A swift karate kick to my stomach was how Little Miss C responded when we first told her that there was a baby in there. I was three months pregnant and she was 21 months old at the time. It wasn't quite the reaction we expected, but then again you just can't always guess how children are going to respond to things. She's always been very inquisitive and picks up on lots that is going on around her so we decided to tell her as soon as we'd had the 12 week scan. A simple sentence of "there's a baby in mummy's tummy" seemed to be enough for her to realise what ... read more
Two
There's been a birthday to celebrate here this weekend. A little lady who is now old enough to understand that a good birthday involves cards, presents, cake and a party. The house is now (finally) quiet and almost resembles tidy and I'm sat here struggling to find words that adequately describe how I feel about this amazing little lady that's in my life. I never knew that it was possible to love one little person quite so much. Every day she completely amazes me with her passion for life and the sense of humour that she's quickly developing. She's also one of the ... read more
Growing cress
Another thing that Little Miss C and I got up to whilst we were stuck at home was a spot of gardening. LMC always wants to help in the garden, but children want to see results very quickly so it can be hard to keep their enthusiasm when things don't grow as fast as they would like. Growing cress from seed is quite good though as you can see a day by day difference, but at the same time it also makes children realise that things don't grow instantly and they need to have a bit of patience. It was with great pride and determination that she filled some old yoghurt pots (thank you again ... read more
Queen for a day…
... or in reality just a few minutes. If you're in the UK then you really can't have escaped the Jubilee fever that seems to have taken over. Go to any town centre or village green and you'd be forgiven for thinking that there's been an explosion in a nearby bunting factory. If you have children of school age then there have been numerous tea parties, concerts and picnics to celebrate. I freely admit to being a bit of a royalist. I love the royal family and what they do for the country and think the Queen should be celebrated after so many years serving the country. Whatever ... read more
Why?
Little Miss C asked her first "why?" question the other day and I have to admit that she's got me stumped: "Why don't sausage rolls have chocolate in them?" I was expecting a bit of a softer start on the questions, but it looks like I'm going to have my work cut out! It's therefore quite appropriate timing to been tagged by the lovely DorkyMum with an opportunity to turn the tables and ask our children a few "why?" questions, so here goes: Dearest Little Miss C... Why is it that some mornings you decide to ... read more
Rainy day sticking
After what feels like an eternity of wet weather I'm starting to feel like there are very few indoor activities that Little Miss C and I haven't tried recently. She's now been struck down by chicken pox so I'm trying to come up with even more things to do and am very grateful that I've got a couple of copies of Creative Steps to review which are packed full of great ideas for things to do. A full review including some of their projects will follow, but I'm going to start with one of the more simple things we've been doing. All that was required ... read more
The things they say
As Little Miss C develops one of the things which I marvel about most is her speech and understanding. She's always been quite vocal, but since she turned one words just started tumbling out of her. At first we just had random objects being named in isolation, but more recently phrases and sentences have been formed and it's fascinating to see how her understanding and imagination are driving this. A lot of the language she knows has been driven by books. We read loads with her; first thing in a morning, just before bed and at several other points throughout the day. That means she ... read more
Changing nappies – Little Miss C style
It's strange - before Little Miss C came into our lives I hadn't changed a nappy before. Now, 22 months later, I'm a bit of an expert with thousands of nappy changes under my belt. That doesn't mean it gets any easier though and we're just in one of those phases at the moment when LMC doesn't really want her nappy changed, mainly because that stops her from doing something more interesting for a few minutes. Tantrums start as soon as we try and get her anywhere near her changing mat and it's becoming a bit stressful for all concerned. We've been here ... read more
Hands and Feet
Little Miss C is now at that development stage where she's starting to understand that you can actually draw things, rather than just scribble on a page. As well as coming up with lots of requests for Mr C and I to draw specific animals for her she's also drawing "things" and telling us that they're elephants or cats complete with head, body and legs. One thing that she is loving at the moment is an idea that I found in a children's magazine recently - drawing round body parts. She spends ages asking me to help her draw round her hands and feet onto pieces of plain ... read more
A toilet roll tube and a bit of imagination
That's all you need to have a bit of fun. First thing this morning this was Little Miss C's trumpet. Yesterday two of them sellotaped together became a pair of binoculars. I'm fascinated to see what a toilet roll tube will become tomorrow! ... read more