Eve wearing a new jumper, a present from Aunty Claire
Daddy had a good chat with her one morning as she ate her cereal, and told her not to worry or be sad about being in the new room. When we dropped her off at nursery that day she took 'minnie' (her muslin which she named herself a while ago) and a soft rabbit to cuddle. These made her feel more secure. She didn't cry at all and walked straight in to get involved with the day's events. Her good buddies Eli and Euan have both recently moved into the Bouncies room which is great news for Eve. Her key workers said that Eve helped to settle them in, by giving them toys and hugs.
One night last week when I collected her they told me that she had had a really good afternoon playing and getting messy. She then ate two bowlfuls of vegetable soup, when all the other children didn't want to eat it. Sam and I were both surprised at this as she barely touched a vegetable all holidays. Good to know that being back in nursery is helping with these things.
Last Monday evening after Eve's bath we went into her room. I asked her which book she wanted me to read. She pulled my old Ladybird copy of Heidi (original story by Johanna Spyri 1881). This was one of my favourite books as a child; my dream was to sleep in a loft looking out at the stars like Heidi did. My mum often put plaits in my hair like Heidi for school, and I even dressed up as a little Swiss girl in St. Stephens carnival one year.
It turns out that Eve loves this book as much as I do. I read half of it to her on Monday, the rest on Tuesday and then started it all over again last night (which my own adaptation!)
I love that she pulled it off the shelf by herself and is intrigued by the images, just like I was as a child. It's such a wonderful story, full of morals to follow through life.
I feel relieved that this has gone well, and that we had the Christmas holidays to work on it. The nursery girls in her new room told me how she sang herself to sleep on a mat the other day, I told them that Eve has been doing this since she was 5 and a half months old and they seem really surprised. It's normal to us as she's pretty much always done it. I love to hear her singing in the morning, it's a great wake up call.
Me with my nephew, Jago
I generally wash her hair about once a week (unless it's uber yucky from messy play at nursery), and when I do I wash it with a damp sponge. I've been doing this for the past couple of months and this seems to work the best, minimal water on her face is the key.
Daddy and Eve, during a walk through the woods by our house.
Eve just loves walking up steps, and enjoys counting them as she goes. She can count consecutively up to 13, and knows other numbers in the teens but not in the right order. As we walk home from nursery she likes to point out numbers on shop doorways and houses.
Daddy and Eve
On Saturday Eve had sore teeth for most of the day, so she was a bit grumpy and upset. Sunday was a different matter, she woke up very chipper and enjoyed painting, play doh, a walk in the woods with us. She had a great time dancing in the kitchen and made us laugh waving her hands in the air wildly, shouting, 'Gabba! Gabba!' as Daddy played some amusing, hardcore beats. We also had a quick jaunt down to Bedminster where we met Aunty Claire and Jago in the new vegan cafe, VX.
Jago and Eve were both asleep when we met in the cafe, so my sister and I spent a nice half hour catching up. We ate chocolate brownies - which were amazingly tasty, and drank cups of power matcha chai tea. The tea was lovely too. I really enjoyed both.
They've recently opened and are as yet to fill the cafe grocery with more vegan products, but the decor and look of the cafe is cool, friendly, has an easy going vibe and we felt very welcome there. The vegan cheese and hot dogs for sale in the fridge looked like good ones and I'm going to enjoy trying those out in the future (as vegan cheese is pretty much always disgusting.)
The only down point - which I'm sure will be rectified when they finish opening properly - was that our food and drink were served on paper plates and cardboard cups, which in my eyes is a bit of a no no, in terms of the environment. We'll definitely be going back there again though; it's a really nice place to meet, and is in between both our houses.
It's been such a mild winter, there is a huge carpet of hostas out in force in the woods
Yesterday Eve was taken to Bristol Zoo with 10 other children from the Bouncies room. I dropped her off in the morning and handed over wellies and other necessaries. I also gave them her portable potty. I left her at nursery, feeling a bit anxious about her first 'school trip,' but of course when I collected her last night her carers told me that she had a brilliant time.
Eve liked seeing the birds, penguins and lions, though was apparently sad that there weren't any sheep to see! (I'm thinking that we'll have to take her to the city farm on Sunday). The group took the bus to the zoo, and Eve did well using the potty throughout the day. She also had a nap in a pram without a nappy on, and didn't have an accident. Eve has been doing well with this the last few weeks, so we've decided: no more nappies during nap time going forward.
As she had been to the Zoo during the daytime, I read Eve 'Rumble in the Jungle' at bedtime last night. These books were a brilliant gift from Jilly, Lamorna and Navi. The books in this animal series are so cool; lovely, colourful illustrations and the poems are amusing too. 'The Lion who wanted to Love' and 'Commotion in the Ocean' feature in the series and are wonderful stories.
'Rumble in the Jungle' by Giles Andreae and David Wojtowycz
(It's only 12 minutes long)
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