See you soon x

We are going to miss you for the next two weeks Daddy. Be safe and never forget how much we love you, and how glad we will be to have have you home with us again.

Keeping busy

Darling Kay - this has been a fairly hectic few weeks. It seems that winter has arrived in earnest and the rest of 2009 is slipping away faster than I can fill our days. You are getting taller by the day, and your vocabulary is developing at a scary rate. You can count from 1-6, you can complete your Melissa and Doug alphabet jigsaw that Nanna and Granda brought you back from holiday, and you now repeat almost everything that is said to you. Your words are getting clearer too - so it is not just Mummy who understands you while other people think she is mad!!

You brush your own teeth now, drink your milk from a 'big girl cup' (sometimes, other times you tip it over the side of your high chair!), and as we have discovered you can also open the front door yourself and go for a wee walk up the street. We have had to start turning the lock in the door now, but I would think it won't be long until you work out how to unlock it too!

We have our Jo Jingles on Tuesdays and toddler group on Wednesday - both of which you love. We still try to see L&I at least once a week, and you are getting much more confident about being around people you don't know and mixing with other children. You even made your first craft at toddler group - a 'No-mah' (snowman) from cardboard and cottonpuffs!

We have had Nanna and Granda back from Texas for a few weeks now which is lovely. We are going to go up there this week to stay with them for a few days while Daddy is over in DesMoines. Nanna is going to look after you so that I can slip up to Belfast and do some Christmas shopping. When you come along everything takes much longer because you are determined to touch every single thing we walk past. You don't pull them, or try to lift things you aren't supposed to, you just want to touch them to see what they feel like - which is lovely if we aren't pushed for time, but you get royally ticked off if you are hurried along to someone else's agenda!


This weekend you helped me with the crossword in The Times - you were going for the freehand approach and not bothering too much with the clues or getting the letters in the boxes but it made for an interesting afternoon!

Things you love to do!

Darling Kay - Daddy is in the air as I type this, on his way home from London. You are in bed, fast asleep after a busy day of playing, walking and generally expanding your little world and mind! I am sitting here with my feet up, with a cup of tea waiting on Daddy and looking forward to our weekend ahead together. This is his last trip for a few weeks so we will be thoroughly spoiled having him here!!

Your latest favourite thing to do, wee love, is play with my make-up bag. I don't have much in the way of make-up, and don't use it every day (although I am endeavouring to make more of an effort with it and stop looking like a slummy Mummy!!) but you are fascinated by the little pots and brushes and will happily unpack them, put them in the bag, take them out again, roll them around and generally make sure that you have researched every possibility of mischief with them!! Who would have thought such little make-up would stretch so far!!
There are so many other simple things that give you so much pleasure:-

• Dropping little stones that you find outside down the gratings;
• Cheese on toast for lunch, with little cherry tomatoes and cucumber sticks;
• Doing the actions for 'jelly-on-a-plate' while I sing it when you are having your dinner;
• Putting on Mummy's handcream - you are costing me a small fortune in Molton Brown, but you have the most moisturised hands in the land!
• Going round pointing at things and saying 'Am-mah's.....', like 'Am-mah's hat' or 'Am-mah's shoes' when you see something that is yours. In fact it doesn't even have to belong to you, if you like it then it becomes 'Am-mah's!'

The list is endless, and changes everyday, but you are a joy to be with because you fill our lives with love and happiness by giving us the chance to share your wonder and love of life x x

A hint.....

......that Mummy isn't sweeping up as often as someone else thinks she should be!!

Beach, and hats, and stones and coffee!!

Darling Kay, we have had the most lovely weekend together with Daddy! We had lots of rushing about to do on Saturday - we had to pick up the tickets for Daddy's trip to DeMoines in November, and then off to M&S for some lunch and some grocery shopping. The weather was great all weekend - very bright and fresh and dry (for a change!) and you loved being out and about, walking around, getting carried by Daddy, going in the trolley, and just generally taking in the world about you!

On Sunday morning we got up and ready and headed off to Newcastle for the morning. It was another gorgeous, bright day, and we had you all wrapped up in your lovely red coat and warm, fleecy hat! The last day we went to Newcastle was on your first birthday, 6 months ago. That day you were in your pram and quite happy to sit and soak it all in - now you needed to be up and about and moving under your own steam!! We walked along the front, and you picked a wee daisy which you carried about with you, until you discovered some pretty stones on the beach which you decided you would rather have! We have brought 2 home with us for your keepsake box so you can see them when you are bigger and we can remind you of this wonderful day.

Eventually it was too breezy for walking, so we slipped into a wee cafe for some coffee and buns to warm us all up. You were absolutely pooped from all the fresh air and walking, and you were asleep within 10 minutes of getting back into the car. Daddy took some great photos of you this weekend, and it takes my breath away how grown up you are getting! Next time we head to the beach I am pretty sure we will have to bring a change of clothes, because you were showing plenty of interest in the pools and puddles, and very soon you'll be dipping a toe in whether we'd like you to or not I suspect!!

Welcome Home, Daddy!!

Darling Kay, tonight Daddy came home from Poland and you were so happy to see him! While I finished making the dinner you and he managed a quick stroll around to the park to play on the swings and pick up some stones and leaves along the way! You have had such a tiring day today - lots of playing at home, and walking to and from the Post Office, so it's no surprise that you were asleep within 2 minutes of Daddy feeding you and settling you in your cot with Moo. Now it's only one more day until the weekend, and we will all be spending the whole time together - bliss!

All growed up....

Darling Kay, every day it gets harder to get a photo of you which captures who you are right now and what you are doing. As soon as the camera appears you drop whatever it is you are involved in and make a breakneck speed dash to get the camera. As far as you are concerned it looks like the World's Best Toy, even better than Mummy's phone (which you used yesterday to call my dear old colleague Adrienne in Lincoln, Nebraska!) or the remote control (the real one, not the old one we took the batteries out of and which failed to amuse you!)

But every so often something catches your attention and I can get a snap of you which sums up what you are like around the house (apart from the all action shots when you are dashing towards the camera and which come out in a fuzzy blur!)

Today I had to call Nanny and Granda in Tennesse, where they have gone for a few days to celebrate Granda's 65th birthday (at the Grand Old Opry no less!) and while I was doing that you managed to grab the landline phone. I am not sure whether you were trying to work out if it was a remote control, or a mobile, or something in between (since you seldom see us use it!) but it captured your attention for long enough for me to get this wee picture of you. This is how you stand up against the sofa when something on the TV catched your eye, or when you sidle up to someone and look up longingly and say 'Up-pah!', or when you lean against my leg when we are out and someone kneels down to talk to you, and you are trying to decide whether you are going to smile at them or not!!

For those wonderful people who leave such lovely comments about you, this is the little girl that you will see when you make the trip over the pond to Northern Ireland to see us! And for those of you who keep us in your prayers - you know who you are, and you know why - my humble and most sincere thanks and appreciation to you all.

New additions....

Darling Kay, over the last few days there have been several new additions in the house - namely the stair gates at the bottom and top of the stairs, and a new bright pink potty! The stair gates have baffled you - but they do the job! The potty has been a big hit! We are getting you used to seeing it and sitting on it before the real work begins - even though you seem a little bewildered about the fuss! We leave it in the downstairs loo, but you have taken to going and getting it and carrying it about - Daddy took this photo of you sitting in front of the TV on it - a very serious business as you can see!!

En vacanes!

Darling Kay - last night Nanny and Granda looked after you so that Mummy and Daddy could go to Belfast for the evening. Daddy had been given an invitation to the preview evening of the RUAS exhibition, and when we were offered a baby-sitting service for the evening we decided to go for it! It was a lovely evening, and you were a darling for Nanny - you took all your bedtime milk and went down to sleep just as easily as if it had been me or Daddy tucking you in for the evening. You were very excited this morning when you got up and they were still here, especially since it meant you could spend most of the morning out in the garden with Granda!

While Nanny was here she dropped off some photos that were taken last month when we were all away for the weekend in Abersoch. There are some amazing ones of the family, but this one is my favourite - you, Nanny and Baby M - all cosied up in an armchair together ready to head off to PortMerrion for the day! This photo really makes me smile, because it is exactly the wee natural smile you do when you are NOT posing for photos, instead of your photo-cheesy grin face!
Baby M will be 1 year old next month, which seems so hard to believe! I remember when Auntie C came to see you after you were born and told me she was expecting - it only seems like a blink ago! We can't wait til Christmas when they are coming back to spend it here this year at Nanny's house - so hopefully we will get lots more pictures of us all together!

New Best Friend....

Darling Kay, every day I look at you you seem to be a little older, a little bigger, and a little more independent. You are chattering away, toddling about and trying to climb the stairs. You can open the doors now and regularly disappear up the hall towards the front door, which you just can't quite reach... yet! You totter off to the laundry room, where you will load up the washing machine or the tumble drier with the dirty clothes from the basket, and happily push buttons and turn knobs until you are spotted and carried away. Usually protesting!

We have also bought you your own little pair of sunglasses which make you look very sweet but a little too grown up for my liking, as you have re-discovered your fascination with people's glasses (including Mummy and Daddy's!) and in an attempt to de-mystify them we got you a pair for yourself. You were interested in grabbing glasses when you were very tiny, but seemed to grow out of it. When you got your Mr Potato Head (with his own removable glasses!) it rekindled your interest, and you started carrying them about and offering them to people to try on themselves. And then getting very agitated when people weren't as generous at letting you try their glasses on yourself, or Mr Potato Head for that matter!!

Every day you learn more words and ideas. You can say 'shoes' and 'arrow' as plainly as a grown up, and regularly have little conversations with yourself and whoever you are with. You know what noises all your little farm animals make, and even recognise some of your letters - A for Ah-mah, M for Mama, Sssss for S, and you make a loud smacking noise with your mouth for kiss when you see the letter X. You new word is Cap-pah-pah - which is what you call your new best friend. Nanna saw him when we were out for lunch on Friday, and when she showed you what she had found your face lit up and you showered him with hugs and kisses in the shop.

You couldn't quite believe that your favourite friend from your books was right there in the shop. There was no question of not bringing him home with us, so now you have your very own Hungry Caterpillar, or Cap-pah-pah - who you carry around cuddled up to you face and pet him and pat him like he was a real little animal. Hopefully he will do you for a very long time before you decide you want a real little pet!! When we read the story now you wave him about frantically every time we read 'but he was still hungry!' and then go back to tucking him under your chin for a cuddle. Just as well Moo is not the jealous type or He might be having his nose pushed out of joint at the moment!

Tomorrow after Jo Jingles we are heading up to Carrick to see Nanna and Granda - and leave Granda's birthday present for him - some US dollars and a guide book for Texas! This time next week they will both be in Nashville at the Grand Old Opry for his 65th birthday, and then on to Texas for a 4 week road trip! It will be funny for you to not see them for such a long time, but at least you have your cap-pah-pah to take your mind of it!

For Lisa x

A little photo of Baby Kay taken last week, modelling the lovely bolero cardigan her Auntie C knitted for her. Just to confirm that I am still alive and will get back to blogging properly this week!

Here comes the weekend!!!

My darling daughter, today we have had a busy day out and about. We went up to say goodbye to T&G and their gorgeous boys. It was sad to see them off for the last time, but they made me promise that we will come to Baltimore soon to see them. G wants to take Daddy to play golf at Rendition - and Mummy just wants to spend some time with T and her babies!! We had some of G's birthday cake from yesterday, and you were able to play with S&L and also Benjy the dog! Mummy also had to spend a lot of time reminding you that ornaments were not for babies!!! While they were here both S&L got their first tooth - and as if you were out in sympathy we spotted tooth #16 this morning too!! It definitely explains why Mummy had to get up 3 times the night before last and twice last night, because you were not a happy bunny!

To cheer ourselves up after saying goodbye we went to meet Nanny and Granda at M&S for lunch. We had some lovely tapas together, and then when Nanny saw you eyeing up a little set of farm animals she decided that you had to have them, together with a little red barn to keep them in. She assures me that it is a Nanny's prerogative to spoil her grand-daughter!! You are delighted with the little set, especially since the little chicken inside the barn makes a 'cock-a-doodle doo' noise, just like Granda Billy's cockrel!!

And Mummy was spoiled today too - by lovely T - who gave me a going away present - a gorgeous bag which just about sums me up. I am so touched and pleased with it, and will definitely be using it. It is so thoughtful when someone you know and love manages to show you that they know you even better than you know yourself! I just can't decide which is my favourite side!!

Friends from afar!

Darling Baby Kay, this week we have been lucky to be able to spend some time with our wonderful friends T&G - who have come home from Baltimore for a few days to show off their gorgeous little twin boys - S&L. They are just the most adorable little boys going - they are non-identical twins, and very different, in looks and personality! Little S got his first tooth this week here in Northern Ireland - and they have coped very well with all the different faces and voices.

Daddy and G played golf on Sunday, and T and I had a great afternoon with the 3 of you. You were very taken with the babies and were doing a lot of patting and 'kind hands' on their heads and faces (this is what we tell you to remind you to not be rough when you are touching people's faces and getting over-enthusiastic!!) Yesterday we met G and the boys for a coffee at M&S while T did some shopping, and tomorrow we are heading up to see them before they head back to the US. It has been fabulous having them so close by - it reminds me how much I miss them and how great it would be if we lived closer.

You are still walking very happily and gaining confidence every day - you spend almost every waking moment toddling about, fetching things back and forward, moving things around, and then moving them right back again! You have been a bit unsettled the last few nights in bed, and we think that maybe you have another tooth on the way. You are also becoming more attached to your 'babies' - 2 or 3 little dolls that you have - over your other toys. You make them walk along, and clap hands, and kiss one another, and occasionally cuddle them in to yourself and kiss them. It is the sweetest thing I have ever seen you do my darling. Every day you grow a little bigger and a little more like a wee girl - and we love you more and more x

Who needs Kerry Katona.... Auntie Linda's gone to Iceland!!!

Darling Baby Kay - you got mail this week!! Mail from the most wonderful lady who I hope you get to meet before you get too much bigger. The mail was a gorgeous pastel, fleecy hat, with 'Iceland' and a little row of snowflakes embroidered in beautiful silver writing on the front. It was bought for you by an amazing lady - who has been in my life for a very, very long time, and now she is a part of your life too.

My 'Auntie Linda' was actually the girlfriend of one of your Nanna's brothers - at least 30 years ago! I was only about 7 or 8, but she made me and your Uncle Ricky feel so special. She used to babysit for us, and do treasure hunts around the house; she sent us a set of the Royal Stamps issued for the marriage of Lady Diana and Prince Charles; she even brought me a Spanish Barbie doll back from her holidays. And Baby Kay, I still have the stamps and the Barbie which will be coming to you when you are bigger.

Auntie Linda moved away, married a gorgeous man and had the most wonderful babies. One of her babies is just about to go to university after getting fantastic A level grades! We managed to find each other a few years ago via the Internet and it was like nothing had ever changed! She is the most lovely lady, so beautiful and kind, with the most amazing heart and soul - and I can't wait for her to see you, so she can be your Auntie Linda too. When they were away on their holiday to Iceland a few weeks ago these fabulous people were thinking of you all those miles away - and then the little hat arrived for you.

Auntie Linda - thank you for everything - we are blessed to have you in our lives x

Birdy, birdy.....

Now I am big enough to feed Granda Billy's hens myself!!

Would I be a little rascal??

I have 2 more teeth coming through.....

I think that 5.00am is a perfect time to waken up in the morning......

I think it is just fine to only want to eat salmon and broccoli pasta (pah-tah) for every meal.....

I reckon that the only kind of fun is the kind that involves Mummy walking around holding my hand....

I can't wait to have my Daddy home tomorrow! Me and Mummy have missed him so much x x

Buttercup!

Darling Baby Kay - we have had a busy day today, with shopping to do, and parcels to wrap for Daddy while he is away! You are going to bed these evenings absolutely exhausted, which means that you are asleep almost before I get back downstairs, but because we are still getting lovely bright summer mornings you are wide awake very early! Thankfully you will sing and play with the dollies in your cot until you drop back over and we don't have to get up until after 6.30.

We have been out in the garden for much of this afternoon because it is dry. You spend your time trying to spot dried leaves to stomp on, to hear the cracking - and also spotting buttercups (because we haven't cut the lawn for 10 days!!) which have to be picked for you and you carry them about all squashed up in your hand in case you lose them! Everything is so interesting, especially things that I would walk right past and not notice, but they don't escape your eagle eye!

Sweet dreams little darling - only 3 more sleeps til Daddy gets home x

Ducks and more

Darling Baby Kay, it has been a very busy few weeks here in County Armagh. Daddy has been away almost continually with work, and is now away in Galway until Saturday. Mummy has gotten herself a little behind in almost every aspect of life this last month, and your blog is one of those things. I will try to summarise for you what we have been doing over the last few weeks so that I can get back into the swing of your regular updates.

1) You are now officially walking - you are also doing a lot of falling over, and a lot of dramatic crying and shouting until you are picked up, but you can now walk, turn corners and turn around by yourself.
2) You are now up to 13 teeth, with #14 sitting there like a little pearl waiting to appear too.
3) You are adding to your words every day - you can say apple (ah-paw), and ganna (grandad) among other things.
4) We spent this weekend up in Carrick with Nanny and Grandad which meant you got lots of practice walking around the garden, and up and down the furniture.
5) We went to Hillsborough Forest on Sunday to feed the ducks which really tickled you! I think Grandad had a good time too!

I have now bought an annual ticket to Gosford which is just over the road from us, so that we can do that at least once a week together. I just have to work out how to stop you eating the stale bread that is meant for the birds!!

Bid for freedom....

Darling Baby Kay, rain does not put you off, nor does having no shoes on, nor a jumper! If you get the slightest chance you are still making a break for the french doors and pointing up at the key to anyone in the room you think might let you out!

You have had a wonderful few days showing off your new confidence in walking and shuffling around the room with Nanny, Granda, Uncle R and Auntie C - and of course the adorable 8 month old Baby M. It was lovely to get you both together finally after all this time. Nanny and Granda were in their element having you both their to hug and cuddle and spoil!! You are getting much more creative with your speech too - now we get 'Go! Go! Go!' which doesn't actually mean go - it means Dog - when you see little Ben at the farm. And we now get 'Am-ha' which you say when we ask you what your name is! You understand vast amounts of what we are saying ('Where are your shoes? Lift your feet up, please? What do the birdies do?) and I reckon once the real words start we should be in for some real fun!

Daddy is in Poland this week my darling, so we will be looking after each other til he gets back, and when he comes on here to see how you are doing he will be pleased to see your gorgeous little smiling face looking right back at him! All my love darling baby girl x x

Shape-sorting!

Darling Baby Kay, you had a lovely morning with Nanny today - helping her work out where all the shapes go in the shape-sorter, and testing each one with your teeth just to make sure they passed muster!! Nanny was very excited to see you practising your toddling, which is a little more like staggering than toddling to be honest, but you have finally started, as of yesterday, to branch out on your own - letting go of hands, lunging towards furniture to scramble along, and sometimes just plain launching out on your own into the middle of nowhere!

You had your last set of immunisations today too, the last until you are 4 thankfully. It doesn't get any easier as you get bigger, and those gorgeous blue eyes fill up with tears at what Mummy has allowed the Dr to do. Once you were home and had your dinner Daddy took you up to the farm to see Granda and wee Ben the Puppy, and you returned much more like your old self. Tomorrow we are going to meet L&I for coffee and I plan to spend the day just playing with you and spoiling you rotten, like lovely Lisa keeps telling me I should be, and this afternoon will be gone in a flash!

Much love to you my darling x x

Busy busy busy!!

Darling Baby Kay, it has been another hectic week and I have no idea how we managed to get to Thursday already. There were no babies this week, but lots of other things happening. On Sunday we went up to the farm for lunch - we passed on church after the last 2 Sunday experiences, where you lasted about 3 minutes the first, and then about 20 seconds the second. People say they don't mind the histrionics, and I am convinced that you would settle in a few minutes (I think it is just the crowd that unsettles you) but there are unfortunately a few less than charitable people who do a wonderful line in shooting over a dead-eye stare, which shames me into whisking you out! Instead we put you in your pink shortie doogeroos and headed off to see the hens and the cattle!

We met up on Monday with C and S at Sprucefield - C tells me that S is going through the terrible 3's, and she is certainly lively and determined to do her own thing. You were just completely fascinated watching her flitting about, and every time C shouted at S you looked at me as if to say 'What are those 2 playing at??' I know that I have all that ahead at some point down the line - your waggling finger and shaking head when I tell you 'No, that's only for Mummy's, not for babies' will probably be replaced with some feet stamping of your own!

Today we were up seeing Nanny, which was a little tricky as I was out with Auntie J last night for dinner and a film, and was in bed late. So I was tired and have an upset tummy (from all the veggies in my diet at the moment as I try to lose weight!) and you were just tired, because you are resolutely refusing to sleep in the car when we are out now. I used to rely on it for you doze over on the 90 minute drive to Nanny's, but now there is too much to see and do when we are out - so I might have to rethink the logistics of our out and about-ings!

Needless to say you took your bedtime milk in one go, and were asleep before I crossed the landing! And I will not be too far behind you little darling! Sweet dreams x x

Sunshine senorita!!

Nothing quite like sitting in the back garden with Mummy, my laptop, my xylophone, my gorgeous sunhat from Lindsey and Jaime, and having fun!!

Darling Baby Kay, we have had a busy few days whizzing about seeing our lovely friends and their new babies. We have fitted in shopping for some new trousers, and met Nanny and Granda for coffee this afternoon. Nanny has bought you some shorties PJ's because we are so ill-equipped for this amazing weather! You have lots of toes-in pairs to keep you warm, and usually I am putting you to bed and checking you are warm enough, but we are the other end of the scale - leaving your nursery window open, pulling the blinds to keep you cool. The shortie PJ's are very sweet, but suddenly you are a little girl and not a little baby anymore. It is strange the way sometimes I look at you and see my Baba, and other times you look at me and I realise you are 15 months old already, and well on your way to being a big girl!

Either way, sweet dreams my darling x x

Sunny day!

Darling Baby Kay, we have had the most glorious weather today. You had your last Jo Jingles of this term - and your last session in the 'Babies' group. In September you move up to 'Toddling to Two' where you will go from being one of the biggest to one of the smallest again! You had a great time at today's class, and everyone came home with a big balloon to play with. You are very suspicious of yours - anything new, or different has to have the required period of close surveillance, without actually touching, before you eventually warm to it. We got you a light plastic football to play with in the garden and you were not sure about that at all at first! Now you are quite happy to push it about and squeak your fingers over the plastic surface!

You have also managed to put the backside clean out of 2 little pairs of trousers this week, from all your bum-shuffling around the floor and the back garden. I am looking forward to you getting onto your feet, if for no other reason than to save the rest of your wardrobe going the same way! You get very excited about being out the back with Daddy, and love having your bare feet in the grass, or pick up little sticks and stones. Now when Daddy gets home from work in the evenings, no matter what the weather you point to the french doors and will not rest until he has taken you out the back for a walk about.

Tomorrow we head up to Belfast to see K and Baby N, who is almost 4 weeks old, and then on Thursday it is off to Carrick to see K and Baby J. It is all go at the moment on the baby front, and this is lovely weather to be bringing them into - lots of lovely days to go out in the pram. Nanny and Granda are back from Bristol from seeing Baby M, and we will try to see them on Thursday too, to see any new photos and hear how their trip went! A busy few days ahead for a little princess!!

Sweet dreams my darling x x

Hello to Daddy!!

Dear Daddy, tonight you are in Barcelona and I am writing my own blog entry this evening for Mummy! We have had a lovely day together - my favourite parts were when Mummy lost the shampoo bottle down the back of the bath and had to go crawling around the floor looking for it, and my yoghurt that I had after my dinner! I have been in bed for about 40 minutes and am sleeping soundly while Mummy catches up on visiting her blog-friends and keeps an eye on the sweet potato and beef casserole that she is making for me for dinner tomorrow! We are both really looking forward to having you home again and starting our weekend together,

Love Baby Kay

PS I didn't get myself locked in the car today or anything else daft like that!!

Crazy sort of week....

Darling Baby Kay, it has been a crazy few days for us here. Everything is relative of course, and my crazy is nowhere near as chaotic and stressful as some of the tough things other people have been going through, but it has been crazy by our standards!

Today, for example - you managed to lock yourself in the car, with my handbag and housekeys (my fault entirely for letting you hold the car keys while I walked round the car to open the other door and get the shopping out.) After a few minutes of blind panic (me) and smiling and waving out of the car (you), and then going to introduce myself to one of our neighbours I have never met before, the wonderful J who lives 2 doors up, the situation was sorted. He offered to drive the 50 miles round trip to get Daddy's keys (which was not going to work as he was golfing and we couldn't get him on his phone), he called the police to find out what we should do, he called his friend to get him to get us a locksmith - who came and rescued you just about the time your patience was up and you had decided it really wasn't very funny any more. He was such a gentleman - and Daddy went over this evening to thank him for rescuing his girls today.

I have posted this picture of you which respresents the other side of how things have been going this week, and one of the wonderful, totally unexpected results we had earlier today, before the car episode. We have managed to switch you onto another dummy! This may not seem like rocket science, but you have been using the same brand and type since you were only weeks old, and though we had about a half dozen to begin with gradually they got ratty and ended up in the bin - but we had managed to hold onto 3 that were doing a great job up until 2 weeks ago. 2 weeks ago serious teething kicked in, and you have managed to puncture 2 of the 3. They went into the bin, and so there was 1.....

We have tried you on other ones which look and feel exactly the same but YOU KNOW that they are not your dummy!! After discovering the ones we were using are discontinued I had no idea how we were going to resolve it. Today when I went to give you the new brand of dummy (the 3rd new one we had given a chance....) you just smiled, took it, and cuddled up to your Moo, as if to say 'OK, I give up Mummy - this one will do.' You have gone to bed tonight with it very happily, and I will be going back to Boots tomorrow to buy 5 more exactly the same. For the rest of the teeth.

Bibs!!

How on earth did I end up with so many bibs?

Darling Baby Kay - today we went to meet Daddy for lunch at the coffee shop near his work. It was great to have that unexpected time together in the middle of the day, and you were so excited when we pulled into the car park and you spotted Daddy waiting for us!! You had great fun afterwards with Mummy's water bottle as we went to do our grocery shopping, leaning out over the side of the trolley and dropping the plastic bottle over. It is quite funny (although I really shouldn't encourage you and try not to smile!) because in the second before you let go you brace yourself - you lift your little shoulders, screw up your eyes and open your mouth! - in anticipation of the splut when it hits the floor!!

And your latest word, little darling - 'Bick-bick' - which is your way of saying biscuit! You were practising this today while I was giving you your orange oat-cake for pudding, lots of pointing and 'Mama, bick-bick!' Unpacking all your bibs is still one of your favourite things to do when you are keeping me company in the kitchen when I am cooking!

Lunch with K!

Darling Baby Kay, we had a wonderful time this morning at Jo Jingles - you are really starting to get so much more out of it now that you can shuffle about and get yourself some instruments and toys when you want. O was very impressed at you doing the actions to Fancy Dance too - you had great fun!

We then headed over to pick up K from her mum's house in the Moy. She is over from England for the week and it is lovely to have her just up the road. I don't miss very many people from my years living overseas, but K is one of those people I miss very much. She was at our wedding, comes over regularly to see her family, and never misses a chance to call and see us or meet somewhere. She loves to see you, and you were not at all strange with her. You were even happy to sit with her and let her give you some of your lunch when we were eating out! Hopefully if the weather is nice we will be able to meet up again on Thursday and make the most of having her here for a while.

This evening you are fast asleep, and Daddy has headed up to the farm to give Granda B some bread for the hens, but I suspect it is more because he wants to see Uncle J's new electric golf trolley!!! Sweet dreams my love x x

Fancy Dance princess!

Darling Baby Kay - the rain has returned!! The good weather wasn't meant to last - this is Northern Ireland after all - but at least there is the promise of more on the horizon. It just means we have to play indoors rather than out in the garden - which you are not overly impressed with!! Every time you shuffle over to the french doors you bash on the glass (and then give it a little lick if you think there is no-one looking) and then point up to the handle. Getting wet is no reason not to be out there on the grass in your book!!

This weekend we will be taking things easy - Daddy is playing golf tomorrow morning, and after that we are just going to head out and see where we end up. You are so close to walking now, and love being out and about, so it is a perfect opportunity to get some fresh air with our wellies on and our brollies up! You are also all chatty at the moment - if we ask you to sing us a song you are happy to oblige with a wee made-up one from all the different sounds you know how to make.

You have also perfected all the actions to 'Fancy Dance' which we sing at Jo Jingles, and at home lots of times every day, and I sometimes find you doing the actions, in the right order on your own when you have just been sitting playing by yourself. Every day it is something new and exciting and wonderful little love! Sweet dreams x x

Mine!!!

They're my beads and my teeth, so I can chew on this instead of my teether if I want!!!

Sunny weather!

Darling Baby Kay, we have had the most amazing weather for the last 3 days - absolutely glorious sunshine, and not a cloud in the sky. You have had such fun in the garden, pushing your block truck outside, picking up the sticks on the grass, eating the grass and leaves (despite best efforts to stop you!) and sitting on a blanket reading with Mummy. You are sleeping so well too, partly I think from the fresh air, but also from the heat. At the minute the outside temperature is about 23 degrees during the day, but indoors it is closer to 27 degrees - which makes keeping your nursery cool for sleeping a little tricky. You are going to sleep in your baby-gro vests without any Jammies over the top - it is the only way to keep you cool enough I think.

It is wonderful to be able to get the washing out on the line to dry, and throw all the windows open and keep the air in the house fresh, but every time you see the french doors open you back a break for the garden - bum-shuffling across the floor and throwing your legs over the door-jam. You can't quite work out how to get over it yet, but it is only a question of time! Sweet dreams this evening little darling x

For Alice x

Some little photos of Baby Kay taken on her first birthday by someone who knows how to take photos, rather than our happy-snaps!! We don't have Walgreen in Northern Ireland, but it was a local photographer who works from a studio in our town.

Specially requested by lovely Alice!!

Who knew!!!

I saw this today Baby Kay and did a double take!! The spelling is not quite right, but it made me stop and stare long enough to block up the aisle while I was taking a photo on my camera!

Who knew that PG was also an entrepreneur making and selling her own salad creams!!! I thought only Paul Newman did that!!

Special delivery....

Darling Baby Kay - you are getting better and better with each passing day. It is such a relief that you are sleeping more soundly and not coughing so much - a collection of time passing, going gently, some medicine and some great advice from lots of lovely ladies in Blogland who have passed along their wonderful pearls of wisdom.

We went today to pick up the pictures from the photographer that were taken on your 1st birthday in March, and we are so delighted with them. The framed one is up in the sitting room, and we have some extra copies for Nanny and Granda, Granda Billy and B&F. I am so glad we decided to have the pictures done, even if there was a little bit of shouting before you decided to settle down and play along!

The sun has been shining all day, and looks set to continue for the weekend so I hope it lasts and we can get out and enjoy it. I especially hope that it is being shared on the other side of the world, for tomorrow in particular. One of the singlemost incredible, funny, beautiful and gracious women I have ever had the good fortune to meet is celebrating her birthday this weekend - I think she is 21 all over again! :) And I hope the sun shines on her all day long!!

What do you mean you can't post me to Washington for the party???

Shoe Girl!!

Darling Baby Kay, you are still coughing away and sniffling like crazy, but you are also perking up a little bit too, which is a relief, so I hope this marks a turning point and you are on the mend.

We headed up to Newry today to pick up your car seat, and it is great to have you back in your own wee chair. You sit much higher up in it than in the one the girls had so kindly lent us, so you are back to watching the world whizz past your window!

You are also exploring much more than before - so this weekend we are off to buy stair gates, as you are making a break for the stairs and the front door at every opportunity. When Daddy came home from work tonight he left the kitchen door open and by the time we realised you weren't in the sitting room you were already re-arranging the shoes under the stairs. Who needs toys!!

Stormy weather!

We have had some clouds today, my precious darling.

The weather has been very changeable - we have blue sky at the moment, but earlier today it was raining heavily and the sky was like a winter's day instead of the end of spring. Technically this time next week we will be into summer - it seems hard to believe when we are still getting hail stones and storms. It was raining so heavily last night too that I didn't get out for bowls practice - it is hard enough to go out and bowl when you have a match and it is raining, but to head out and get soaked and frozen when it's not a competition (no matter how badly Mummy needs the practice!) is just too much to ask at the minute.

And for you, my darling little one, there are clouds too. You are still not well; you have a rotten cough which is keeping you awake. You are tired and cross, and trying so hard not to be. You will play a little bit and then fuss for a little bit, and all the time you are just desperate to get some sleep. The pharmacist told me today that you are not supposed to give any child under 6 an 'over-the-counter' medicine for a cough - so you are getting a little apple/glycerol mix in the hope that it makes your chest feel a bit less sore. You were up quite a lot during the night - consequently so were Mummy and Daddy - and it is so tough to listen to you coughing and there being nothing we can do to help you. Hoping you feel better soon my love x x

Golf Baby!!

What do you mean these aren't for me??

Darling Baby Kay, this is you helping Daddy clean his golf clubs and teething on the loose golf balls that are rattling around the kitchen floor! The golf balls definitely worked - tooth #11 is through this morning. You have a cough at the moment, and are dribbling like crazy again, and running a temperature - so I am wondering if there are any more on the way that are still bothering you. And, for the record, taking off the cot bumper has worked! You have gone to sleep and have been napping today tear-free! The bumper was just cramping your style!

Weekend Fun!

Darling Baby Kay, we are back to just the 2 of us this evening - Daddy is away to Dublin overnight, and is back tomorrow, so we have just puttered around together. You have been pushing around your block truck and shuffling around very happily all day.

On Saturday Daddy took you to Newry for an hour or two - you had a great time in your pram going round the shops while Daddy picked up his bits and pieces. I forget sometimes how much fun it is being out with you, and how excited you get about seeing other babies, or bicycles, or dogs, or seeing lorries and buses. But Daddy doesn't get to see this window of your life very often so these times are very precious to him. It lets him see how we spend our day, and how you love to get out and about to see the world around you.

And also it gives him a chance to spoil his princess - your very first ice cream cone!! Daddy tells me you didn't eat it all, and wouldn't entertain eating it directly from the cone, he had to get you a little spoon for you to use!

While you were out I had a chance to clean your nursery and drop your cot base down. You are starting to get a bit too agile for the base to be as high as it was, so for safety I wanted to drop it before you realised you could pull yourself up on the bars on the side. You have slept in it now for 2 nights, and had your naps in it, but each time I have put you down you have been uncharacteristically upset, and cried for a little bit, which you seldom do when it is time to sleep. You are normally so pooped you just wriggle around a bit and then doze off. I have been wracking my brain to work out what it is, and I think I have it - your cot bumper is now too high and you can't see out! Before it was easy for you to reach up and pull it down to give you a wee window out the side into the nursery, but now you can't reach, and I think it has frightened you, or at the very least made you very brassed off about it!

Tomorrow morning when you waken I am going to take the bumper off and see how you fare without it for a day or two. I am not sure you need it anymore anyway - although you wriggle about a lot I am not sure if the bumper was really stopping you bashing off the top of the cot.

Will give this a try tomorrow and hope for the best!! Sweet dreams of Daddy coming home to you my darling x x

Car seat fun!

Darling Baby Kay we have been out and about today in our new temporary car seat, loaned to us courtesy of the lovely ladies at the baby shop where we bought your real one - the one that you threw up in about a month ago!

The car seat survived the incident, but not without some serious washing and drying of the covers - but when I tried to adjust the straps last week the locking mechanism seized, and I couldn't get them loosened again! Everyone has had a go at loosening them for me, but to no avail. When Daddy got home from golf last Saturday the car seat was sitting in the middle of the dining table, I was wrestling with it, and you were shuffling around the table totally fascinated by the competition. The car-seat won...

After a call to the ladies in the shop, they told us to bring it in and they would sort it out - so Daddy took it up to Newry and returned with a temporary replacement. The car-seat had beaten them too. They had never seen one seized up like that and it has now gone back to the manufacturers for them to have a wrestle with it.

You don't seem to mind the change of seat - in fact it reclines more easily that your original one so you have actually had more sleep when we've been out and about. I just need to make sure to remember to clean the chocolate marks of the side where you were wiping your fingers on it today before we return it!!

Hands up!

Baby Kay today you finally made friends with your hedgehog puppet after a few weeks of suspicious looks, ignoring, pushing him to the bottom of the toy bucket and shaking her head at Mummy when she tries to bring him out!!

You finally relented and let Mummy put him on your foot, which made you smile and then you handed him back to me to put back on my hand for tickling you! Then, at last, you let me put him on your hand, and instead of looking at him you pulled him over to your wee face and kissed him! Then you tucked him under your chin and started to give him a cuddle with your other hand. He has the softest fun-fur feeling to him, and I think you loved the sensation on your face.

I think you and he are going to be friends. We have called him Spike, despite having none!