Eve: ASBO

Eve is coming up to 16 months now, and blimey, wouldn’t you know it!

To say our littlest girl is strong willed is an understatement, and if she isn’t happy about something she will let you, and the whole neighbourhood, know about it. Let’s just say, I’m thinking a future career as a town hall cryer would be just about perfect for Eve.

The other day I was recalling how we used to joke that Isla had a ‘supermarket ASBO’ back in the days when she was a real terrible two & always played up when I took her shopping. She’s much better now, in fact she’s quite a good supermarket companion, so that order has now been lifted.

But now it’s time to issue an ASBO to Eve, and the case for the prosecution would like to set out the following evidence:

She wakes the whole house with her incredible cry far too early everyday – usually about 5am

If her sisters turn their backs on whatever they are eating or drinking for just one second, Eve will pinch it. If its food, she’ll eat it. If it’s drink, she’ll purposely distribute it all over the floor

If the path to the stairs is clear, even for a millisecond, she’ll make a dash to climb up the stairs. If you stop her, she will go as limp as a lettuce to stop you picking her up and screech as if you were extracting her toes. Which I think the neighbours probably think we are at times

Climbing on the sofa is her latest obsession, now that she’s just about big enough. Once up, she wants to stand up & bounce, or try climbing over the back of it, hatching a plan to try plunging to a drop onto the laminate below. For her response when you try to stop her, see above

Constant fiddling with my washing machine & dishwasher settings, trapping her fingers in drawers, purposely sticking her toes under doors & then screaming when they get stuck, crawling under the kitchen table & getting stuck

Throwing her shoe in the bin, this particular crime only being uncovered following an extensive search of the wheelie bin a few days later

Emptying drinks onto the highchair tray, lobbing the empty cup across the room, splashing the drink all over the room and indicating when she is full by simply taking her remaining dinner & throwing it above her head as high as she can

Screaming as if the world is ending during every nappy change, wrestling like a champion to be freed

All in all, she’s a typical Terrible Toddler.

The case for the prosecution rests.

An update!

We’ve had a busy few months and with three young daughters, moving house, working full time and just getting on with everyday life, and there’s been less and less time for twitter, facebook and blogging!

To try and bring things up to date, Eve has turned one, we have moved back into the house we own (after renting a bigger one for the last 12 months) and we’re busy planning out the way we want things to work out over the next couple of years – where we want to live, our career ambitions, what kind of family life we want for us all.

Eve celebrated her first birthday in February, a couple of weeks before we moved. She is now 14 months and getting good at walking already. She still reminds us so much of her biggest sister in temprament – a feisty little thing who knows what she wants and when she wants it! This is assisted by having possibly the most effective pair of lungs on a baby ever – hers is a scream not to be messed with!

Although we may be biased I can’t help but think she’s extremely bright – she seems to understand things which should be way out of her comprehension, and she only needs to be shown things once (if at all) before she ‘gets’ how to do things or play with toys. She makes us laugh so much with her highly expressive and ‘knowing’ facial expressions. She looks at her bigger sisters and she wants to be one of the gang – she copies the way they read books by turning the pages and babbling away. She longs to get properly involved in all the mischief they cause and one of the loveliest things ever is watching her giggling until she loses her balance and rolls over because her sisters do something she finds amusing – like throwing a balloon, doing a silly face or noise or playing peepoo over and over again to make her laugh. Oh, and she LOVES them blowing bubbles for her to pop.

We’re at the stage with her where she wants to walk and play outside, but because her walking isn’t quite perfect she often tries to crawl around the garden – not ideal on the concrete or the muddy lawn! And if you stop her, or bring her inside before she’s ready, she’ll scream the neighbourhood down! Inside isn’t much easier because she’s always pressing buttons on the dishwasher or washing machine (she’s even worked out how to open the door, which I don’t think either of her sisters have ever done!), opening the oven, trapping her fingers in drawers or under doors, crawling under tables and chairs and getting stuck, opening the meter cupboard, hitting the television, messing with the sky box, changing channels, recording strange programmes on the planner and… well, the list is never ending!! Anyone with a baby this age knows that “she’s into everything” phase!

We had a little concern about a lump on her forehead, and she’s been to see a specialist who said it could be a cyst (harmless, but we could choose to have it removed before it grows) or possibly just a collection of blood vessels (which would disappear on their own over time). She was booked in for an MRI scan, which would have needed general anaesthetic, because of her age. Thankfully as we wait for this appointment to come round, her lump seems to be reducing in size, so we’re planning to take her back to the specialist and request to postpone the scan for a while, to see what happens.

Isla is still the mischievious terrible two we know and love! She’s three in a couple of months, which seems quite unbelievable, especially the thought that the September after this one she’ll be starting school. She’s such a hilarious little person, so much fun to be around, with such an enormous capacity for irrational behaviour! At the moment she makes us all laugh by taking great offence whenever somebody uses any kind of description to describe her – so if Lilly says: “Isla, you’re the best!” Isla will yell: “I’m NOT the best! I’m ISLA!!” And where Lilly could always be persuaded to do things (and still can be!) with the promise of “getting a sticker”, Isla doesn’t really consider stickers to be a good enough reason to entertain the idea of doing what she’s told, if it isn’t really what she wants to do…

She’s still able to throw those hilarious two-year-old tantrums and she tells the funniest tall stories which regularly have Lilly in stiches. She loves making people laugh. Her admiration for her biggest sister mean that she spends a lot of her time pretending she’s doing “guided reading” like Lilly gets from school, and she refuses to play the ‘toddler’ apps on the phone that Lilly used to like at her age – she wants to play the ones Lilly plays now, which are about learning phonics, doing spellings and basic maths… even though she gets very frustrated when they are inevitably too difficult for her! And she has become very caring and protective of her baby sister, she always talks to “Evie weevie” in baby language and still dishes out the slightly over enthusiastic hugs and squeezes (not always appreciated!).

But, even though she turns three in only a couple of months, she’s not in the slightest bit interested in potty training! She will occasionally deign to sit on her potty, or even the toilet, for a protracted period of time, in the hope of getting a ‘treat’ for a successful visit. But then she’ll inevitably get bored, get off, and two minutes later she’ll either be filling her nappy or doing a wee on the floor…. not quite sure how we’re going to tackle this one, but we’re going to have to do it soon!

Lilly is doing really well at school, she loves it, and luckily is now very enthusiastic about reading and writing. She absolutely loves drawing, and she’s pretty good at it too – we’re constantly impressed with what she creates (to say that, at the age of five, she can already draw better than me is absolutely true!) At home she wants to draw all the time – literally from the minute she wakes until bedtime. And now writing is a regular part of this, it started with cards and now she is making little books and writing people letters. She loves anything creative - cutting and sticking, making things, baking, all that kind of stuff. And her imagination is ever-growing, she’s always playing adventure games with her cuddly toys, My Little Ponies and other toys, and usually Isla is more than happy to join in. Lilly is very into her dressing up at the moment and will usually emerge from her bedroom having adapted her outfit today with a tail fashioned out of some other clothes, and some kind of crazy combination of princess / fairy accessories! Then she’ll announce: “I’m a Princess Cat today”.

And as for Tony and I, we’re busy with work and home, and in our spare time dreaming up plans about possibly buying a caravan… something we’re both really excited about and that, if we go ahead with it, I’ll be hoping to blog about on here… There’s just the small matter of working out the finances – and working it around moving house too at some point in the next few years…

Good job we like ‘keeping busy’, eh!

Something’s missing…

At the ripe old age of five years and five days, this happened:

How did we get to tooth fairy visits already?!?!?!

Exhausting festive fun: Christmas 2012

Disclaimer: Yes, I know everybody’s bored of Christmas now, but this is the first chance I’ve had to sit down and write this!

It was a busy old Christmas and New Year in this house, with lots of fun, buckets of celebrations and all packed into what felt like a quite short space of time!!

I suppose it started properly with Lilly’s first school nativity play- she was a littke star in a play called The  Perfect Recipe for Christmas, she wore white clothes and carried a large tinsel star round her neck. We also got to watch her performing a dance routine with her after school dance club, all dressed as Santas and dancing to All I Want for Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey. Lilly gave a very enthusiastic performance which we all loved, and Isla wanted to join in so badly that she had to be forcibly ejected from the room after the huge tantrum when we wouldn’t let her! But safe to say, Mariah was the tune of the festive season and I think it’ll always put a little smile on my face when I hear it from now on!

The girls went to meet Father Christmas (or Farmer Christmas, as Isla remains convinced he is called) at the local garden centre grotto. When we first went in, Isla wasn’t sure one bit she was going to like him, and had to be carried in against her will. But she softened towards Farmer Christmas when he mentioned that he might be able to bring chocolate on Christmas Day, and by the end we even had Isla smiling and sitting on his knee with her sisters. Lilly was very chuffed to be able to deliver her Christmas list in person, although we were a bit worried as it contained a couple of quite difficult to source presents, such as “a toy rainbow”…

Lilly only finished school a few days before Christmas so we didn’t have as much time to do Christmas arts and crafts and baking as I would have liked, but then I think you are so full of ideas in the run up to Christmas but in reality there isn’t as much time to do them in as you think! Still we managed to bake and decorate some Christmas cookies and various other bits.

Me, as a cookie, apparently…

Another pre-Christmas highlight was the night the local rotary club Santa came down our road on his sleigh/float. They do it every year, but it has always been past the girls’ bedtime by the time he comes, so they’ve never actually seen it. But one night I heard the music in the neighbourhood while they were still awake, and thought he was coming, so I told Lilly and Isla all about it, but he never came. A few nights later, when Tony was on lates, they had just gone to bed and I heard the music again, so I kept an eye out, and once I knew he was definitely coming this time I just couldn’t resist and went upstairs to wake the girls (only the big ones!) and we went onto the porch to watch Father Christmas (and Rudolph) drive into the close. Father Christmas even came up to each house and gave the children sweets – it was really magical, especially because the girls weren’t expecting it… and luckily they went back to sleep no trouble and both woke up the next day talking about Father Christmas coming to our house!

For the first time ever we hosted Christmas Day at our house – as we moved this year we finally had enough space to do so, as we normally go to Tony’s mum and dads for Christmas Day. A couple of days before Tony took the girls out for a few hours while I did all the essential pre-Christmas cleaning and tidying, especially in the kitchen. When they all came home Isla came into the kitchen, stopped, looked about, and then said (genuinely puzzled): “Mummy. Why is it tidy???”

On Christmas Day, the girls woke at a reasonable hour to find Father Christmas had left their stockings at the bottom of their beds (first time he’s been brave enough to do that!) and that there was an actual mountain of presents under the tree downstairs. It took us AGES to open them all, and it was great because there was just the right amount of ripping open presents and playing with them as we went along.

The funniest one was when the girls opened a set of fairy wings and a wand each and wanted to put them on straight away. As soon as Isla had hers on she started jumping and before long the bottom lip came out and the arms folded. “They not working…” she sulked, as she failed miserably to make the wings get her flying…

Late morning Tony’s mum and dad came round with more presents, and the turkey went in the oven… Christmas dinner went absolutely fine, apart from me burning my arm on the oven (minor incident) and forgetting to cook the much-anticipated Pigs in Blankets, but hey, there’s always something you forget isn’t there! Eve cracked her ‘Baby’s First Cracker’ at the table and enjoyed a few vegetables as finger foods (something she’s very into these days). There was also a great moment where we realised that her two top front teeth had come through and everybody sang her a chorus of “All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth” at the dinner table, much to her bemusement… Isla still isn’t so keen on poultry, although she ate a little bit of turkey before she remembered! Lilly declared it was “the best dinner ever” and even ate sprouts!

I loved Lilly’s writing on the gift tags…

On Boxing Day, my mum, sister and her boyfriend came round and there were yet more presents, and the usual buffet. Eve made everyone laugh when she grabbed a freshly baked roll off the buffet table (from her vantage point in her highchair) and proceeded to slowly but surely demolish it entirely! So, safe to say, she’s definitely on the finger foods!!!

Best presents the girls got this year – for Eve definitely a cuddly Iggle Piggle that sings and makes noises and a Disney Choo Choo Sounds train. She loves them both! Isla’s favourite was a Peppa Pig Foldaway Kitchen… she has been busy making people cups of tea and various meals ever since, and she insists that all her customers (she calls them “shopkeepers”) sit the other side of it, so their food can be thrown at them though the hatch! And Lilly got the chocolate lolly and egg makers she wanted, plus loads of things to make which always go down well with her.

So all in all, we had a fab Christmas… and then the birthday celebrations began (but that’s a seperate post…)

The holiday that never was

We should be in Scotland just about now, cuddled up in a log cabin after a day walking around a Loch.

But we’re not, we’re at home, listening to the dulcet tones of the washing machine on a spin cyle…

The afternoon before we were due to start our two day trek to the Highlands (with overnight stop in Glasgow for Sunday lunch with some family friends), Isla suddenly went very quiet and subdued. While I was busy packing for the planned early morning getaway, she sat on the sofa looking a little pale. Next thing, she’s being sick.

I will spare you the gory details but suffice to say there were enough episodes of illness for us to get way too scared about potential children-sick-in-car scenarios and worry whether this was a sickness bug about to sweep through all five of us while we were 500 miles from home.

We debated for a long time about whether to take the gamble, but with Isla sick again in the night, and looking so pale and withdrawn again in the morning we decided to cut our loses and stay at home.

Poor Lilly was really upset and cried when we told her, but we promised her a week of fun at home, including her favourite soft play place, swimming and a Halloween party for tomorrow. We also went to the zoo on Monday which everyone enjoyed, and Isla seemed so much better, walking for miles around the zoo without complaint, despite still looking a bit pasty.

Eve has had a bit of a temperature too for the last few days, but touch wood nobody else has come down with sickness. I guess we could have gone, but hindsight is a wonderful thing. But it was just too much of a gamble!

Today though I took Isla and Lilly swimming as promised. I decided to take them on my own as Eve is a bit grouchy lately, and Tony took her for a walk in her pushchair instead (always a winner with Eve who loves being out and about). I was a little nervous about the logistics of taking the two of them on my own, but I gave them both strict instructions to be good and they were little angels the whole time we were out.

Lilly loves swimming and doesn’t want me to help her in any way while she’s in there, she’s quite happy splishing about with her armbands on. It was funny as Isla was quite nervous of the pool at first – of all the shouting and the sounds, and at first when we got in she was a bit apprehensive of the water itself and wanted to sit on the edge a while kicking her legs and getting acclimatised.

But by the time we were ready to get out, she was stood on the edge of the pool wanting to jump in, again, again, again! So typical of my little monkey.

We’ve had a great day today and we have a little Halloween party planned for tomorrow. So our ‘holiday at home’, hasn’t been so bad, after all.

Eve at 35 weeks old

Eve is now 35 weeks old, which, according to my calculator makes her one week off nine months… but then pregnancy is supposed to be nine months, and that’s 40 weeks… so that’s rather confused me…

ANYWAY. Eve is doing fab and getting so very clever these days. She can clap, and wave bye bye and likes to entertain by sticking her tongue out at you. She loves to be out and about in her pushchair watching the world go by.

She has started to ‘dance’ to music and loves toys that play songs so she can show off her moves! And she is in her element at bathtime, I have never seen somebody do so much splashing – so much so that Isla can’t stand to share a bath with her because she gets so upset about all the water flying about!

She is taking notice of the TV and particularly likes Night Garden and Baby Jake… and this morning was laughing lots at the faces on Thomas the Tank Engine.

She loves playing Peepo with her sisters, but isn’t as keen when Isla gets a little over-enthusiastic with her affections and cuddles start resembling rough & tumble…

Her weaning is going quite well. She is a little fussier than Lilly was, but she isn’t as prone to choking and gagging as Isla was. She LOVES yoghurt and her favourite savoury purees always involve chicken. But she hasn’t been so mad on red meat so far. She has tried the odd slice of toast and some Organix crisp finger foods, which she seems to enjoy. She can expertly drink from a cup and is starting to spit the drink out a little bit less – however if she isn’t wearing a waterproof bib she will still be soaked after every meal.

Eve remains a LOUD baby – and she isn’t afraid to let you know if she isn’t happy. Her squealing seems to peel layers off the inside of your eardrums at times!

We have had a lot of temperatures, grouchy afternoons and rosy cheeks, so we know teething is in full swing. But there are no little pearlies to show for it just yet.

Sleep-wise she remains a mixed bag. Sometimes she will go to bed no trouble, and sleep through the night. This is not the usual pattern though! On an average night she will wake once for milk, about 3 or 4am, and then settle down again without too much trouble. But we have probably one or two nights a week where she is still very difficult to settle in the evenings – either refusing to sleep in the first place, or waking up half an hour after settling and getting very distressed. It is hard to know what to do to solve the problem – she doesn’t want to be held, she doesn’t want to be put down, she doesn’t want a dummy, she doesn’t want calpol, she doesn’t want her bed… nightmare! Luckily her screaming doesn’t usually wake her sisters, they’re used to her. But I am very glad we’ve moved to a detached house – I would feel so guilty about the neighbours!

But all in all, she’s doing great. Definitely a feisty one like her biggest sister! But watching her learn to do the simplest little things, like clapping and waving, is just such a joy, even third time round.

Our beautiful baby-chops Eve. xxx

The one thing I can never get enough of…

Time.

If days were twice as long as they are now, I know I could fill that time with things.

At the moment life is just so unbelieveably busy, there is just never enough time for anything.

I have so many things in my mind that I want to find time for at the moment, loads of personal things with or for the family, and lots of creative energy buzzing about my brain for the things I want to do at work, professionally… but my time is just filled with the day-to-day tasks needed to keep us all going!

The trouble is, there are just so many of those day-to-day things. Making bottles, washing bottles, making purees, making dinners, meal planning, shopping, washing, ironing, school and nursery bags to prepare, lunches to make, stuff to do. And that is all around working full time, and hubby working full time, and on shifts.

By the time I’ve done all my jobs I only have time to snatch a little TV time and maybe get a quick glance at twitter before I’m dozing off on the sofa!

I am NOT complaining (really), I know this is a totally manic and crazy phase of our lives with three such little children, one a baby, and by my logic, surely, things will only get easier and less busy as they get bigger.

But I would so love to have some time to while away the hours just doing fun stuff, some of the things I have in my head that I’d like to do – some of it minor stuff like make pretty boards on pinterest, or read a few blogs. I’d love to start a work-related blog and I’d love to post a bit more regularly on here, and keep up with my twitter friends a little better. I’d love to read books. I’d like to learn more about what I do for a living and get better at it. I’d like to spend a few hours putting photos in albums. I need to spend a good few hours putting loads of baby clothes on ebay.

But I know that, for now, life is just a bit too crazy. And I need more hours in the day to fit in any of that stuff. But I’m hopeful that, one day, (soonish), it’ll come.