Short post

As have loads and loads to do as going away fo weekend, then going on hols next week – panic panic!

BB update
She did her first half roll today from back onto side – tada!!! I know she is 6 months tomorrow, but she has a good bottom on her, and its hard to shift!! 2 teeth, sits beautifull, reaching and grabbing things – always with an eye on food. Getting through various fruit and veg purees and some finger foods to slobber with. infectious smile and giggle, and is a real bundle of love. Not so keen on her nipping me while feeding, and wish she would take more than an ounce from a bottle. Oddly, when she was sick last night it smelled of asparagus, so perhaps that wee thing happens to milk too? Also she now feeds too much at night! I think increasing solids will do the trick there. She is happily zzzz-ing in my arms as we speak.

SB update
I think she is getting more settled. having a friend at nursery v helpful. I am trying to be fullon Mum when at home – knackering, and life events ruining this a bit. Although this has been a settling in time, i feel we have lost momentum with ed. partly as we are not really organised enough for crafty things to happen, and cos chris adapting to having both. lots of being read to though, less maths and no phonics. Although autonomous does seem to be working on the reading of loads of the usbournwe science though!

Welcome back all ye hesfessers, and partic award of merit to Nic’s blog!

hmm, nice books

hmm, nice books

this looks like a good book Mummy. Never too young to appreciate the
book people

Helen

Relaxing with the girls

Relaxing with the girls

work?? who needs it!

Helen

Gluing the ‘Melrose’ clock

Gluing the 'Melrose' clock

Adding some more piccies. I love the conservatory

Helen

ooh book people order

going to get beans and then we’ll investigate!

Written much later after read SB to sleep – and yes, even more made up maggie and the ferocious beast stories. I am running out of plots!

well, we investigated [actually I commented!] and have read half the fairy stories – SB puzzled by why they are called fairy stories if no fairy in them. Said the make believe thing, but then is maggie and the ferocious beast a fairy story – well no. Must have something magical about it!

Not sure if she read the words ‘big bad pig’ or put them with that red nose reader as she has another book about a big bad pig?? anyway, we said she was v clever etc, so she wouldn’t read any more – oops! She wasn’t quite so keen on it. Must not make reading an issue! Can feel my middle class parenting desires itching to get out!

the roald dahl crocodile book a hit as well. I rather enjoyed it too.

The usbourne pocket science books really are a big hit, and we read the bees one tonight. Especially good in view of our bees nest and the dead bees in the conservatory, so may get round to printing off some of their bee pictures. Might make a nice picture collage of bees. Might hide away the baby one until I am asked though [feel some reluctance on my part to have SB asking all the 'awkward' questions in her piercing voice at chris's family ruby wedding celebration this weekend - what a coward!]. The new books have pretty much taken up all our time from this post to bedtime. I can’t remeber when SB last asked for TV either.

You’re standing there waiting…..

and then 3 blogs all come along together :-). A bit of tandem blogging it would seem. Read down for Helen’s take on the day, and some piccies.

its Helen, I just had to edit title as the grammar was distressing me! ANd you’ve sent my piccies to the bottom, so no-one will look at them – and my post!!!

And the good news is.

It seems likley that Guiness has been spotted. Someone rang up the yesterday (who lives not far way on the otherside of the main road through the village) to say they had recently seen cat matching his description/demeanour a few times recently near their house. It seems she and another neighbour put out food, so he may have been eating that. It will probably take sometime to actually track him down, but it’s good to ahve some positive news.

So what have I been doing as I’ve been a bit absent from the blog? Today was another ‘Clap and Sing’ session at the local village hall Stringbean enjoys this, and so does Butterbean I think. ‘Homedad’ from down the street (as Helen has christened him) wasn’t there so I was the only Dad. Now that’s ok, I often find other men want to talk about something boring like football or F1 anyway, but I do find it a bit sad that more men are not taking a more upfront childcare role. And there something undefinably ‘odd’ about being the only Dad in roomful of mums and tots. I guess lots of women are used to something similar in male dominated situations.

Went to the playground nextdoor afterwards, SB got to play for ages on the see-saw with a little boy. Then just as we were goingto go (and it takes ages to prise her away from a playground) a boy she had met before turned up, so I let her stay for a bit longer (another 1/2 hour….) before heading home. He wa runnign around and climbing on the Slateboard/Rollerblade ramps, of course it ended in tears when she tripped and fell and got a really nice graze on her knee. Will ahev to try and enforce trousers only rule on there I guess. Pottered back home with SB riding her bike, and met H just home from work which was nice.

It’s good to be able to just walk to so many places around the village.

Lunch and bit of family time followed. The conservatory is nice place to sit :-) SB and H did some more of SB’s clock kit thing she got at Melrose. Later me and SB went for a little walk. The COE parish church is behind our house and she has been on about going to see it. so we walked round to it. Had little look inside – it’s a pretty typical small old country church, at first it was ‘Wow!, it’s beautiful’ (yes really :-) ) and we had little nose around, and I told her what the various bits were. But she then got diasppointed because there weren’tmore bits to investigate – I think she expected it to be like a ruined castle/abbey etc.

We did spend sometime outside though lookingat the gravestones which she still seems to find fascinating. I think we will go and do a bit of rubbing at some point.

H had long (but successful it seems) evening meeting at work. So me and the beans had tea, baths etc. All went well SB was settled in bed at which pijt of course BB decided wake back up. she had’t filled up when she ahd the chance earlier, so spent the next hour or so moslty making fuss about this, seeing as she still will not drink enough from a bottle.

I don’t think I’ve quite got the whole me, SB, BB altogether at home all day quite sorted yet. time seems to disappear at times into an even bigger blackhole than just with SB. And at times when BB is making fuss and not drinking from her bottle, it’s quite hard trying to give SB any attention. I’ve had to a couple of time to tell SB she has to go and find somethign quiet to do out of the way as otherwise she just ends up distracting BB. I don’t like it, becuase SB dotes on BB and she loves helping out, but sometimes its’ the only way I can get me and BB to concentrate. Thinking back I guess I didn’t have SB for such amounts of time at this sort of age, as H didn’t end her mat leave until over 6 months,a nd I worked fulltime until about 10 months.

Oh SB just woken up, time to go.

[edited this one's title grammar too!! - H - might even be drive to doing a spelling check!]

last saturday’s picnic fun

last saturday's picnic fun

At last we have a house with the right size for our windchimes! Checking
on seed germination and collecting the dead drones


Helen
Use Real Nappies!

last saturday’s picnic fun

last saturday's picnic fun

SB and me!

Helen
Use Real Nappies!

last saturday’s picnic fun

last saturday's picnic fun

BB looking gorgeous in the mat in the garden


Helen
Use Real Nappies!