The Whys and Wherefores

Eve is such a funny little thing and has already started asking the big, why? questions. She's been waking up a bit earlier than usual, at about 5.45/6am. Nicely, started coinciding with the change of seasons so that it is still dark at that time - not so great for Mummy. She sits on my knee on the rocking chair in her room whilst she has a drink of water and we both wake up a bit. I always say to her, 'shush, Daddy's in bed.' Yesterday morning she began to ask why.

At the weekend I gave her a Peppa Pig plastic beaker, so that she could attempt to drink out of it. I picked up from a charity shop for 49p last week, put it through the dish washer and it's as good as new. It doesn't have a spout, it's just a regular cup.

When we were over at Dan and Ocky's the other weekend, Arthur was showing us his skills with the beaker, Eve barely touched her's at all and just looked at it. So when I gave her the Peppa Pig one, I placed it in front of her on her high chair table, not expecting her to pick it up. Of course, she picked it up like greased lightning - and chucked the whole cup of cold water all over herself. She burst in to tears, and looked like she thought Mummy was playing some kind of mean trick on her. Oh dear! 

Since then she has not gone near the cup, but we shall persevere. I'm sure she'll get the hang of it soon. Whilst she was crying, Daddy was comforting her and I was telling her that I was sorry. She's certainly learnt the meaning of sorry from that occasion and now says 'sorry' to the nursery girls if she has an accident and doesn't make it to the potty in time.

When I collected her from nursery last night, her key worker Gemma was very excited and told me how during lunch time, Eve had asked to go to the potty, and had then gone straight over to do a wee. Eve also did a wee in the potty at bath time last night. She became a bit agitated but settled down to the matter at hand, whilst we looked at pictures of owls in a magazine. 

Eve just loves animals, especially monkeys, owls and cats. As we've been getting up earlier than usual we've been watching 'Show me, Show me' on CBeebies together. She likes learning about new animals. Yesterday we watched bats hanging upside down and flying. When Daddy woke up she told him, 'Daddy, bats upside down.'

                                             'Show me, Show me' on CBeebies channel

It's so lovely being able to ask Eve about her day at nursery. Sam asked her what she had done one day, when he saw her in the evening. She told him 'Outside in garden, Essen,' (Essen is one of her friends).

Wellies and Teddy's

Eve having great fun in her new wellies

We've had a superb weekend; great weather, lot of pottering about at home, play time with Eve and generally relaxing. 

On Saturday morning Eve and I headed out toward my sister's house in Southville bright and early. We stopped by the Royal Mail depot to collect a parcel, which turned out to be a lovely pair of wellies. Our dear friends Jake, Helen and Isla have passed them on to Eve, as they no longer fit Isla. It's brilliant that they've handed them on to Eve because I was having trouble finding a small size online.

Eve is absolutely thrilled with them. Even though it didn't rain this weekend she wore them to the park regardless, and had a great time plodding about. They are a bit big for her, but a thick pair of socks does the job. I think these will last her throughout this winter.

Cousins, Jago and Eve

We shared a lovely morning at my sister's house. Some old friends of my mum were visiting from New Zealand, so we had arranged to meet them at Claire's house. We knew them when we were small living in Cornwall. Nick and Viv's daughter Clare is a year or two older than me, so we all played together when we were young. Their family moved to New Zealand ten years ago and it was the first I had seen of them in over 20 years, so it was good to catch up.

Eve enjoying the swings in Greville Park, Southville

After lunch Eve and I stopped by the park on our way home. The swings there are really high so Eve was getting some serious air. It was great fun.

Last week I picked up the cute little teddy bear in the photo above from a charity shop by my work. He was handmade in Afghanistan. I try to collect dolls and bears for Eve that are from different parts of the world, so that we can talk about different cultures, and most importantly let her know that people are the same regardless of race, creed or colour. 'Bear' turned out to be a good buy as Eve just loves cuddling him. 

                               Playing in the park near our house early on Sunday morning

On Sunday morning we ventured out quite early to the park, and then on to a little street market by our house on Wells Road. It was the first time this market has been put on and by all accounts it was a great success, mainly because the weather was wonderful. We love the area where we live, it has such a good community spirit. 

www.facebook.com/Bs4market

Daddy went to play basketball yesterday afternoon with some friends. Eve and I had a lovely time together at home. She sat on my lap and watched the first half of 'Up'. I wanted her to stay in the lounge so that we were close to the potty. She loved the balloons in the movie. When the house took off she said, 'Balloons, sky, oh no!' which made me laugh.

She did a wee in the potty after about an hour of watching 'Up' and looking through books. I then put a nappy on her so that she could go and have fun outside in the garden whilst I made her dinner. She's doing so well with potty training and has wee'd in the potty on three consecutive days. 

Totterdown Baptist Church Playgroup

Little Lamorna and Eve were taken to playgroup on Wednesday morning by their doting Dads. Now that term has started, play group has re-opened.

It looks like they had a great time. Eve went flying backwards off the see-saw but didn't bat an eye lid. They have a see-saw like this in the garden at nursery and she absolutely adores it.

Yesterday when we collected her from nursery she was cruising about on a little trike. It's funny how difficult it was for her to get on and off things like this before, but now she's taking it all in her stride.

Joe and Lamorna playing with a Minnie Mouse headband, with Eve in the ball pool

I never get tired of watching this little clip of Eve going down the slide.

We feel so lucky to have the playgroup at the end of our road. I'm sure that Eve is going to have a lot of fun there this winter.

Story time

Daddy and Eve

Eve is such a big girl now and loves rocking the bunches look. She's has to be in the right mood to let one of us do her hair - usually Daddy.

Sam bought Eve a WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) monkey at the airport in Athens the last time he was there. He said it was quite pricey but the money spent on it went to care for the protection of animals. It turned out to be money well spent as Eve absolutely adores her soft toy money and takes him to bed quite often.

Daddy plays a game to find the monkey, and she goes wild when she finally discovers him hiding somewhere in the sofa.

Enjoying a bit of painting

With the start of September we've seen condensation building up inside our windows at home, showing that autumn is now here, with winter not far behind. Sam took Eve to the park yesterday. They had fun but got quite wet in the dewy morning grass. My mission this weekend is to look through lots of clothes in the cupboard and pull out all the wet weather/winter gear. I've been searching online for a pair of wellies small enough for Eve, but haven't found them yet.

Eve walking through Victoria Park

Windmill Hill City Farm

As the park was so wet, Sam took Eve to the farm as well. She loved seeing the chickens and rabbits. She has been saying both of these words really well for quite some time now, as she has Duplo toys of both which she likes to play with at home.

This was Sam's last Tuesday morning with Eve. From next week she'll be at nursery four and a half days a week. Sam's finally received a full time contract with his college so he'll only be looking after Eve on Wednesday mornings for the next academic year. I'm so proud of him. He's worked so hard teaching over the past ten years. He stuck it out through some very tough times with City of Bristol College, and never gave up. He loves working at dBs Music in Bristol, and we both have high hopes for their new partnership with Cornwall College.

Playing with stones at the farm

Relaxing Bank Holiday with the Fam

 Walking back from the park together, on a rainy Sunday morning

A thoroughly long and very much needed bank holiday weekend has been and gone. I had booked Thursday and Friday off work as we were going to visit family near Salisbury. Unfortunately Sam was called into college for a big meeting on Thursday, so we had to call our trip off. This was a real shame as we had been looking forward to seeing some of the Pelly family. However, as Eve was at nursery that day and Daddy was at work I had the most relaxing day I've had for a long time. I had a leisurely breakfast, a bath, did some meditation, watched a movie and did a spot of housework and gardening. A bit of time for yourself as a mother is often hard to find, and I relished this opportunity for some quiet time. I now feel fresh and positive, moving into the next chapter - the autumn.

Eve wearing a lovely cardigan, a present from Aunty Claire

The weather wasn't particular great for our long weekend, so we stayed at home for the majority of it. We took Eve to the park in the rain one morning. Sometimes you can't let the rain stop your plans.

Thankfully I had anticipated a rainy weekend at home, and had bought Eve a little Play dough tool set. She absolutely loved pushing the cutters into the dough. She cut out the shape of a little man and gave him a kiss, it was very cute. She is learning new words at a rapid pace, and continues to repeat words that we say to her.

When we collected her from nursery on Friday afternoon, she hadn't eaten much all day and her nappies had not been good. I figured the ol' teeth were back on the attack and gave her some medicine when we arrived home. We've had four or five months respite from the dreaded teething pain which has been amazing, as it has meant that it hasn't interrupted her sleep or eating patterns. She was a bit grumbly this weekend due to the pain with her teeth, but it didn't affect her sleep. On Sunday morning she woke up at 8.50am, we could hardly believe it, but we were so thankful. Our longest Sunday lie in for years! The teeth pain did affect her eating and nearly everything we cooked she would not eat. Eve pretty much lived off cereal, Philadelphia sandwiches and yogurts this weekend. Thankfully by last night she was back to eating pasta which was a real relief.

We've been continuing with potty training throughout August. This weekend saw a forward move with the process. Eve Talks about and tells us she needs to use the potty more frequently now.

I have been taking the potty into the bathroom with us to use before her evening bath for about a week or so. I have been persevering each night, getting her to drink lots whilst she sits there, even though nothing was happening. She sits facing me on the potty and we look through magazines together. On Sunday night I sat there with her for an hour, hoping for a positive outcome. She drank a bottle of water but nothing happened. I eventually gave up and put her in the bath.

(Sorry for this potty photo, Eve!)

Last night after drinking lots of water with Daddy downstairs, Eve did a big wee in the potty in the bathroom before her bath. The difference was that she did it with ease, by herself, without any tears or worries. Sam and I were both ecstatic. This made me feel that the hour I thought I had wasted the night before was actually put to good use. 

Eve is formulating lots of sentences. She says 'Morning Daddy, alright?,' and also now says 'orange' (one of the last primary colours for her to master), though I think she still sees the colour red. During her bath last night she said 'Ready, 1,2, 3' as I prepared to squirt water out of her toy dragon. She makes the sounds for counting up to ten but doesn't quite get all the words right. She likes to count along with me as we prepare to jump off the armchair on our make shift indoor sofa slide.

Arthur and Eve

Yesterday for Bank Holiday Monday (after cooking Shepherd's pie for 2 hours; which Eve didn't eat) we went over to see Dan, Ocky and Arthur. We hadn't seen them for quite a while so it was really nice to have a catch up and play with the kids.

Dan made fresh fruit smoothies for Arthur and Eve. Arthur is such a pro at drinking out of a beaker. Beakers are now on my shopping list. Eve hasn't mastered a straw yet, but she enjoyed playing with it.

Sam and Eve, Ocky, Dan and Arthur

The Higginson's have such a beautiful home and it's always such a pleasure to go and chill out with them. They've built Arthur a little wooden fort in their garden, so the kids enjoyed tramping about outside. Ocky has up-cycled a little kitchen set for Arthur too. Sam and I were really impressed with it. Eve loved playing with the pots and pans.

Juggling fun with Dan and Daddy

Shapes and Berries

Blackberry attack!

Saturday was really quite hot, 26 degrees. After lunch Sam and I took Eve for a short walk in the cemetery. Eve fell asleep whilst we picked blackberries. Unfortunately we were a bit late and most of them had been picked already, but it was fun none the less. Eve had a great time squashing them to smithereens as you can see in the photo above. Saturday was basically a mother's dream. My tomato plants really appreciated the sun, as did two lots of washing that were dried before the storms came on Saturday evening. It’s been raining pretty much ever since.

Looking at books whilst it rained outside

On Sunday morning Eve drew a circle and a triangle for the first time. She’s been saying the words circle, triangle and square for a couple of weeks. My friend Jilly is the head teacher of a primary school in Bristol, and said that being able to draw a circle (naturally anti clockwise) helps with the base for writing. I found out that I’ve been drawing circles the wrong way round all my life (clockwise) - this accounts for things it seems. I was slow with reading and writing as a child, and was quite shy. I remember clearly hating being asked to read aloud in primary school, it was simply torturous. My mum was great, and made sure that even though I was slow at reading I developed a passion for it, which remains to this day.

Eve loves singing the alphabet song and is mastering the word Kangaroo at the moment. Each morning she sits with me for a bit at the kitchen table and sings along with children's songs on Youtube. 

Development and Play

Eve amazes us daily with the things that she says and does. She loves books. On Sunday she was pointing at the shelf for Daddy to pick her out a couple of books. Sam and I were both pleased that the books she thought looked interesting were about Graffiti, and Art in the 20th Century.

Just relaxing, checking out a bit of art history

Victoria Park Playground

Eve is getting much more confident with apparatus in the playground. Yesterday Daddy took her to Victoria Park. She went up the steps on this fun looking thing and down the slide by herself multiple times. She was having great fun until she slipped on a step half way and and landed on her face on the ground below. The poor girl has a cut and bruise on her chin, but was apparently quite brave. She often has bumps dotted about on her body - I guess this is the time for experimentation, trips and falls.

Eve still adores playing with her baby doll and pram

The girl looks like she has a pretty good stance here, playing the Saxophone.

Yesterday I met my dear friend Jilly at the Lido in Clifton. We both used to be members but had to give up our memberships when our little ones came along. Sam and I both miss swimming at the Lido. It was so good to de-stress there after a hectic day at work. Jumping into the cool water is so invigorating.

Jilly and I hadn't seen each other for a couple of months. We both lead busy lives as full time working mums. We thought it would be good to have a few hours to spend together at the Lido to catch up and chill out. The weather was great. We had a lovely time in the steam room, sauna and hot tub and swam a few lengths, but just generally bobbed about with other women, who were doing the same as us. We all seemed to be chatting about babies, children and pregnancy!

Me and Jilly

Jilly's boyfriend Joe picked us up and kindly dropped me at home. We chatted in Sam's studio for a bit; it was so lovely to see their little girl Lamorna playing with the musical instruments.

Jilly with her little girl, Lamorna (7 months old)

Little Lamorna is such a cutie pie