Playtime and Rest

Eve happily sleeping, in an amusing position on the sofa

On Sunday morning Eve woke up at 7.30am - a lovely weekend lie in for me, which was most appreciated. Daddy and I had gone out for 'date night' (the first time since November last year), and were both feeling a bit worse for wear. Eve was such a good girl and played happily in the lounge whilst it poured with rain outside. After giving her breakfast and playing with her for a couple of hours I felt pretty tired so I told her to be a good girl whilst I had a little sleep on the sofa. I woke up an hour later to the sound of Daddy coming downstairs. It was so quiet that I immediately wondered where Eve was. Somehow, she had turned off the tv and had gone to sleep on the sofa next to me. She remained there having a nap for the next 2 hours.

It continued to rain all day. Sam and I were pleasantly surprised with Eve, who played all day long in the lounge and kitchen. She seemed to know that we couldn't go outside and was happy being there with us and didn't get bored at all. 











She enjoyed watching music video's, singing and dancing and has also just learnt how to jump in the air. This morning she was having a great time walking about on her tip toes, which was funny.

Waybuloo

Lately most evenings, when Eve and I arrive home from nursery, we often watch Waybuloo on the CBeebies channel. Eve likes to watch the children as they run along the pathways through the woodland scenery. We then attempt to copy them and practice yoga positions.

We like watching Zingzilla's and Postman Pat in the mornings, with another of our favourites being Cloud Babies. Postman Pat is of course a classic, and I enjoy watching it. It brings back fond memories from my own childhood. I was a huge fan of Rainbow Brite and the Care Bears when I was small so Cloud Babies is definitely a great replacement. One of Eve's favourite songs to sing is 'Twinkle, Twinkle little star' and I can tell that she really likes Cloud Babies, especially when they put the stars to bed.

Cloud Babies

Zingzilla's is fun; they are a band and play world music. It's great for Eve to be able to discover different styles of music and dance along with it.

Zingzilla's

Yesterday Daddy took Eve to Arnos Vale Park in the morning before nursery. This girl loves the park so much! On the whole she is such a good girl, but does throw a tantrum occasionally. This is always when she's enjoying doing something and is then told that she has to do something else or go somewhere. Last week she had a big bump on her head. She had been taken to the library in Knowle on a nursery trip and had thrown her head back and banged it on a book case when they told her that she had to leave the library. I am glad that she is passionate about things and gets so involved with what she is doing. We are still trying to teach her to be patient and understanding when things have to change.

Out N About With Dad

 Eve enjoying soft play at http://www.playspace.co.uk/

When Eve was smaller Sam used to take her to the park during the two mornings a week that they spend together. However, now that she's older and loving nursery he's been taking her further afield to fulfil her playtime fun. Trying to keep her occupied at home can be quite a lot of work these days.

This week he took her to Playspace in St. Phillips. By the look of the photos she absolutely loved it!

Playspace

Also this week, the other morning that they spend together, Sam and Eve met up with Ocky and Arthur at the Hungry Caterpillar Play Cafe in Bedminster. I've never been but have heard a lot about it. They look like they had a great time playing together.

http://hungrycaterpillarbristol.co.uk/

Unfortunately, now that the schools have closed for the summer holidays, the little playgroup in the Baptist church by our house isn't open. However, here is a photo of Eve enjoying doing Fuzzy Felt last week, on the last day of term.

Fuzzy Felt Fun

Even though they do so many activities in the morning, Eve and Dad still manage a quick walk to the park before heading to nursery in the afternoon too.

Very happy with the sticker from Playspace

My girl looks so grown up now. I love seeing her learning, changing and developing each day; but a little part of me misses the days when I would sit with her lying on my chest for hours at home. Funny, at the time I felt terribly bored and 'chained to the sofa'. I now look back on it with fond memories. How times change.

Grannoo - Nanoo

Eve and Granny T

We didn't do a lot this weekend. Sam and I were both feeling pretty zonked out and spent the majority of the weekend at home with Eve.

I had Friday off; and spent the day with my sister Claire. We wandered about Bristol Harbour Festival and had lunch and drinks together. She's gone to Greece on a family holiday today for two weeks, so it was good to spend some time with her before she left.

Yesterday morning my mum arrived with a car load of clothes for Eve, passed along from my brother Jon, who lives in Kent. His little girl Lottie starts school in September, and they are in the process of moving house to Cornwall. Amongst the goodies were some really nice shoes and winter boots that had barely been worn. Eve is going to be kitted out well this winter that's for sure - there are so many coats I can't quite believe it. Hand-me-downs are the best!

After going through the clothes my mum and I took Eve to the park. She had a lovely time there. It's so much easier leaving the park now that she can walk out the gate, and not be put into the pram crying. She loves the park so much, she never wants to leave - and who can blame her?

On Saturday evening as we were getting ready for bed, I told Eve that Granny T was coming the next day. She then said 'Granoo-Nanoo!' We thought it was quite amusing. 

The other night when I was getting her changed after her bath, she said to me, 'bed now?" She communicates so well and it amazes me every time she says something new. 

Game of Thrones figures

Yesterday she wanted to play with our Game Of Thrones collectible figures, and pointed at them and said 'people' so that I could pass them to her. I left for work early this morning and I didn't get to see Eve as she slept in until about 8am (it's alright for some eh). Sam told me that when she woke up she said to him, 'where's mummy?' Heart warming stuff.

Corsley House

After a good nights sleep, I prepped everything and packed up the car on Saturday morning for our trip to Corsley House near Warminster.

The drive was lovely, one of the nicest drives we've taken for a while; no motor ways, not much traffic, just meandering down small roads through the luscious English countryside.

Randomly Sam and I had been researching Staddle stones (used to prop up the grain store in this picture) a few days prior to our trip. You find them all over the place in the countryside, but we couldn't work out what they were actually meant for. Here we can see them as they are supposed to be used.

We arrived in the mid afternoon, with glorious weather. It was really quite hot at times. Eve enjoyed exploring the grounds. After hours of playing in the gardens she went to bed very easily. Bath time was slightly difficult. She still seems a bit scared of the bath since our attempt to put her in the shower during our Wales trip. 

I was so glad that she went to bed without any fuss. We were really lucky, our hosts had given us two adjoining rooms with an ensuite bathroom. This made it super easy and I didn't have to worry about anything.

Sam had been asked to DJ for Olivia's brother, Rory's 21st birthday. The whole family were in full swing setting up the party when we arrived. It was such a beautiful setting for a party; they cooked all the food, set up a bar, and put up Tipi's for the revellers to sleep in.

It was quite tiring running after Eve, but it was a delightful way to spend the afternoon.

Eve absolutely adored climbing onto this chair. It's the first time I've seen a photo of her where she looks like me when I was a little girl.

Getting ready for the evenings events, once Eve was in bed was lovely. It felt so nice being able to get ready slowly and put on make up. Sam was already hard at work outside with the music; he did a great job as always and everyone had a great time.

I adored the lavender which lined many of the hedges and walls around the garden.

Playing with the gravel

I had borrowed a baby monitor, which we set up (we haven't used one at home for ages), just for peace of mind. But, the distance was too far so it wouldn't work. Thankfully we ended up not really needing to use it which was great.

Catching up with our dear friends Beagle and Olivia was great, we hadn't seen them for a while. Seeing them both so happy was heart-warming.

I went to bed at a reasonable time of midnight, after a tasty meal and good chats with new-found friends. The food was so good, and we were treated to a fantastic firework display too. Such a great weekend - Big thanks to our wonderful hosts, the Compton Family!!

A Pilgrimage to Saundersfoot

 Saundersfoot Beach, Pembrokeshire, Wales

The week seems to have flown by, as it now tends to do. I thought about writing this each day but the hours just slip away from me.

Sunday was a rather exhausting day; as Eve and I both worked really hard with potty training. The poor girl has started to get quite upset when she needs to go and holds the front of her nappy and cries. I tried to explain to her not to worry or to be afraid. She seemed happier if I took her nappy off so we'd try the potty, but she would then cry there too.

Eve did so well and I was really proud of her at the days end when she had done two wee's in the potty. However, the amount of times that she was holding on to the front of her nappy started making me worry that she might possibly have cystitis, and I was also worrying about her worrying and 'holding it in'. Oh the trials and tribulations.

Nursery are great and are helping her to use the potty when she is there. I explained to them that she's been getting quite upset about it and that a slow path through potty training is fine. I think that she needs to get a bit more used to it.

It was rather a shame when I woke up on Monday morning at 6am (when we were supposed to be going on holiday) throwing up and generally feeling awful, as I had wanted to carry on with potty training that day. Thankfully Sam managed to get Eve to nursery so that he could look after me at home. 

On Tuesday morning I was feeling much better so we set off on the drive to Saundersfoot, Pembrokeshire in Wales. Sam's mother's family used to holiday there in the 1950's and 60's, and then Sam and his siblings were taken there for holidays during the 1980's. We thought that we should carry on with the tradition and take Eve. It's something we had been thinking about for years and I'm glad we finally got round to doing it.

Saundersfoot is a lovely coastal village, the beach is wide and flat; great for keeping an eye on children, and the sand is the perfect kind for building sandcastles.

The highlight of our short trip was during a late lunch in the fish and chip shop - it had to be done, seeing that we were by the sea and all. Sam and I clinked our bottles together and said, 'Cheers'. Eve quickly followed suit, picked up her sippy cup and began 'cheersing' us. It was so cute and made us both laugh.

We stayed in a wooden lodge in a holiday park on the outskirts of the village. We walked down a steep bridal path to get to the beach which was interesting with the buggy, so we got a taxi for the return trip. It took an extra hour to get Eve to go to sleep in a 'strange' bedroom that evening, so we were both exhausted when we finally sat down on the sofa. Funnily enough, Eve slept all night, and we got up in the morning about half an hour before her!

Rose Lodge - Morton Farm Leisure Park, Saundersfoot

Weeeeeeeeeeee!

 Eve making a beach in a jar, at playgroup in Totterdown Baptist Church

A few nights ago when we arrived home from nursery, I played with Eve and sat with her reading a book whilst she was on the potty. To my delight she did a wee in it! A parent or carer would understand how thrilled I was. To say the least I was over-joyed, non parents may think me mad. We've had quite a few accidents, which still carry on, but this sense of achievement on both our parts gave me hope that it is coming together, slowly but surely.

I know that she understands about the potty, it's trying to get her to use it without making her annoyed which is the test. I'm looking forward to the weekend when she can be bare for longer, and we can work on it a bit more. I must say that it's not as bad as I thought (however we've only been attempting it at home, I'm sure going out and about will make me more nervous), cleaning up number one's and two's is no longer such a big deal. Before I had a baby I would have run a mile.

Daddy and Eve at playgroup

Eve had a fun morning with Daddy mid-week. He took her to the playgroup which is in the baptist church near to our house. I loved seeing the photos, the activities look fab. I never got round to taking her there when we first moved here, because the time of the playgroup coincided with her morning nap. She's been on one nap per day for quite a few months now, and can stay up for much longer.

Filling her beach in a jar

Eve loves diving into the ball pool

Driving a toy car

The structure of the playgroup event sounded good, they played, then made things, then had a snack and a drink, and then finished off with singing.

Snack time

On Thursday morning I visited the doctors surgery - the nurse there is so kind and funny, we chatted for 20 minutes and she didn't mind how long the appointment lasted - lovely locals, hurrah. I spent the rest of the day with my darling husband Sam. Due to his trip to Greece and us both working hard we thought it would be nice to have a day together - just us.

We've been experiencing a really hot summer; over the last few days we've had the hottest weather in a decade. Typically it was grey with rain on and off for our day together, but we didn't mind as we could walk around without melting, which was a definite bonus.

http://patanegrabristol.com/  - it's the bomb!

We did a tiny bit of shopping, and even stopped in a cool plant shop. They have really interesting plants in there. We came away with a venus fly trap for our kitchen. Oh the things that excite me.

As we haven't been out together for so long we weren't sure which restaurant to head to. We had heard great stuff about Pata Negra on Corn Street, so we figured we'd check it out. They had a deal of £10 for x3 tapas plates for lunch. We chose three each, plus a tortilla and shared the lot. We were recommended Fino sherry to drink with the tapas. We'd never drunk sherry with tapas before; it certainly is a brilliant combo.

We spent a couple of very happy hours there, munching, chatting and drinking sangria. I could have stayed all day, but Sam, very responsibly said we should head home. Thankfully, his idea was a good one, which meant I didn't have a hangover the next day.

I fully recommend visiting Pata Negra if you're ever in Bristol. It's such a cool place; incredible food, sumptuous decor, lovely staff and they played great music. It's the full package. I'm sure most of the peeps of Briz have been many times. It's taken us a while to get there - a year and a half after Eve's birth. The good thing is that we made it there eventually. Happy days.

Lovely times with Granny T

As Sam went off to Greece on Friday, my Mum arrived on Saturday morning to stay for a couple of days.

We hadn't seen Granny T for a few months, so it was really nice for her to get to know Eve properly, now that she's that much older and is talking lots.

My mum was such a great help, she played with Eve and looked after her so that I could transfer my tomato plants into the front garden and have a general gardening session. A couple of hours gardening was so good, real therapy for the soul!

We set Eve up with a magic painting book for the first time and she absolutely loved it.

Granny passed on a little round table that she no longer needed. It is the perfect size for Eve. We moved around some furniture in our lounge, so that now Eve has a great art station. The table has already been drawn all over, but hey ho, I'm sure that will turn into an art piece in itself.

Hard at work on some creations

After a good lunch, we headed out to the park. Eve has eaten really well this weekend, even though she had a sore stomach on Friday and Saturday. She's a real trooper with her teeth now.

When we woke up on Sunday morning Eve loved having her hair brushed by Granny T. My Mum's Mum said that you should brush your hair fifty strokes a day! It's not often that I remember to do this, though it makes you feel good if you do. Sam is usually the one who brushes Eve's hair. I mainly do it after her bath in the evening.

Eve's hair is so long and curly now. I'm so thankful for my little Goldilocks.

I cleaned Sam's studio whilst it rained outside and Eve and Granny played downstairs on Sunday. It was nice to spend both days pottering about at home with Eve and my mum.

Eve slept till 5.30am on both nights that my mum was here, and is generally sleeping through the nights consistently at the moment. It was my mum that didn't sleep well on Sunday evening, so she headed back home to Cornwall a day early, on Monday morning. It was a beautiful day so after some cleaning at home I wandered over to my sister's house in Bedminster. It was so nice sauntering through the park, rather than my usual rush of half walking-half running.

Colourful Poppies and houses in beautiful Bristol

Walking through Victoria Park

We had a yummy quinoa mackarel salad in my sister's garden with Jago, which was simply divine. Having a day off in the sunshine with loved ones can't be beat. I miss my dear Eve so much when we're apart so it's always nice to see her cousin Jago in her place. Eve was at nursery, and I didn't want to change plans that had already been made. She had a great day by the sounds of it, having fun in the water with her little friends.

http://www.northststandard.co.uk/

My sister Claire and I enjoyed a nice 2/3 pint of Chimay (Belgian, made by Monks apparently) whilst Jago slept in his pram. The North Street Standard is cool. I'd heard about it and was pleased that it is as good as I'd heard. Chimay is a really nice wheat beer. We also tried the Frontier craft lager which was incredible, and definitely the nicest lager I've tasted in a long, long time.

The North St Standard is a minimal, industrial type of bar but it really works, they've done it well. The barmen were chatty and informative.

When I collected Eve from nursery yesterday afternoon her friend Euan came over to me and gave me her Tommy Tippee cup which was sweet.

When we got home I was opening her tub of pens as she wanted to do some drawings. She picked out the biro, and clearly said 'biro.' This morning whilst she was being looked after by my sister, she said 'Jago' for the first time. Eve can differentiate between strawberries and raspberries, and will shortly say blueberry too I should think.

We had a few accidents on the floor last night before her bath. I leave her without her nappy on to try to get her to use the potty when she gets home from nursery. I think she is beginning to understand because this morning she dragged her potty into the kitchen, then sat down on it and made a 'psssssss' sound. It was a shame that I was dashing out the door to work and couldn't work on the potty training with her a bit more, but we'll get back to it this evening. 

Daddy AKA DJ Frenic smashing it in Greece this weekend

Daddy arrives home this afternoon and we simply cannot wait to see him. Even though it's only been a few days, Eve has made some big developments. I'm sure he'll be thrilled to carry on with the potty training tomorrow morning ;-)