and butterflies. It was great. I have also been expressing interest in Egyptian Mummies (courtesy of Harry and the Dinosaurs Go To The Museum) so Daddy took me to the British Museum. Mummy was frankly a bit sceptical about how suitable this would be for those who are 2, but she was completely wrong and I loved it and want to go back. I kept saying I was scared of things but it didn't stop me wanting to go and see them again and again and I was VERY excited afterwards.

Daddy also took me to a few meetings he had - including one where we stumbled across some very strange giant rabbits:

The city farm continues to be a popular trip:

And we have also done a lot of rather stylish baking:

One of the most exciting things we did was to go to the O2 centre to see In The Night Garden. I was absolutely thrilled by this - the whole experience was brilliant. I even touched the Haa-Hoos (sp?)

Once Mummy was on maternity leave we did more outings all together. We went to the London Eye, which I thought was very good - and we went on a boat to get there as well.

We also went to the Science Museum, which was brilliant, but Mummy and Daddy didn't take any pictures. Other than that, there's been a lot of quality time in parks. Mummy is finding my climbing quite terrifying now - this is how high I can get, all by myself. I can't get down though, and have to be rescued - on this occasion Mummy was a bit alarmed that I might go higher than a nine-months-pregnant person could reach to retrieve me...

I also enjoyed some excellent swinging with Daddy on the Big Swing.

In other news, Mummy and Daddy have started taking me to a very superior music group called Colourstrings. It is meant to develop my musicianship, apparently, but I like it because there are drums and we do dancing. I was also very struck by the fact that (unlike most other toddler music groups) there are times when we have to be 'vey vey quiet'. Daddy likes this aspect a lot.

I continue to enjoy swimming very much indeed. It is even better now that I have discovered that afterwards I can watch Toddler Soccer, and then hide in the very green lockers and pop out shouting 'peekaboo!':

Summer fun (involving a lot of water)

2010-08-30T12:00:00.000-07:00

Over the summer we've had lots of outdoor fun at various points, which I wanted to record. I've played a great deal in my paddling pool, for instance, both full of balls, and full of water. I've also spent a lot of time in the park - both climbing things (see above) and investigating the smell of lavender, and the fact that it attracts bees.

I've also enjoyed Mile End Children's Park very much indeed:

Some strange bunch of people also painted a series of blue lines in Stroudley Walk (art, allegedly....), which are marvellous for playing STOP, WAAAAAIT, GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (a game entirely of my own invention).

I've had a nice time in the garden with Graham and Mette, including conducting Graham while he played his guitar, and having stories read to me by Mette.

We've also done really quite a lot of eating outside. I am very keen on this and was often to be heard coming down at breakfast time saying enthusiastically 'yummies outside!' and having to be dissauded because (for example) it was hosing down with rain. Which is not to say that getting wet has ever been a problem for me, but the parents seem to take a different view.

I'm becoming a very useful gardener, and am particularly good at watering things (especially when it doesn't matter all that much what is watered). I don't consider it done properly unless I am thoroughly wet at the end of it, though.

Rounding off our outdoor fun, we spent the bank holiday weekend down in Somerset with Rachael, Rupert, Matthew, Stephen, Susie, Helen, Barney, Hannah and Sophie. This was fantastic. I really enjoyed being the smallest of 7 children. We played in the garden a lot, and did an obstacle race (which, because of Charlie and Lola, I was very excited about and called an Octopus race). We played a lot of hide-and-seek, and as I will tell anyone who will listen innumerable times, we found a spider in the bathroom! We also played sardines and all hid in the shower which was hilarious.

The weather was kind and we got out the slip-n-slide and also played with the squirty floppy flower. And, as if that wasn't enough, we also made cakes and biscuits. It was truly marvellous and I was sad when everyone had to go home, and asked after them a lot.

The weekend was also notable because Mummy was having some funny feelings in her tummy which made her think the baby might come, so she and Daddy got rather agitated, especially on the Monday after we got home. But it was all a false alarm (although it did mean they got on with packing some bags and things that they hadn't really done).

Weekend in Cambridge

2010-08-23T12:00:00.000-07:00

The next weekend, we went to Cambridge and stayed with Andrew and Victoria and Charlotte and Elizabeth. It was excellent. We all played really quite nicely together, on the whole. On the Saturday, we went to a farm with a Maize Maze - which in fact we ignored completely because there were so many other good things - bouncy castles, and trampolines, and a massive inflatable slide, and a ride round the farm being pulled by a tractor. I sat next to Ellen and held her hand which was great.

Daddy and Owen got quite competitive on the go-karts. I have to admit that Owen was faster than my Daddy but we had lots of fun anyway.

Then on Sunday we went to the park with Charlotte and Elizabeth, which was also really good fun.

I really like Andrew, Victoria, Charlotte, Elizabeth, Clare, Owen, Ellen and Catrin and after we got home I kept asking after all of them and checking when we could see them again.

Out to lunch, and a lovely wedding

2010-08-13T12:00:00.000-07:00

The next excitement after coming back from France was going to lunch with Ben, Susan, Josh and Hannah. I had a completely brilliant time. Josh and Hannah lifted me up and and down onto the sofa, and Josh showed me games on his iPod Touch, and we played with coasters, and then we had lunch, and then I had a nap in Josh's bed, and afterwards we played in the garden - where there is a fountain! It was completely brilliant. They even gave me a special duck to take home. It has a slot it in and Daddy says it is a piggy bank. I looked sceptical about this, as it is clearly a duck, but happily accepted some money to put in it and now tend to hoover up any loose change left lying around with cries of 'money for your duck!'.

The next Friday was Duncan and Charlie's wedding. I am pretty au fait with what a wedding is due to looking at Mummy and Daddy's wedding pictures a lot. Weddings involve a lady wearing a big white dress. There is also singing, and some talking. Mummy was keen to emphasise that some of the talking is just for certain people to do, and required quiet.

I wore a Very Nice Dress that Petra gave me and I was really very good in the churchy part. I liked the singing a lot and sat on Daddy's knee, and sometimes stood up on the chair when everyone else did. I was a bit confused about whether Charlie was at all similar to Charlie in Charlie and Lola but I did agree that she looked very nice in her big white dress. After the service I stomped round the church with Daddy and made him read me hundreds of Sunday School books which he found a severe trial.

Then we went to another place for the party bit of the wedding. There were quite a lot of other children and we ran round and round and round. It was raining very hard and periodically I climbed on the windowsill for a look. There were many cocktail sausages which I was very positive about. Then we had some lunch and after that Daddy took me to Charlie and Duncan's house for a sleep and I very obligingly went to sleep on the sofa. When I woke up Daddy had changed into Mummy and we went back to the party. I rampaged around with the other children. Someone (not me, honest) took a tablecloth off one of the tables and I spent a very long time with it wrapped around me being a dress, and then lying down under the buffet tables pretending the tablecloth was a sheet, playing 'going to bed'. I also played various games with the other children involving dragging the sheet round and round and round. It was great. I was hugely over-excited. After that we went to a pub and Mummy and Daddy got me some supper and then I was rather tired so they put me in the car to take me home. Altogether, I enjoyed it very much.

In other news I am getting quite keen on using personal pronouns, although I always refer to myself as 'you'. This occasionally leads to slightly whimsical sentences (you sit on Mummy's lap?). Granny Mary always pretends not to understand, with the result that I am getting a bit better at saying 'me' when I am with her...

France

2010-08-07T12:00:00.000-07:00

Daddy went off to France on the Tuesday after Lizzy's party, and Mummy and I flew out on the Friday. Granny Mary came to stay, and took us to the airport early in the morning. I was very, very, very good, although I was a little bit scared on the aeroplane (which was a teeny tiny plane, as we were flying from London City Airport). I can say 'London City Airport' and also 'Nantes Airport' and I knew Daddy would be there when we got there and he was and I ran to him shouting 'Runnin to Daddy! Runnin to Daddy!' which pleased the passers-by no end. And Daddy, of course.

Daddy drove us to a place called 'De Opera' - it was a long way but Mummy and Daddy had got me some stories to have on CD in the hire car. I thought this was fantastic and became quite seriously addicted, especially to Charlie and Lola and Thomas the Tank Engine (with terrible songs) and Jack and the Beanstalk read by Lenny Henry. Paddington is good too but quite hard work and I can't always concentrate hard enough.

When we got to the Opera there were a LOT of people. We had lunch. It was Cheese Pie which I wasn't very impressed with but Mummy and Daddy were reasonable about that, as many of the adults seemed to agree with my assessment. I had brie instead, in enormous lumps. There seemed to be a lot of worrying and running to and fro going on. I also managed to push my chair away from the table so that it fell down with a massive crash, and I landed on gravel and metal chair. That certainly drew attention. I was shocked and upset but otherwise absolutely fine, although Mummy got a bit tired with people asking if I was drowsy, since it was time for my nap, so I was definitely drowsy but it was rather hard to say if it was significant or not...

Anyway, we stayed the night at the Opera and Mummy and Daddy were a bit astonished to find that I appeared to remember the room from the previous year ('Cessie sleep in dere' - pointing). After breakfast we drove off to find the Manoir (which I pronounce Man-wire) where we were going to stay.

The Manoir was pretty good.

There was a pool, a climbing frame with an enormous sandpit, a go-kart, many balls, and quite a lot of animals - donkeys, sheep, a goat, dogs, ponies, and a cat. Not that long after we got there, Sophie and Richard and Lucie and Oscar arrived. Lucie is a Big Girl who is Three. I think she is fantastic. She mainly speaks French but she understands English so we communicate pretty well really. Oscar is a Little Tiny Baby. I was quite keen on him too.

Later in the evening Stephen and Natasha came. They are very nice too and I remembered them. And the next day, Sarah and Olly and Max and Felix arrived - so we had our whole party complete.

We did lots of Very Nice Things. We spent quite a lot of time eating outside, which was good apart from the wasps ("Go away wasp!" I said, very sternly and very frequently).

We also spent quite a lot of time playing at the Manoir, with a paddling pool, and in the big pool. I decided to be frightened of swimming in the early part of the week and spent a lot of time running around the edge (and being told not to) and also being very jealous if other children played with my many inflatables. However in general it was nevertheless a joyous experience, and by the end of the first week I had forgotten about being frightened and was enjoying playing 'Humpty Dumpty' and 'The Grand Old Duke Of York' and saying 'swimmin on yer own' with great satisfaction if only limited accuracy. Actually, with my rubber ring on I can swim on my own, but I am not utterly convinced quite yet.

The parents decided Lucie and I would share a room, which I was very excited about. Lucie was fine about it too, until she had to put up with my extended lunchtime nap singathons... Still, after a few days we figured it out - Lucie said 'Tais-toi' and 'C'est ne pas droll' quite sternly and then eventually resorted to 'Frances, time for sleeping'. I responded 'Would you like de light off?' (Lucie has a reading light, and I quite often ask the question I would like to be asked, if you see what I mean) and Lucie said 'Ca va', and all was well.

We all spent a lot of time on the climibing frame/sandpit as well, which was excellent. There were diggers and spades and many excellent things. The owners of the Manoir were lovely too. They let us ride their donkeys. I got very scared and didn't stay on long enough for Mummy to take a picture but Max and Felix and Lucy had nice rides and I watched and was pleased for them:

I said to Mummy that I would like to try it again another day when I am bigger.

I continue to think Lucie is pretty excellent:

I also enjoyed playing with Max and Felix. We went into Bauge to meet Granny Jenny and Colin and beforehand we all ran round and round and round and round until we were exhausted:

Another day, we went into La Fleche and went to the market; and afterwards we went to the zoo. Granny Jenny and Colin came too. It was brilliant. There were gibbons, who did swinging. There was also a sea-lion show which I found completely gripping. There was no way in the world I was having a nap, so I was a bit starey by the end of the day (although there wasn't a major meltdown which Mummy was quite impressed by, really).

There was also a polar bear who did swimming underwater. Even the grown-ups thought this was pretty excellent. Nowadays if someone swims underwater (or if I try it myself) I say 'You swimmin like a polar bear!'

The zoo also provided further opportunities for admiring Baby Oscar:

I also continued to be very fond of Lucie. We made finger-puppets together from a set that Alastair gave me for my birthday, and I also liked being read stories with her.

Towards the end of the first week we saw a bit more of Daddy. He kept popping in whenever he could but he was working at lot. We went to see him do some conducting, and watch the opera. It was really good and I sat very still and quiet just like Mummy wanted, but I found it a bit intense.

Frankly, I preferred it when Daddy came to the Manoir and flung me around in the pool.

I also enjoyed our day on the 'beach' at La Fleche. The lake and the beach are both artificial but that doesn't matter. It still allowed some very good sandcastle-building - you can't see it in this picture, but Mummy and Daddy and Uncle James built a castle with a marble-run down the outside - apparantly Grandad Frank used to do this for Mummy and Uncle John and so Mummy has to do it at every opportunity. I think it's pretty good although I don't always put the marbles on quite gently enough to avoid major avalanche...

I also enjoyed stomping through the water. Mummy thinks Daddy and I may be related...

Daddy also proved to be an excellent story-reader to multiple persons. I rather like being on one knee while someone else is on the other, it turns out.

Stephen and Natasha said 'goodbye' on the Thursday and we were very sad to see them go. Then, on Saturday morning, everyone else said 'goodbye' too. Mummy and Daddy moved all out stuff from the Manoir to the Cottage, where we were staying an extra week. Then we went to Villandry, which is a big Chateau - and there were Sarah, Olly, Max, Felix, Sophie, Richard, Lucie, Oscar, and even Granny Jenny and Colin! This was most exciting. The Chateau was quite nice too.

I ate a truly enormous sandwich and then an ice-cream. I asked for vanilla, but when I saw Mummy's raspberry cone it was so clearly superior that I asked if we could swap. Mummy's such a sucker.

After that, we went round the gardens and the house. I liked the fountains best. There were a lot.

I also liked the gravel. There was a lot of that too. I said 'Yer picking up stones!' and put them in my pockets until my trousers fell down with the weight.

After that I took the camera off Mummy and took a surprisingly competent picture of Colin. Technology - there's nothing to it.

The second week was a bit quieter than the first (and I was a bit sad that the other children weren't around) but on the other hand we saw a lot more of Daddy. I also enjoyed some playing on my own - Mummy and Daddy are both big fans of the fact that I will just potter about on my own for ages. It helped that the owners had found a particularly brilliant play kitchen for me - I really like play kitchens.

Because Daddy missed out on the zoo the first time round, we went again - and we took Uncle James and Granny Mary, too. I saw the sea-lion show again and it was still excellent. James and I fed the goats, who were a bit naughty - they kept jumping over their fence and chasing us for the food.

Daddy and I had a bit of a contretemps about the total time it is appropriate to spend on a bouncy castle, and also about what a suitable course of action is when asked to get off; but other than that it was a brilliant day again.

On the Wednesday of the second week we went into Angers and met up with Sophie and Richard and Lucie and Oscar again. We had the most fantastic meal and then I went on the carousel, on a swan. I had a ticket, which excited me possibly more than the ride itself.

Then Lucie and I played in the park together for ages with the Daddies while Mummy and Sophie did a bit of shopping. When Mummy came back she had bought me a Real Necklace a bit like ones she and Granny Jenny have. I was very pleased with it, but also rather tired (and very resistant to sleeping on the way back to the Cottage).

Other features of the second week included lots of nice time with Granny Jenny and Colin and Granny Mary. Granny Mary came and looked after me one night so that Mummy could go to the opera, and I had a very nice time (and Granny says I was good, too). I went to see Granny Mary in her flat and they also came to the Manoir to see us, and we went to the market and the beach at La Fleche again as well. We also had nice meals out:

And nice meals at the cottage, outside:

And made sure we made the most of the pool and the sandpit before we had to go:

When it was time to go, Mummy and Daddy and I packed up all our things (I was really helpful) and we drove back to Nantes. We stayed one night in the Nantes Airport Hotel to avoid a very very early start - this was fine except that Mummy sat on my camp-bed and went right through it! She and Daddy hurriedly put it back together and reassured me that this wouldn't happen to me, as I am not 33, and nor am I 7 and a half months pregnant. Luckily for them I took this reassurance as gospel and went happily to sleep. We flew back without incident and I proudly declared 'You not scared of de aeroplane dis time!'.

I have insisted that Mummy finish this post with an important picture of me eating a rake. This is because every time I see it, I fall about laughing and say 'You eatin a rake! Dat's funny!' and then giggle some more.

Buses, fairs, big boys and babies

2010-07-18T12:00:00.000-07:00

I quite like summer. Mummy has pretty much solidly got into the habit of taking me to the lovely cafe in the park for lunch on Fridays, and I am very good at eating sausage and egg sandwiches while balancing on a wobbly stool.

We also had some ace outings. We went to Covent Garden and met Sarah and Olly and Max and Felix for lunch,

And then we went to the Transport Museum, which was excellent. I like buses.

I also like real buses - if I can, I will get out of my pushchair and stand up, saying very seriously 'holdin on very tightly'.

We went on the bus to Paradise Gardens, which was a big fair in Victoria Park. In fact, we went twice! The first day I went we met Granny Jenny and Colin. I enjoyed the craft tent a lot:

I was also very pleased with my gigantic burger and chips (Mummy really needs to take her role in combatting childhood obesity more seriously, in my view)

On the second day we met up with Sarah and Matilda, and I went on my first fairground rides. Mummy was worried I would climb off, but she talked on and on and on about how I needed to sit still while it was going round and round, and so I did, just to keep her quiet.

Matilda and I also really enjoyed the dance tents:

I liked the fair so much that Mummy and Daddy took me to another one in Mile End Park. I can now identify a fair (and name a carousel) at 100 paces and am very enthusiastic indeed.

After that, the next very exciting outing was to see Ellen and Julian and Big Boy Dominic and Little Tiny Baby Sebastian. I was very taken with Big Boy Dominic and we did a lot of running about and also made a cave and were monsters. I quite liked Little Tiny Baby Sebastian too. Mainly he did sleeping.

After that the next highlight was Graunty Lizzy's birthday. It was in a very smart place and I wore a very smart dress which Petra gave me last summer, and was much admired. Biddy gave me a car which I thought was fantastic. I ate quite a lot and slept in an enormous hotel bed. After that I went and played in the garden a lot, and then we had tea with Graunty Lizzy and Graunty Baa and Robin and Granny Mary.

I spent the next bit of the week being sick repeatedly - this made Mummy and Daddy rather anxious as Daddy was off to France and Mummy was a bit concerned about being left with a poorly person on her own - but fortunately I recovered in the nick of time.

In other news, I have been playing in my bed (and in Mummy and Daddy's bed) for some time now. Mummy was thinking she wouldn't push too hard for me to get into the big bed (what with us only just having done the potty training thang) but one day I just said 'Cessy sleep in de big bed' and I did - first of all for my nap and then all night. I am a bit rubbish about keeping my duvet on (and I won't wear a baby sleeping bag in the big bed - I seem to have clocked that big people don't wear them) so I have woken up the night every now and again feeling a bit cold, but other than that it seems to be going pretty well. It does help that I have about a billion soft toys in there with me:

Oh, and I also like 'workin like Mummy' which involves sitting in front of the computer and moving the mouse about. Surprisingly accurate, really.

I am 2!

2010-06-06T12:00:00.000-07:00

When we got back from Somerset, I was very much aware that it was Nearly My Birthday. I know (probably from nursery) that this involves singing, cake and balloons (indeed, when Mummy asked what I wanted at my party, I said 'balloons').

I had in fact already had some lovely presents from Andrew and Victoria and Charlotte and Elizabeth and Clare and Owen and Ellen and Catrin - including some 'cutting fruit' with a knife which I am very fond of indeed.

On my 'actual birthday' I sat in state in Mummy and Daddy's bed and had even more presents, which were excellent.

Then I went off to nursery and Mummy and Daddy gave me some gingerbread men to take for everyone which I was very pleased about.

Then, at the weekend, I had my party. It was brilliant! Granny Mary and Granny Jenny and Colin all came, and lots of other lovely people. Mummy had passed on my balloon request and so I got a whole lot of really amazing balloons including a goose which really looks like it is walking, from Marianne. I was completely smitten with the goose.

There were also many delicious things to eat, some of which I helped to make myself.

Mummy, in obedience to my instructions, made a Dinosaur Cake (though she disobediently didn't make a Tyrannosaurus Rex, as she wasn't sure she could make it stand up). I very graciously accepted her attempt at a stegosaurus though, especially as she provided it with a nest of eggs. And we had tyrannosaurus biscuits (yes, I know some of them are cats, but I like cats too).

I am very clear now that I am two, and will hold up two fingers and say 'Two! two!' if you ask how old I am. I also know that my birthday is 'In June'. In Somerset I discovered Mummy's copy of 'Meg and Mog's Birthday Book' and like to go through it carefully establishing who has a birthday in which month. I am pretty good at remembering that Mummy's birthday (and Granny Jenny's) are also in June (in face, Mummy had the temerity to have her birthday on the day of my party, but I didn't bother too much about that).

Granny Jenny and Colin stayed and looked after me; and they also came back the next weekend for Granny Jenny's birthday; and then they came for a further weekend and looked after me while Mummy went to see Daddy conduct opera in Essex (no really). I really liked seeing a bit more of them and was very good.

Sun and splashing in Somerset

2010-05-30T12:00:00.000-07:00

At the end of May we went down to Somerset. Daddy came for the first weekend. The first thing that happened was that Mummy said that if I wanted, I could wear Big Girl Pants all the time, and do all my poos and wees on the loo. I was ready to give this a go. In the event, it was so hot on the first day that mainly I wore Nothing At All:

Then it got really exciting because Andrew and Victoria and Charlotte and Elizabeth and Clare and Owen and Ellen and Catrin and Cathy and Edward all came for the weekend. Oh, and Daddy also turned up. It was brilliant! We had amazingly good weather and enjoyed each other's company in the garden hugely, especially when we got out the paddling pool and the Big Floppy Flower:

On the Sunday it was a little bit more indoor, but there was still a lot of fun to be had. I was very impressed with all my guests but especially with Big Girl Ellen. She helped me a lot when it came to role-modelling this new using-the-loo business, and now I really want a loo-seat 'jus like big-girl Ellen's loo-seat'. I also want a baby sister 'jus like Baby Catrin'.

On Sunday it was a bit sad because everyone went away again, leaving just me and Mummy. We had a pretty nice week in Somerset, though. We made cakes and biscuits:

And although the weather took a turn for the worse, I still enjoyed playing outside very much. We also did a lot of swimming in Greenbanks pool with Granny Mary, which I thought was excellent. On the Wednesday I also managed Completely Dry Big Girl Pants All Day, which Mummy said was very clever, and as if by magic she produced a loo-seat just like Ellen's as an incentive. That was pretty exciting. I also went to see Baa and Robin and Hebe-the-Dog which was very excellent.

Then at the end of the week we had more excitement because Chris and Christina and Andrew and Nicholas and Sinead came. I was pretty good at entertaining myself (and sometimes them) so that Mummy had quite a lot of fun too.

I'm going to be a Big Sister

2010-05-14T13:05:00.000-07:00

Just a short post to record that Mummy and Daddy finally told me that I am going to be a Big Sister. I knew something was up. There is a baby inside Mummy's tummy. Mummy has bought me a couple of books about this, and Granny Mary has also, and various people have given me similar volumes, and so I am currently wondering if all the new books I get from now on are going to be about babies? However, I do quite like There's A House Inside My Mummy and have had it read most nights since finding out about the baby. Mummy doesn't like the page which says 'I must be very patient, cos his door is rather tight'...

Just after Mummy and Daddy told me about the baby we had a special trip to hospital to see the baby on a screen. Mummy and Daddy weren't sure if I'd understood, but the night before, while I was in bed, they heard me saying to myself 'Goin to hospital - see da baby in Mummy tummy' so they knew I had got the general idea. I was very, very, very good at the hospital and sat quietly on a chair while the lady put the little thing on Mummy's tummy (Daddy was having a parking disaster, but did arrive in time to see it too). I saw the baby on the screen and 'it was movin'. Apparantly the actual baby won't be here for a bit. Also, at first it won't be able to do much. So that's all right then. I am broadly positive about the baby, all things considered, but Mummy and Daddy are waiting to see what it's like when it's really here....

Back to Bow (and some more outings)

2010-05-01T05:30:00.000-07:00

When we got back it was pretty much straight back to work for Mummy and Daddy. The big news for me was that I moved up into the Big Boys and Girls Room (also known as 2 to 3s) at Nursery. This involved spending a few hours there the first few days, and then some more the next week, and then being in the Big Boys and Girls Room all the time. It is very exciting there. There is painting, and play-doh, and a Home Corner, and a lot of books, and also Big Boys and Girls. Many of my friends moved with me, including Alastair, which was good. Alastair is getting quite good at talking now and I come home and repeat the things he has learnt to say (mostly I say 'Alastair say "oh no!"').

I like the Big Boys and Girls Room so much that I kept checking each day that I was really going to be allowed to go back there the next day. I miss Ruba and Bea from the baby room but they do come in to see me quite often, and I like Halima too, who is my new key worker.

Daddy started working very hard after we got back from Thailand. He has to do a lot of 'ducting'. I went to see his rehearsals for Garsington once or twice, which I liked a lot. Daddy's work seems to involve people prancing about dressed up in silly clothes, singing. I then demanded to 'see Mummy workin' but was a bit disappointed that Mummy's work, by contrast, involves a lot of people sitting in a big office. Mummy is a 'civil servint' and mainly at work she does 'writin'. Mummy's work is also intimately connected with cycling in my mind. I scoot up and down the kitchen saying 'goin to work like Mummy'.

What with all Daddy's workin, I have had a lot of lovely Granny Mary time. Granny has looked after me on Mondays and Tuesdays a lot. She took me to see Uncle Victor one Monday, which I thought was great.

She also came with me and Mummy on yet another outing to the Natural History Museum. We went to Carluccio's for lunch afterwards. I like juice, and also ice cream:

I've also visited Granny Mary's Park quite a bit. It has a slide which ends in a sandpit! And also a bus. This is excellent:

We continued to visit Mudchute farm quite regularly. Daddy and I like to stroll casually about the sheep.

I also like looking at all the birds, especially the big turkey.

We have got into a rather decadent habit on a Friday. Fridays are good - they are Mummy-Cessy days (and sometimes Mummy-Daddy-Cessy days, which are the best kind of all). Mummy takes me to Piccolo where I dance and sing like a crazy person, and then we play in Victoria Park. After that, Mummy has rather got into the habit of taking me for lunch in the cafe - so much so that I will now announce confidently that I want my usual 'sausage sandwich wiv an egg' and then polish off a lot of the lentils and spring onions from Mummy's salad too. I am surprisingly keen on lentils. Victoria Park is also very good from a duck, goose and swan-observation point of view and I can identify 'coots'. There were also some 'little baby coots in a nes' as well.

Another notable outing took us to a thing called the 'viewtube'. This is mainly another very nice cafe, where I drank babycinos and amused the serving staff. But it was also very close to a large amount of building work, which Mummy and Daddy seemed to view with some significance - they kept pointing it out to me and talking about people running very fast and seeing who could jump highest and throw furthest. Seems like a lot of effort to me, but there you go. Not that I am averse to running, you understand.

That same day, we also went to a place called the Discover Centre in Stratford which is basically for playing. It has a slide inside it and a lot of dressing up and many, many books and also puppets. I liked it a lot.

In other news, my talking is coming on very well. I am stringing my words together into really very long combinations. I say 'you' and 'me', though nearly always incorrectly (Mummy carry you! is frequently heard). I can repeat pretty much any word or sentence you can say (my dinosaur names are extensive and correct, and I can also say some pretty good combinations from memory, such as 'Please may I leave da tabul?' which I have discovered works better than shouting 'Finish! Finish!!' which is usually my first shot.

Some things don't change. I still like boxes. The only question is whether I am leading the cats astray, or they me:

Thailand

2010-04-30T12:00:00.000-07:00

In March, we went to Thailand. Mummy and Daddy had been talking about it for ages and ages before we actually went. They went on and on and on about the flight, until I could say all by myself that it was very, very, very important that I went to sleep because it was A Long Way to Thailand and would take A Long Time. 'Go to sleep on de aroplane' I would say; and 'Sleepin in Mummy arms'. Mummy and Daddy also promised that there would be elephants, fish and a lot of sand in Thailand. I like sandpits, so I wondered if Thailand would have a big sandpit? Mummy and Daddy then tried to explain the concept of 'beach', without notable success.

There was a lot of stressful to-ing and fro-ing before we left (personally I think Mummy and Daddy were foolish to get most of the house redecorated and a new floor just before taking an under-2 long haul, but there we are). Kis and Geg, who came to decorate, were very nice, and I talked to them and about them a lot.

When we finally set off Mummy and Daddy realised rather belatedly that we were going to spend the first few days in Bangkok, where elephants, fish and sand might be hard to come by - so there was a lot of back-pedalling in the airport lounge. Luckily the sleep-related indoctrination still stood and I did sleep most of the way to Thailand (and BA's strike didn't seem to make any difference, and they even provided a 'sky-cot' thing for me - a bit like a baby-bouncer balanced precariously on a small table. Still, no complaints here.

When we got to Bangkok we had a bit of a drive, which I wasn't too impressed by, but I liked the hotel. Mummy and Daddy are completely jammy because it just happened to have its own sandpit, and a pool with quite a lot of fish in it. This meant that to me it was essentially heaven.

There were also good facilities for sitting, reading and drinking milk; and even an area filled with children's toys:

The only slight issue was that when Mummy and Daddy put me to bed it was clearly not bedtime - it was absolutely obvious that this was my lunchtime nap. I therefore slept happily for 2 hours and then woke up and was very reluctant to go to sleep again. Basically I woke up every half hour or so to see if it was getting-up-time yet. Mummy and Daddy were a bit tired and grumpy the next day, quite frankly. They also reneged on their promise to take me to the palace and zoo nearby (they thought they might score elephants, but then said something about a massive political demonstration - poor excuse, really). Instead, they took me to the aquarium. It was pretty good and there were sharks, although frankly I thought we could just as easily have seen most of the stuff in London.

Mummy and Daddy spent a lot of time on this day telling me again and again and again that time was different in Thailand and so I really needed to sleep at night, and pointing out the light, and the twilight, and so on. They said if I woke up in the night, Mummy and Daddy would be sleeping so I should just sing myself a little song until I got to sleep, or do some counting, or something. I was very, very obedient. I slept for about two hours or so, and then I woke up. I leaned over the edge of my cot and saw Mummy's back, and said 'Mummy sleepin! Daddy sleepin!'. Then I sang songs. For about 2 hours. Occasionally I suspected that Mummy and Daddy might be awake and only pretending to sleep, so I spoke to them, and leaned over to give Mummy a little prod. But I stayed completely good-humoured. At one point I told half a knock-knock joke (that really puzzled Mummy and Daddy no end, I can tell you). I said 'Knock, knock. Who dere? A Man..?' and then trailed off in a slightly puzzled way. Mummy and Daddy have no idea who has been telling me knock knock jokes....

Anyway, the following morning I was a bit tired but not as bad as the previous day. We went to see a big palace and some temples:

I liked it especially when I could stand next to 'no entry' signs:

We went there on a boat, which was also a lot of fun.

After my nap, we went to see the Khao San Road, where Mummy and Daddy bought me a pink flappy butterfly and we enjoyed a very, very nice mango together, cut up in front of us with great skill (Daddy has been trying to replicate this but isn't quite there yet, in my view). Mummy also bought me a yellow dress, as yellow is my favourite colour.

We went there on a tuk-tuk. I liked it. The hotel lady was worried that I would be frightened, and Mummy said this wasn't likely. But then she thought maybe she had spoken too soon, as I was completely silent all the way, and held on pretty tight. When we got there, though, I laughed like a crazy person and shouted 'again, again' and 'more tuk-tuk'. So that's all right then.

On our way home we went to see the Big Budda that you can see from our hotel. It was definitely bigger than me.

I also practiced my photography. Some of my shots are more convincing than others, it must be admitted:

Altogether, I found Bangkok pretty acceptable as a place to go. But Phuket was even better. We flew to Phuket in a 'medium-sized aroplane' and I didn't have to go to sleep on it. That was pretty good. Once again there was a bit of a boring drive, but we saw buffalos! I was very excited. The difference between a gruffalo and a buffalo is becoming clearer, too.

Our hotel was very nice, although there was a bit of a crisis when the pool was too deep for me to walk in. This caused unhappiness:

However, later in the day Mummy and Daddy discovered another pool near the breakfast place which had a great big shallow end perfect for walking, so that was all right. Phew.

I liked the sea a lot. I shouted 'here comes another big wave' again and again and again and again. And I saw what Mummy and Daddy meant about the beach; and as promised, Daddy bought me a bucket and spade - which also came with a whole lot of little moulds for making castles and crustaceans out of sand. It was brilliant.

We pursued a policy in Phuket of spending one day on the beach, and then doing a bit of an outing the following day. Uncle John arrived a day or so after we did, which was most popular. He is very good at helping with sandcastles, and at swimming, and lots of other things.

We went out for a nice meal the night he arrived:

Our first outing was to ride on elephants. Mummy and Daddy were of the view that the place we went was ideally adapted to Amercian tourists and children under 5... so it was just right for me. It was a fake 'thai village'. I loved it. I got to ride in an ox cart:

And on a buffalo:

And then we had a talk about rice (which I ignored in favour of talking to a baby sitting next to us). After that we saw the monkey show, and I had my picture taken with a monkey:

I loved the monkey riding the tricycle and couldn't be prevented from trying out his trike myself. The monkey also picked nuts, and threw a ball in a net. All of these are things that I report on more or less accurately whenever anyone asks me about Thailand.

After that we rode our elephants. I took a relaxed approach:

And then there was an elephant show. I liked this too. They played football and stood on one leg. Since then I have been puzzling people periodically by saying 'jus like an elephant' when people stand on one leg. They don't seem to think it's the obvious comparison, but I know better. One of the elephants also stood on Uncle John!

Afterwards I had the chance to feed the elephants with bananas but was a bit scared so Daddy did most of it.

Then, just when we thought it was all over, Mummy decided to put her feet in a tank full of nibbly fish! I was completely fascinated but a tiny bit too nervous to put my feet in myself. I did let the fish nibble my fingers though:

Afterwards, in the bus on the way home, I was very sad I hadn't put my feet in and asked repeatedly to 'do it again'. Mummy and Daddy tried to explain that fish-nibbling was not all that widely available. I remain a bit disappointed about this, even when looking at the pictures 3 months later...

In the middle of the week I got a poorly tummy. Mummy and Daddy aren't sure quite what caused it but tried very hard to convince me that drinking the swimming pool water might well have been something to do with it (especially as they weren't poorly and we'd pretty much shared all the food). I was pretty droopy but Mummy and Daddy read me a very, very large number of books, which helped.

They also decided it was worth trying the butterfly farm - and indeed I liked the butterflies, and enjoyed feeding the big fish a lot. I also very much liked seeing the real live Very Hungry Caterpillars.

I perked up the following day, although I remained slightly cautious in my eating for the rest of the trip (apart from the banana, apple and mango fritters that we had quite often on the beach; and My First Ice Cream Cone, which was Excellent):

We mainly ate out in the evenings, which was very nice, and Mummy and Daddy took thousands and thousands of pictures of sunset.

One night there was a wedding on the beach which I was quite interested in, especially as it turned out to involve a baby elephant. After he'd done his bit he went for a swim in the sea! After that I asked every night for swimming elephants...

Uncle John and Daddy turned their hand to watersports. Uncle John did some fairly competent waterskiing:

And Daddy went up in a parachute! I thought this was amazing. He went up:

And then he was a long way away (this is Mummy asking me where Daddy is, and me pointing him out and saying 'on da parachute'):

And then he came down again:

He enjoyed it almost as much as I did.

I also had a brilliant time with some Thai children. They buried me in sand, and also took me into the sea and helped me. It was excellent.

Mummy also buried me in the sand. Despite this photo, I enjoyed it and demanded more and more and more:

At the end of the week Mummy and Daddy and Uncle John organised a snorkelling trip on a long-tail boat. This was superb. Our only regret was that we hadn't done it earlier and then more often. I enjoyed the boat trip, striking various nautical poses:

I tried on a snorkeling mask:

I watched Daddy, Mummy and Uncle John doing their thing:

I fed fish from the boat - they came really close:

And I went in the water with Mummy and Daddy (I was a bit nervous but did ask to go back in several times):

After that we had lunch in a secluded bay and then did some more swimming and paddling and it was all very idyllic:

And I even had My Second Ice Cream Cone in the boat on the way home.

Our last day was mainly spent packing and enjoying the pool with Uncles John and Zebra;

and then it was time to go. I definitely enjoyed Thailand. I said to Mummy and Daddy consolingly, 'We'll do it again.'. They don't seem completely convinced about this, but I'm sure I'm right.

The flight home was fine (even though I stayed up til past midnight what with all the airport excitement) and the jet lag sorted itself out much better on the way home (Mummy and Daddy took me to Ikea to help keep us all awake.. strange people) so all in all, I can't complain. And I can still tell anyone who asks all about it, and really like to look at all our pictures in the album, too.

Spring catch-up....

2010-03-30T12:00:00.000-07:00

Mummy has finally got round to the blog again - we've agreed it's time for some high-speed catching up. The last you saw was some pictures of Christmas - so now we're going to whizz through the highlights of the Spring. These included:

- several trips to the Natural History Museum, including with Granny Mary. I am very fond of dinosaurs (and know that it's pretty clever that I can say 'Tyrannosaurus Rex' and 'Triceratops'). I liked the Museum very much and was heard to say soulfully on departure: 'we'll do it again'.

- an outstanding outing to London Zoo with Granny Jenny and Colin. Here I am with Granny Jenny and some lions:

And here I am crawling through a tunnel to look at meerkats (my fear of tunnels seems basically to have disappeared):

- a very nice trip to Somerset to see Graunty Baa and Gruncle Robin and (most importantly) Hebe-the-Dog. I learnt to do watering, which I like a lot. I mainly watered just the one plant, but Graunty Baa and Gruncle Robin were very forbearing. I also decided there were buffaloes in the bin, which I thought was hilarious. Mummy thinks my imagination may be developing.

- Some good visits to Mudchute Farm, to see the sheep (and generally stride about):

- A lot of cafe-going. I am very much addicted to babycinos and like to go to the cafe every Friday after Piccolo. Wearing Daddy's hat is a bonus.

I also like it when we go to the Empress of India. On one memorable occasion I went with Mummy and Granny Mary, and it was raining. A lot. I spent some time standing under the biggest drips to get as wet as possible:

Another observation made by Granny during this period was that all toddlers know instincively what to do with a stick and some railings:

- Other trips included the Transport museum (which I also liked a lot):

I briefly suffered some confusion about museums, having visited several in a short space of time; but have now sorted out which ones are likely to feature dinosaurs, which buses, and which are to be visited mainly for their soft play. At the Museum of London Docklands, I finally mastered climbing up far enough to actually slide down the slide (this has been a long time in coming, as far as Mummy is concerned):

- Later in the Spring we went to Mudchute again with Alastair. We like the cafe:

- In other news, I remain quite ambitious in relation to Mummy's bicycle:

I'm also very fond of boxes:

Mummy has established that I look quite cute with my hair in bunches, but it is basically far too much like hard work for both of us (oh, and I like climbing things):

So in the end I had a rather fearsome haircut (with fringe). I remain fond of soft toys (here is Richard the Rabbit getting some firm handling):

And finally, I remain musically inclined, and enjoy helping Daddy play the tuba, either in a blowing or a key-pressing capacity:

Christmas Pictures

2010-01-15T12:00:00.000-08:00

As the parents have been so hopeless at updating, I have agreed reluctantly to a bit of a photo-montage of the recent months. Here are some pictures from Christmas (I had my cast off on Christmas Eve, and enjoyed the festivities enormously - first at home, then in Manchester, and then in Somerset).

A bit of an ooops; and 18 months old

2009-12-13T13:31:00.000-08:00

Finally an update where there's some chance of remembering vaguely what happened in the last time. My parents are exerting themselves, I think, because these have been Momentous Times.

On the Monday after the last post, Mummy's friend Ben came round. I was very taken with him indeed, and did a lot of coy grinning and giggling and showed off like mad. He also brought me the most wonderful soft cuddly pig. I wouldn't let Mummy take it away and slept with it all night.

On the Thursday things got very exciting. Mummy and Daddy came to get me from nursery just after lunch, and put me in the car. I wailed a bit but eventually fell asleep. When I woke up, Mummy and Daddy were very quietly unpacking the car at Clare, Owen, Ellen and Catrin's house. I had a brilliant afternoon with Mummy and Clare and Ellen and Catrin and Victoria and Charlotte and Elizabeth. It was great. I stampeded about and played with lots of toys (and babies) and wasn't bothered even when Mummy disappeared upstairs for ages to wrestle with my cot. I had a lovely bath with Ellen and Catrin and then went to bed. I believe that after that Mummy went out to see Daddy conduct an opera, but I remained asleep throughout so I can't say for sure.

On Friday we went to see Rachael and Suzie (and Rupert, briefly) and we played in a very excellent park, which I was reluctant to leave even when it tipped down with rain. I enjoyed standing on Suzie's scooter (inside) and showed off some of my counting skills (probably the best counting to date, which I did very casually while Rachael was listening, slightly to Mummy's surprise). We had a lovely, lovely lunch and then Mummy and Daddy took me back to Clare and Owen's house for my nap. In the afternoon we played and then Ellen and Catrin came home and we went in the garden and it was lots of fun. We also had Crazed Instrument Hour where we all played musical instruments, and Clare gave me my very own swannee whistle. Mummy says she will forgive her one day. At least it wasn't a kazoo - I was pretty good at that too (and so is Baby Catrin).

On Saturday Andrew and Victoria and Charlotte and Elizabeth came round and there were Many Babies again. According to Ellen I am now not a baby, but a Big Girl. I certainly ate bucketloads of everything. The Feeding Of the Babies was quite a sight to behold.

Later on Sebastian and Claire came round too, with Marina, who is just starting to crawl and is very smiley. I was on pretty good form and was letting Mummy play with other babies without too much complaint (though I found three-on-a-lap got a bit crowded).

However, unfortunately we weren't destined to enjoy much of the company because we went outside again, and I fell off the (very, very small) plastic slide onto soft wet grass, and... BROKE MY ARM! It hurt like anything and I cried a lot so my parents knew something was up as I am pretty loathe to waste good playing time on crying, in general. They took me straight round to Addenbrookes. I was pretty unhappy and held on to Mummy until we were seen by a nurse who gave me some Calpol and Ibuprofen, and after that I was as happy as anything and the main issue was Mummy and Daddy trying to stop me flailing my broken arm about too much in my general enthusiasm for life. After a bit someone came round the curtain and it was....Owen! I was a bit confused by this, but generally positive about it, even when he felt all up my hurty arm. He was also in charge of my x-rays. I'm not much of a fan of x-rays as they involve Daddy holding me still, which is never a good thing. However, I did get a sticker for being brave and also a green teddy bear and I was very taken with both of them, cuddling the bear and repeatedly sticking the sticker on my own front, and on the bear's front, until it lost its stick. There were also an acceptable number of books available at Addenbrookes so all in all it could have been worse. However, there was a bit of discussion about whether my arm needed to be 'manipulated' to put it back in place (apparantly both bones in my lower arm are broken, and one is rather bent) and therefore Mummy and Daddy were told not to feed me. As the dinner hour was approaching, and they had brought some bits for me to eat, this was rather tense and involved them repeatedly having to hide things behind their backs while moving the Andrews convoy to and fro (for x-ray, back to a consulting room, back to x-ray, for plastering etc). Getting plastered was ok (it made Mummy exceedingly messy) as Mummy and Daddy sang songs to keep my mind off it, much to the amusement of all within earshot. Then we were allowed to go, but asked to return in the morning for the consultant's view on whether my arm should be manipulated.

We got back to Clare and Owen's and I was in really very good form, especially as I was allowed to eat again, and consumed a mighty supper. Then I went to bed and basically passed out. On Sunday Mummy and Daddy work me up Far Too Early (about which I protested), and took me to hospital again. There was a lot of waiting about and I wasn't impressed by the resumption of the starvation regime (at various stages I went and sat down at small chairs and tables, just like I have to do at nursery before meals, and pointed out to Mummy and Daddy how nicely I was sitting down, as well as announcing 'hungry! hungry!' and 'eat! eat!' - but they remained implacable until a Very Important Man had been to see us and said it was all fine and I didn't need manipulating and we could go - at which point they produced food and I cheered up.

We got back in time to go to the park before lunch, so I was able to show off how much you can still do in a park with your arm in plaster. I showed a strong urge to go down the slide, too - Daddy tried to pick me up so I could just go half-way, but I told him what I thought of such nonsense, and climbed all the way to the top. Nothing like getting back on the horse straight away, that's what I say, especially a significantly bigger and scarier horse than the one you fell off in the first place..!

I've also demonstrated that you can still play the swannee whistle with a broken arm. Mummy is most disappointed.

Since then, there've been a few more visits to the doctor and the fracture clinic. I got a snazzy fibreglass plaster with teddies on it, which I liked a lot. It's amazing how much you can do with a broken arm; and in addition it does mean I'm getting pretty good with my left hand. The one big down-side has been rather limited baths, no more showers, and missing swimming; although last week Mummy and Daddy got me an extraordinary big blue rubber glove with an alarming pump attachment, which creates a vacuum seal and so is watertight - so I have been having showers and even went swimming last week. However, whether co-incidentally or not, the night after swimming I managed to pull my cast off in the night (Daddy nearly had kittens when he came in in the morning and found me waving it about) so, once they'd dropped everything to take me back to the Royal London for another cast (dinosaurs this time) they've been a bit more cautious about the Big Blue Glove.

In non-broken-arm-related news, Mummy has been deserting me again for bedtime - the Saturday after the arm-breaking weekend, she went to Cambridge again to sing. However, I had a lovely time with Daddy, so see if I care. She's also abandoned me once for a meeting, and twice for Christmas parties! It's absolutely outrageous. Granny Mary has now put me to bed twice (actually, I don't seem to mind this at all - she is a very competent book-reader, which is the main thing).

I have also had my very first haircut (well, not counting an incompetent attack with scissors that Daddy perpetrated on me nearly a year ago). Having grown very much accustomed to my long straggly locks I was not very impressed by the experience, especially as it began with the (admittedly very nice) man combing my matted hair which was realy quite painful. I repeatedly asked for my books but daddy had stupidly not brought any so he had to borrow a 'celebrity magazine' which fortunately had enough animals and people to count that I relaxed enough for the operation to proceed. Once it was over I proudly announced to everybody that I'd had a 'snip snip', and I have to admit that my new stylish bob cut is rather fetching.

On the Sunday after Mummy had been singing in Cambridge, we went to Mudchute Farm again and had a very nice time, even though it was tipping down with rain. I splashed in puddles and insisted on wielding the big umbrella.

We also went to see someone called Stina, and her friend Eva, and Eva's very tiny baby, Erik. Unfortunately, I wasn't on best form (quite tired, and also, it later turned out, the first 2 canines actually finally coming through). I made a huge fuss about lunch and didn't want to eat and Mummy got quite irate. There goes all her smugness about baby-led weaning eliminating food battles. After I woke I was a bit better but still not on top form. Still, I did enjoy trundling around Eva's lovely flat, and Stina gave me some gorgeous slipper-socks with sheep on them, and an advent calender, which I carefully open with Mummy every day.

Last Saturday Daddy was working, so Mummy and I went and played with Gen and Alastair in the morning, and went to the pound shops of Stratford in the afternoon. I rather liked the pound shops, where I march about having a look at everything and quite often examining the wares closely. I squashed a box of rather attractive Christmas decorations so badly that Mummy felt obliged to buy it. Now there's a trick worth repeating... Mummy also videoed my doings on Saturday, as - believe it or not - I am now eighteen months old, and she's decided to make a bit of video of me doing ordinary things on my 'half-year' birthday (or a nearby weekend) every year. I was intrigued by this and kept coming very close to have a look at the video camera, so quite a lot of the film consists of my face getting bigger, and bigger, and bigger...

I also went to see Daddy working. Mummy told me I would have to be quiet, and Daddy would be waving, but not at me, and there would be people singing, 'la la la'. This was all true. I spent a lot of time saying 'shh, shh' and putting my finger to my lips to remind myself to be quiet, and I was very obedient about not bothering Daddy until he had finished, though it was very difficult when he was just there. I liked the music, and also did some drawing.

Then, on Sunday, we went to the Arches for the first time since the Arm Incident, and I demonstrated my skill in bouncing and clambering and climbing and sliding with only the one active arm. It was great.

This weekend's also been splendid so far. On Friday we went to Piccolo (well, Mummy and I went, while Daddy went for a run and did some shopping) and then we had lunch in the cafe in the park, which I liked very much. The week before we had lunch in the Empress, and that was excellent too. I am generally rather fond of restaurants. Then we went to Tesco in the afternoon and bought Christmas decorations and did a bit of tree-decorating. I like decorations a lot, but am not sure about hanging them on the tree. On the whole, I prefer to keep them where I can play with them, roll them about, put them in and out of their boxes, and, of course, put them in my mouth (to the chorus of 'Not In Your Mouth!' from both parents, as they are rather prone to shed glitter and bits).

Today Mummy and I went to the Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood for an NCT thing, and had cake in the cafe (I can say 'caffey! caffey!' and quite often ask to go to one - my father's daughter). Before lunch I invaded Mette and Graham's house and had a very nice time with them. In the afternoon did some running in Bob's Park and a bit more decorating - but on the whole we had a lazy day with books and singing and dancing. I have a cold as was up a lot last night coughing, so was a bit tired, but remained pretty good-humoured.

I'm obsessed with 'ring-a-ring-a-roses' at the moment. I will demand it (usually by saying 'atishoo') and will turn round on the spot, or hold your hands and go round, and then fall over very dramatically. I then say 'pickin, pickin' for 'picking up the daisies'. I've also got very into 'see the little bunnies sleeping' and am desperately keen to learn to jump. My hops at the moment don't leave the ground, but I am really, really trying to take off. The excellent thing is that you can segue straight from 'ring-a-ring-a-roses' into 'sleeping bunnies' after the falling down part - I have done this approximately 1 million times today.

I've been doing a lot of 'ring-a-ring-a-roses' with Daddy - and generally having lots of lovely Daddy-time, as he's been around on Mondays and Tuesdays lately. I am very fond of my Daddy. He reads me books and dances with me and cooks lovely things and is generally most excellent. He's also been encouraging my strong interest in the washing (it goes round and round, you know) and I am now a very competent helper when transferring things from washing machine to dryer (and indeed when it comes to setting both machines going). I also like to help stack the dishwasher and turn it on. I'm also showing an astonishing interest in cleaning (no idea where this comes from - clearly not the parents), mopping things up with baby-wipes, and using the washing-up brush from my treasure basket to firmly brush at the pine needles on the floor (as well as 'helping' Mummy and Daddy hoover by insisting on being picked up while they push the hoover around).

You can tell I am fond of Daddy, because when he isn't there I like to wear his jumper (I say 'Daddy's, Daddy's', and carry it about). Today I also wore Mummy's pyjama top when she wasn't around.

Daddy has also helped me continue to improve my relations with the cats. I approach them, saying 'shhh, shhh' and putting my finger to my lips, and I say 'sroke, sroke' and stroke them gently. Isis actually approaches me voluntarily now. Goldie remains highly suspicious, but will occasionally put up with a little light stroking before he runs away. My 'catch the string' technique is also improving. The only downside, therefore, is my desire to pick the cats up - I approach and wrap my arms around a (usually sleeping) cat, say 'cawwy, cawwy' and try to haul it up. This neither works, nor endears me to the cats, so Daddy is rather down on it.

In other news my talking continues to get more..well... constant, and also more competent. I can repeat pretty much anything you say (3 syllables or more may be contracted, but I'll have a go). I pointed at the moon in my book the other day, and said 'I see duh moon' pretty much perfectly (though Mummy does sing this to me, so maybe it doesn't count). I get a bit confused sometimes though - I have a book with bats in it, and quite often point at them and say 'bat, bat' and then pat myself, pat pat... this leads Mummy and Daddy to do earnest repetitions of puh and buh sounds. Singing continues to be exceedingly popular, as do books in all their forms. I am very keen on filling in the gaps in books now, and with anything familiar I am exceedingly reliable. Oh, and counting. My counting has got really good. At one stage I was pretty much solid all the way up to ten. However, I have now clocked that there are numbers after ten, so it went a bit haywire for a bit because I kept trying to insert them ('one, tuh, ellen, fih, sebentee'). In the last day or two I seem to be doing a bit better again with one-to-ten, though, and am merely listening attentively to larger numbers. I'm also getting rather good at looking at a small number of things (tuh or tre, ideally) and just saying straight away how many there are, without any counting. Colours remain a complete mystery, though. I've got a book of coloured animals I'm very interested in at the moment, but so far this has not translated into knowing ret from buh or gee.

Talk, talk, walk, walk, WHADEEES?

2009-11-14T15:11:00.000-08:00

Well, once again the parents have proved hopeless and keeping my fans up to date with my doings. What can you do?

In terms of places we've been and people we've seen - just after my last post we had a lovely brunch in a cafe called Verde with a friend of Daddy's called Pavel, and his wife and little boy. I had masses of seafood risotto (I like Calamari, it turns out) and then rampaged all over the fountain.

The next weekend Mummy and I met up with Nicola and Chloe at the South Bank. I had a bit of dim sum but was put to shame by Chloe, who ate magnificent quantities and was also very much up for trying the hottest possible condiments. For me, the highlight was drinking Mummy's rasperry lemonade, which she foolishly let me try. She thought I couldn't drink through straws - but this was worth learning for, so I did. I also tried repeatedly to hurl myself into the river off a small jetty after I woke up from my sleep, so all in all it was an eventful occasion.

Can't remember exactly when it was, but one day I also went to see where Daddy was working, at Three Mills, and met his singers. It was pretty exciting but I was a bit shy as it was dark with very bright lights and there were rather a lot of people.

Another event which spanned quite a few weeks was Mummy and Daddy's slow and laborious attempts to make our bathroom a bit less nasty. They removed a lot of black mould and re-did the bath seal and painted things and there was a builder who did the actual plumbing, as they are idiots but not quite as idiotic as to do their own loo-installation. From my point of view, this was a frustrating time during which many tempting things were Not Permitted, including climbing into the attic:

The next exciting day should have been a trip to the Arches with Jenni and Marianne - I am getting to be quite a proselytiser about the wonders of the Arches. But annoyingly Mummy had some sort of teething issue of her own and so I ended up in the Library with Daddy while she got sorted out. We did go round to see Jenni and Marianne later, though, and had a great time in their local park which has a particularly good roundabout which you can simply step onto, on which we both tried to kill ourselves repeatedly. I also behaved suicidally on several other bits of equipment. Marianne is very quick at walking and zooms about at least as fast as me. The day was going well until I shut my finger in the car door (not really hard, but still... ouch!). Mummy felt suitably guilty.

That weekend was very exciting as early the following morning Granny Jenny and Colin came to see me, and later on James arrived too. I was very pleased to see them (even if I pretended to be shy very briefly) and I really liked going to the park with them and showing them all the things I can do now. In the evening they went to see Daddy conduct. Then on Sunday we all went to the Arches together and I did exhibition-level bouncing around and clambering and climbing. It was excellent.

Mummy didn't go to choir that weekend - but she's been a few times now, and I am getting quite good at wandering around Chelsea while she sings. Daddy usually keeps up....

The following week was momentous because Mummy callously abamdoned me for a whole day, including bedtime. I gave up Mummy-milk a while ago now (just after the last post, I think - Mummy and Daddy accidentally left a cup of water in my room and I discovered that you can drink a cup of water and have a story read to you at the same time - clearly the best option). But even so I am used to having Mummy around at bedtime. But both Mummy and Daddy explained that Mummy would be back, and Daddy is very good at reading stories, so except for needing to look at a LOT of photos of Mummy during the day, I was fine. I was a bit clingy when Mummy got back, though.

On the Sunday after that Mummy very stupidly wasn't well, which I didn't approve of at all - all this lying about it in bed. Daddy took me to the Arches but I was quite hard work and generally not that happy until Mummy was back on her feet attending to me properly. You could call it sympathy, if you were being charitable...

The next weekend we went to Mudchute farm on the Saturday, and enjoyed the animals, including some rather over-friendly turkeys.

After that we had the most fantastic lunch in the cafe there, after which I conked out and slept for 2 hours in my pushchair while Mummy and Daddy Did Shopping. We also went to get me some new shoes (after which I suddenly started walking twice as far and twice as fast - that made Mummy and Daddy a bit embarrassed, I can tell you, imagining how uncomfy I'd been in the old ones). It was also Granny Mary's birthday. Mummy and I made a very nice cake. I did a lot of stirring. I also managed to fall very dramatically off the chair I was standing on, bringing it down on top of me. Good job Mummy and Daddy have very cheap chairs. Granny Mary came round for tea on Sunday and we ate the cake, which I liked, and she gave me presents, which Mummy explained to me wasn't how it usually worked, and then I tried to open her presents, which Mummy prevented. Not sure I really get other people's birthdays. However, Uncle John was also there (Uncuw! Uncuw! I cried) and he brought me a very camp multicoloured Zebra-shaped swimming ring. I sat in it for hours and love it. It is now also called 'Uncuw' and I am very pleased with the original 'Uncuw' for brinigng it to me. I am getting quite keen on talking to him on the telephone and quite often say 'Uncuw?' in a questioning way when the phone-sales-people ring for Mummy during dinner/nappy-change/bath, causing her to drop everything, career around the room getting to the phone, and then use words she really shouldn't be saying in front of me any more. Incidentally - I have now graduated from my high chair at mealtimes to an excellent booster seat. I am very proud:

On Friday 6 November (reckon I need to stick in a few intermediate dates, otherwise when my parents are old and senile they won't be able to make head or tail of all this) Mummy and I went to see Joy. At first I was a bit scared of Rajah, who was very excited to see me, but after Mummy and I had taken him for a walk (which involved a good playground, but also a lot of running - Mummy ran Rajah around, and then came and chased me, and I chased her, and I even held onto Rajah's lead with an expression of deep concentration on my face) I thought he was marvellous. I said his name very well. I ate an absolutely ENORMOUS lunch of chicken and then demolished a rather large slice of cherry pie. Mummy read me several books, I explored Joy's house, and was allowed to feed some treats to Rajah, which I liked very much. This led to me going and getting hundreds of bits of dog-food out of Rajah's bowl, offering them to him, and when he started to decline, sampling them myself. Mummy was not very open-minded about this. Later, at home, I tried to feed the cats... fortunately they tend to polish off all their food in one go, though, which means I haven't tried eating that yet.

I've also seen quite a lot of Gen and Alastair - we went to the Idea Store together, and I've been round to Alastair's house to play, and we also went to the Arches together (by DLR - it was rather slow but on the other hand we did enjoy it enormously, even if I did fall over against a hand-holding-rail and get the most amazing bruise in the middle of my forehead, which nursery questioned Mummy about carefully). Here we are, sitting on the DLR just as a good London baby should:

I always get very excited when we see Alastair and am quite at home in his house now, striding around taking his things and zooming off into another room without a backward glance at Mummy. She finds this pretty restful, really.

Last weekend Mummy and Daddy took me to the fair in Victoria Park. I have a book where a bear and a hare go to a fair (but not the hippopotamus) but I didn't really know what it would be like. I enjoyed the teacups in a gentle way but wasn't sure why Mummy and I couldn't leave when we'd had enough. The helter-skelter was FANTASTIC and I would have bankrupted Mummy and Daddy going down that repeatedly if they hadn't been so hard of heart. The mini crocodile roller coaster which I kept on looking at and saying 'snap snap snap' pleadingly turned out to be terrifying and I yelled to get off more or less from the start. You can't win 'em all.

This week we've been away to the Tower Hamlets Headteachers Conference. To be fair, Mummy did most of the conference-going but Daddy and I joined her. I wasn't sure about being in the hotel and at one point strode towards the door of our room saying 'Arrow Roh, Arrow Roh' (which I say when I want to go home, as I know that is where I live). For the first time, Mummy reckoned that I took longer to go to sleep because I knew I was in a strange place. Still, I did go eventually and slept fine (no thanks to Mummy who snored dreadfully after her half glass of house white). The one thing I really like about hotels, though, is breakfast. A buffet cooked breakfast is basically heaven. I ate a whole sausage and lots of bacon and cereal and lots of fruit. The headteachers clearly thought I might explode. After that Mummy and Daddy took me swimming, but I didn't like it at all because it's ages since I've been somewhere where I can't walk along the bottom (my lessons all involve the 'raised floor' nowadays) so I got very cross and shouty. After that I played with Daddy nicely while Mummy worked, but then started shouting at him and creating just in time for all the headteachers to see. Heh, heh, heh. I also spent a lot of time practicing going up and down stairs on two legs (with a parental hand), as opposed to crawling up (which I can do very proficiently on my own).

Today I am full of horrible cold and therefore not on top form. However, Mummy and Daddy took me to the park this morning in the rain and, wearing my snowsuit and boots, I splashed in enormous puddles.

I also went down the Great Big Slide All On My Own for the first time (landing in a giant puddle, basically). I had a marvellous time and was soaking wet by the time we got home, so Mummy had to change me and everyone had to bustle about like mad to get out of the house in time. Mummy had some ridiculous plan invovling taking me on an enormously long bus-ride just to have lunch somewhere. To be fair, it was a very nice lunch (Pizza Express). Afterwards I slept in the pushchair while she pushed me along - she told me we were going to a party where there was a nice person called Jyoti who had a baby in her tummy (just like Mrs Brains with Baby Brains). Unfortunately the combination of cold and pavement-surfacing meant I woke up after barely half-an-hour's sleep and wouldn't go down again - so I arrived at Jyoti and Nikhil's incredibly cranky and clingy and made a huge fuss. Once I realised Mummy wasn't going to let go or go anywhere (and I'd been given a chocolate biscuit, and smeared it all over my face and everything I was wearing and most of what Mummy was wearing) then everything was better. There was brilliant Bollywood dancing on the TV and I watched that in complete fascination and occasionally joined in. I got pretty social for a bit, but then I started demanding continuous book-reading and shouting the place down if Mummy did anything else, so she took me home (it was time to go anyway). I enjoyed the bus and the tube (more books) and had a good supper and have now gone to bed, exhausted.

What else is new? Well, the time-change is taxing Mummy and Daddy's ingenuity, as the parks are getting shut earlier and earlier. You will have noticed in the list above that we go to the Arches a lot - I can bound around for an hour-and-a-half without stopping - it makes Daddy quite tired just watching. I still love the bouncy castle best, and if you ask me what I do at the Arches, I say 'bounce, bounce, BOUNCE!' I am also constantly demanding to know New Words all the time. My most favourite question is Whadeess? Naturally this is a call to know that name of something, and if it is distant I do sometimes say Whadaat? Also, when something is apparently absent I frequently demand to know Whereeess? I also make very dramatic opening-up-my-hands-palms-up gestures to accompany my questions, for added emphasis. When I wear gloves this is especially good.

I am getting much better at being friends with the cats. Not that I haven't always been keen - but they (or at least Isis) are starting to join in too. I am capable of quite gentle stroking; congenial lying-on-beds-together; and even (inspired by Mog and the Baby) the odd game of 'catch the string'.

(Mummy does sometimes wonder if Daddy would take any pictures of me at all if it weren't for my association with the cats...)

I continue to be very fond of books. No, fonder than that. Now that I am the mistress of the two-word phrase, I am often heard saying very firmly 'sit dow!' and then 'ree buk! ree buk!'.

I ADORE Mummy and Daddy's photo albums and can now say 'awbu, awbu'. I like to look at pictures of which ever parent is absent; and am also getting very good at identifying family members (my parents particularly like the way I say 'Cololol' for Colin - it has such a lot of 'l' in it - almost as much as Yogolololol (the dairy product I eat after supper most nights)). With all my books, I get very clear ideas about which book I want and will try to tell you, and if you don't understand then woe betide you. One of my top favourites is 'Yoo choo! Yoo choo! YOOO CHOOO!' (my parents call it 'You Choose') which has all sorts of different things in it, and which can be talked about for ages. I also like 'Babbee! Babbeee!' (Mog and the Baby) so much that parents have bought me 'Bunn, bunn, bunn' (Mog and the Bunny) and I am pretty keen on 'Tap, tap, WHOOSH' (Room on the Broom) and 'Roz, roz' (Rosie the Hen Went for A Walk), as well as 'Nee-naw, nee-naw' (What's that Noise?). There are countless others. In lots of them I can fill in a word or two if you leave a pause, now, too.

This brings me on to singing. Mummy has taken me to Piccolo a few times and I am getting pretty brave about getting up and dancing around. It introduced me to that excellent song, 'Cows in the kitchen, Moo, Moo, Moo'. I always make my cow with only one horn, but if Mummy tries that she gets told. I like to make Mummy sing 'Cows in the Kitchen' in embarrassingly public places (I got her doing it on the bus today). Once she's made satisfactory cow horns and started, I start swatting flies and saying 'swish swish' to remind her of the next verse. I can do 'Ee-i-ee-i-o' very well now, with almost all the notes, and if you sing 'Old McDonald' I will fill in the Ee-is and the animal and its noise (though if you leave it to me it is always a duck). I don't contribute that much during The Wheels on the Bus, but I do demand it regularly (quite often by going Knit-knit-knit, curiously) and will always say which verse I want next (swish swish, or beep-beep, or shh-Daddies, or wah-wah-Babee). My forte, however, is Wind the Bobbin Up, which has reappered after a dormant period. Mummy and Daddy provide the scaffolding, but I will say 'clap-clap-clap' at the end of the first line, and then 'ceiling', 'floh', 'widow', and 'doh', all by myself. As the piece de resistance, I will then say 'wuh-tuh-tre' and clap my hands upon my 'neeeeee'.

When not singing, my counting continues to have 'sx' as its main focus. Usually, I count 'wuh, tuh, SX! SX!'. Just occasionally I say 'wuh, tuh, tre' and if I get that right I have occasionally actually managed 'foh, fih, SX!'. If you are counting, and leave a gap, I get it right more often than not.

Colours remain perplexing. I am getting reasonably ok at 'yellah, yellah' things because of my precious, wonderful, fantastic slightly 1970s book about a plane where Anna has a yellow suitcase that has to be found. Buh, gee and red things still puzzle me, though if asked the colour of something I will always say the name of a colour, even if it is not in any way the right one.

I am getting quite keen on drawing. I scribble very competently on my blackboard, my paper, and my Aquadraw. I still like Mummy and Daddy to draw things too, and enjoy naming them, and then scribbling on top of them. I have a very free style. I quite like drawing on my own hands and still absent-mindedly suck the pens occasionally, but Mummy has got me very, very, very washable pens so this is not as much fun as it might be. Still, I am often to be seen with alarming green/purple/red smears across my mouth.

I've also got quite interested in going to the loo. Because I was interested, Daddy bought me a special seat to sit on the loo on, and most evenings before bath I will say 'wee, wee' and go and sit on it. Sometimes I do in fact do a wee wee, and sometimes I do a poo, and quite often nothing happens at all, but that's fine. I enjoy flushing the loo a lot, though I am a little confused between the real loo and the loo in my fisher price house. This is an issue because the loo in my fisher price house flushes when you close its lid, so I quite often sit on the loo and reach behind me to close the lid, bonking myself on the head. I'm a genius, you know.

Another hygenic development is showering. Granny-Mary and Daddy noticed how much I was enjoying showering after swimming and tried it out in the bath one evening. Nowadays I'm rarely in the bath more than 2 minutes before I start saying 'showah, showah, showee-showee!'. Mummy uses the shower as a reward once I have let her clean my teeth properly, which just shows what an attraction it is (personally I think that my own chew-the-toothbrush-til-it-submits method is the acme of teeth-cleaning excellence, but Mummy disagrees). I love the shower and like it on my toes, and on my face. I also lie face down in the bath and pretend to swim, while having my back showered by the shower-wallah of the day (aka loving parent). As you can see here, it is getting close to shower-worship:

Finally, before I bore you all to tears, I must tell you about my walking. I am obviously completely competent and stable and all that, and am now concentrating on stamina and adventure. I like to walk much more than to be pushed. I've walked all the way home from Tesco, and all the way to Bob's Park, and most of the way to Grove Hall, and to nursery. I am not keen on holding a parent's hand, which lead to some differences of opinion, but there is now a compromise in operation where I may walk by myself if I stay very close to my parent and they are on the road-side of me.

But I have to hold hands to cross roads or if the road is busy. I am pretty good at this now though I have occasional moments of stubbornness and also occasional moments where I am a bit tired and don't mind holding hands a bit more. I like the freedom it brings. The other day on the way to nursery I waded into a puddle up to my knees before Mummy could stop me, and announced 'wet'. When she tried to take me home to change my trousers, I went bananas, so in the end she took me to nursery (where they had some spare trousers). Incidentally - I am extremely fond of nursery now and sometimes wistfully ask 'Bea? Alice? Ru-ba?' on days when I am not there, if the parents are not entertaining me well enough. I am starting to get the hang of relating the past a little bit ("Did you have a nice day at nursery?" my parents ask. "Bea. Ru-ba. Alice," I reply, and then quite often "Ree buk. Eat," these being important parts of my nursery day).

Back to the walking - as well as the distance challenge, I am picking up speed (now I've got my new shoes).

I like to chase and be chased. One of my favourite games is running around the low beds in Bob's Park with Mummy chasing behind me. I cackle like a maniac while this is going on and say 'runrunrun' and 'chase, chase' and 'tickuh, tickuh, tickuh' when Mummy catches me. It is brilliant. I also like being chased upstairs. I will also play chasing and hiding with pillars (including in front of the post office, which gave Mummy a fright). I'm also very happy to set off - if the parents say 'we're going to the park' I'll go and start pushing at the front door right away (they are often dawdling over trifles such as putting on shoes or coats, and indeed putting them on me) and if you open the front door I will set off confidently down the road. After a bit I do check they're following - you can't rely on these parents, you know. I also gave Mummy a huge shock one week at the Arches. She said 'it's time to go', and I said 'no', and shook my head very firmly. She thought it was safe, therefore, to go and find my shoes and coat. However, despite my intial reservations I decided it was indeed time to go, headed for the door, coincided with another family, and exited the soft-play room. Daddy caught up with me just as I was stepping out into the street. There was an awful lot of earnest kneeling down and talking quietly-but-firmly about not going places without Mummy or Daddy after that one, I can tell you. Personally I think it shows I have confidence and an adventurous spirit. Or am completely daft. One or the other.

Hats and Hot Tea

2009-09-26T13:36:00.000-07:00

Following on from the last update, on the Sunday we went to see Mummy doing her singing-in-Church (which I quite like, but find a bit perplexing - why can't I go and dance about in her arms like I do at Piccolo?) and then Daddy took me to a cafe for a bit of relaxation. When Mummy had finished reading the lesson, she scooted out of church to pick me and Daddy up, and we drove to Matthew and Helen's flat in Baker Street. I was very taken with their flat. They have a piano, which I played, and some excellent coasters, which I arranged and re-arranged a lot. Helen made me very nice pasta which, to be frank, I toyed with rather than eating, and then I went to sleep in my cot, which the parents had thoughtfully brought along. After I woke up I played with a very astonishing thing called a Wii, mainly standing very solemnly on the board while a picture in front of me rushed down a steep hill with things going 'bing' occasionally. Mummy tried to help me lean left and right (when I let her do this, I got rather better scores than either Mummy or Daddy managed by themselves) but I wasn't convinced and preferred to be left alone to stand completely still. After a bit it was time to be off as Daddy had to conduct his Sunday choir.

I am getting very much into the swing of my Daddy-days. On the following Monday, Daddy and I went to Mile End Children's Park for soft play. It's pretty good, though I'm not sure about the fact that the really good soft play doesn't start until 11, and Daddy gets a bit concerned by the depth of the ball pool (he has to haul me out periodically, or I get completely submerged). In the afternoon we went to the park. On Tuesday, we went to Tredegar Stay and Play (which I love, but it was heaving, so I told Daddy I'd had enough after an hour, and he took me home). I slept for so long that Daddy and I were a bit late for swimming. I was the only one in the class, but I enjoyed it anyway, especially when Jason made the pool really shallow so that I could stomp along the bottom, which is very exciting (but also makes me completely knackered). I was pretty tired anyway, and a bit off my food - Mummy and Daddy suspected teeth, and then had their suspicions confirmed by giant eruption cysts appearing just where my canines are currently failing to come through. I did ok at nursery on Wednesday and Thursday nevertheless; but there was quite a bit of nurofen deployed in the evenings (and even for lunchtime sleeps on Friday and Saturday). On Thursday I did my best to disturb Mummy and Daddy having some nice people to dinner - for the first time in ages Mummy actually came to check I was ok (she's a hard woman) but after a good cuddle I settled down again. Friday was a nice day - Mummy took me to Piccolo. I haven't been for a while so I stuck pretty close to her, but I did like it - I giggled and clapped and shouted 'bubble' when the bubbles came out. Afterwards we went to the children's park in Victoria Park and I stamped about (and then suddenly was tired and hungry, so parents took me home). I woke up during my lunchtime sleep because of my pesky teeth; once again a bit of cuddling did the trick, though. In the afternoon we went to the park and generally enjoyed all being together.

Saturday was pretty exciting. We had a nice morning, including a trip to Grove Hall Park. Then, after lunch, Mummy and Daddy put me to sleep as usual; but when I woke up after 40 minutes, rather than trying to put me back to sleep, they slung me in the car (intending, I think, that I should sleep there - the fools). I cried really quite a lot of the way to Cambridge, and also filled my nappy in a spectacular fashion. I felt a bit better when I was changed and provided with milk and raisins, but was still basically unimpressed with life, and with teeth in particular. However, when we got to Andrew and Victoria's I did cheer up. Mummy and Daddy persistently tried to get me to say 'Ah-doo' and 'Toria' on the rather lame basis that I had been saying both things pretty well in the car, on the way; but I wasn't going to perform, so I just kept schtum.

Mummy and Daddy took me out for a walk which ended at a place called Trinity, where Mummy and I had tea. There were some other babies, who I played with, and also a lot of cups of tea, which I tried to touch, saying 'hot! hot!' to show that I was touching them to find out how hot they were. Mummy seemed a bit down on this game. After a bit, we came back to Andew and Victoria's house in a taxi.

I liked Charlotte and Elizabeth very much, and said 'Babee' a lot. I liked watching them kicking on their mats and then having their bath, and tried to track them down when they disappeared to have their milk (stomping up and down the corridor saying 'Babee?' with a suitable upward inflection). After that I had my own bath, and then Mummy gave me milk, and Daddy read my my books. Apparantly Mummy ran away to some kind of social event at this point, in a callous manner, but it didn't bother me much as I went to sleep (although I did have a couple of screams - the first time, it was because I'd lost bear in the dark, so Daddy came and found him for me). Mummy and Daddy have noticed that wherever in my cot I end up (and I end up in some pretty remarkable configurations, I can tell you), I always have bear and rabbit clutched in or near each hand, so I am clearly usually pretty good at keeping track of them.

On Sunday morning I had breakfast and chatted away to Andrew and Victoria; and then Mummy and Daddy and I went out to a place called Parker's Piece where there was a big fair being set up. One of the stalls had lots of soft toys and the people running it were nice, and let me ride their giant tigers. I thought this was wonderful.

Then Mummy and Daddy paid an outrageous amount of money for some olives, and we went back to Andrew and Victoria's again. Just after we got back, Clare and Ellen and Catrin arrived! It was very nice to see them, although I was rather shy and clingy and not really on top form, probably due to the teeth. At one stage I was pretty unfriendly to Ellen and tried to push her of my Mummy's lap (Mummy was trying to read to both of us but I really wanted her all to myself). Ellen was exceedingly tolerant but Mummy and Daddy were a bit fierce about it, which I didn't like much.

After a bit we had lunch, which was sausage and bacon and eggs and mushrooms and hash browns. My appetite was beginning to return at this point, and I did pretty well. After that, there were pancakes served with blueberries in maple syrup. When I tasted them, Mummy thought my eyes might pop out of my head; I then went round begging for Mummy and Daddy's blueberries too. They were delicious, and I had purple streaks all over my face.

By this time Mummy and Daddy were getting tetchy with one another due to the competing demands of seeing their nice friends, and getting me home at a sensible time. They did hustle reasonably promptly, and I slept in the car this time, which was a relief to one and all.

When we got back, we dashed off to Tesco before it closed, and then had a really nice time in Bob's Park on the way back (except when I delved into the shopping bags, picked out the box of eggs, and dropped it - not very popular). Far more important than this slight mishap, though, was the fact that I managed to hook a knee over the bottom rung of the climbing frame, and then haul myself up triumphantly so that I was standing on it. It's about 18 inches off the ground. Mummy and Daddy looked horrified, and I was thrilled. Just think where this could lead...

When we got home, Daddy did a few preparations, and then I had my supper. While I was playing afterwards, Stephen and Natasha arrived. I was very pleased to see them, and definitely remembered them both from France. We had a lovely naked-time and bath and I was really very conversational. I believe they also stayed after I went to bed to speak to the parents, but I can't be sure as I slept really quite well that night.

This last week the teeth have been much better. My appetite has recovered completely - I'm back to eating so much my parents are a bit concerned I might pop, and each night I have the most enormous round tummy, which I stick out and pat proudly. Mummy is convinced that I have suddenly grown a lot longer, too.

On Monday I had another excellent adventure. Granny Mary came, and took me to her house. I played with lots of nice things there, especially a bouncy frog, which I was very taken with, and tried to half-inch - she says it lives at her house, so I'll have to go there again to play with it. I went out to the shops with her, and showed off to all the shopkeepers, and then I had veal and potato for lunch, which I liked. After my sleep, she took me to the One-O'Clock-Club, which she says is the same one that my Mummy went to when she was little. I liked the park there - especially the slide, which is pretty big, and has some steps that I can climb all by myself, which is excellent. I like to say 'Wheeeee!' as I slide down slides or swing on things now.

I also say something that is either Vee-ah vee-ah or possibly bee-ah bee-ah absolutely all the time, and espeically when I am on the go. It clearly means 'look at me zooming about'. Daddy thinks I might be talking Latin and saying 'via via' but Mummy is sceptical. Vee-ah vee-ah vee-ah, anyway.

On Tuesday Granny Mary looked after me again, and we went to Tredegar Stay and Play, and to swimming. There was someone else at swimming this week, which was good, and I had a nice time. Granny Mary and I like our days together, and although I do start asking for my parents at 5ish, I'm pretty relaxed about the whole thing. I'm pleased when they appear, of course, but I've stopped trying to get rid of Granny by saying 'bye-bye-bye' very firmly as soon as the parents get into the door. It's more a case of wanting all the adoring relations around to have their fingers buzzed and noses beeped.

My other favourite thing at the moment is hats. I can say 'Hat hat!' very well indeed. I like the hat from the top of the wardrobe, and I really like Mummy's cycle helmet. When I have demanded and received the hat of my choice, I put it on, and say 'Cess! Cess!', which means that I want to look at myself in the mirror. I also look at myself in the mirror when wearing gloves, Mummy's jewellery, and hairbands. I am a touch narcissistic.

On Tuesday night, Mummy offered me the choice between my Mummy-milk and going straight on to a book. She's done this once or twice before, so I decided to choose the book. She looked a bit surprised but did as I asked, and so I went to bed with no Mummy-milk at all. I could tell she was a bit sad about this, though, so considerately I have demanded my Mummy-milk every night since. You have to keep 'em guessing.

On Wednesday and Thursday I had two days where I went to nursery and didn't cry at all when the parents left. It's important to keep them on their toes. Granny Mary picked me up both days - I did ask her earnestly where Mummy and Daddy were, but she said they'd be along eventually after we got home, and she was right. I continue to eat hugely and to be pretty cheerful. On Friday I had a Mummy-day - Daddy was mostly at work. Mummy took me to the Arches in Greenwich again. It was totally fantastic and I walked around laughing like a crazed person. I like going on the bouncy castle, falling over semi-deliberately, and lying with my head down one of the grooves while other people bounce, laughing my head off. There was singing, too, and they even did 'wind the bobbin up', which I haven't had for a while. Their version of 'The Wheels on the Bus' was pretty good, too. After that, Mummy and I came home on the DLR. I can say 'DLR' now (well, I say 'Dee-ur-rah', but it's not bad). After lunch and sleep, she took me to B&Q and Asda, which I enjoyed, especially stomping around in Asda, although when another Mummy yelled at her children I came and asked my Mummy to pick me up, as it was rather alarming. On Friday afternoon Mummy and Daddy and I were all together, which is what I like the best, and we had a very nice naked time and bath.

In other news, I contine to enjoy counting and am obsessed with the number 6. I can say 'sx' and quite often say it if you say 'one, two, three, four, five'. I can make a good fist of saying 'one', 'two' and 'tre' as well, but I don't like any of those numbers nearly as much as 'sx'.

I am also getting very good at stacking cups, as long as Mummy helps me a bit with what order they go in.

I am very interested in eyes at the moment. I say 'eye, eye' and point at people's eyes. The cats don't like this much. Mummy and Daddy tolerate it surprisingly well (except when I poke myself in the eyes, which they don't seem to like very much). Frankly, friends like Duck seem to be best for this:

I am also discovering the two-word phrase. I quite like posessives - the first one I did was 'Mummy shoes', while pointing at the said article. I also say 'MummyDaddy' as a composite, which basically means 'I like it when everyone's together'. The best reaction, though was when Daddy was having a drink, and I pointed at his cup and said (quite correctly) 'Hot tea'. That impressed them.

The Horde Arrives in Somerset

2009-09-12T14:26:00.000-07:00

Granny Mary and I had a great time during the next week - mostly stomping around parks. I am very keen on extended walking now, and am also an enthustiastic climber of almost anything.

Then on Thursday, it was time for more travelling. Mummy packed me into the car, and when I woke up we were at Graunty Baa and Gruncle Robin's house, where I passed out in my cot. When I woke up the next morning, I had a brilliant breakfast, and then devoted myself to intensive admiration of Hebe The Dog, who is marvellous and doesn't mind me being very enthusiastic in my kissing, patting and squeezing.

After a bit we went to Wootton, and Mummy unpacked about 6 tons of shopping from Mr Tesco Direct's fine emporium. She then fed me my lunch in the midst of the change-over clean, which the nice ladies were very forgiving about; and then I had my sleep. When I woke up, Barney and Hannah and Sophie (and John and Helen and Laura) were there. I was a teeny bit clingy, but it was lots of fun to have so many people to play with. They had also erected a giant tent/tunnel combination which proved popular with one and all.

In the evening, I had my bath with Sophie, which was very nice even though she did exercise her big-girl's privilege of pouring a lot of water on my head (actually, I find this pretty jolly).

On Saturday it got even better, as Matthew and Stephen and Suzie (and Rachael and Rupert) turned up, and so did Marina (with Claire and Sebastian), and Cathy (who I like a lot). Mummy helped me to join in with several games of hide-and-seek, and I also enjoyed showing Marina how to make the most of my treasure basket. Later in the afternoon Daddy appeared, which was fantastic, and we all joined in a game of Adults vs. Children football. I was on the Adults team, being carried by Mummy and Daddy (which potentially put me into the category of 'handicap' on behalf of the children's team, really). I laughed like a drain and shouted 'Runrunrun!' at the sight of all the crazy people running about. Then there was a barbeque and ice-cream so I was pretty much in seventh heaven and ate a HUGE amount of MEAT (2 sausages, most of a burger, and a healthy attempt at a chicken breast). Here you can see a selection of the children in attendance, conveniently arranged in height order:

Sunday was also very splendid, with more rampaging about the house, and cricket in the garden (I didn't play much of a role in this, but watched from my car and occasionally summoned Daddy). There were giant meals in relays and I was very clear in my instructions to one and all:

The other great feature of the weekend was My House, a new garish plastic toy which Mummy has unwisely provided, and which says 'Ma-Ma' when you press down on the baby's cradle within (as well as making a wide range of other electronic noises). Suzie and Sophie were pretty keen on the house, and especially on making the flushing-toilet noise; my preference was for pressing the 'Ma-ma!' button repeatedly, and then pointing at Mummy (or going and searching for her if she wasn't immediately evident). We also had a great time on the two rocking horses. Oh, and I developed a fondness for beer cans.

In the afternoon, Matthew and Alex arrived, so there were even more people for me to flirt with from the safety of holding-onto-Mummy-or-Daddy-wherever-possible. After tea, most of the adults got round the piano and sang to the children. It was pretty loud and at various points assorted children covered their ears. It was also pretty fascinating, though, and I for one sat very still with my eyes and my mouth very wide open until it was over. That night I had another excellent bath with Sophie AND Suzie which meant there were double the number of people pouring water over my head (which fortunately I still found pretty entertaining). I hear from my spies that the adults behaved very foolishly once we chilren were all in bed, but I can't be sure, as all the amusement made me sleep very well indeed (there was one day I didn't wake until nearly 9!!)

The fun continued on Monday. I remained a bit clingy and got very agitated when Mummy cruelly went upstairs for 5 minutes, leaving me with Rachael and Helen; but I did recover from the trauma eventually (Daddy went off early in the morning, but returned at tea-time - an impressive feat). We did more playing in the tents and tunnels:

Suzie and I also had fun with my car - she pushed me very well in it, and I enjoyed that a lot.

After lunch, Barney and Hannah and Sophie (and Helen and John and Laura) had to go home; I blew lots of kisses. Matthew and Stephen and Suzie stayed until bedtime - so I had another great bath, with Matthew and Stephen this time. Then everyone set off, including Mummy and Daddy and me - we were driving up to Manchester for Great-Grandpa Don's funeral.

On Tuesday morning I was pretty amazed to be back in Manchester, but very pleased to see everyone, and extremely confident and happy because I'd seen them so recently. First we went to Great Grandpa Don's house, and I played nicely on the floor with Daddy and said hello to Great-Uncle Peter and Great-Aunt Catherine, who I have never met before, but who are very nice. After that Mummy drove me up the hill to the church. There were a lot of people there to say goodbye to Great-Grandpa Don. I sat at the front for a bit and was pretty good (especially when there was singing) but after a bit I got restive so Mummy took me to the back of the church, where they had kindly provided a wide selection of INCREDIBLY NOISY TOYS, which led to an awful lot of Mummy saying 'sshhh! quietly!' while I went BANG CRASH HAMMER WALLOP and emptied the wooden Noah's Ark completely over the wooden floor with a sound as if 2 billion enthusiastic but not talented percussionists were having some kind of convention. A nice lady sitting towards the back even came and offered me a biscuit. Then Mummy spent some time trying to stop me taking drawing pins out of the church display boards, and eating them. After communion, we went and sat at the front again, and sang another hymn, and then it was time to go. Everyone was a bit sad but also a bit happy because it was a very good service and reminded them all about Great Grandpa Don and how many people liked him.

After the service Mummy took me to the hotel (while Daddy and the rest of the family went to the crematorium) because I was hungry and tired. I demolished a ham sandwich (carefully eating the ham and discarding the sandwich) and a nectarine, and then Mummy got me to sleep in my pushchair (after only a minimum of pushing me round the car-park and stopping where I could see leaves hypnotically swaying in the breeze). When I woke up (inside) there was some exceedingly atmospheric violent raining going on, so Mummy and Daddy abandoned their plan to take me to the park and instead we played at Ashwood Avenue with the family, which was nice. Then, after bath, Mummy packed me into the car again, which I wasn't very impressed about, but fortunately I was knackered so I went to sleep quite quickly. I only woke once on the journey, which was when Mummy stopped in a car park because her rear lights had failed (eek) but luckily when she slammed the boot one of them came on again so we didn't have to sit there all night waiting for the RAC.

On Wednesday morning we were back in Somerset. My head was spinning a bit with all the changes of location, and I was also a bit knackered (not sure the car-sleeping's quite the same) so I was a bit of a nuisance when Mummy and Graunty Baa tried to take me shopping. I was still feeling very clingy, and Mummy tried to go off into a changing room without me! I made an enormous fuss and eventually she ended up taking me into the changing room and trying to try on trousers while I clung hard to her leg (which for some reason she found difficult). It got better when we got to the supermarket, which I understand a lot better and quite like. Mummy and I played together on Wednesday afternoon and I calmed down a bit. Granny Mary also came and gave me a ludicrous wig, which I quite like, even though Mummy says I look like a Fraggle (what's a Fraggle, I ask? These people are so last-century).

On Thursday we went to Graunty Baa and Gruncle Robin's again. Mrs R looked after me while Mummy and Graunty Baa had a meeting. I wasn't impressed to be left at first, but would have been fine if Mummy had made sure she explained about my snacks - she had to come and rescue me at 11am when I hadn't had a thing to eat and was therefore complaining rather a lot. After that I had more fun with Hebe-the-Dog who is becoming one of my Absolute Favourite Things especially when she licks me, which makes me say 'ticku-ticku-ticku', because it does. On Thursday evening, Uncle John appeared, which was very nice, and I only had to pretend to be shy very briefly before I was playing with a ball with him, and generally enjoying myself greatly.

I continued to enjoy playing with Uncle John on Friday, including a very jolly trip to the supermarket during which Mummy very unwisely let me out of the trolley, leading me to march off down the most unsuitable possible aisles (cleaning products, alcohol...) exploring the merchandise enthuasiastically. It was great. On Friday evening some of Uncle John's friends arrived, so I played with them too, and by Saturday morning there were even more of them. When I say morning, obviously I am using the term loosely. They all had cooked breakfast while I was having my lunch...

After that I came back to London with Mummy. We had a dreadful journey. The foolish woman had decided to drive during my lunchtime sleep, which would not really have been long enough at the best of times. It started ok in that I spent quite a long time happily drowsing and looking out of the window before I actually fell asleep; but then I woke up again after only 45 minutes and really wasn't going to kip again. We weren't really that far down the M3 at this stage. Mummy did stop and produce milk and raisins, which was a good move, but then idiotically decided to drive through the middle of London instead of round the M25, since she thought it might keep me more interested. This was daft as not only was there generally Londonish traffic, but the Blackfriars underpass was closed, so we sat in unmoving traffic on the Embankment for an hour. I was not at all impressed. Mummy sang rather a lot of songs and even played me my excruciating tapes about 400 times each (as they are rather short). We are both now very familiar with the story of Old McDonald's hens and also with the tale of the Ugly Duckling. Eventually we did get home and Mummy and Daddy took me to the park to reassure me that I wasn't going to remain confined for the rest of my life. I was utterly thrilled to see Daddy - I had spent quite a lot of the week talking to a little figure from my house who has floppy hair, glasses and a mobile phone, and who I have decided is definitely Daddy (my parents know this because I call him Daddy, loud and clear).

On Sunday Mummy and Daddy decided to give me a treat, and took me to Soft Play at the Arches Leisure Centre in Greenwich. It took about 5 minutes to get there in the car, and it was HUGE! I ran around like a maniac, cackling gleefully, and bounced so much on the bouncy castle that I was a tiny bit sick (not enough to stop me doing it again about 2 minutes later, though). When we were tired and ready to go home, we set off; but Daddy noticed in the nick of time a humungous queue for the Blackwall tunnel. Parents thought they were being very clever, and decided to do a bit of shopping and then take me out to lunch before trying to go through the tunnel. I enjoyed the shopping, and some Nando's chicken, but was pretty tired and ready to go. Unfortunately the traffic hadn't moved at all. In the end Mummy and Daddy drove the long way round and I spent another hour in a traffic jam! This time I did sleep all the way home, though.

The rest of this week's been very pleasant. Monday and Tuesday were Daddy-days, and all my activities are starting again - so I went to Messy Mondays at the Museum in Docklands and created a marvellous artwork. On Tuesday I went to 'Stay and Play' and rampaged about completely independently for an hour, only coming back to Daddy twice, both times when my shape-sorter needed emptying. In the afternoon, swimming started again. I am getting very stubborn at swimming, and will only swim either towards a toy, or towards Jason - no other direction is acceptable. Daddy finds this a bit hard, but he'll learn.

Wednesday and Thursday were nursery-days. I tried very hard to explain to Mummy and Daddy that I don't mind nursery per se, but I'd prefer it if they stayed and in fact I DON'T LIKE THEM LEAVING, NO NO NO WAAAAAAAHHH, but they went anyway. Heartless. I continue to charm the nursery staff, however, and have learnt to say 'Bea' to Bea, which has made her very happy. Fatmata, my 'keyworker', has left, and so now I have a new keyworker called Ruba, but mainly I seem to cleave to Bea. On Wednesday Daddy came to get me early, but my joy was short-lived as he took me to the doctor for More Injections. I remembered them from last time and started crying as soon as I saw the needles; but I didn't fight or anything, just let the nurse do it, and I stopped crying pretty quickly, and I got a sticker for being brave. When Mummy got home I found another sticker which had been hanging around, and got her to stick it on me (I was impressed last weekend with Sophie's stickers, which she gets for Being A Very Big Clever Girl Who Uses A Potty). I tapped my sticker proudly all evening and then during naked time I demanded it again, and carefully stuck it onto my naked tummy. For some reason, Mummy found this hilarious.

On Friday we went to Kew Gardens and met Isobel and Sasha. We had a great time looking at the ducks and walking (and in Sasha's case, running) huge distances. Then I got rather hungry and cross; but improved as soon as I was fed. I am definitely getting a cold, which is a bit of a shame, and I also have canines coming, which are hurty. After lunch we came home; I slept quite a lot of the way on the tube. Daddy disappeared during the journey, which led to quite a lot of anxious inquiry about him when I woke up. Mummy took me to Bob's Park on the way home, and I walked to and fro and put a lot of litter in the bin. I also watched very attentively and eagerly as a slightly bigger girl did a lot of running, and Mummy put her head in her hands. Then we went home and played for a bit and after that Daddy came home and we went to Grove Hall Park, where I did Even More Walking. I am getting rather tired by bedtime nowadays, for some reason.

Today, which is Saturday, we've had a fairly easy day; we took Mummy's bike to be mended (bike shops are full of fascinating things which one is not allowed to put in one's mouth, I have discovered) and then went to Victoria Park and observed ducks, geese, other children, and football games. I had an excellent time on the slide as I can now climb All The Way Up The Steps on my own, and then go along the little ramp, and then sit down carefully and slide. Sometimes I forget to let go of the top of the slide, which leaves me dangling slightly skewed all the way down. In the afternoon we went shopping Canary Wharf and I rampaged around Waitrose Food and Home and showed Mummy and Daddy that I am nearly big enough to have my own scooter (I can climb on, balance, and sort of wiggle to and fro a bit as long as it's one of the ones with three wheels). I also admired many other toys and was only mildly put out when I wasn't allowed to take any of them home. Then Mummy took me to Grove Hall Park for more stomping about and Daddy cooked dinner. Now I'm in bed, exhausted.

Before I finish this marathon blog-update, I thought I'd give a run-down of some of my latest achievements. I am very fond of kissing at the moment. First of all I learnt to blow kisses, and will still do this when I say bye-bye to someone, or when I spot something lovely (like a lovely ant, or even a fly) which is hard to kiss properly. But I have also learnt Proper Kissing which my parents seem quite taken with. I prefer to kiss dogs and cats, really, but I do kiss my parents too, as they seem to expect it.

I continue to be a voracious reader. I can usually hold the books the right way up now. When other people read to me I like to have the next book lined up ready to go when we get near the end; some people think this means I'm not listening to the first book any more, but it doesn't, and if you stop reading, I get cross. Similarly, I will sometimes flick through the pages of one book while you read me another, but that doesn't mean you can stop either - oh no. I'm also very interested in letters. I can (usually) identify the letters 'S' and 'O' and sometimes unexpectedly point out a 'D' or a 'B', especially in Room on the Broom, which has very large initial letters on each page.

Numbers are also fascinating. If you ask me to count things, I will jab the page in question repeatedly with my finger. Sometimes, if there aren't too many things, I will actually point to each one in turn, while Mummy says 'one..two...three..' for me.

Talking is also going very well. My words are getting clearer and more numerous, and include some reasonably good two-syllable efforts. If you ask me 'Can you say...xxx?', I will have a good try, though it works better when I know what it is you are referring to. I am also quite good at saying "Pse" when I want something, which seems to make the parents more compliant, and occasionally I will even repeat "Ta uh" when I get something I want.

The main source of joy at present, though, is climbing. Daddy was cooking my supper this week when he heard me triumphantly announce 'Up! Up!'. He turned around and found my more or less at eye level, having carefully climbed up onto the very top of the step-stool in the kitchen. I can also climb onto and over a lot of things in the park, and enjoy scrambling over a prone parent if one presents itself. I also like bouncing up and down. Today Mummy said she was going to buy me a jumper, and so I looked at her thoughtfully and then bounced as hard as I could (it's not quite jumping yet, as my feet don't leave the floor, but I'm working on it).

Goodbye Great-Grandpa Don

2009-09-12T07:01:00.001-07:00

After two weeks at home, it was clearly time to get travelling again. We were due to go to Manchester and see Great-Grandpa Don, and then go on the Lakes to see Marina (and Claire and Sebastian). Unfortunately things didn't turn out quite as planned.

First of all, Marina wasn't very well. Mummy claims that she would have been brave about this except that Granny Mary was due to look after me the following week, and it seemed unfair to hand me over complete with D&V. So we decided we'd spend the weekend in Manchester. But then Colin wasn't very well either, and Granny Jenny wasn't sure we should come; it wasn't until Thursday morning that we decided, so there was a big rush to get everything ready. I slept ok on the way up, but decided to scare the parents by waking and crying for just long enough for them to wonder if car journeys might be going to get more complicated in future...

On the Friday morning I was delighted to see Granny Jenny and Colin and James and practice my walking in a new location. But it wasn't a very good day really, because first of all there was a phone call to say that Great-Grandpa Don wasn't feeling well; and then there were a lot more phonecalls, and Granny Jenny and Daddy rushed off, and Mummy and I played but it was all a bit subdued. Later on James and Mummy and I went shopping for lunch but while we were there there was another phone call and James and Mummy held onto each other and afterwards Mummy told me that we weren't going to see Great-Grandpa Don any more because he was dead. Everybody was very sad and there was also a lot of arranging to be done. Mummy and Daddy and Granny-Jenny took me to the park to see the ducks and geese and play on the swings and the slide, which seemed to cheer everyone up at least a little bit.

On Saturday we went shopping in Manchester and I stomped vigorously around Marks and Spencers, seizing and waving plastic pricing signs whenever possible. Mummy and Granny Jenny enjoyed buying me lots of things, and we also all helped Uncle James buy things for University. Then we went to Xperiment! at the museum, which I'm told is supposed to be educational......

In the afternoon we went to the park and saw the ducks and geese again, and I fed them, which I liked very much. The geese in particular are quite big close to...

The other thing that was good was my Treasure Basket. This was a birthday present from Great-Uncle Peter and Great-Aunt Catherine and Nicky and Emma, but it had been waiting for me in Manchester. I thought it was excellent and played with it all weekend - I especially like the metal tins, which are good for Putting Things Into and Taking Things Out Of - two of my favourite things.

In the evening we drove back to London, and on Sunday I had a nice day with Mummy and Daddy. We went to Mudchute Farm and looked at all the animals, and then we went to Asda, where Mummy, who is basically quite soft, bought me some sunglasses, which I am very pleased with. Here you can see how exceedingly stylish I look in them.

Summer Fun

2009-09-12T07:01:00.000-07:00

Well, the new arrangement has made the parents very lax in essential activities such as helping me to update my blog. Apologies, Frances-fans, for the delay; this update may be sketchier than some.

Where was I? The week after my trip to the zoo was quite exciting. Daddy unexpectedly decided to hare off to Leeds, and then was doing rather a lot of conducting, so Granny Mary came and helped him look after me, which I liked a lot. On the Friday, Mummy took me to see Jocelyn in Canary Wharf and I demonstrated how fast I can run after a pigeon if Mummy holds my hand, and also how much I like fountains. On Saturday, the main highlight was a visit to Mary, Sameer, Asha and Isaac. I liked their slide a lot, and enjoyed climbing up and down the decking. I watched some TV with them, which I found very interesting for about 2 minutes, but then decided was better as a background to very concentrated playing, mainly with Isaac's toy cars. I liked their playground, even when it poured with rain, and enjoyed a joint bath with Isaac first and then Asha afterwards. It was great.

The week after that was another Daddy-week. I am getting into the swing of these now. Daddy takes me to good places - for example there is a thing on a Tuesday with a lot of toys and other children which I enjoy. Daddy is even managing to cope with occasionally being pleasantly greeted by Mothers at it. Daddy also introduces other elements. For example, there was a meeting with a violinist on Tuesday. On Wednesday I wasn't that impressed, as he came and got me from nursery early in order to have an injection. I cheered up as soon as we left the doctor's, though. On Friday, Mummy took me to see where she works. There were lots of people there and she had me performing away doing lots of animal noises. I'm not at all sure about this. Then Daddy took me to Mudlarks while Mummy had a meeting, which I wasn't all that impressed about, as Friday is meant to be my day. Still, she did reappear during lunch and we had a perfectly acceptable afternoon.

On Sunday, Granny Jenny and Colin and James came to see me, which was excellent. However, when they left they took Daddy, and he didn't come back! Mummy said he had gone to France to conduct opera. Over the next few days I was to be heard plaintively asking for him at various junctures. However, Mummy had arranged for Granny Mary to look after me, and I had a nice time with her. She even took me to nursery and picked me up again on Wednesday and Thursday, as Mummy had some sort of urgent work thing going on (poor excuse, in my view).

On Friday Mummy was at home but seemed very busy bustling about putting things in bags and weighing them assiduously, muttering very rude words about Ryanair and their 15kg baggage limit and the fact that they don't give babies any baggage allowance at all. She seemed to think packing everything she and I needed for 2 weeks in France within 15kgs plus 10kgs in hand luggage might be a bit tricky. Granny was around to help that day too.

On Saturday we set off for the airport in good time. Granny drove, and dropped us at Stansted. I had a bit of a sleep in the car, after a short period of complaint. Mummy says that Ryanair were all right after all, as she was 0.6kg over but they let her off. We met Jeremy once we'd got through security. Mummy took me shopping and bought some new books, and my very first pens. They are extra specially washable, for some reason. We had lunch with Jeremy and I ate smoked salmon salad and crayfish salad with great enjoyment. The flight would have been absolutely fine if Mummy hadn't insisted on trying to get me to go to sleep (just because it was nap-time). When she finally gave up, after quite a lot of crying, I was as happy as anything. Jeremy bore it all very stoically. At Carcassonne I got a bit fed up waiting for the car hire, and was a bit grizzly, especially as Mummy and Jeremy tied themselves in knots trying to attach the hired car seat to the hired car, and then trying to fit all our luggage in. At one point I feared they might strap me to the roof to make room. I did sleep a bit on the car journey, but the sun woke me up so I was pretty grumpy by the time we got there. Still, I had an excellent supper and was pleased to see Lucie and meet Celia, and it meant that I went to sleep pretty easily even though Mummy decided to put me to sleep in the bathroom (the nursery turned out to be a bit short of curtains, and Mummy meanly decided she didn't want my dawn-waking service).

I had a great time in Carcassonne. We swam in the pool nearly every day. I have developed a new mode of swimming. I sit on the side of the pool for ages, laughing, splashing, and playing with anything I can get (ball, ducks, flippers...). When asked if I want to get in, I shake my head very vigorously. Then after a bit, when the parents have been lulled, I fling myself into the pool, and swim vigorously (towing my parent) towards the other side. Then I sit there. I also developed an obsession with the blue bubble-wrap-like pool cover, and stood and stroked it reverently a lot, getting very cross if anyone tried to peel me away to actually swim.

On the Monday we went into Carcassonne and had lunch out. I ate a lot and had a lovely time. Then I went to sleep in my pushchair, which Mummy was smugly pleased about. However, the fool then tried to carry me up rather steep steps, which woke me up after only about half an hour, so I was not on Top Form after that really. Even I had to admit that the medieval city in Carcassonne was pretty amazing, and so was the castle - although my desire to climb as many steps as possible myself (while holding onto Mummy's hands) slowed down other trippers considerably. I enjoyed playing with gravel while waiting to get into the castle (no, really - Lucie and Celia and I developed a suprisingly co-operative game of putting into onto Lucie's pushchair and then taking it off again, with great concentration) and I also liked rampaging about on the wooden staging in the castle. The journey home was a bit fraught, but I did eventually pass out. Back at the Chateau there were lots of new people - Stephen, Natasha, Stephen and Darrell had arrived. This was most exciting.

On the Tuesday, Mummy played with me in the morning but in the afternoon she disappeared, and Richard and Sophie and Lucie got me up from my lunchtime nap. I was very good, by all accounts, though I looked accusingly at Mummy when she returned. I did forgive her, though, as she brought Daddy! I was very pleased to see him.

Pretty much as soon as Daddy arrived on the scene, I started work on my independent walking. I've done a tiny bit before, but only when I wasn't concentrating on whether I was holding on or not. This was different. I lever myself slowly off the floor, holding my arms out for balance and wobbling. Then I turn gently from side to side. Quite often at this point I simply lower myself to the floor again. But once or twice I did one or two very quick steps to Daddy, falling over into his arms. This got a very good reaction, so I did it again. At one stage I had the whole party watching as I wobbled triumphantly from Mummy to Daddy, and Darrell made a video.

On Wednesday we went to a lake. I went swimming in it - it was a bit cold but quite exciting, with little waves. I didn't want to stay in all that long, but enjoyed playing on the pebbly shore with Lucie and Celia (and Mummy and Daddy) and looking at lots of things. When we were about to leave, I decided I wanted to go in again and set off for the lake, dragging Mummy by one finger.

At the Chateau I had some particularly memorable baths. Mummy bought me some bath crayons, and although I mainly attempted to eat them, Lucie was very good at drawing on the bath. I had two splendid joint baths with her where we enjoyed the crayons, and she also helpfully poured water on my head using my stacking cups, which we both found most amusing. I also had a very nice triple-bath with Lucie and Celia, though I did manage to slip over sideways, disappearing briefly into the drink before about 15 adults grabbed me and hauled me up again. This rather spoiled the mood, I felt, but otherwise it was most enjoyable.

I also had some absolutely excellent meals. In general, Lucie and I ate early, before the grown-ups, usually getting high-quality leftovers from the previous evening. This meant I got to sample almost all the cooking (the grown-ups had some kind of rota going on). I ate everything in sight but particularly liked anchovies, olives, apricots and some very tasty greengages. I am perfectly capable of eating 3 whole apricots at a sitting, given the opportunity. I also discovered Special K avec fruits rouges, which I ate for breakfast in large quantities, begging for other people's fruits rouges at every opportunity.

Other than that the main activities were playing with Lucie in the play-room of the chateau; being read lots of books (especially that seminal work, 'The Surprise Visitors', in which I can instantly find the little Usborne duck on every page, and which for some reason the adults seem to tire of rather rapidly); striding around the sun-loungers; climbing onto the sun-loungers, and then back off again; and ascending and descending a particularly treacherous, uneven set of outdoor stone steps with no handrail - excellent for raising the pulse of the parents, I find. I liked playing with Lucie's ball a lot, and also enjoyed the baby-walker that Celia very kind leant me very much indeed. I also shamelessly flirted with all the adults present, especially Stephen Woodward, to whom I have taken a definite shine.

Anyway - all good things come to an end, and the following Saturday Matthieu drove Daddy and Mummy and I to the station. I was impeccably behaved in the car, causing Mummy and Daddy to wonder if Celia's car seat was impregnated with strong drugs. Then we got on a train (with some cursing and swearing from Mummy and Daddy, as they manhandled large quantities of luggage). I liked this train. Our seats had a handy space beside them for me to crawl about in; and Mummy read to me a lot. Then Daddy took me to the other end of the train and we found a playroom, with toys! I spent a lot of time playing with other children, and espeically with a horse. At lunchtime Mummy and Daddy fed me train sandwiches, which I ate enthusiastically. Then we had to get off the train and get onto another one. This seemed a rather flustering procedure (something about us being late for the connection). There wasn't a lift to our platform, and my pushchair didn't fit through the strange guard-posts at the bottom of the escalator; and then we turned out to be at completely the wrong end of the train, so there was a lot of frantic running along the platform. However, we made it in the end. Mummy laid my pushchair back and told me to have a sleep in it in the corridor of the train, so I closed my eyes, as I was rather tired, and went to sleep right away. Mummy was gobsmacked. She sat with me in the corridor and I slept for more than an hour, until a whole horde of people getting on bonked my pushchair vigorously and woke me up. After this I went and sat in a rather small pair of seats with Mummy and Daddy and became a little restless, though ceaseless book-reading and a bit of tormenting the people in front by leaning over their seat did the trick. When we got to Tours I was pretty tired, but I perked up no end when I saw Granny Jenny and Colin, and even demonstrated my independent walking skills in the car park. When I realised I had to get in a car again, though, I was not amused, and said so crossly for quite a while, before eventually falling asleep for a short doze. When we got to Capucins there were thousands of people who all wanted to say hello and I got a bit overwhelmed; but Chris helped build my high chair, and Granny Mary was there, and once I was eating it was all ok again. I had a bath and went to bed.

The next few days were lots of fun as I had all the family around me. Daddy kept disappearing (something to do with an 'opera' I think), but we nevertheless managed to keep up a hectic schedule of activities. We went to a great big lake with a lovely sandy beach and lots of play equipment. Unfortunately we weren't allowed in the water that day so I contented myself with scaring the living daylights out of the parents by climbing up onto the highests bits of the playground and then disappearing out of their reach. This was an excellent way of ensuring dual-parental attention as they dashed around trying to cover all possible fall-possibilites. They also managed to forget my hat, so Granny Mary improvised a fetching knotted-handkerchief-affair. I wasn't that impressed. A couple of days later we went to the outdoor swimming pool which was geat. It has steps at one edge of the small pool and I spent many happy minutes walking up and down and up and down the steps. For some reason the parents just don't seem to have the stamina for this activity and kept complaining about their backs. I don't know. I did also do a tiny bit of swimming as well and very soon it was time for lunch. We visited the creperie where I was spectacularly sick a year ago. The restauranteuse seemed to remember us, but was polite enough not to mention the aforementioned incident. I had a very big galette which I shared with Daddy and a special fruit salad of my very own. As I was getting quite tired, Daddy took me back to Capucins for a nap (more interested in his own than mine I suspect) while everyone else went shopping. I also had two very excellent meals at Commerce, including a five course affair where I sat and participated happily for nearly an hour and a half.

Because Mummy had some strange desire to see the operas, I had an excellent evening routine. This involved playing in the garden in the late afternoon, showing off my new walking skills, and going tentatively, then recklessly between the two parents and a range of Grannies and other admirers. I also dragged them off to explore other bits of garden (maninly walking up and down and up and down the garden steps). Then on one evening Granny Mary looked after me and cooked my supper, and on another evening Granny Jenny and Colin did the same. I was in excellent humour and showed them where the bathroom was for my bath and even reminded them that I had to take my clothes off before going to wash. Mummy returned each night to put me to bed and read my story and I gather that the stage management accidentally picked up my bedtime stories over the baby monitor on their walkie-talkies and thereafter tuned in every evening - sensible people

After just a few days it was time to go home, so I bid farewell to Granny Mary and James at Capucins and Granny Jenny and Colin drove us to Tours airport where at least forty of the Opera singers and musicians were trying to cram onto Ryanair's finest - not helped by them merging the check-in and security for 2 flights (one to London, one to Dublin). Having napped briefly in the car I was pretty good through the melee and on the flight, especially as I was surrounded by familiar faces with whom to play 'peekaboo'. Then when we got to Stansted (on time, to be fair) we went and found the coach to Stratford (which is surprisingly quick) and Mummy and Daddy took it in turns to read me stories as we bombed down the M11 (well, Mummy mainly, as Daddy succumbed to travel fatigue part-way home, and went to sleep). Sarah and Richard, who live just near us, had very very kindly taken our heavy luggage by car, so when we got to Stratford it was just a matter of a quick change to the DLR (with the flashy signs!) and we were home. Holidays are great, but it was very very nice to be home and the cats (both of whom I currently call I-SIS - the collective name for pets owned by me or my close family) were so pleased to see us that they let me give them a big - but very gentle - cuddle.

The next few weeks were pleasantly calm. Daddy looked after me on Mondays and Tuesdays and I went back to Nursery for two days a week. Having become pretty relaxed about nursery before the holidays, I have reverted to being a bit upset when deposited there in the mornings; but I've been having a very nice time really, and am never very anxious to get away at the end of the day. We also had some lovely long weekends all together including one rather splendid lunch party at Dr Cranfield's where we had lunch in the garden and I got to play with a very excitable dog called 'Father Ted'. I had a bit of a cold for one week which meant that I didn't feel like going to the effort of walking any more, and reverted completely to crawling, which puzzled the parents, but as soon as I felt better I resumed upward-mobility and am now getting very confident over long distances. Whole lengths of rooms at home pose no challenge any more (though if there is a wall to hand, I tend to keep gently in touch with it - there's no point being stupid), and open speces in the park are great for the long distance waddle-with-arms-in-the-air-zombie-fashion.

The other notable occasion was another trip to the zoo, this time with Ellen and Catrin (and Clare and Owen, of course). It was ace. Once again we played in the crawling-through-tunnels-to-see-animals bit - this time I was pretty intrepid and took Daddy for a long explore. Ellen and I both enjoyed splashing in the play water-fountains and I got so wet that Mummy and Daddy had to fork out for a London Zoo towel. I remain entranced by the big cats, and also enjoyed the reptile house. Once again, I ate a phenomenally large lunch. I had a brilliant time with Ellen and Catrin and was only sorry when we had to go home.

A New World Order

2009-07-02T12:16:00.000-07:00

Yes, that's right. Now that a year of my life, and specifically the great institution of 'Maternity Leave' has elapsed, my life has been subject to a somewhat unsettling revolution. Gone are the days of multiple servants to wait on me and serve me at all times to be replaced by a new tripartite division of the week. Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays retain much of their old format, and are optimistically known as Total Family Contact Time (TFCT); Wednedsays and Thursdays are Nusery Time (NT), and Mondays and Tuesdays are now designated Principally Paternal Care Days (PPCDs), upon which my hapless father is entrusted with trying to keep me entertained for a whole day. To be fair he has shown some wit and imagination in this and has taken me to the very excellent Mudlarks Gallery at the Museum of Docklands most Mondays. They even sometimes have singing and art sessions which I find solemnly fascinating. More importantly they allow for a great deal of travel on the ever-marvellous Docklands Light Railway, with its inexhaustible supply of flashy lights, unwitting fellow travellers, and signs in the lifts that say PLATFORM LEVEL and STREET LEVEL which my parents insist on reading at the snail's pace that they flash up. He has also shown an ingenious capacity for disappearing half way through Tuesdays, morphing seamlessly into Granny Mary. This is sometimes slightly surprising, but hardly the sort of thing to put me off my stride. I'm getting quite used to a nice variety of types of day.

On Tuesdays, alongside swimming, he has tried valiantly but unsuccessfully to gain entry to 'Sticky Fingers' on a Tuesday at the Overland Centre. Although this starts at 10am, the children who have their parents properly organised get there from 9.15 onwards and so even getting there at 9.40 saw us twice turned away. Instead Daddy took me to the Library where I crashed around on the mats in the Children's Area, read lots of books, and then tried to have away with various toys in their toy library. A nice lady told him that he could borrow some, but he muttered something about a 'party coming up' and took me off home.

Things all became clear the next weekend when we had a huge party to celebrate my being One. I thought that this had already happened, but apparently very important people get to have two birthdays a year, and clearly I fall into this category. The only blight on the horizon was that I was rather sick the night before, but I perked up on the day itself, so my parents thought nothing of it. Silly them.

The day itself was amazing! Before anybody else arrived, Mummy inflated a ball pool of my very own to play with in the garden. I liked chewing the balls, and also trying to bury my head in the pool:

Then LOTS of people arrived, including Granny Mary and Granny Jenny, Colin and James. Even Gr-Aunt Lizzy appeared, only slightly traumatised by an encounter with a fleet of naked cyclists (don't ask). We all sat in the garden (Daddy having shooed us out of the house) and we sat on the grass and played and I quietly introduced myself to a range of tasty snack foods, including a very tasty thing called 'crisps'.

The cats weren't impressed

Then mummy produced a cake in the shape of a farm, so that I could display my very fine imitations of a range of farmyard animals. She must have spent absolutely hours on it, which is a shame because within seconds it was a hacked-up pile of small cake pieces, mostly in people's mouths. My parents, lacking any kind of foresight, failed to record this work of naive folk-art in picture form, but here is a small detail to give you the idea. It is a cow, and cows say mooooooooooooeeeeeeeeeeee. Apparently the things that look like fried eggs are supposed to be daisies. Still, the fence is quite convincing:

Sadly, I was a little bit sick that night, and I gather that Daddy caught the bug from me. At least I think that's what explains his difficulty in mastering elementary procedures like getting out of bed. Fortunately, Granny Jenny and Colin were still here to look after me and they took me to Mudlarks while Daddy sat in the corner looking rather green. We had a lovely time and went to the park in the afternoon while Daddy went to see an opera. Apparently this is a very good thing to do when you are ill. In some opera houses, being terminally consumptive is a condition of entrance.

In other news my range of words is expanding with great speed. I can make a pretty good stab at 'yes' and my parents are rather worried that my sudden articulation of the N consonant is the development of a good rebutting negative. I am also enjoying some new Long Books, though I often have to read them in short serialised form as I need to start at least twenty books a day to feel fulfilled. For some reason my parents think that it's funny in the mornings when I have to pull all of my toys out of the way in order to get to the book shelf for my morning digest.

Last week we went to London Zoo and saw LOTS of animals for real. Since then I have been demanding my First Animal Book so that I can learn their names properly. I can recognise Elephants, Tigers, Giraffes, Bears, and Crocodiles (which go 'snap snap!') alongside their pedestrian farmyard colleagues.

So all in all it's been a lovely month. And yes, I know; a whole month. You can't get the staff I'm afraid. My amanuensis is now sadly a fairly full-time employee of a major London borough, so the other one is now in charge of recording my achievements. This, Frances-fans, explains the long time lapse, the slightly vague grasp of what's happened in the last month, and the prevalence of Eighteenth-Century-Style Over-Capitalisation. So until next time.

Now I am One

2009-06-03T01:45:00.000-07:00

(One what?, I hear you ask).

This week has been pretty exciting. On Friday Mummy and Daddy tried to take me to Piccolo again, but they had forgotten that it was half term - the fools. So we had a nice morning at home, and in the afternoon we went to Gymboree.

Daddy was away for the night and so Mummy was rather soppily texting him lots of pictures on Friday and Saturday to show what we were up to (he was missing me, the poor chap). This means we have photos of things that they don't bother recording normally - like how much I enjoy riding a shopping trolley (Mummy took me to Tesco on Saturday morning):

After Tesco we went to the park. It was very hot. I enjoyed playing with a statue and especially touching its nose and mouth.

In the afternoon, we went to Victoria Park and met Stephen and Natasha. I had a lovely time playing on the grass and looking at the ducks and geese and especially the baby geese. I also enjoyed the children's play park and was delighted to join the adults in strawberries, scones and cream.

On Sunday we went to Christchurch and I rampaged about while Mummy rehearsed. Then Daddy took me home for lunch and sleep; and after that Mummy had reappeared. We went out to the park again after that - it is just so sunny and nice at the moment that there hardly seems any point doing anything else.

On Monday Mummy decided to try out a new playgroup she's heard about at the Catholic Church. The door was open so she strode in, shoving the pushchair before her, only to discover that she was gatecrashing Mass (turns out the playgroup doesn't exist any more). Ooops. We had to go to the park again to recover. After another excellent lunch and sleep (Mummy and Daddy think I'm growing again - I'm eating masses and sleeping for hours) Mummy took me round to see Gen and Alastair. They gave me my first birthday present - it was a fantastic aeroplane and when you pull the string it flaps its wings! I find it entrancing.

After that I went to Gymboree for the Last Time (Mummy and Daddy have concluded that when I can no longer go twice a week it won't be worth the cash - clearly they don't love me enough...) It was lots of fun and I clambered about and expressed my love for Gymbo the Clown and generally tried to make it clear to Mummy that she was depriving me of a great pleasure and joy. Ah well.

So now we come to Tuesday 2nd June - my first birthday! I am given to understand that this is an exciting event. Mummy and Daddy came into my room singing in the morning, which was a bit of a shock, especially as it was a song I didn't know. Then they gave me lots of boxes with paper on, and encouraged me to tear the paper off, which was puzzling as often they discourage paper-tearing. There was some excellent wrapping paper with cats on it:

There were also some pretty good things inside the packages. I liked 'That's not my plane' very much, as well as the excellent pictures of Rajah the Dog which Great Aunt Joy sent me as an extra present. I love my new stacking cups, too. Mummy and Daddy bought me a big bouncy grab ball. They also turned me upside down in honour of the day (I love being turned upside down, and will walk up to you and stick my head right down onto the ground when I would like to be overturned).

Breakfast was very nice and there were BLUEBERRIES which Mummy has been withholding for a few days in order to make my birthday special. Then there were even more presents. From my wonderful, wonderful un-Godparents I got an enormous easel which I am very taken with (even if just at the moment my favourite thing is eating the chalk) and an Aquadraw. I left off sucking the pen for a few seconds in order to make some rather splendid hand-prints on it, and I liked it when Mummy showed me the hidden pictures of the cat and the fish.

Then we went to the park, which was lovely, although it was possibly actually a teeny bit TOO hot today. I kept trying to crawl and then getting upset because the fancy safety-surface was too hot for my hands! So we went back home, just in time to see Granny Mary arrive. I was very pleased to see her, and even more pleased when she produced her present. It is a rocking-bear. I like it a lot. I didn't really want to get off it, and spent a lot of time rocking it to and fro while demanding other objects from around the room so that I could sit on it AND hold the other things.

I also opened two more things from Mummy and Daddy - some amazing stacking boxes where every box has an animal in it (cue lots of animal noises) and a Doggy On A Stick which you can take for quite realistic walks. I cuddled him and patted him (quite hard) a lot.

We had delicious lunch, with especially delicious fruit brought by Granny Mary, and then I went upstairs for my nap (another super-long one). When I got up, Mummy and Granny Mary gave me a cake which Granny Mary had made. It was covered in lovely fruit! In fact, I ate a lot of fruit and broadly speaking ignored the actual cake, but I did like the candle. After that, they took me swimming. It was great. The pool was incredibly warm (which actually doesn't really encourage me to swim - more lounging and waving at people really) but I was very cheerful indeed. When we got home I played on my rocking bear some more (including some quality time with both rocking bear and Dog-on-A-Stick) and then Mummy and Granny Mary erected elaborate tunnels and a tent in the garden and I explored that while Mummy cooked. After a hearty supper, I had a good naked-time and a pleasing bath (and Mummy even sang 'wind the bobbin up' and other favourites). Then it was time for bed, after my feed and a few stories (I had the whole of the Gruffalo as well as Goodnight Moon and Mr Bear Says I Love You - I must watch out, or Mummy may think to impose some limits...) I went to sleep. It was a pretty good birthday really, and I still have my party to look forward to.

Mummy and Daddy say they can't believe I've been around for a whole year; and yet on the other hand they don't remember what life was like before me. Frankly I think this is a lot of cliched rubbish, but what can you expect?

Cess! Cess!

2009-05-27T13:33:00.000-07:00

Well, my first day at nursery went as well as can be expected, which is to say that I howled when Mummy left me there but once she was gone, I enjoyed myself. I like the nursery ladies - I just don't see why Mummy should be allowed time off. I'd rather have everyone dancing attendance on me all at once.

On Friday Mummy and I had a nice time though - she took me to a new activity, which is called Piccolo, and is singing and dancing. I liked it very much and was particularly pleased with the bubbles and the general stomping around of other children. In the afternoon we went to Gymboree.

On Saturday I had both parents for most of the day, as Daddy got the morning off. It was great! I am really enjoying playing at home now. I like to play with Mummy and Daddy but am also happy to crawl to and fro on my own, waving and bashing things. My current favourites are my instruments (especially the maracas) and my books. Mummy and Daddy have put them on a low shelf and I get them all out one by one and strew them around. Then I pick a favoured book or two and solemnly turn the pages one by one, showing great concentration.

On Saturday afternoon we went to the Gymboree Disco Party. This was a pleasing but also somewhat perplexing event, in my view, with adults wearing silly headgear and dancing about. I liked it, especially the giant breadsticks.

On Sunday Mummy and Daddy took me to Mudchute Farm. It was tipping down with rain and not very propitious but they found the little birds and I said 'tweet tweet' to everything in sight and got very, very excited. I like budgies and chickens and ducks and zebra finches but the golden pheasant was the best. I like the horses, too. It was well worth the drenching.

On Monday I got to go into Daddy's work and meet people. I was a tiny bit grumpy as my teeth were playing up like anything but I waved at lots of people and stomped about. More importantly, I said 'bye-bye' very nicely to everyone, to great acclaim. On the way home Mummy put us on the tube in the wrong direction and then the whole tube system seized up (probably Mummy's fault too) so it was a bit of a long journey, but I did pretty well, and Mummy read me several books, several times. Once home I had a good lunch and sleep and then we went to Gymboree which was pretty good too. I crawled through my first ever tunnel.

On Tuesday we went to see Jen and Alastair in the morning, and I played with Alastair's toys (inspiring Mummy to make me my very own excellent rice-in-a-bottle shaker - a huge hit). In the afternoon we had swimming, which was really good - especially the bit where I sit on the side and then lead forward to jump into Mummy's arms - I like this. I also like being lifted vigorously into the air and splashed down into the pool. I am also making sure Mummy knows that I am in charge of what direction we swim in - several times this week I decided that swimming up and down in straight lines is pointless - much better to chase after the nice balls that the children right at the other end of the pool are playing with...

Wednesday and Thursday were nursery days again. Mummy discovered nursery were letting me carry my bedtime bear around everywhere, and put a stop to it - she's so mean! I was getting those nursery girls so nicely trained....

On Friday we went into town and met Isobel and Sasha at the Royal Festival Hall. Sasha and I had an excellent time crusing, crawling and (in his case) walking round everywhere - playing with my ball, exploring the furniture, and making for the stairs at 1 million mph. Mummy and Isobel just seemed to sit and talk, which seems rather dull to me. After that Mummy took me out for lunch at a restaurant that was excellent except that it had no high-chairs so I had to sit on Mummy. We shared delicious fishcakes. After that she put me to bed at Fentiman Road. When I woke up I had a small play with some brilliant toys that were there, and then a delicious nectarine, and then we went to the park. I had a good time and we also saw a special bench which was put in the park in honour of my Grandfather Frank.

After that we went to the Home Office. Mummy introduced me to lots of people - Katie and Ben and Peter and Richard - and I played on various floors. Then it was time to go and see Lin. I liked Lin (and her security pass) and played in her office beautifully while she and Mummy talked. Then I said 'bye-bye' to everyone and we set off home, rather tired.

As if that wasn't enough, on Saturday we had another adventurous day. Mummy took me to the park in the morning, and then put me in the car for my lunchtime sleep. For some reason, though, she only drove as far as the M25, where she sat for 2 hours, letting the car get hotter and hotter! I woke up and was very cross with her about our lack of progress. She said some very naughty words and turned back for home. We recovered in the garden, with Mette and Graeme from next door, and I ate a very great many strawberries, drank milk, and generally performed. Then we had tea, and after bath and Mummy-milk they put me in the car again! I ask you!

I woke up in Oxfordshire on Sunday. I was in a rather good mood, and ate a hearty cooked breakfast. Then I strode around the hotel garden, and was delighted when Granny Jenny, Colin and James appeared. I recognised them very well. I was a tiny bit shy but not for long - soon I was dragging Granny Jenny to and fro with great glee. We had very nice lunch all together, outside, and once again I ate masses.

Then I slept for 2 full hours (Mummy had to wake me up). She thinks I might be Growing Again... After that we went to Radley College where I viewed Daddy in rehearsal. He kept waving, and so I waved at him, but he didn't seem to be waving back at me - he kept waving and waving at other people. I got a bit cross about this and stamped over to attract his attention, so eventually Mummy took me outside and I played with my ball and listened to the music through the side door. I liked Peter's singing very much, though, and went and climbed the steps to get closer and stare at him. Then we went back to the hotel for more food, bath and bed.

On Monday (after another excellent night's sleep) we went to see Granny Jenny and Colin and James at their hotel, and went swimming in the pool. Mummy didn't put my wetsuit on me, which was reasonable, I suppose, as the pool was nearly 30 degrees. I had a lovely time spalshing and swimming and jumping in but after a while I did get a bit tired and hungry, so we got out. I played with my toys and Granny Jenny read me 'Oh Dear' (and I did all the animal noises) and then we had lunch (I ate some of everyone's). Then it was time to get in the car and be off, so I said 'bye-bye' a lot again. I slept all the way back - I did wake briefly but Mummy and Daddy used Radio 3 to knock me senseless again. When we got home Daddy went to work, and Mummy and I had an exciting visit to Tesco (and then went to the park).

Yesterday Mummy took me to another new activity - Sticky Fingers. It was great! I got to try eating flour paste with glitter in it, dried dyed pasta, and poster paint. I did also make a picture, with some input from Mummy. And I played with a doll very enthusiastically (mainly patting it), which I think is the first time. I also played with the water and the duplo and the ball-pond-in-a-tent. In the afternoon, when I woke up, Granny Mary was there. I was convinced that this meant Mummy might go away so I was very cross and cried and cried and clung to Mummy! It was all rather undignified. But in fact Granny Mary and Mummy both took me shopping. Mummy was sure I needed new shoes, but in fact my little feet are still 2 1/2 G so I can stick to my pink butterfly shoes a bit longer. I am quite fond of them really - the nursery staff told Mummy I can pick them out of the line-up of nursery shoes, and know they are mine.

When we got home I played very happily in the garden with Granny Mary while Mummy cooked, and also had a very cheerful naked-time and bath, though I was a bit tired.

Today I was back to nursery again. I still make a point of crying when Mummy goes off, but there doesn't seem to be much point carrying on very long once she's gone - there's so much else to do! Today I played with puzzles and books and 'sensory toys', whatever they are. Mummy came to get me and we had tea and naked-time and bath and bed. I am a bit snuffly but otherwise on good form.

In other news, I continue to develop my communication skills. I am good at animal noises (my grunt is especially lifelike). As well as instructing you to sing 'Wind the Bobbin Up' (for which I can do lots of the actions, and say "Wi boh!" if you still don't get it), I can tell you that the Wheels on the Bus go "Rau-rau". My favourite word this week, though, is "Cess! Cess!" which is my very own name. I even say "Ah-Cess" for extra emphasis. I say it to mirrors, and when Mummy and Daddy say my name, and especially when I am playing with my special bedroom letters that I like Mummy and Daddy to read out (they spell F-R-A-N-C-E-S).

I am also becoming very expert in the matter of putting things into other things - I can put pretty much any of my bath toys into my fishing net; and am pretty good at putting jingly-fish into his fishbowl, and getting my bricks back into their box (one by one, with a slightly uncontrolled action). I am also enjoying giving people things (and getting them back) and will say 'puh' and 'tao'. Getting-things-out is no problem at all - including when Mummy doesn't really want me to. Somehow we came back from Oxford without the Useful Box of Breadsticks... how can that have happened...?

Settling In at Nursery

2009-05-13T12:57:00.000-07:00

This week I am settling in at nursery (turns out this was the point of nap bootcamp - they only do one nap there). On Monday, I went for an hour and a half in the morning. Mummy pretended to be very calm about it all but I knew she wasn't really. I cried when she left (no good letting them think they can just go where they please) but once she was gone I stopped and had a very nice time. Mummy told them I liked singing and I had the nice girls singing to me before five minutes were up. They also gave me a lot of raisins, so they clearly understand things pretty well. Oh, and they play football at nursery which is excellent. After my hour and a half was up, Mummy reappeared and we had a nice cuddle and then I asked to get down and play some more, but irritatingly she took me home. We had lunch and nap and when I woke up Daddy was there! It was lovely to see him and we had a very nice afternoon, and then he took me to Gymboree and Mummy turned up from her meeting. I was very chirpy all afternoon, although I do have rather hurty teeth so occasionally I was a bit drooly. I even crawled up an incline at Gymboree! Daddy has figured out that although getting me to crawl to a parent is a dead loss (why crawl to them when they could come and get you?), if you throw a nice ball I will chase that. I am quite keen on balls.

In my bath on Monday I got Mummy very excited, as she asked if I could put my fish back into the net, and I did. I ask you. It was perfectly simple - it's just that I know that putting things into things is just the first step on the road to Tidying Up, so I've been avoiding it as long as possible...

Yesterday I went to nursery for 4 whole hours - including lunch and nap. Mummy was worried about whether I would nap in a room with other babies, but it was a cinch - I slept for an hour and a half, and ate loads of lunch. When Mummy came back all the lovely nursery ladies told her what a nice baby I was and how clever I was because I said 'car' when I was playing with the cars, so Mummy showed off a few of my tricks. She really is insufferable. I am pretty good with my words now though - I can say 'Bye Bye' very clearly and nicely while waving and sometimes I even do it while the person I am saying Bye Bye to is still there. 'Cat' and 'Bir(d)' and 'M(il)k' and 'That!' and 'There!' and 'Light!' are all getting pretty good too, and 'Daddy' has been very clear for a while, along with 'Up' and a great many words for food (Ah-puh, pear, buh-buh, stra-buh, rice, peas, rasp). I have reasonable noises for Granny and Bear and Book and Ball and Dog and Pigeon and Mummy and will also attempt more outlandish things like Caterpillar and Butterfly, though these remain a little... coded. I have mastered mooing, baa-baaing, grunting, clucking, tweeting and mewing along with Spot on his visit to the farm. Oh, and I can say 'Wiii... Bobbi... Up' as part of my demands for song (as I wind my arms vigorously round and round, and then clap).

After nursery Mummy took me swimming. I was very enthusiastic, especially about jumping in. Unfortunately I was equally enthusiastic about the exercise to see if we could push ourselves out of the pool a little way - Mummy wasn't ready for the massive increase in my competence that came from knowing how to crawl, and I chinned myself on the side of the pool rather had, biting my lip and bleeding everywhere. It didn't really hurt much but Mummy was a bit shocked so I had to get back in the pool and swim a bit more to show her it was ok really. After swimming we had a shower which I found rather fascinating.

My crawling (which I have been perfecting as nursery) is now so good there's not much point hiding it from Mummy. At naked time she left me in the middle of my room while she ran the bath, and when she came out again I'd crawled all the way to my stairgate, and pulled myself up on it completely, and was standing triumphantly shaking it. Be afraid. Oh, and I can also stand up all by myself as long as I am holding something sufficiently interesting in my hands - only for about a minute, but still. And I don't fall over - I carefully lower myself down onto all fours, or gently take hold of a nearby parent or surface.

Today was my last 'settling in' day (tomorrow I do a full 9 to 5!) and I was at nursery from 10 until 4. I still cried when Mummy left but I was pretty happy apart from that. I ate a lot of Chilli con Carne at lunch and I slept (though only for an hour this time) and I had baked beans for tea and I played with balls and books and 'sensory toys'. Mummy only knows all this because they wrote a little note for her about my doings. Spying, I call it. I did get a bit upset when Gen came to take Alastair away (he is settling in too, but he started on Tuesday so he went at 2 today). Mummy's spy network is extensive...

This evening Mummy fed me even more food and read me lots of books and gave me cuddles. She found out that I understand 'upside down' - she turned me upside down (which I like) and when she asked if I wanted to go upside down again, I bent double and put my head between my legs, looking out at her hopefully to see if she would flip me all the way over again.

I was pretty tired tonight, really, but remained very good-humoured. At naked time, I also put one my twirly penguins onto their magnetic platform for the first time (I'm a bit of an expert at taking them off).

Birmingham

2009-05-13T12:41:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday was very exciting. Mummy and Granny Mary took me on the train to Birmingham! Mummy got quite stressed as we nearly missed the train, but once we were on it, all was fine. I quite liked the train really, as Mummy read 'It's me! In the Garden' to me about 2 billion times, Granny Mary fed me grapes, and I looked out of the window and bounced on the seat. Mummy also took me for walks up and down the train when I got bored.

When we got to where we were going, I had a nap, and when I woke up Mummy had disappeared and Granny Mary looked after me, which was nice. We had a nice walk and then she took me to hear some singing, which I was enjoying until I realised that the traitorous Mummy was part of the choir - what did she think she was doing going to some sort of grown-up Story and Rhyme time without me? I voiced my indignation but Granny Mary very inconsiderately took me away. I forgot to be too cross though and played with Ellen and also with a very nice Big Girl called Emily. After a bit Mummy came and helped give me my tea (lovely, lovely rice and then CAKE mmm) and then I crawled about and climbed people's legs and generally had a brilliant time with everyone in the choir.

After that Mummy gave me my bath and put me to bed. I slept very well until about 10 when I woke up - Granny Mary came and very brilliantly got me to sleep again, and I slept for another hour or two - but after that I was most unsettled and kept on waking up. Mummy actually took me out of my cot and cuddled me to sleep in a Big Bed for the first time ever (she says she wasn't feeling well but I think it's just Weakness). She is hoping that since I woke up in my cot I might not remember the nice cuddling...

On Sunday we went back home on the train, which I enjoyed once again, and I was thrilled to see Daddy. I was knackered though, and slept in the car back from the station, which meant I then stayed up quite a long time eating my lunch and so on, and had a latish afternoon nap which meant a few steps backwards on nap-bootcamp. Ah well. I had a nice time in the afternoon meeting Ben and Becs and slept beautifully all night despite the longer naps in the day, much to Mummy's relief.

Babies, babies everywhere (but especially Cambridge)

2009-05-13T12:23:00.000-07:00

After my quiet ten days, I embarked on a series of expeditions. On the Wednesday, Mummy took me to Cambridge and we saw Clare and Baby Catrin, Claire K and Marina, and Rachel, Anna and Joseph. I enjoyed viewing all the other babies and playing with Anna, who took me down the slide on her lap several times which I found a bit worrying at first, but then utterly thrilling. Mummy even managed to take me home in time for Story and Rhyme.

I spent a bit of time this week playing with hairbrushes and beads (not that I'm a girl):

But also made it clear I know who Beethoven is:

On Friday Mummy went out for quite a while, leaving me with Granny Mary. I explained to her extremely clearly through the medium of yelling my head off that I did not want her to go, but once she was gone there wasn't much point shouting so I had a nice time with Granny Mary instead. Mummy did come back. She says she will always do that, but I am quite suspicious.

At the weekend we had more excitement. On Saturday we went to Clare and Owen's again and saw Ellen and Catrin and also Andrew and Victoria and Elizabeth and Charlotte. It was brilliant! There were babies everywhere. We went to the park, which was very nice, and also played at Clare's house.

I was pretty good and slept and everything. Mummy and Daddy had a lovely time having dinner with Clare and Owen and Andrew and Victoria, and everyone took turns with Charlotte and Elizabeth. On Sunday we did more playing, and then Mummy and Daddy took me home. I overheard them saying on the way home that they were most impressed with people who have twins.

On Monday Mummy put me into nap-bootcamp. This means that she decided instead of two nice naps every day, I was only allowed one, and I had to have lunch before I could go to sleep! She did give me lunch at 11.30, though, and I did eat a tiny bit of it even though I was practically falling asleep in it. However, I slept for 2 hours after that and was in rather good form. We went to Jenni and Christophe and Marianne's house for Marianne's party and there were lots of babies there too so I stomped about inspecting them and generally seeing what was what. I met Baby Sarah (Emily and Mark's baby) and I saw Dominic again, who is quite a big boy now.

For the rest of the week I got used to the new nap regime - with Mummy trying to make sure I was occupied in the mornings. On Tuesday morning she tried to take me to 'Sticky Fingers' but we were too late so I just played in the Children's Centre garden instead. On Wednesday we went to Story and Rhyme Time for the Very Last Time (as apparantly I will be going to nursery on Wednesdays). This is rather a sad thing really as I quite like Story and Rhyme Time and Mummy says it is much better than many other musical offerings locally. On Thursday we tried out 'Soft Play' at Mile End Leisure Centre with Gen and Alastair. This was very splendid as we had it all to ourselves - they even blew up the bouncy castle specially for us. I enjoyed riding a soft foam motorbike most.

On Friday I also played with Gen and Alastair in the morning, and went to Gymboree in the afternoon. The big news is that I have mastered crawling. I still prefer to walk - and as a result, I sometimes pretend when Mummy is there that I can't crawl at all, or that it is too hard, and flop down on my tummy and flail pathetically until she helps me up. But if there is something I want (for example, the cat's bowls in the morning) that I know the parents won't help me get, I bounce up on to all fours and zoom towards it. I started a bit halting but am getting quite nippy now. I am also starting to experiment with pulling up on this and that. Mummy and Daddy are wondering once again if I understand more than I let on, as they have been saying for a while that it would be good if I was independently mobile before going to nursery...

Parklife

2009-05-13T11:53:00.000-07:00

After we got back from Switzerland I had a very pleasant, low-key week at home. I swung in my swing in the garden - an experience that got rather more verdant after Mummy laid a nice new lawn:

I am very good at pointing now, and look like C&A man at every opportunity (that really is an anachronism...):

I also went to the park a lot - pretty much every morning with Mummy and Daddy, and sometimes in the afternoon too. I perfected my cruising skills, and I also discovered that bouncy things can be quite entertaining. Obviously I also made sure I got to all my usual entertainments - Gymboree, swimming, Story and Rhyme and so on. I saw lots of dogs in the park, and also some very excellent rabbits - there is a man who brings his rabbits to the park for a walk, and I like to chase after them (obviously in a very friendly spirit...). I have already learnt that if you grab the lead they can't get away. Mummy and Daddy are a bit spoilsporty about this, though.

At the weekend, Jocelyn came round to see me, which was very nice indeed - we went to the park, and also played at home.

In other news, I am growing increasingly fond of 'Spot Goes To the Farm', especially as read by Daddy. He does excellent animal noises, and I am beginning to do them too. I do an especially good 'tweet tweet' although due to the humorous storyline there is a risk that I think this noise is attached to rabbits. Ah well.

Switzerland

2009-05-03T06:10:00.001-07:00

On Friday morning we went to the park, and after that I had my nap. When I woke, Mummy fed me and then whisked me into a waiting taxi, which took us to London City Airport. We had an acceptable lunch at the airport (spoilt only by Mummy and Daddy's incessant muttering about how over-priced it was) and then got on the plane.

I enjoyed the first part of the flight very much. I read the paper and played with Mummy and Daddy, so far as my infant seatbelt would allow. I wasn't much impressed by Mummy's suggestion that I have my nap, but after a bit of screaming it was clear that neither Mummy or Daddy was going to play any more, so I conked out. I woke as we taxied to the stand in Geneva, and Daddy carried me through the airport in my nice sling.

On the train to Lausanne I had an excellent time, stomping up and down the aisle, and engaging a great many other passengers in conversation. I also got Daddy to read my book, 'It's me! In the garden' about 2 thousand times. I am very fond of this book, mainly because it has two separate cats in it, both of which I greet with a shriek of joy every time. Our fellow passengers were privileged indeed...

At Lausanne Richard and Lucie came to meet us. I pretended to be shy for about 40 seconds but actually I was very interested. Then I had to go in a car seat, which I wasn't all that impressed about. I liked Richard and Sophie's flat though, and looked round it. Lucie showed me her toys, which was very kind. I had some tea and then Lucie and I had a bath together, which was most exciting (and splashy) and after that I went to bed.

On Saturday, we went into Lausanne and Mummy and Daddy bought me some clockwork twirling penguins (of which more later). Lucie and I were both given excellent balloons, and we also saw a mechanical clock with soldiers and dancers. After that I was a bit tired as it was time for my nap, and Mummy thought I might sleep in my pushchair. I didn't. After I had screamed a lot, she finally admitted defeat and took me back to the flat, where I slept in the cot, setting everyone else's day out rather. When I woke up, we went to see Richard and Sophie's new house by the lake, and had lunch in the garden. It was lovely and I ate a lot of brie and strawberries. Then, after another nap, we went for a very pleasant walk by the lake, and examined things on the shore.

On Sunday, we had a fairly quiet day - we went to a very nice park where there were excellent things to do (things to step on which made organ-like musical notes, for example) and I had a go in the swings and then we went and looked at all sorts of different birds which live in an aviary in the park. In the afternoon we all sang songs round the piano which I liked very much and at one stage Richard and Sophie and Lucie all danced together and I watched, fascinated. I like Lucie's dolls quite a bit and I also enjoyed playing with her Duplo (mainly putting it in my mouth). She liked my 'It's me! In the Garden' book and so we were both read it by our Daddies quite a bit.

She also liked my 'No Matter What' book so I said she could have it as long as Mummy bought me another copy. Mummy was rather taken with 'Goodnight Gorilla', which is one of Lucie's books, and she bought it when we got home - she says it is for me, but so far she enjoys it the most.

In the evening, after I was in bed, Mummy and Daddy and Richard and Sophie all went out for dinner, leaving me in the care of a babysitter. I decided it would be best not to wake up on the whole.

On Monday, we flew back to England again. This was slightly harder work than the outward journey, as Air France had cancelled the direct flight, so there were two flights and a stop-over in Charles de Gaulle. Again, it wasn't as bad as the parents had feared - I enjoyed playing on the first flight, and did sleep (eventually, after rather a lot of crying) on the second one. We got home in time for tea and bath and bed and I was very pleased to see the cats.

Easter in Somerset

2009-04-24T07:01:00.000-07:00

On the Thursday after I last posted, I set of on an epic adventure, with Mummy and Daddy taking me to Chippenham to see Helen and Jon and Barney and Hannah and Sophie and also Judith. I enjoyed it very much - especially stomping about in their garden (and kicking a very deflated football), eating my tea with lots of other children, and then having a bath with Hannah looking on and giving much advice. She has a puppet which is almost as good as my parrot. Mummy and Daddy seemed to enjoy it too.

On Friday Mummy put me in the car again, and drove me to Somerset (Daddy went back to London to work). I saw Granny Mary, which was lovely, and the sun was shining, so we went outside and studied daisies. And then Chris and Christina arrived, and went to get Beth and Gareth. I had to go to bed before really seeing everyone properly on Friday, but I had a wonderful time all day on Saturday and Sunday, striding about the garden, riding in a little car provided by Granny Mary, eating out-of-doors and wearing my sun-hat with panache.

There were also plenty of spare sections of the newspaper for me to wave about and tear up. I liked watching the frisbee and kicking my little football and was generally full of joy and gladness.

On Sunday night everyone went away again, but I didn't have time to get too disappointed because on Monday Daddy arrived! I had been walking around the house in odd moments saying 'Daddy? Daddy?' rather plaintively so I was overjoyed to see him. We had a couple of very nice quiet days all together - we went to see Percy and Mary, and we also saw Graunty Baa and Gruncle Robin and Hebe-the-Dog. Mummy and Daddy took me for lots of excellent walks, mainly in the garden, featuring sheep and cows and rabbits and pheasants and peacocks and even, on one memorable occasion, something which Daddy taught me is called a 'f**k me, I think it's a buzzard'. They also took me swimming in the Strode pool, too, which is very warm compared with Mile End but so full of other interesting children that I barely swam at all, and instead gazed about me, enraptured.

In Somerset I also discovered playing percussion on bins, and occasionally attempting to climb into them:

On Good Friday Mummy and Daddy decided the appropriate activity was to take me shopping for Shoes. They have been delaying, but I spent so much time outside striding up and down on the grass (and going to the back door and looking at it mournfully, like a puppy, if I wanted to go outside), and I had got my feet soaking wet so many times, that they decided shoes were probably in order. I am size 2 and a half G. They only had one sort of girls' shoe in my size, and although Mummy and Daddy said they didn't mind boys' shoes the assistant was clearly scandalized and brought the girls' ones. They have flowers and butterflies on them, and are definitely pink. I like them. They are good for stomping.

After the shoe-buying we went and had a brilliant Italian meal (and Granny Mary joined us there). I ate antipasti, including olives, soft cheese, several kinds of salami, and salad. Then I had a very nice bit of spicy sausage pizza and a lot of pasta with pancetta and tomato. Then Granny Mary gave me whitebait and I ate quite a few of those, too. Then Mummy and Daddy tried to get me some fruit by ordering cheesecake, which they were assured has 'raspberries' on top. In fact it was just a raspberry sauce... so they let me have some actual cheescake. It was delicious. My eyes were practically popping out of my head with pleasure (and sugar). Mummy can't really believe she was worrying about my eating.

On Saturday we went swimming again, and also went to Wootton Hill to see Granny-Mary. She has an excellent swing which I enjoyed very much.

Easter Sunday was pretty good. We went to Fairfield early and saw Johnny and Joan, who were very nice. I showed off like anything and flirted - I am very good at hiding my head against Mummy or Daddy, and then popping up with a smile. After that we had an excellent walk in the garden and I studied lots of daisies (if you say 'Frances, find a daisy' I will go off and find one and sit down beside it and look pleased; I also say 'day-ee' myself if you are really lucky). Then I had my lunch (because everyone else was going to have lunch a bit later) which I enjoyed very much especially as Lizzy and Baa and Robin and Granny Mary and everyone kept bustling in and out of the kitchen and I liked seeing everything they were doing. Then I went upstairs for my nap. When I got up, there were Easter presents to open. I got a biscuit and a lovely soft chick and a cat-shaped easter container, among other things.

I also enjoyed playing with Polly The Dog. When I grow up, I am going to be a ringmaster.

When we got back to Wootton, Jenny and Colin and James appeared! It was amazing. I was thrilled to have seen so many people all in one day. I was full of bounce all evening (though that may have been partly because I was allowed to eat some of my Easter biscuit... more refined sugar... I sense that the parents are crumbling...).

On Monday we had a very nice day in the garden - the weather was beautiful again, and we ate outside and did more nice playing. We all wore a range of remarkable hats to ward off the sun. Then we went on a walk to Leigholt and saw Graunty Baa and Gruncle Robin and Hebe the Dog.

On Tuesday we went into town again, and had lunch at the nice Italian and once again I consumed a vast quantity of everything in sight. Then, on Tuesday evening we came back to London (while I was asleep).

Wednesday and Thursday in London were dominated by unpacking and then packing again - although I did get to go to Story and Rhyme Time on Wednesday, and Mummy took me to Gymboree on Thursday, both of which I enjoyed. I also did quite a bit of stomping about in the park, and played on my swing in the garden

In other news, I continue to talk all the time. Some of it is just for making a noise (like when I go RarararararaRARARA!) but increasingly I will have a go at words. Quite often no-one can understand what I am trying to say, which is very frustrating, and sometimes Mummy and Daddy can just about make it out, but everyone else thinks they are making it up. Sometimes they are, of course.

On the go

2009-04-01T13:36:00.000-07:00

Time is really flying now. Where was I? We had a fairly quiet week after I last posted. On Tuesday I enjoyed baby-swimming. On Wednesday Mummy went out in the morning to do a mysterious 'interview' but was back in time for Story and Rhyme, which was the main thing. On Thursday we went to see Caroline and the twins, which I enjoyed very much in that it gave me a new area to stomp purposefully around. On Friday we went to the park with Jen and Alastair and I introduced Alastair to the joys of swings. It was most enjoyable swinging together, and we both giggled at each other quite a lot.

On Saturday Daddy had a concert so Mummy took me to the NCT Saturday get-together at Mudlarks - she messed up the timing a bit so we missed soft play but on the whole I enjoyed it as I was able to poke a number of other babies in the face as well as striding about some more. On Sunday I spent most of the day being sick, and although in between each hurl I was as happy as anything, it seemed to worry Mummy a bit. When I was still being massively sick with every breast-feed on Monday, Mummy and Daddy took me to the doctor. Obviously by the time we got there I was totally fine and grinning and rampaging. The doctor thinks Mummy and Daddy are crazy people, and is probably right. So Mummy took me to Gymboree in the afternoon. I was a bit under the weather, so when she realised she'd forgotten my milk, she phoned Daddy, who came like the cavalry and met us and fed me my milk. For this, he was rewarded with the biggest cascade of bright pink sick you have ever seen. It was hilarious.

On Tuesday, Mummy disappeared again (an 'in-tray exercise', apparantly). When it was time for my 11 o'clock feed, Daddy put me in the car and drove me to the large fancy building where Mummy was, and she fed me in a very smart meeting room. The smokers on the roof got a bit of a surprise when they peered in! Then I entertained Mummy's fellow job-candidates for a bit, and then Daddy took me away. In the afternoon we went baby-swimming and I got my certificate and badge. It says Ducklings 2, although Mummy and Daddy very rudely think this is a mistake, and should be Ducklings 1. Outrageous. I am very pleased with myself about it, anyway:

On Wednesday Mummy and Granny-Mary went and were pampered in a spa while Daddy and I enjoyed ourselves. Daddy even went so far as to take me to Story and Rhyme Time. Mummy had cruelly failed to warn him that there was going to be a talk on 'oral health' (she claims she forgot..) so Daddy had to suffer this, as well as my desire to spend the whole session walking about rather than sitting and enjoying the singing. Still, he survived.

On Thursday we went out to the park (with me wearing an outrageously ridiculous headband) and then had Lebanese meal that I enjoyed very much.

In the afternoon there was much bustling and activity and packing - and in the evening we set off for Manchester (I was asleep within seconds, but I did notice that I got put in the car and protested lightly). Once in Manchester I slept fine (I've been waking rather early lately - good to keep the parents on their toes - but I reverted to closer to 7 than 6, for which they were pathetically grateful).

On Friday we went to John Lewis in the morning, where I decided to keep Mummy on her toes by filling my nappy unbelievably full of what appeared to be pretty unaltered humous (I had, due to parental error, eaten rather a lot of humous over the past few days). Further parental error meant there were no wipes in the nappy bag... it wasn't pretty. So frankly after that was sorted, and I'd been fed, not a great deal of shopping got done.

The afternoon was much better. When we got back to Ashwood Avenue Granny Jenny was there and I was very pleased to see her, and we all went to see Great-Grandad Don. I walked up and down his room, and the corridor outside, and said 'Ah-puh! Ah-puh!' very very clearly when I saw an apple on his little table (Mummy and Daddy pretended not to understand so as not to have to give me the apple - but I know their little game).

On Saturday we went to see Great-Grandad Don again. I enjoyed waving at a lady in another room and once again strode the corridors dragging Daddy along for balance. Great-Grandad Don seemed pleased with me even though I wasn't on top form and was growling rather a lot (more teeth coming). In the afternoon we all went for a walk in Chorlton Water Park and I admired the birds and went on the swing and then Uncle James carried me home, where I ate lots:

On Sunday we went shopping in Marks and Spencers and Mummy and Daddy bought me lots of nice clothes with an amazingly generous voucher from Sheila and James which they have had practically since I was born and failed to spend. Here I am later in the week, modelling one of my outfits in the park: After Marks and Spencers, we went out for tapas with Granny Jenny and Colin and I ate a massive amount of stuff (the risotto was my favourite, but I ate meatballs and sausage and mushrooms and patatas bravas and cod balls and garlic bread). I was very happy and also provided entertainment for many other diners. I have been pretty focused on food during my stay in Manchester - I've eaten a lot of fruit, and also talked about it a lot (mainly 'ah-puh! ah-puh!' which is a good all-purpose word which I find can successfully be applied to pears and nectarines as well as apples, even if Mummy does insist on trying to over-complicate matters with additional words). On Sunday afternoon Great Uncle John came to see me. He insisted on having a new and better photograph taken for my talking photo album before he would record a message.

After that, Daddy and Mummy and Granny Jenny and I went for another walk and then, after bath and feed, Mummy and Daddy drove me home while I slept.

It's worth mentioning in passing that the talking photo album is a Very Good Toy. I am pretty unimpressed with toys in general at the moment - it's much more fun to make Mummy and Daddy help me walk about exploring shoes, waste paper, copies of the Economist (fun for sucking, waving and tearing), whats-in-Mummy's-handbag, chase the cat, eat the carpet-fluff, and other games. But the photo album still has appeal, as do all my books. Oh, and I don't mind playing with my 'Hello Puppy Calling' v-tech walker, although after a while I worry that Daddy's head might explode with the irritation of it (here I am holding Daddy's head on):

On Monday we had a quiet day with a nice trip to the park in the morning and then Gymboree in the afternoon. I am finding Gymboree a bit trying at the moment because there are all these tunnels and it is clearly desired that one should go through them, but I'm not about to attempt that crawling nonsense now I'm getting so good at cruising. Mummy keeps muttering about needing to get about independently, but as long as she goes where I want I don't see the problem - I think it's just her ruse to try to get her arms back. Anyway, the tunnels. Basically I want to go through them, but I want to do it upright - so I just walk straight into them and then look cross and puzzled that it doesn't work and I end up stuck against the end. Mummy actually shoved me through one of them on my front this week in the end, which was ok, though I didn't really see what all the fuss was about.

On Tuesday we went to see Jenni and Marianne. The health visitor came to see Marianne and weighed her while we were there, and said Mummy could weigh me too, so she did. I don't seem to be putting much weight on at the moment, but Mummy has decided not to worry since I am eating like a horse and seem quite well. It was very nice to see Jenni and Marianne, who was looking great after her operation, although she very sensibly wanted to stick close to her Mummy.

On Wednesday there was great excitement - the builders arrived! I think the builders are marvellous. I gazed at them out of the windows, and outside in person, for large parts of the day. They seem to quite like watching me do my thing too. We went to Story and Rhyme in the afternoon as usual. Once again, I strode about rather than sitting nicely; the lady who is in charge clearly didn't realise that it was me driving, and wondered why Mummy was pushing me to walk around. So I walked over to her and played with her a little bit, and then did my stand-up-grab-your-hands-and-start-walking-purposefully-away-so-that-you-either-have-to-drop-me-or-get-up-and-follow thing. She was quite surprised.

On Thursday Mummy took me into town with her and we had lunch in the Abbey Community Centre cafe. We saw Uncle John, and then Sinead, and then Helen Dawes (who was the reason for the visit). I covered myself in humous and lots of other nice things and had a lovely time. I utterly refused to sleep either there or on the way home, though, so my afternoon sleep was ridiculously late. Daddy was also out. When he got home again he came upstairs to play with me and was just taking his shoes off when I did an enormous nose-dive off a chair - straight onto my head! I screamed and screamed and screamed and Mummy and Daddy rushed to and fro trying to calm me down. In the end some cuddling followed by some delicious rice to eat seemed to do the trick - though they took me to the doctor again just to be sure. Once again, by the time I reached the doctors, I was all smiles. I wonder if I can get my parents struck off by the surgery for extreme paranoia? I'll give it a go....

Friday was very exciting. We went to Cambridge during morning-sleep and when we got there we saw Andrew and Victoria and Charlotte and Elizabeth. I touched Charlotte inquisitively (and reasonably gently, honest). It was wonderful to see them all. I liked chasing Andrew around the house and even attempted to say 'Ah-doo! Ah-doo!' to him.

On Saturday we took it easy - Mummy having cravenly chickened out of a trip across London which I'm sure I would have enjoyed. In the afternoon we met up with Jen and Alastair and went to Mudlarks, which we both liked very much. We got home a bit late, though, and perhaps because of this I had a rather disturbed night, just in time to make Mummy and Daddy a bit worried about Sunday - because we went to see Stephen and Natasha (and stayed the night with them). In the end it worked out very well though. I liked Stephen and Natasha, and enjoyed rampaging around their house, trying to tear up their magazines, smash their bottles of wine, and chew their electric flexes. They also have a cat toy which I enjoyed playing with very much - more than the cat, apparantly, although I wouldn't know, as their cat is far more sensible than my cats and runs away from me very much more effectively. I had a brilliant supper and a great bath in the biggest bath I've ever seen - a giant rectangular beast in a lovely shade of green. I kept being surprised that there weren't any sides anywhere near me, and nearly toppling over, only saving myself by doing impressive splits. I also made fond overtures to a giant cuddly bear. After all this, and despite my parents' worries, I slept beautifully all night and got up at a very civilized hour too - despite definitely having yet another cold (boo hiss).

On Monday we came back home during morning-sleep and pottered out the park for some swinging, rampaging and pigeon-chasing. Then Daddy realised he'd left his wallet and Stephen and Natasha's... ah well. I enjoyed Gymboree again (fewer tunnels this week, and more things to stand up against) and said 'buh-boo!' very well when it was bubble time. I am getting pretty keen on trying to say things - I now say 'Daddy' very well, and apply it correctly (although Mummy thinks I sometimes use it when hungry for a meal, to mean 'is Daddy preparing me a nutricious yet delicious repast?' which makes her feel a bit guilty about not doing more of the cooking). I am good at 'ah-puh' and also say 'bu-bu' for blueberries. I definitely say 'buh' for book and 'beh' for bed and even 'bah' for bath - anything that begins with b, it seems. I will walk towards the bath saying 'bah' when Mummy says it is bath time, and on a good day will even walk to bed saying 'beh' when it is time for nap. I have recently been developing 'gra' for grape and 'mk' for milk. I may or may not have attempted 'ah-pla' and 'bir' for things I like in the sky, and Mummy swears I said 'pi-gi' for a more specific version of 'bir' today, though she may be fantasising. Here I am demanding and then securing the buh-buhs that Mummy has tried rather ineffectually to hide by my tray:

Where was I? Ah yes, Tuesday. On Tuesday Mummy and Daddy suddenly realised I had my First Top Tooth. They're not quite sure when it appeared - but it's definitely there now, and the second one's on the way. They got rather sentimental about what a big girl I am getting to be. Mummy made Daddy do lots of the Frances-walking on Tuesday as she was preparing for interviews on Wednesday. In the afternoon, Granny Mary came round to come swimming with us. I got a bit crotchety in the changing room and then was ok-ish in the pool until Mummy appeared; at which point I decided I wasn't going to stand for Mummy not being in the water, and screamed my head off for the rest of the session. Poor Granny Mary did very well but in the end handed me over for a cuddle with Mummy, who got completely soaked from head to toe. Then, to add insult to injury, it turned out she had forgotten the breadsticks - an essential item for post-swimming consumption - so I cried all the way home too. It was pretty exhausting. Re-united with Daddy and breadsticks, I was as happy as anything again. And I was very pleased with Granny Mary too and played nicely with her at home and let her be in charge of feeding me my supper and everything. So it is all a bit of a mystery. Whatever else happens, I can always be cheered up by being allowed to play with the paper-recycling under the desk...

Today I had a mainly-Daddy day. Mummy spent ages after feeding me putting on deeply impractical clothing and brushing her hair and suchlike, and then beetled off at an early hour while I was still have my cornflakes (an 'interview' again, apparantly). She returned in time for my morning feed, and came with us to the park briefly, but then set off again (yet another - is it normal to have two in one day?). Daddy and I had nice lunch, and I admired the builders a good deal. After my afternoon sleep, Mummy was there again, and took me to Story and Rhyme, which was once again mainly all about the walking round and round and round (although I also showed strong interest in the fruit and raisins at the end, having to be restrained from grabbing large handfuls). This evening Daddy tried to poison me with curry (it stung my mouth and I cried, but because it came with rice, which I love, I kept on shoving it in anyway - so I was munching and crying and munching and crying...). Actually the parents were pretty quick to spot the problem and gave me some plain rice and chicken, which was fine. Mummy has gone from worrying that I wasn't eating anything to being concerned that I will burst - especially on pasta and rice days - I seem to be able to put away unlimited quantities of both.

Wobbly legs

2009-03-09T15:16:00.000-07:00

Mummy has been very slack about transcribing my thoughts lately. It's three weeks since the last post! So I won't dwell on every detail.

After we got back from Sebastian and Claire's we had a nice week. On Monday we went to meet Kirsty and Leo and go to the zoo - but we had very foolishly forgotten that it was half term, so in the end we skipped the queues and had pizza and admired the pigeons in Regent's Park instead. It was very nice to see Kirsty and Leo - he gave me an excellent demonstration of how to eat risotto, too. Daddy invented a brilliant new game in Regent's Park - he holds me by his side in a flying position, and I flap my arms and legs madly, and together we chase pigeons. Mummy almost had a coronary laughing at us, which we both thought was most insulting.

There was no baby-swimming on Tuesday, which was a shame, but all week the parents found that if there was any lack of enthusiasm on my part for anything at all, it could be solved with a little pigeon-chasing. The nearby avians are getting quite wary.

On Thursday, Granny Mary came and took me to the Idea Store all by herself again. And she put me down for my nap, and everything. Mummy and Daddy seem to have some view that they are indispensible, but frankly I will go out with pretty much anyone who can push my pushchair and show me interesting stuff. I came back very happy and told them all about it.

Below you can see that, confident as I am in my developing independence, I like to read Time Out:

At the weekend, Granny Jenny came with Colin and James. I was pleased to see them all, although I got another tooth in their honour which made me a little grizzly. Mummy thought it was the top teeth but in fact it was a third one at the bottom so I am now a little lopsided (and the top ones are still to come - they seem very close to the surface).

I went to see the rehearsal for Daddy's concert on the Saturday and sat rapt watching everyone until the teething and tiredness got a bit much, and Mummy took me home. On Sunday we spent a nice lot of time with Granny Jenny and Colin and James; and then Jenni and Christophe and Marianne came round too, which was brilliant. Christophe spent some time balancing various stacking items on Marianne, which entertained pretty much everyone.

At the beginning of the following week I was still a bit down, what with my tooth and accompanying snuffles. On Monday Mummy and Daddy took me with them to the optician and they both had their eyes tested - I did not consider this particularly entertaining. On Tuesday Mummy disappeared in the middle of the day (an 'interview', apparantly) and only just got back in time for my 3 o'clock feed, so Daddy came in the pool with me at swimming, which was nice. On Wednesday Jenni and Marianne joined us at Story and Rhyme time, which was lovely. On Thursday Granny-Mary came (and I believe that the parents went out for a meal, though I was asleep at the time). This is getting to be a habit - I'm tolerating it so far, but I wouldn't want them to get complacent about it - mark my words. On Friday, Mummy and Daddy took me to the pet shop and then to Victoria Park, where I refreshed my pigeon-chasing skills and had to be dissuaded from trying them out on geese.

In other news, Mummy and Daddy started trying to persuade me to have milk-in-a-cup and a banana at 3pm before my proper feed. I suspect a plot, but on the other hand I like banana a lot.

On Saturday, Daddy went off for a rehearsal and Mummy put me in the car and took me to see Great-Aunt Joy. I was quite taken with Great-Aunt Joy but frankly she was put into the shade by Rajah-the-dog, with whom I was ecstatically smitten. I am not sure who slobbered more on whom. Returning to the cats was frankly a bit of a let-down - Rajah allowed me to grab handfuls of his fur, and generally molest him, in a way that the cats seem somehow reluctant to permit. I'll just have to keep wearing down their resistance.

On Sunday, Andrew, Nicholas, Chris and Christina came to lunch. I had a lovely time showing off, although I was a bit growly and shouty over my lunch, for some reason. I did enjoy reading with Andrew, though, and Christina was very taken with Flip Flap Airport.

This last week has been dominated by Trying to Stand Up, followed very quickly indeed by Trying to Walk About. At Gymboree on Monday I did quite a lot of propping myself up against things and wobbling my bottom to and fro experimentally (and completely abandoned any attempt to crawl). Oh, and there was a photographer there and Mummy, who is a sucker, succumbed and bought some pictures of me surrounded by bubbles:

On Tuesday Mummy went off to deal with some sort of recalcitrant youth, so Daddy did swimming again. I had another assessment, and am very likely to be awarded Ducklings I next week - I understand that this is a very high accolade indeed and am certain I will proceed directly to representing my country in splashing like a maniac and chasing squirty toys. This week I refused to stop swimming at all, even when Jason-the-instructor was explaining the next thing - I just kept going in little circles round Daddy at all times.

By Wednesday I was spending a fair bit of time holding onto furniture and standing up triumphantly, saying 'AAaah!'. I also suddenly started to take steps (giant, unfeasibly large ones, usually) when Mummy or Daddy held me upright, which they seemed alarmed by. At Story and Rhyme Time, I briefly reverted to trying to crawl, for variety, but once home again, only standing would do.

On Thursday Mummy disappeared for hours and hours. As I suspected, the banana trick at 3pm has allowed Mummy and Daddy to sneakily cut out the 3pm Mummy-feed, and turn it into a cup. I am a bit tired of bananas now after 10 days of massive consumption, but I am doing ok with the milk (and I like a breadstick or two). Mummy in particular went and got stressed about my eating again (I went off swallowing anything much for a few days) but in my usual fashion, as soon as she got really worried I troughed a whole lot of stuff and laughed at her. I can play them like my own personal parental xylophone. The fools.

Anyway, where was I? Ah yes - Mummy disappeared for about 5 hours. She says she was doing a whole lot of tests. She can read and count, which is good to know. And she isn't so loony they won't give her a job (although the psychologist did have a funny turn while interviewing her, and had to leave, which is one reason it all took so long - which I'm sure is indicative of something). When she got home it was bustle, bustle, bustle and after my late feed we all got into the car, and when I woke up I was in Somerset.

At Leigholt I had a very nice time with Daddy and Robin on Friday morning; and then briefly joined Mummy's and Graunty Baa's meeting. As you can see, I have a natural authority at the conference table:

I had a brilliant time with Hebe-the-dog and did a lot of chasing and flapping my arms, with tongue stuck out in delight (both me and Hebe, in fact). I continued to like to stand up a lot, and I did some walking with Mummy and Daddy on the lawn - my first outdoor walk. We also went to the Clarks' Village and I had a nice time on the swings; and on Saturday we went for a walk and saw sheep and deer and a very large hare. On Saturday night it was back in the car; and I woke up just enough to smile when we got home, and then passed out in my cot again.

Sunday was a very good day. I was in an excellent mood. I got pretty close to pulling up on the stair gate (Mummy offered a bit of extra support, but not a lot) and I did real genuine 'cruising' on the armchair and the purple box, holding on while moving my feet. My parentally-assisted walking got really good. And I even did a few steps with my walker, which goes rather alarmingly fast. We Skyped Granny Jenny and Colin and James (twice) and I was definitely very much aware of them and spoke to them and waved and everything. We went to Tesco and then we tried to go to Stepney City Farm, but it was shut, so we went for a swing and pigeon-chase in the park instead.

Today started off so fine that I wore a DRESS. Once again my main interest was lots of walking (though today I am a bit cross that I can't do it on my own, and keep doing things like letting go of whatever I'm holding onto and then being annoyed that I fall over and/or get firmly grabbed by a parent to stop me falling over). We went to the park in the morning and I darkly suspect it was mainly because the parents had had enough of the walking/falling over stuff. Still, there were boys playing football as well as swings and pigeons, so I was suitably entranced. Later, at Gymboree, I utterly refused to do even the tiniest bit of proto-crawling and simply walked everywhere (up slopes, whatever), dragging Mummy along with me. She is worried that by the end of the week she will have the dangly arms of a great ape.

In other news, I continue to learn the meaning of a lot of words (sky, bird, pigeon, light, flashy light, bed, bath) but don't say any really. I occasionally say MAmAMAMAMA when my mother is present and DADADADADA when my father is around but since I also say both of these at other times it doesn't seem to denote anything yet. 'Ca!' for cat has regressed back into a wordless shout and although it is only ever applied to the cats, Mummy has this traditional view that without any consonants it doesn't really count as a word. Once I've mastered walking I may return to language - we'll see. Oh, and I can play 'peekaboo' now - I have been able to do it for ages if Mummy puts the towel over my face and says 'where's the baby?', but now I will actually put the towel over my face myself, and then whip it away quickly, giggling like a loon. Daddy is working on my rhythms - he bangs on something a few times, and then sometimes I bang back the right number of times (but sometimes I don't - just to mess with his head). I am pretty good at numbers up to three, but beyond that it is just 'lots.'

Anyway, that's more than enough of that. And I'll try to get Mummy up to the mark to transcribe my thoughts a bit faster next time.

Snow, pestilence (Daddy's) and a range of new tricks

2009-02-12T06:27:00.000-08:00

The Monday after my last post, I woke up to find the world had turned white and cold. I enjoyed looking out of the window at the snow whooshing past, and didn't mind being taken out in it, though I didn't get nearly as excited as the parents, who went a bit doolally and did things like building a snow-cat on the way to Tesco. Gymboree was cancelled, and so was Daddy's rehearsal so it all felt a bit holiday-ish.

On Tuesday we had another snowy day, but we did make it to swimming. I was the only baby there so I had a private lesson, which was a bit puzzling - I kept looking round for the other babies - but also pretty good, as we did some extra things. In particular, Jason got Mummy to sit me on the side and see if I would 'gently lean forward' into the water myself. Not being one for half-measures, I flung myself bodily into the drink, nearly knocking Mummy out in my enthusiasm.

Wednesday was fairly quiet, which was A Good Thing, as Daddy came back from Norwich on Tuesday night and was not very well at all. He was feverish and floppy and had to lie in bed while Mummy took care of both of us. I was concerned about him and repeatedly tried to fling myself out of Mummy's arms onto him to give him a consoling cuddle. Daddy actually had to cancel his rehearsals on both Wednesday and Thursday nights because he was feeling so rough. This meant that Mummy spent a lot of time fondling my forehead and sticking her ridiculous thermometer in my ear to see if I was getting ill as well. I wasn't.

During this period, Mummy acquired some baby hairclips, and insisted on taking pictures of me wearing them. I have to admit that they do stop me getting hummus in my hair, though I am not as certain as Mummy that this is necessarily an advantage.

By Friday Daddy was feeling better. This was good news, as we were able to go and see Olivia and Dom. I was very excited and happy and played on Olivia's floor and then had a splendid tea featuring both hummus AND pasta (pretty much nirvana, in my view). I also enjoyed my bath. However I then got very upset about being put to bed in a Strange Place. I did not like it at all (even though I was in my own cot) and I told Mummy so, very loudly. For about a hour and a half. Then I did give in and go to sleep. But just as everyone was nicely lulled into a false sense of security, I woke up and voiced my displeasure again. For about another hour. Once Mummy and Daddy had given up and decided to go home (and Daddy had been sent to get the car), I craftily fell asleep in Mummy's arms. Next thing I knew, I was waking up on Saturday morning, so she must have contrived to put me down somehow. I'll know better next time.. On Saturday morning I played with Dom, which was very nice, and then we went home.

On Saturday Mummy and Daddy took me to the 'Idea Store' (or 'library', as we babies call it) and we got some books. I like 'Peekaboo' because it has felt flaps and I can lift them all by myself. I am getting pretty good at it. I also like 'Funny Faces,' which has a frankly implausible storyline about bears playing football with a little boy. In the evening Joseph and Nick came round, just in time to admire me before bed. I was on pretty good form, although it turns out I was brewing up yet another cold for me (and Mummy - I like to share). So on Sunday we had another fairly quiet day (and Daddy had several rehearsals). Granny Mary popped round, which was nice.

Now onto this week. Once again I enjoyed Gymboree on Monday and swimming on Tuesday. At swimming, I discovered that it is possible to use arms as well as legs - although I prefer just to use the one arm to paddle, keeping the other one elegantly stretched out behind me. Mummy, who is a very conventional person, was being very encouraging about using BOTH arms, but frankly I think one should develop one's own distinctive style. I am now so fond of swimming that I laugh and giggle throughout. Daddy wanted to take a picture, but was afraid of being arrested, so he didn't. As a result of discovering right-arm-swimming, I also discovered How To Splash In The Bath. This is a great discovery. If I smack my hand down really hard on the surface of the bath, I can not only soak Mummy but hit the mirror, the towel, and more or less anything else in the bathroom. My goal is to hit the ceiling.

Also on Tuesday, I opened a lovely present that Isobel from Hounslow gave Daddy for me. As usual, I enjoyed the wrapping paper particularly, but did also take some notice of the garment within - a major tribute:

On Wednesday we went to Story and Rhyme, as usual, and I further refined my very-nearly-crawling by watching those around me. I can go backwards really rather quickly now, and I have a good crawling posture, with my tummy definitely lifted well off the floor. If Mummy or Daddy puts their hand behind my feet, I can progress in the manner of a caterpillar, lifting up in a hump and then slithering forwards. Mummy has noticed that I will sometimes continue even without a hand behind me, if I haven't noticed it's gone...

Daddy also took the Silver Cross pram to Cambridge for Andrew and Victoria and the Thompson Twins. I hope they don't mind too much that Mummy and Daddy failed at least once to keep Goldie from enjoying its well-sprung comfort:

Thursday was most interesting. Mummy and Daddy and I took advantage of a Financial Times lunch offer, and went to The Gun in Docklands. I sat in my high-chair for over an hour and ate a delicious lunch consisting of scallops, crab, beetroot, fresh salad leaves, Barbary duck breast, beef casserole, hand-cut chips, and fresh bread. It was scrumptious, even though Mummy cruelly failed to hand over any of the foie gras that came with her duck. In the afternoon, Granny Mary came round and she and Mummy took me to the 'free play' session at Gymboree, where I enjoyed everything, and especially the bubbles (even though I had been a bit miserable when we set off from home). In the evening, Mummy departed with indecent haste after my feed and went to the opera. Her developing independence continues to be a worry.

On Friday Mummy and Daddy hurled me in the car and drove me to Cambridge, to see Rachael and Susie. I enjoyed chatting away to them, and Susie showed me lots of her toys, which I sucked on in an interested way. I also liked being cuddled by her (and by Rachael). We had a delicious lunch - I particularly enjoyed some very good ham, which I left dangling out of my gob in an absent-minded way for some time. Then they put me in the car again (I ask you) and drove me to deepest Norfolk, to see Claire, Sebastian and Marina. We had a very nice afternoon playing in the sitting room, and I had an enjoyable tea of pork casserole with Daddy. Then he went to his rehearsal and Mummy put me to bed (with some trepidation). I was in a forbearing mood, though, and went to sleep with only a minimal bit of grizzling.

On Saturday Mummy woke me up an hour early, because she can't read a watch. Daft woman. Still, I didn't really mind as it meant a nice leisurely feed and breakfast and so on. We went for a very nice walk with Claire and Sebastian and Marina, and I borrowed a back-carrier (which originally belonged to Ellen, Julian and Dominic). I was most impressed with the view. Here you can see Fathers With Their Babies:

And here you can see Mummy and me enjoying the fresh air:

On Saturday afternoon we went out to Holt (Daddy had gone to his rehearsal by this time) and I had my first ever Tea Out In A Restaurant. It was quite nice but I was disappointed that Mummy had not thought to supply yoghurt (I am becoming a bit of a yoghurt monster, as long as I am allowed to pilot the spoon, which is messy but reasonably effective), and I was concerned that we were a long way from my naked mat. My suspicions were confirmed when I was put back in the car, so I had a little complain on the way back to Matlaske. However, Mummy rattled through naked-time and bath with dispatch and so I wasn't too late with my evening feed and went to bed fine again.

After that we did come home (more time in the car - this time I did get a bit cross, but only for about the last 2 minutes of the journey) and had a nice quiet afternoon at home, with nothing more stimulating than a trip to Tesco. I was, once again, absolutely thrilled to see the cats. I can definitely say 'Ca!' now. Mummy was going to hold out for the final consonant, but she and Daddy think they should probably admit that this is my first word, since I do apply it only to the felines and am pretty good with the 'C' sound now. I also say 'Ma!' when Mummy is nearby but she is not yet convinced that I really mean her. Similarly, Mummy has heard me say 'Da!' to Daddy, but he doesn't believe it yet. I'll just have to speak more slowly and clearly so that the idiots get the idea. I have also said 'buh!' quite often when offered a book; and this week I said 'boo!' when Mummy talked to me about my balloon. But all of these are very much unconfirmed sightings compared to 'Ca!', evidently the most important word there is. Proof, if such were needed, that playing hard to get is the way to find love... the cats are very hard to get, and I love them very much indeed.

Tooth no. 2 and cold no. 4, but still smiling

2009-02-01T12:25:00.000-08:00

Another week's gone shooting by. I went to Gymboree again on Monday - Mummy has cracked and joined us up. It was pretty good but it does make me very conscious of my inability to crawl. On Monday this led to me doing a kind of kamikaze forward roll down a rather steep incline, after which I looked faintly surprised (I thought Mummy might need to take a valium).

I also enjoyed a particularly fine meal of Tandoori prawn pizza. I like prawns. They are juicy when sucked.

On Tuesday the main event was swimming, which as ever was very excellent. In a new development, we tried swimming with our arms draped over a big long floaty thing - Mummy was still holding on but it was quite clear to one and all (especially me) that if she let go I could probably zoom along by myself. Once again Mummy looked in need of some kind of tranquiliser.

I am still a bit unconvinced about the need to use one's arms when swimming, though. I like to hold them alongside my body and then kick like an overactive torpedo.

When I woke up on Wednesday morning half the sitting room was occupied by the giant Silver Cross pram. According to Mummy and Daddy, Granny-Mary had delivered it the previous evening, while I slept. It is en route to Cambridge, where it will be lent to Andrew and Victoria.

Granny-Mary came round on Wednesday (here I am, dressed to receive her).I was in a bit of a funny mood - Mummy wasn't quite sure what was up - but Granny-Mary came with us to Story and Rhyme Time and I enjoyed that, though I got a little fractious at the end. On Wednesday night I didn't eat much for tea and then I woke up crying in the night and had to be soothed back to sleep by Mummy and then, later, by Daddy. Mummy grumbled and muttered and said this was typical given her plan to go out on Thursday - keeping her on her toes.

However on Thursday morning while feeding me she spotted Another Tooth poking through my gum. This caused great rejoicing, naturally. On Thursday afternoon Mummy and Daddy took me to the 'free play' session at Gymboree - it seems that Mummy has decided that if she's going to be suckered into expensive activities she is at least going to get her money's worth. She took Daddy along so he could see what it was like. He leant against foam things and found it fairly restful, really. I was a bit tired, but I did enjoy myself. That evening Mummy snuck out for fun after feeding me - I was pretty good while she was out but I did wake up and cry after she came back, just to show her. And because I was getting a cold.

On Friday Mummy and Daddy beavered away on various job applications all morning (it seems that Mummy is contemplating a return to work - I must watch this closely) while I played rather well on my own, considering that I did definitely have a cold by this stage. In the afternoon they took me to Epping Forest, which was nice and featured a great range of Ducks and Dogs but was also rather cold. When my nose had turned bright red they put me back in the car and took me home, where it was warmer.

Saturday was particularly thrilling. Mummy and Daddy put me in the car for morning sleep really rather early and took me to Harpenden, where Daddy's choral society were having a workshop. I thought this was fascinating. I sat at the back on my mat and played and listened. I was very interested and periodically I lifted my voice in melodious song (usually when everyone else was nice a quiet, so they could hear me). Then, during the break, everyone admired me very much, which was nice.

When it got close to lunchtime, the parents put me in the car again and took me to St Albans. There was some navigational incompetence (Mummy and Daddy blamed the sat nav - pathetic) but eventually we arrived at Chris's flat. I had an excellent lunch of toast, philadelphia and hummus, with some carrot sticks, and then Mummy and Daddy tried to put me to bed. They had brought my cot but I was far too excited to sleep, and in the end they gave up. Note for future reference: it is possible to avoid a lunchtime nap... heh heh heh. I played on my mat very nicely while they ate their lunch, and then they put me into the car to go home. I have to admit I did allow myself to drift off in the car going home. When we got back I was a bit cross to be woken up but soon recovered and played with Vanessa, who came to see me and chat to Mummy. Vanessa is going to have a baby soon so Mummy wittered on and on as though she knew what she was on about, which I found most amusing. I woke up in the night all bunged up and cried until Mummy rocked me carefully to sleep, just to remind her that it's not all roses.

Today I have been in pretty good form, considering I am still a very snotty baby. I saw Granny Jenny and Grandad Colin on Skype in the morning, and showed off my attempts to stand and crawl over the desk. After that, it snowed, and I gazed out of the window at the snow whirling past. We went to meet Abi and Richard from the tube and it was very cold - I was wearing about 200 layers but I still ended up rather red of nose. I enjoyed playing with Abi and Richard and they brought me a soft and lovely book which is very nice to chew (my main test). Abi said she had noticed that Mummy often forgot to take photos with visitors, which prompted Mummy to take this one:

I ate a vast lunch of hummus and yellow and green pepper, and sampled a stuffed vine leaf (nice, but a bit hard to eat) and some spicy chicken. Then I went to sleep and had a very nice afternoon nap, much to the parents' relief (after my show of strength yesterday). This afternoon we stayed in because it got snowier and snowier (Daddy did take me just outside the front door so I could try catching some snowflakes, but we didn't get any further). I had a good go in my bouncer (I get bouncier every time). Daddy tried to read a book while looking after me - but I know my rights, and so when he picked up his book, I put down the toy I was playing with and picked up my book and waved it at him so that he would read it to me.

I continue to work on my crawling technique. I can get my knees up under me now, but I'm not really sure what to do with them once they're there. I can move backwards pretty well now, but only when I want to go forwards - so this is mainly a cause of frustration and dismay. But Mummy and Daddy keep looking at the stairgates in a worried way, and the cats are getting increasingly wary.

Westminster, Cambridge, Kensington, Somerset.. the WORLD!

2009-01-25T06:33:00.000-08:00

Another busy fortnight. After I last wrote, I had a nice quiet Wednesday during which Mummy took me to Story and Rhyme Time and we brought Gen and Alastair along too. On the Thursday, Mummy took me on an expedition into Westminster. First of all, we had lunch with Matthew and Ben. I ate hummus AND pasta (an excellent combination, in my view) and covered myself in goo. Then I went to sleep very obligingly. However, Mummy, being a complete idiot, tried to take me for a walk in St James's Park while I slept, and while she waited on the kerb to cross the road a very loud lorry came past, waking me up. I had only been asleep 20 minutes and since my lunchtime sleep often goes on for an hour and a half, this was a bit of a disaster. I was Not Impressed but there was no way I was going back to sleep again. Mummy and Bethan walked in the park and talked while I very pointedly Did Not Sleep. After that, Mummy took me in to her work, where we saw lots and lots and lots and lots of nice people. I was reasonably accepting of this but after a bit it was all getting too much. I was really ready to go home but Mummy insisted that I meet her Big Boss. This was the last straw, and having been very obliging and cheery all day I was a miserable baby for the Big Boss. He was very understanding about it all, really. On the way home I conked out completely:

On Friday Mummy tried to take me to 'baby gym' (not Gymboree this time, but a free one run by Sure Start). Unfortunately I chose to sleep at a bizarre time and so we were rather late. Mummy thinks it might be worth trying again - we missed the gym and arrived only in time for some pretty grim singing (Mummy, being an officious type, only just managed to restrain herself from suggesting that while encouraging the parents and toddlers to sing one song, it might be worth switching off the sound system that was simultaneously playing another song, in a completely different key...). When I am a bit older that woman is really going to be embarrassing.

I have also discovered noodles. They are nectar and ambrosia to me, and I like to slurp them up.

On Saturday Jocelyn came to see me, which was very nice. I was on pretty good form and showed off my waving and looking-at-Daddy skills and everything. Jocelyn had a bit of a cold and was very good at not snuggling too much, in case she gave it to me.

Sunday was a real highlight. Mummy and Daddy put me into the car for my morning nap (an unheard-of procedure, but I didn't object much) and took me to Cambridge. First of all we went to see Clare and Owen and Ellen and New Baby Catrin. This was most excellent. They gave me Christmas presents, so I was able to eat some high-quality wrapping paper. Owen and Ellen helped me road-test the Gruffalo:

Later on I enjoyed playing with the whole family. Here you can see Daddy wondering if he could sneak off and leave me to join the Clan Arthurs:

After a bit Mummy and Daddy put me in the car again and took me to see Andrew and Victoria. I was very glad to see both of them but was particularly taken with Andrew. I didn't eat much lunch because I had to make sure that I could see Andrew at all times and if he went out of sight and then re-appeared again I let out shrieks of joy. Mummy took me upstairs for my nap (crafty parents brought my cot) and when I woke up again there was more shrieking at Andrew. Andrew and Victoria had also bought me a Christmas present - it is a set of Fisher-Price keys that make a lot of noises. I am very, very good at pressing all the buttons already and I like to chew the keys. All in all I am approving of my parents' choice of un-Godparents for me.

When we got home I had a good test of my new Stacking Cups (best if Mummy or Daddy stacks them, so I can knock them down) and in the bath I played with my new bath toys - I like the sprinkly octopus best.

On Monday there was no let-up. Mummy and Daddy took me on the tube all the way to Gloucester Road, where we met Granny Jenny. I had a delicious meal consisting principally of mushroom and artichoke dip, and after my nap I went and played in the foyer of the hotel where Granny Jenny's conference was being held. I was admired by several American flight crews (apparantly I am sooo cuuuuuuute) and looked at them very, very seriously in return. I enjoyed seeing Granny Jenny and practicing my not-quite-crawling on the slippery hotel sofas.

Tuesday was fairly quiet apart from swimming in the afternoon - for a special treat Daddy was in the water with me, and as usual I had a lovely time. On Wednesday there seemed to be a great deal of bustling about and piling of stuff up in the hall, but this didn't interfere with Story and Rhyme Time, which is very important. Coming up to bedtime Mummy got a bit stressy (she seemed to be trying to pack everything I own into the car, and Daddy was due to leave the house before bathtime) but in the end, thanks to Daddy being calm and patient, it was all ok. She did that thing again where instead of putting me in my nice cot after my feed she stuffed me into the car. I protested vociferously but the car is a powerful drug and before I knew it I was asleep.

I woke up as Mummy carried me into GrAunty Baa and GrUncle Robin's house in Somerset - but not for very long, as she put me straight down in a nice cot in a warm place. She was rather smug about this in the morning as she had been wondering if I would resume a 10.30pm feed given the car journey - but I didn't need feeding. I did wake up at 1am needing a change (I don't like to share to much, but let's just say I hadn't ... produced... for about three days, so it was rather dramatic).

On Thursday morning I had a nice play with GrAunty Baa in bed. I was fascinated by the big bump in the bed made by her New Knee but for some reason both she and Mummy discouraged me from bouncing around upon it. GrAunty Baa did let me chew a delicious envelope:

On Thursday afternoon I was a bit miserable and got Mummy all worried - she wasn't sure if it was another tooth, or the beginning of a cold, or both. I like to keep 'em guessing. I cheered up a bit when she took me outside for a walk (and especially when she played with Hebe-the-Dog, with whom I have a relationship of great mutual admiration based only partly on dropped Weetabix). Sadly I was still a pretty grumpy baby for Sarah Clothier, who came specially to see me and was confronted mainly with misery. However, GrUncle Robin cooked me the most delicious pasta for my tea - Mummy was quite concerned that I would burst, I ate so much - and after that I was much happier for naked time and bath.

Friday was altogether better in every way. Mummy took me shopping in the Clarks Village in the morning, and in the afternoon she and GrAunty Baa had a meeting with Chris Cox and I slept for the first bit and then sat on the sofa looking very alert and occasionally interjecting important contributions (Ah! GGGrr AhA!). After that I got all dressed up in my snowsuit:

And then GrUncle Robin took me outside for a very nice walk round the garden. I watched GrAunty Baa practice her walking too, and admired Hebe the Dog again. GrUncle Robin made some very good faces at me too:

Mummy was packing the car frantically during this period. I then played very nicely on my mat, and ate a vast tea (omelette and some of Mummy's cheese sandwich - very delicious) and then GrUncle Robin was highly favoured because he was allowed to take me upstairs for Naked Time All On His Own With Nobody With Him. Mummy and GrAunty Baa did turn up eventually. After my bath and feed Mummy put me in the car and drove me home - I woke up just enough to smile blearily at Daddy and then went back to sleep in my cot.

To round off a period of very intense activity, on Saturday Mummy and Daddy took me into town (on three tubes, because the District line wasn't working) and we met up with Ellen and Julian and Dominic and Nicola and Andy and Chloe and Jocelyn and Charlotte and Kit and Gareth and Ana-Marie and Katie. It was pretty exciting! I ate a lot of parma ham and mozzarella and pesto bread and squeaked at lots of people. I do still look a bit small at a table with grown-ups:

Mummy made me have a nap which I wasn't too impressed about but they were all still there when I woke up. We went to the Royal Festival Hall. I played with Ellen and admired Dominic:

And quite rightly many people admired me and took my photograph (here I am sticking my lip out entertainingly while being photoed enthusiastically):

And I also played nicely on the floor with Chloe.

Today we had a fairly quiet day - we all went to the swings this morning, and this afternoon Daddy went out to audition singers and Mummy and I played and then went for a walk. We met Gen while we were out and she and Alastair came home and had a nice play (because it was getting a bit wet and grim for walking). I have been in a truly unbelievably good mood all day and have burbled and sung and shrieked and been very, very jolly. I've also been practicing my crawling and am using my knees to greater effect (I can go backwards a bit under my own power now). The Parents are Afraid.