Category Archives: science

The pressure is on

Posted on November 9, 2005 by | 9 comments

i’ve got to try and blog in the time it takes SB and BB to have their bath – 5 or 10 mins probably!! i’m going out to night, so dressed up, and having a nice meal.

BB a disaster last night, and thought I’d managed a lie in when I got up – 8:30!! Oh well.

Spontaneous learning pre breakfast when SB brought out some getty and dubay to do. practised the V mainly. I would help if she didn’t go off in the wrong direction to start with. We drew as many v things as we could think of. Moved on to drawing and then colouring in the Pudsey bear for nursery. She did a really good drawing – so will flickr it [surprise]. She also wrote her name nicely on the bottom, and then had a dicky fit that her middle name didn’t fit, so turned over the paper and wrote her first 2 names – mirror writing! Even with taking a picture of them both, she just couldn’t see that they were any different. hmm.

After breakfast she watched a Hoobs video, and we did a lot of playing with BB. BB is enjoying trying out the shape sorter – unfortunately the technique of ramming with as much force as possible in nearest hole is not particularly successful, but she was happy with the ‘if you don’t succeed, stuff it through the door at the side’!

While BB was supposed sleeping, Chris and SB made the Xmas cake [and its still cooking!] BB woke up fairly instantly, and squiggled about in the pantry. [SB is down from the bath, naked and soaking- 8 minutes]

I went outside to take some sunny pictures – mainly of pond reflections and fish, and was soon joined by both SB and BB. SB dancing around being a pond fairy, and BB catching up with Josie in the ‘I can now throw myself in’ stakes [she didn't]. SB and I discussed pond reflections, mirrors etc, and what happened when the fish popped up – which the fish did a fair bit as SB threw in about 2 weeks worth of food. So we went back in and had lunch.

More playing with both SB and BB – side by side, as SB didn’t want BB to actually play with her as she was in a convoluted imagination game with elephant finger puppet cat and eagle. BB and I played hammering and beads mostly, and a fair bit of Ta. BB fell asleep, and I read a number of story books to SB, and she read outloud 2 spot books – with assistance on the longer words. We also read the first people by Usborne. Otherwise for maths we have talked about shapes and patterning, and done some counting and finger adding and taking away.

Whilst I cooked tea – nothing exciting, just pasta – SB wrote a letter to Nanny and drew a boat – a normal one on one side, and then turned over to draw an egyption one. It did look a bit like a felucca too. We played memory cards and my bastardised happy families rummy. BB was generally jolly and babbled and fiddled about.

SB now making patterns with the connect 4. Time to feed BB and then go!

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A wooing we shall go.

Posted on November 9, 2005 by | 9 comments

Well Stringbean anyway, though of course Butterbean does her ‘Smiley chuckle-y baby’ thing to anyone who looks at her for more than a few microseconds :-) On Monday it was the lady in the farm shop, yesterday it was various people – the ‘library ladies’, the lady in the dance shop, in Woolies, in the cafe, in Waitrose…… I think its’ the confident way that she starts up chatting to people, and telling them something in that ‘well it’s important to me so you must be interested’ kind of 4 year old way, and she si always really polite whenever she asks for anything when we are out and about.

So the lady in the dance shop was regaled with tales as soon as we walked in about how Daddy (? !) lost her ballet sock, bemoaning how she had got cold legs in the wind to the assistant in Mackays when we went in to buy some emergency tights, the checkout girl in Superdrug got run down on BB’s teeth as we got toothbrush for her in there. The woman in Wololies got all sorts of things, mostly about her new wellies and how they matched her umbrella, how she wanted a ‘Princess dress’ she saw the various dressing up dresses and has always coveted the Patch of Puddles gilrs for theirs :-). In the cafe she really politly asked for a cake and glass of milk, as well as regaling them with tales of new wellies, toothbrushes, SB being asleep ( ‘ she likes to wake up at night’…)

Ah well it makes out and abouting entertaining.

So what else happened in the last couple of days. Mornings at the moment seem to start for SB with a bit of Cindy/Barbie and dolls house playing, really is into hat at the moment. Need to relocate the Cindy box somewhere else in the room as it is near the door and the entrance just gets littered with Cindy bits. Looked at couple of her science books and made a ‘tin can telephone’, talkeda bit about how the sound travels from one to the other. She had the idea that the sound would travel down the middle of the sting like pipe, but said that wouldn’t work as there was no hole. So we played about a bit and talked about sounds being made / transmitted by vibrations. Sat a read a few of the Usborne Farmyard Tales books, where she made a good stab at quite a few of the words. She doesn’t seem that bothered heself about reading stuff, but if you ask her to do bit she normally likes to have a go. She seems to be in that ‘on the cusp’ of it point at the moment. Did some easy stuff and some writing in one of her workbooky things

After lunch we made a trip out to a local ‘Farm shop’. It’s not really a farm shop – it’s located at local plant nursery. The greenbrocers in the village shut earlier in the summer and then this place opened -possibly in response – they seem to have aqquired the old till from the GG. So far seem ok, I did get some dodgy chestnuts from there last week so she knocked a bit of the bill yesterday.

So we hit the road in the ‘Bean mobile’ – the tandem with trailer attached for BB out the village one way for the Fruit stall at the orchard, where they have good variety of apples, quite a few old ones, that you don’t see often and if you do tend to be expensive, then back through the village to the aforsaid farm shop. Where SB chatted to the lady about BB, insisted we buy things like parsnips and green apples (made a change from today when she kept on about sweets at every turn) and generally did the charming thing. Cycled back home, a tad cold by then, but just enough pedalling to blow out the cobwebs, and SB absolutley loves going out on the tandem.

Home for tea, warming up, a few books and then SB hit the CBeebies website until Helen came back from work (and a rather horrible ‘quick’ visit to Tescos on the way home)

Helen made a nice Beetroot Rissoto for tea (she had it in a restaurant once), SB turned nose up at first, but then ate it all once she was fed it :rolls:

Tuesday

‘Library day’, which somehow, after we have breakfasted, dressed, located all the books, faffed about etc. always seems to take up the morning until it’s time to go out. SB did the aforesaid wooing, listened to story time (much the biggest there now as all the others her age are now in school). BB sat and watched/listened for quite a bit as well, had to be prised, along with couple of other girls from the sticking and colouring afterwards :-)

Home, BB to nap, reading library books with SB, lunch out for the above shopping and wooing which took up the rest of the day. Noticed that SB can spend ages looking at books etc. by herself, I do wonder if she is trying to read some of the words to herself? but probably not :-) Had mean to make the Christmas cake but didn’t get round to it. It takes about 4 hours to cook so one for the morning I think.

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Posted in art and crafts, Books, Butterbean, literacy, Out and About, science, socialisation, Stringbean, writing

The Church Bells Ring

Posted on November 6, 2005 by | 1 comment

and its time to get up. i think I am going to stop being vaguely hopeful about BB’s sleep, as whenever I do, she turns back to snack monster!! Anyway, with the 10am peals calling to the faithful, I rejoined the world. SB had been playing nicely with her barbies and my sindys.

We did manage to go swimming, and had a good splash around. SB very confident at swimming a width, and now keeps her legs up more, so just looks like she has a doggy paddle stroke rather than always on the cusp of drowning! We practised various ways of swming together – so now if we have to plunge off a boat, we can swim to shore together [rofl! - as a trained lifeguard, I don't think I would have planned the stroke we have both decided on - her holding my shoulders and kicking to the side while I do breast stroke] We applied for swimming lessons. BB doesn’t float any more – a reduction in her natural buoyancy since she has become more active. She loves the water though, and enjoys kicking and is fearless and unfazed on going under.

After lunch we did some DK science explorer – taking further the discussions we had had on electricity while getting changed at the swimming pool, and any other bit that took her fancy. She wants to make electricity. Hmmm, may start with a brainbox thing and do circuits.

We read some books – usbourne time traveller castles, and the first quarter of the London through the ages – but this degenerated somewhat into a game with me being her cat – no, i don’t know quite how, but we played cat and owner for a while! With BB waking up, SB did some Hama while me and BB played, and then came and joined us. BB rolling a ball to and from, and doing some hammering. Also a game she finds hysterical of standing on her own and then leaning forward until she falls over into my arms!

SB read 2 letterland books to me, and I read her a barefoot book on dun and ice in return. We planned what sweets we should make for Christmas, did a lot more role playing with her being the cat, and finally both to bed – a bit earlier than normal at 7.30, as Chris and I both tired, and SB whinging about trivia, so we decided she must be tired too.

Ooh, and Dad has offered to help paint SB’s room, and Chris’s dad the bathroom. SO thats good!

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Posted in art and crafts, Butterbean, General, geography, history, literacy, photos, SB-PE, science, Stringbean's HE

Did some of the things!

Posted on November 5, 2005 by | 2 comments

We actually had a nearly decent night sleep – wonders will never cease! BB not so fidgetty, though I can’t actually do a feed count, as all nights merge into one!

SB went to Stagecoach this am, for lets go and fly a kite and chim chimeny. She now agrees it is about sweeps not sweets as they had a sweep prop!! [And we had been discussing sweeping chimneys with our fire - including the fact that children used to have to do it, but not that the boys got testicular cancer and died].

Whilst she was engaged, BB and I had fun. we played peekaboo, chair climbing and stair climbing practice. Standing practice and Ta games. Cuddling, tickling and lots of giggling. I do like this age! BB good at standing unaided, and several times took one tentative step as well.

I did then start the grape and lemon jam [which i have done on and off all day]. The recipe calls for seedless grapes, but our victorian vine is obviously seeded, so I spent ages deseeding 2kg of grapes. SB did not help, as said it was too messy [??!!??], but she did measure out the sugar in cups and do the stirring.

In the afternoon, we planted about 1/4 of the bulbs together, and played a very prolonged game of mummies and babies – I was the little girl of 13, and she was my 15 yr mother! She very sweetly called me darling all afternoon, which I rather liked. Looking at the veg beds [in desperate need of attention!] some of the Runner bean pods were big and dried enough to pick and shell. The plan is to save seed for next year. We imagined we were jack and the beanstalk though, so buried a few! After having a discussion about how they grow, we have repeated the beans and damp kitchen roll experiment.

While I finished off the jam – which actually is a sweet/sour type eastern marmalade really – SB and BB played beautifully together in the pantry – well SB I think might have been keeping her prisoner, but there was no wailing, and SB was being very attentive, so I was encouraging! I realised I had miossed a few seeds, and they came to the top in the initial boil, so next time wont seed at all!

Various neighbours have had fireworks. I really do miss living on the top of a hill in Leeds and seeing the city’s fireworks all around! SB and I were counting the time to the next firework – and she is reliable to 59, so not bad. we did a bit of playing with numbers – adding and subtracting while waiting too. Tea, bath and bed!

Now I am hungry – shall I forage or ask Chris???? Hmmm.

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Posted in Butterbean, Cooking, Dance/drama, gardening, General, history, numeracy, photos, science, Stringbean's HE

Mayhem and Madness

Posted on October 26, 2005 by | 6 comments

Encapsulates my life. I think as a family we are a very good example of chaos theory, and the workings of entropy. however hard we strive for some order, it gets wooshed away.

good news
1.My sister and parents decided the bunks were a good christmas present and bought them [so I see some reasoning for my sister, who will get to sleep on them rather than blow up bed!]
2. Hooking and crooking we are going to halloween party [though I see Alvin shaking his head and sighing at me!]. Haven’t got a costume as such – may go as myself [though only Merry finds that scary, and although I wouldn't want to scare Merry anyway, she won't be there]. thought chris could go as an animal rights chappie, to be the anti-Chris (P) [who I believe is going as himself?] And as for children???

Bad news
1. Pay has dropped
2. Totted up likely cost for christmas for 16 at ours [shriek!] and staying 3-4 days.

Anyway, to the day. BB gave us another totally abysmal night. I was on call as well. In the end Chris took BB to the spare room as I just couldn’t feed her again, and I am supposed to be reasonably alert if called in! SO both of us starting with a small camel to begin with.

SB woke up really early, had me making up stories in bed at 7 – she now has to help with the plot, so getting good at this – , and then up at 8 – no rest for the wicked! So we came downstairs. Now I knew i should have made a list!! Hmmm, well the second thing we did was the maths joining cubes and some singapore 1A on add/takeaway/number bonds. however, we spent far more time just making realtionships between things, thinking about going up and down 0-10 in 2′s. and then doing clumps of 3′s. Preliminary tables really, and some odd and even stuff.

Aha!! first thing was numerous jigsaws!! Then – and how can I forget, we started a papier mache monster head. So that means the maths was the third thing. It was SB’s idea – of course, and I am in TCS mode [or was until desperate need for some quiet!] SHe was very careful tearing up the strips of newspaper and applying to the balloon [flour and water paste], and also helped tidy up. In fact SB has been really considerate all day, and helped with lots of tidying, and not done much grumping or weeping over inconsequential mundanities – really lovely! She is a really gorgeous daughter, and I don’t say it often enough in this blog. Everyone, I have 2 gorgeous daughters.

BB joined us so we had to put away the cubes and jigsaw pieces, so that led to a really good old tidy up. I was going to let Chris have a lie in, but he was downstairs before I had heard BB. breakfast next and getting dressed. SB and I made the first of the days halloween sweets - orange and black coconut ice hmm!!

Then some playing with BB time. She has just got the hang of walking with the walker – though a bit perturbed if it goes too fast! She is such an investigator as well – getting into cupboards, boxes etc. She’s quite good at furniture walking. She chatters and claps, and was having great fun with a pair of toy glasses. I put them on her a few times – immediately whipped off, anf then asked her to put them on – at which point she tried to balance them on her head – very cute! She talks to things as she goes round as well. She also likes posting things in holes, so tidying up suits her! SB also did some playing with BB in a reasonably succesful kind of way. She is also really proud and pleased when BB can do something that Josie can already do!!!!

edited – at this point she also did some drawing and colouring. She has cut out the free archaeolog postcards she got and made a collage – all by herself, finding glue and scissors. She has also had a look at the learn to draw things that go – and done a really good hot air ballon and submarine.

While BB preparing to sleep, SB read some red letterland books to me. She is reading the known stories rather than the words, but I do make her read out some letters and turn them into words. Not too much as sometimes this really annoys her. I then read some of the Usborne farmyard books [she has to sound out/read the title]. i’m mainly trying to show her that guessing the word is sometimes made easier if you sound it out a bit first.

With BB asleep, we did a lot with the marble run. We joined it up in different ways, sometimes steep or curvey or shallow or straight, and guessed how fast the marbles might go, and where they might come off. We had 12 marbles, so 6 each, and SB now good at 6 number bonds, but was easily seeing if we had enough by doing 2 lots of 3, and seeing what was missing or extra. SO more easy maths. Also picked up that the steeper the slope, the faster it went, but curves slowed things down, and curves on a steep slope were more likely to cause the marble to come off – must be science! [oh and we had lunch, and I actually read one of the 3 journals I must read today as getting behind!]

Finally we did the last 2 sweets for halloween – orange flavoured pumpkins and mint flavoured bat droppings and snails – yum! Don’t worry though, we kept our hands and bowls scrupulously clean, as others are going to share in the joy of eating these sweets. Whats more, as Chris looking frazzled, i had a rather good stab at keeping the kitchen tidy.

our next activity totally foiled this – making pumpkin and ginger chutney. What is it about pumpkin seeds – pinging off everywhere! Also so slimy. instant kitchen disaster. We haven’t finished it – SB whizzled the carrots, onions chillis and ginger up, i choopped the pumplkins, and we have added the spice and the vinegar. Chris in trouble, as I had made excess perfumed vinegar for the pickled shallots, so was going to use it, as popped in a jar, but he has thrown it away!! SO mixture of what we have got. CHillies and ginger tend to be predom flavour though. I think today i have earned a prairie muffin award for my kitchen endeavours!

SB now doing some leappad in the kitchen as I said I needed 5 minutes peace, and BB is pootling behind me [with plastic glasses in hand]. Since I have had 30, I had better go and rejoin the family. not many photos as the battery on the camera ran out, and we have lost our alternate rechargeable – a bit of a bugger. I’m sure I will find something to flickr later on – well, if I have time when finished chutney, and potentially thought of a 5 second costume for SB. realised Mum has sewing machine too. bugger! Oh, SB ran in really excited as she has completed one of the phonics books all herself with the games, and CHris [also in kitchen cooking tea] has given her the star for their chart. Very sweet! Back to life, back to reality…………………..

edited to add -OK, so the non-whinge disappeared over dinner, but prob cos she was tired! We then read Ulysses from Usborne’s heros, and for bed the magic faraway tree.

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edit 2 – have done chutney [lovely vinegar aroma!] and journals, but no costume for SB!

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Posted in art and crafts, Blogging, Butterbean, Cooking, General, literacy, numeracy, photos, science, Stringbean, Stringbean's HE

Back to today… edited

Posted on October 17, 2005 by | 3 comments

Early start to the day, as SB really still not well, and both beans were unsettled last night.
We therefore started gently with some DVD’s ‘christmas Nemo – AKA ‘the Gift’ from the alpha – omega bunch [so thats religion then] and kleine hippo. A german TV programme for approx her age [and languages!]. we don’t understand many words, but the cartoon gives you the gist. I played ‘Ta’ games with BB – she’s getting good at handing over, and then waiting to be given back and things this is a great game. sometimes even saying ‘da’. though not convinced that it is language as opposed to copying at this stage.

I had taken in Story of the World and a dot to dot book, that is both numerical and alphabetical. I then read mummification [and thought both of Tammy, and also the crocodile experiment of the yorkshire group] and pyramids. SB keen on visiting Egypt. She was sad though that all Cheops jewels were stolen. She chose to do the alphabetical dot to dots. unfortunately, although she can relate the ABC song on the whole to abc, the fast LMNOP she doesn’t keep up with with her pen, so gets annoyed and lost!!

We were all more perky, and keen to include BB regualrly in SB’s games, we decided to make our brio/tesco/elc hybrid train track. SB likes convoluted patterns, so it is a bit stretching for me as well – as I get the job of finally making it meet. She is rather annoyed that since we have an even number of points, and an engine shed, that that means there will always be a branch line if we use all the pieces. She wants them all to join up [apart from the shed of course] but I’m not allowed to leave out one of the points, so there is always a sulk about the branch line. BB also not so helpful, as rather a puller aparter, but the buildings and one carriage usually please her.

When we had finished it, SB decided to finsih the glass bottle painting, so we have done ever more complicated designs. Whilst she was doing that, I started the Quince Jelly – what a lovely aroma!

We popped back to the trains for a bit, and listened to one of the schools singing radio programmes on native north americans. AHA SB remembered her violin, so we got hers and mine out, rejigged the way she holds it a bit, and did open strings. Not for long, but a good thing to do, as the violin now the right size [1/10]

What else? oh we practiced painting the terracotta pots to see how long they take to dry. SB did 2 – 5 secs each, so not great works of art!! We did have a look at ancient greek terracotta and black pots in the DK book.

She then went outside with Chris and got cold, as she only had a t shirt on and refused a coat.
Edit from Chris – well didn’t complain about the cold when outside :-) it wasn’t actually cold anyway. She helped a bit hoeing some of the weeds on the ‘fruit bed to be’. She was keenly looking at all the stones to see if they are flints as she is keenly taken by the idea that people used them (and ‘it tells us people used to live here ‘ so likes to colect bits of flint. Talked little bit about why people used stones not metal tools, why it is called the Stone Age etc. Convinced that the little bit of glass bottle she found was Roman :-) Pottered around watering some things in the greenhouse with her watering can before heading back indors.

i had a bit more of a play with BB with the trains. The when SB came in, we played a pass the parcel game between the 3 of us saying ta with rattles. Seemed to be enjoyed. Pasta for tea, and SB and I then did a Sudoku puzzle together [today's guardian]. SB has grasped the rules very well, and i usually say – we can now put the 1 in this box [of 9] and she can generally work out where it must go. [is this logic now, since she knows her numbers?]

Anyway, she is supposed to be eating supper, and then another installment of the magic faraway tree. instead she is trying to get me to provve the underworld doesn’t really exist. Blogging may save my sanity, as I think she is far to advanced on comparative religion now for me to keep up. [I have previously been asked to prove evolution and disprove the adam and eve versiosn - aargh] I do firmly believe that the evidence towards evolutionary theory is the strongest hypothesis there is, but i haven’t yet managed to work out how to tell it to a 4 year old so it doesn’t sound far more fanciful that the god created line [no offence to creationists out there, but I'm not one. I do, however, tell SB that some people do believe in creationism].

At last, milk drunk. Bedtime!!!!!!

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Posted in art and crafts, Butterbean, gardening, General, history, language, literacy, music, numeracy, photos, science, Stringbean's HE

Sleep…? how quaint an idea

Posted on October 15, 2005 by | 4 comments

Edit – Ahh, like buses, two blogs have come along at once – my take and Helen’s take below :-) Ah well leave as they are I think

11 pm, SB still awake upstairs – and she’d had bit of late night last night as well. Fell asleep on the way back from the puddlers group and when we got back I just couldn’t get her to wake up. Ah well, means that she was full of energy for when Helen came back from work.

Morning disappeared soon enough, with a trip to Tesco’s, Staples, sorting out an activity for the puddlers group (and then leaving the materials behind…..Grrrr…..), a few house chores. Group was good, as Merry has blogged elsewhere, it’s turning into nice little group (or even not so little), Shame we don’t live little bit nearer when it comes to travelling to it. SB always enjoys it, she spent ages today cutting colouring etc. to make T-Rex stand up model. She took great care in carefully cutting it all out. Taken by Tammy’s comments re recent evidence that some dinosaurs had some sort of feathery covering rather than scales she stuck feathers on it -Fluffy T-Rex any one :-)

She also enjoyed the ‘make a skeleton in the ground thing with bits of pasta’ activity, as well as making, and more importantly, noisly throwing around paper Pterosaur. I’ll get some piccies of them tomorrow, (forgot the camera again, but Merry has some nice ones)

Once home whilst SB snoozed, BB woke up, so me and here played for bit without interupption, she is getting gradually better at standing, and is happier about holding onto things other than people, and almost lost the lopsided crawl she had. Just starting to cruise the furniture a little bit. She had dinner while I had a cuppa, and then Helen came home just as I was starting dinner. Work seems to have been a crap last couple of days, and she is on call all weekend :-( Does have next week off though, and no plans for us to go away anywhere until the weekend)

SB seems to have got into Story of the World, I was looking at it last night and she wanted me to read her a bit, so we did the first chapter, and I heard them reading the next bit about the Ancient Egyptians earlier. She’s been resistant to books with lots of words and not many pictures until now, so maybe we’ve reached another little milestone, she even let Helen read her a bit of the Faraway Tree at bed tiome last night. Might get hold of Winnie the Pooh and try that now, before she get’s too corrupted by Disneys efforts ;-) anyway, been looking at the SOTW Activity book and itching to ahve ago at some of those things – by the time we’ve finished hacking the garden some more should be plenty of long wooden bits and stuff – just right for building a nomads hut . What say you Merry and Tammy – maybe next week?

Chose a little Usbourne Pocket Science book about how cars work or somesuch as her bedtime reading – fascinates me how she loves to sit and listen to this sort of thing, even though some of it must go over her head. didn’t blog it on Tuesday, but we sat and I read her a Ladybird book about Aeroplanes. It was not at all simple stuff, and I didn’t read the text verbatim, but we did look at the diagrams and pictures whilst I talked about Aeroplanes, the shape of wings, lift and other forces on the plane, different types of engines, controls etc.

SB bedtime update 00.22 – still awake……….. Time for our bedtime though

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Posted in art and crafts, Books, Butterbean, history, Out and About, science, socialisation, Stringbean, Stringbean's HE

fridays child is …

Posted on October 14, 2005 by | 2 comments

…finding work hard.I’ve had a bad 2 days really. Feeling trammelled by forseeable work constraints, and not sure how to resolve any of these issues without having to move at some point – sigh. feel I have therefore made a crap choice for my family, as we are all settling here really nicely. hmm. Also been in terms of actual work a difficult 2 days. sigh. Also working this weekend. groan!!

Some things OK though – although been home very late at night, the girls have been up and enthusiastic. And tonight that has been really valuable for me, as I came home feeling hopeless and uncomfortably dejected, but just doing normal things with them has enabled me to relax.

SB very taken by the story of the world. Chris started reading it last night, and she asked me to read some more tonight. We are discussing writing – she actually seems to remember a lot – where the nile is, flooding and farming, and egypt, pharoahs, heiroglyphics etc. Anyway, we discussed the sumerian cuneiform writing, and she would like to do some. must but some clay, but playdough to start with! She also laughed at the hippopotamus being a water horse. these books are written nicely aren’t they.

We also read the usborne pocket science books what is the earth made of without prompting she named all the planets and that they were in the solar system. she even told me why we could only live on earth. not bad really. Each time we read the books, she picks up a little bit more, and asks a few more questions. The other one was how do cars work and she was quite taken with the idea of how the pistons worked, and naming car parts.

At bedtime I read a few more chapters of the faraway tree. She has finally decided she doesn’t need pictures for a read aloud as long as she likes the story. She’s still not really aleep though and keeps coming downstairs.

this is mainly as she fell asleep after the puddlers group. They did dinosaurs, and I’ve seen her t rex, pteranodon and muddy dinousar pasta bones!!

BB’s black eye is improving. She is starting to walk more around furniture – oh help!

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Posted in art and crafts, Books, General, history, science, socialisation, Stringbean's HE

today part one

Posted on October 9, 2005 by | Leave a comment

well, I am going to swindon this eve, so won’t blog, so thought I should do it in stages!

Today I had a lie in due to BB being an execrable sleeper and feedaholic. Whilst doing that, it seems that SB and Chris read through all the red and yellow letterland books. I really dislike the letterland books actually. I think it would have suited me best, once we had done letter sounds and common sh and th things to go onto see and read rather than phonics. this is what we seem to be doing now, though using letter sounds to work out words. Hmm!!

When I got downstairs, SB was ready for another Hama session. today we finished off the flower, and then concentrated on glow in the dark sun, moon, jupiter and stars. i did the glow in the dark bit, and SB then filled in with whatever pattern she wanted. My glow in the dark bit for the sun and moon was as directed by her. The moon is quite cool actually, as in the day, it will appear a full moon, but at night, only a crescent is glow in the dark. This has essentially taken all morning. While doing this, we read the ‘I wonder why stars twinkle…’ book, and discussed that our sun is a star, but ours is closer so bigger and we have given it the name sol. We also did the path of lights through different media experiment [straw in glass of water!]

to be continued…..

Have had a very nice time playing with BB. We have done stacking toy, played with sensory things – like the feather boa, done some walking, and now on pressing buttons annoying tunes toys! SB playing upstiars on her won – so don’t feel quite so comfortable about that, though when I enquired she was happy with Sindy’s/Barbies. Am persuading chris to make a house for my sindy things so they don’t get trashed! He is hoefully sorting veg bed – it does need it!!

Have read 3 greek myths stories from the usborne book [arachne, echo and narcissus, daedalus and icarus] her winnie the pooh book. She has helped chris in the garden and found 3 flints - and told him about chapping [aka knapping!]. We have reseeded the fairy garden and will hope something grows,

Now for tea and then I’m off. Aargh – the first time without my baby, not back until Tues. How crap do I feel?

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tears before bedtime – edited

Posted on October 8, 2005 by | 4 comments

It has been one of those days. I think all this socialisation and frenetic living is getting to all of us – time for some r and r!! Not helped by BB’s return to sleeping nightmare!

Initial Hama-ing. SB wanted to use the circle to do a face of BB – which she did really nicely, and started a new flower. A struggle over going to stagecoach – she definitely doesn’t want to go any more, and even the promise of a Christmas show isn’t wuite doing it. We will notify them she won’t be coming back next term. While she is there, she does seem to enjoy it, and goes off quite happily. For one reason or another, we are missing quite a few though anyway. We also have found the messing up of the weekend a bit of a pain.

This afternoon she has dissolved easily into tears. SHe has wanted to play with me non stop, but if I break one of her unspoken rule games she is heartbroken and sobs dreadfully. All very difficult, as I do also want to play with BB. When BB qwent to sleep, we did a shortlived word game with the boggle dice [she spelled cat and dog, and me bird, and then she did seeds] I then wrote a word without saying the letters I was looking for, so a standoff and it was put away. We had a nice game of dominos, and then I turned a corner without permission – game over! We read quite a few books though – the skeleton hiccups one she actually read quite a few of the words before she realised, and then abrubtly stopped. SHe has also done some colouring.

The other activity- mainly to give myself some headspace – was baking carrot cake – which we have done, wone to eat and one to freeze. At least that was enjoyed and tear free. the results were very nice too. Not so easy with dinner, as a cry when she realsied the spaghetti i had cooked weren’t tinned ones – sigh. She ate it all though. Some home grown grapes for pud. At present I am breathing[!!] as Daddy does bath before I do the stories.

I did get to have a short bit of BB only time – which is always nice. She is such a smiler. We were playing with the stacking cups, and a 4 high stacker toy. She enjoys this. Today she did the stacker toy herself!!! She was most impressed, particularly that I clapped, so did it lots more – until I went for the camera that is! Sb had been in the garden with Chris, but it rained, so she came back. we then did singing with actions for BB – wind the bobbin, twinkle twinkle etc.

It is clear that SB loves BB, but she can be so rough with her. I think as BB gets more mobile, she gets more of a threat as well -IYSWIM. Not that SB will be putting it in those terms, but I do have limited BB alone time [ i am trying for perhaps 2 x 15 mins slots - shouldn't be too hard??]. Hmmm – thinking cap!

Anyway, getting the call for stories, so a good thing I have blogged quickly!

edited: she wasn’t quite up for bed. so we looked at the DK pop out body book a bit, and discussed the spinal column and spinal cord mostly. then read roald dahl’s revolting rhymes – which are an unusual take n the standard fairy tales.

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