Party Girl!!

Darling Baby Kay - today you were at a birthday party - your first official social engagement!! You were invited by J to N's first birthday; she was your wee friend from Jo Jingles who moved up to the toddlers group because she started walking! She had a wee party over at Funky Monkeys with music, wee songs and cake - but you were actually only interested in the melon and your Tippee Cup - which is your current favourite toy!!

You are so steady standing up, but still no signs of cruising or walking. Funky Monkeys was great because it is a totally padded soft area for babies - so you were able to wriggle about and lean on things without me having to hover around in case you fell over. You had a great time leaning over the cushions and the sides and pulling yourself up by the handles! You had a look on your face like 'How on earth am I doing this!! This is great!!!' At one point you pulled your leg up as if you were trying to climb over, but you thought better of it when you realised you were going to have to go for it or let go altogether!!

And the best part of the day?? Daddy is home!! And was able to give you your bath and your bottle before bed. We are all together again under the same roof little darling! Welcome home Daddy - we both missed you x x

Show and Tell Friday!

Today for Show and Tell I am showing a vase that I got about 7 years ago. It is a Poole pottery purse vase - the design is called Odyssey, and stands about 12 inches tall. It really is quite a big heavy piece of pottery. I adore it because of the very vibrant colours and lovely sheen off the the surface. I am not really an ornamants or vases person, but this one had caught my eye many times in a John Lewis department store when I lived in St Albans - a whole lifetime ago!!! :)


It would never have occurred to me to buy it - I had no need for it, and anyway, had I had the money I would have probably been spending it in the book department instead! But having seen it so many times it really stuck in my head. Then, unexpectedly, the company I worked for at the time gave everyone some John Lewis gift vouchers as a Christmas present following a good financial year. I felt as if this was serendipity and just blew the whole lot on the vase!

Immediately afterwards I panicked at having spent so much on something that was going to be no use to me at all, but I have always loved it, and grow to love it more as time passes, so I don't believe it was a waste. Some day Baby Kay will have it I hope and enjoy her Mother's outrageous splurge in the China department!

Thanks for looking!

Learning to read!

Darling Baby Kay, today we were up in Carrickfergus at Nanny's house. You slept all the way there and back in the car, which was great, but it meant you didn't get any good quality naps today so you've had to have your bath a bit early and were fast asleep by 6.45 - totally exhausted!

You had great fun with Nanny. That's the great thing about going up there, Nanny has made sure she has nothing to do all day so that she can spend the whole time playing with you. When I was very small, about your age, Nanny tells me that I also was not a very cuddly, kissy baby - but the one thing I would do is sit on someones knee if they had a book to read. Your Nanny started a lifetime passion of reading very early in me, and looks very like she is going to do the same with you! You were very happy with reading the same one over and over again, and pointing at the little pictures with her. I think it made both your day!

Daddy is still away this evening - he slept very badly last night he tells me. The hotel room overlooks the street and he is a very light sleeper - so he is tired and has had a busy day in the office. If he is reading this, I hope he knows we are sending him all our love tonight as always - and that when he gets home on Friday we will have a great weekend together - back under the same roof. Goodnight Darling Baby Kay, Goodnight my darling Husband - we love and miss you x

Hello Daddy!!

Darling Baby Kay, since Daddy is in Barcelona this week I am going to use your blog to upload a picture of you each day with a little synopsis of what you were doing, so that he can log in from Spain and see what you have been up to!

You are well over your snuffles and back to your wee self again. We had Jo Jingles today and there are some new Mummies and Babies so we are back up to a class of 8 again. Your favourite part is still doing the Fancy Dance, and the quiet time before the end with the bubbles. Once you get crawling or toddling, sweetie, a whole new world will open up to you, for you are just raring to go when the music starts - if you could just work out how!

After lunch today you had some strawberries. They aren't in season so I was a bit worried they would be too tart, but you had great fun with the wee pieces - that's another different fruit you have tried. You are such a delight to feed - I hope it continues when you are feeding yourself and you'll still be prepared to give new things a go! You had your bath and bottle and have gone down to sleep happy and rosy-cheeked in one of your new sleepsuits. I have unpacked some of the next size up ones we got when you were born, so you have a bit more room to wriggle!

I have settled down for an hour to catch up on some emails now with my cup of tea - and will be joining you very soon upstairs in bed for an early night. We have a busy day tomorrow - we are heading up to Carrickfergus to see Nanny for lunch which will be great fun for you (providing you doze in the car - fingers crossed!) I have posted a link for Carrickfergus for Lisa - because she astonished me in an email yesterday by telling me that her Dad's neighbour is a retired Presbyterian Minister from Carrickfergus - where I grew up and lived for many years, and where Nanny and Granda still live! Such a small world!

I hope that Daddy is getting on fine in Barcelona - and that if he is reading this he knows how much we love and miss him. I hope he isn't working too hard, and that he gets on well in his meetings tomorrow. He is never far from my thoughts, and I know you will be so excited to see him when he gets home, precious Darling. Only 3 more sleeps x x x

5 things.....

Darling Baby Kay, tonight I am going to do another 5 things for you. This time I am going to do 5 things you absolutely love at the minute, in case I forget about them as you get bigger.

1 - You love labels - of any description. You can find the smallest label on the most complicated toy or piece of clothing, and once you have carefully examined it you give it a good suck and chew to be sure that you have tested it fully. Even the same toy time after time - you turn it over and around just to be sure it hasn't changed since the last time you checked it. This picture is of you with a lovely wee rag doll that J&J sent you for Christmas. Her label is actually underneath her clothes - you have to work her top up and untuck her skirt to find it, but it didn't beat you! Fortunately she is machine washable!

2 - The TV remote control is the best thing ever invented. We have a spare one that you can 'turn off' which you used to be fooled by, and would happily have pushed the buttons on but you know that the 'good one' ie the one you aren't allowed to play with, is the one you really want, and you'll make a grab for it anytime it's in stretching distance and we haven't noticed you heading in that general direction. The same is true of the spare telephone handset that Nanny has for you - you look at it, then at Nanny, and then back to the handset as much as to say 'But sure, there's no batteries in this Nanny!'

3 - Playing with the car keys - this fixes everything! Every tear dries up, every shout stops! You can even recognise the noise of them in my handbag if they are jiggling around.

4 - Mandarin oranges and Clementines - you eat these up like there is no tomorrow! I bite the wee segments in half so they are small enough for you to manage and you love squashing them around and gobbling them up!

5 - The weather forecast! No matter what is happening in the house, no matter what you are doing, no matter what toy you have (even the car keys....) EVERYTHING stops when the weather forecast comes on. And I have no idea why!! There is no jingle music for it, it doesn't matter what channel it's on (you don't seem to have a favourite presenter!) but once the weather map appears you are hooked for 30 seconds. You are definitely British my darling - already obsessed with the weather!!

Simple Abundance

Darling Baby Kay - I have a great book that I love to read called Simple Abundance. It was given to me by my dear friend KB, and the inscription reads:-

'To Fee, I hope this book changes your life. Love K x o (8-9-2000)'

This book is a daily reminder that I have been friends with K for almost 9 years which in itself is a wonderful thing. But the idea of the book is that you read a section every day and it inspires you, comforts you or gives you reason to think more about what you are doing, in your life, your home, your relationships, with yourself, with others and with your faith. Sometimes it is easy to skim through it, or over it, but sometimes - some days - you read the section for that day and it speaks to you more deeply. Perhaps I am just at a different place those days, or more open to the ideas, or less cynical, or less tired, or more optimistic. I'm not sure. But I am sure my Darling Baby girl that some days I definitely get more out of what I have read than others.

It is at these times as I try to put my Faith back on track and regain what I feel I have lost that I wonder whether there are women out there reading the same book on the same day, thinking the same thing and wondering whether today's thought was written for them too?

Poor little Darling Baby, tonight you have gone to bed snuffling and cross! You are just struggling to get your head cleared little one. You are off your food and unsettled, but trying hard to not let it bother you when you are playing on the floor, or 'reading' your books, 'or trying to get the remote control for the TV! It is when is comes to lying down it is harder - your little nose is blocked and you can't suck your dummy and breathe at the same time.

Daddy is not home this evening - but you had a great time this morning when we were out shopping. He carried you instead of putting you in your pram, so you could see what was going on and he could keep you close and safe, and make sure you weren't uncomfortable. You are his little princess and he is so clearly your hero!

I have read a quote on another blog - the lovely Becky - and it has made me think about this deeply this evening. My Faith is not all is should be little darling - I have felt at a cross-roads for a few months, that I cannot explain, nor reconcile. But the gorgeous quote and sentiment on Becky's blog has reminded me of the man who's Faith is strong, and who looks after the both of us. He is both our hero - and I think that is a good place to try and start re-focusing myself, and remember all he does for us. Sweet dreams, little darling x