Monkey Says at 3 1/2

Posted by Caroline Elliott

Our little boy is growing up so much all the time and his language skills are growing with him. Pretty incredible when I think he was a little delayed and had no speech at age 2! He now gives everything a good go and even copied “echocardiogram” from Get Well Soon on Cbeebies the other day! He also comes out with some real gems at times too. Some that make me cringe and others that make me laugh out loud. So here are some of the Monkey’s top sayings recently.

“That’s my favourite.” Everything is his favourite. From people to food to things. The Dr is his favourite. His dinner is his favourite. Even his poo has been his favourite (I’m not kidding sadly). It’s actually very endearing when he says “I love Daddy, he’s my favourite” and when he calls LM “my favourite sister.” He also has a couple of children at playgroup who are his favourite too and it is so lovely to hear he is building relationships with other children.

Another endearing one is when he strokes his Daddy’s arm and says “You’ll be OK.” Generally absolutely nothing had happened and Daddy is perfectly happy…. but it is very cute nonetheless!

Less cute is when he copies us and shouts at LM to stop or yells at her that she is naughty. Nothing makes you think about the words coming out of your mouth more than hearing those words come out of a 3yr old’s mouth! That also includes him copying “oh for god’s sake” (we are trying to turn this into for goodness sake) and worst of all copying Daddy when he described a relative as “big fat …” I was less than impressed with that one and thank goodness he hasn’t said it to the person!!

He really likes making up random words at the moment too. Some are quite amusing, “binky banky” for example, some strangely accurate as when he described a car park as danky when yes, actually it was a bit dank. You can probably get there is a theme here and yes he did go through a stage of proclaiming everything was “winky wanky” which I was less than enamoured with! Thankfully we have persuaded him that is a bit of a silly thing to say!!

His imagination is wonderful now, and when he is playing cars or doing car painting he is very often using one to chase another, saying “I’m coming to get you” followed by the other car saying “aaaaaaaaahhh” hehe. You may have seen recently that he loves dressing up as a super hero and he really is so cute – running around saying he is “coming to the rescue!” and once he has rescued something (for example he did a great job of rescuing a welly the other day haha) it is “mission accomrished” with two thumbs up, so a bit of a superhero/postman pat SDS combination!

Mission Accomrished!

He is really inquisitive about the world around him, asking “where do trees come from?” and “what are planes made of?” He wants to know everything and he loves spotting things, the moon being the most recurrent especially at this time of year. We can be in the car and he will suddenly be yelling “look Daddy look it’s the moon!!” and of course we have to reply (as with whenever he tells us anything) or he will just keep repeating it tirelessly until he gets the answer he is looking for! He also thinks every conversation is aimed at him and answers any question he hears, not just those directed at him. So I can be talking to LM or Daddy or someone else and he will answer. He adores Show Me Show Me on the tv (one of my fave progs for the kids) and always answers when Chris and Pui ask questions. The other day he ran over and said “Chris asked me if I like shopping and I told him I did” and was so proud of himself.

A cut? Or Jam???

We love the way he tries to find the language to describe something. For example he had a bit of a sore throat on the weekend and when he had some of Daddy’s warm tea he proclaimed “That was lovely! That made my throat feel not all gone” so cute. Other examples are “I’m getting all filled (full)” “that’s a bit splatty” (paint). During a snuggle on the sofa he decided I have “a lovely cosy bottom” and once when I was getting dressed “that’s a lovely nippley boobie.” Errr, ok, thanks Monkey haha.

After falling tooth-first onto my forhead at the weekend giving me a lovely cut, lump and bruise, Monkey looked at me and said “you’re all cut. It looks a bit like Jam.” Well yes, I suppose it does, a bit!

Now for the funnies. We were watching Toy Story 2 the other day and when the man came to mend Woody’s arm, Monkey decided the needle and thread was a hooker. “Look he’s get a hooker. He loves hookers. I love hookers too, they’re my favourite!” I really wasn’t that sure what to say to that to be honest hehe. Then at lunch one day he randomly piped up “Mummy and Daddy do you like licking each other?” errrrrrr not sure what to say or where that came from.

my cheeky Monkey 🙂

Finally, this morning he was on the receiving end of a few stern words from Daddy about the fact that he had done a wee in his pants (he seems to have regressed a little lately which is annoying with more incidents than usual) and he was being really good and listening, and then he suddenly announced “But cats don’t like bananas.” I have to admit I laughed out loud in the next room, I mean where did that come from? Funny Monkey!

Stopping at Two??

Posted by Caroline Elliott

The question of how many children to have is such a personal one and there are so so many factors involved in reaching an answer. It’s a question that we are considering a lot at the moment. There are so … Continue reading →

Siblings November 2015

Posted by Caroline Elliott

It is that time of the month again where I share a little update of our gorgeous siblings, and I am also using this for my word of the week post this week. Because the word that best describes my little siblings at the moment, and is therefore my word of the week, is proprietorial.

You see there is a lot of jealousy and possessiveness going on. Monkey is very much at the stage where everything is “Mine” and he is constantly telling his little sister “no go away” “no you can’t have it” “no it’s mine.” Even when some of those things certainly aren’t his as they were given to her for her birthday. For her part LM is no longer a placid little thing who meekly accepts his dominance. No she screams her head off and clutches on with a vice like grip. It’s a difficult one and I am all for kids sorting things out themselves but it is difficult when one is that much younger and can’t verbalise an argument.

So Monkey has taken to hiding things and putting them where LM can’t reach. We inadvertantly started this as there are some toys that are too small for LM, who puts everything in her mouth still, and those things must be kept out of her reach. Now though it is whatever he doesn’t want her to play with. They also of course both always want what the other one is playing happily with. They just can’t leave each other alone, they have to have what the other has, or join in the game too.

This doesn’t just go for toys as it extends to me too. One of Monkey’s favourite phrases right now is “but I want you” even when I am standing or sat next to him. He wants my attention constantly… and so does she. You can guarantee that if Monkey climbs on my lap for a cuddle, that within seconds LM is running over screaming and clawing at us to get him off and sit in his place. No matter how happy she was with whatever she was doing at the time. She is the same if hubs is giving me a cuddle, screaming and insisting she gets on on the cuddle action.

There are so many times at the moment where I am purely a human climbing frame as if I sit down for a minute I will without doubt have two children who must suddenly be clambering all over me. Don’t get me wrong the cuddles are lovely and it is nice to be so wanted…. but it is blimmin exhausting too. It would also be nicer if either of them would actually sit still and cuddle for a few minutes.. but instead I get bums in my face, elbows in ribs, my shins being stood on (er ouch), nose yanked, hair pulled…. you get the idea, it’s not relaxing!

Mummy climbing frame

I know it is inevitable and part of their growing relationship and they do have some lovely moments too where they show how much they love each other. Like when Monkey copied Daddy and took over the tickling of LM.

And when they were sat in a box together…

And when they were snuggling up on the sofa together.

LM still worships the ground her brother walks on (unless he is sat on my lap) and wants to be wherever he is (which doesn’t always go down too well with him). If he is laughing, she will laugh too, when he is happy, she is happy, and sadly sometimes when he is screaming, it sets her off too.

So although it is challenging at the moment I love watching the way their relationship is growing and changing.

Little Miss is 1!

Posted by Caroline Elliott

Wowee! Here we are at the end of our Little Miss’ first year of life! In the early days the weeks seemed to last forever but in reality the past year has absolutely flown by. We have all come such a long way in the past year and no-one more so than the little lady herself. From a teeny wee thing who struggled so badly with colic, temporary lactose intolerance and reflux… to our beaming, happy, gorgeous little toddler.

I honestly just adore her 100% and she is such a Mummy’s girl which is lovely but obviously a tad infuriating at times when she does not want me to move from her side. I do feel for Daddy too when she is writhing out of his arms to try and get to me. Thankfully though this isn’t all the time and she is a generally a smily happy girl, she is so sociable, she loves people and is just a quite contented little thing really.

The last month has seen her take the huge leap from baby to fully fledged toddler as she now walks everywhere and I have to admit I love it. At home she is constantly pottering about finding things to inspect and she loves running and throwing herself onto the beanbag, which is hilarious.

Unfortunately it also means a lot of falling over so she constantly has bruises and scratches on her face from face-planting the floor or a piece of furniture poor thing. I also have to keep a close eye on her as she likes picking things up and putting them in her mouth. At home it isn’t too bad (though she has a penchant for crayons at the moment, joy) but out and about is a nightmare and I am constantly saying no and running when I see a fistful of mud or stones heading to her mouth. Sadly I don’t spot it in time every time, so try to convince myself that a little mud never killed anyone! She also likes to find manky puddles of water, splash her hands in them then put her fingers in her mouth… noooo!

She does understand “no” but rarely obeys and generally gives a huge cheeky grin and shakes her head before carrying on what she was.doing… grrr! There are other times when she does listen but they are few and far between… so I sound like a bit of a stuck record but I know repetition is all I can do at the moment, that and picking her up and moving her away from dangerous things such as radiators or the oven!

In terms of food she is still really good for the most part but there are signs of fussiness showing…. sadly BLW hasn’t completely staved this off… she definitely doesn’t like broccoli anymore and I don’t think she is too keen on potato. But even though her Daddy adores potato I have never been a huge fan of potato so maybe it is hereditary? Who knows, we shall see how this progresses though and we don’t have any of the problems we had with her brother as she scoffs curry and anything with pasta and she adores fruit which is great. She also eats a ridiculous amount – easily an adult portion at mealtimes and WAY more than her big brother eats. I have no idea where she puts it all!

She is also a very different baby to her brother in terms of routine. Whereas he was in a fab routine from 4 months and then was always so much happier in a routine, she is so different. We struggled massively to ever get her to settle in a routine for more than a few days at a time, BUT, and here’s the thing, now she is much more flexible which is actually handy. She now is best when she has one nap in the afternoon. She has a long sleep, is happier and sleeps in later the next morning (till nearly 7am, wahoo!). But on days when we are in the car a lot she sometimes dozes off in the morning then either doesn’t nap in the afternoon or has a shorter sleep. And do you know what? She is still fine. She wakes up earlier the next morning (between 530-6) but is still pretty contended on it so I really can’t complain. Monkey was always a nightmare if you shifted his routine even slightly so it is a nice change and a relief after the struggles of trying to get her to settle in a routine all year!

Now that she is awake more though we are getting out and about a bit more too. I take her to tumbletots on a Monday morning when Monkey is at playgroup, which she loves. She loves the other people most of all I think but also has a lot of fun exploring all of the equipment. Then on a Tuesday my parents take her to rhyme time at the local library while Monkey and I have a Mummy and Monkey morning. Apparently she loves going and is getting more and more confident as the weeks go by, which is lovely. I hope it will also do her good to be away from me for a little while every week too. She adores her Nanny & Pops and is very comfortable being with them and they love having her which is great.

She has always been an incredibly loud baby and she knows how to make her feelings well and truly known. We are very much getting a lot of whining and she makes the Marge Simpson noise when she wants something (you know, closed mouth, mmmmmgrh hehe). We do also have the start of words too which is really lovely. She occasionally makes an almost “tickle tickle” sound – much more joined together and unclear, but she has also been known to accompany this with grabbing Monkey in a tickly way… and obviously we say it a lot to both of them so we think she is trying to copy us. She also definitely says “uh oh” and copies us whenever we say it (and hubs now says it a LOT to make her say it) and whenever she drops something, which is massively adorable!! I feel like I am constantly comparing her to her big brother but I can’t help it as this is another way she is very different to him as he didn’t say his first word until he was 2!

So there we have it, our gorgeous little lady as she approaches her first birthday! I love the determined happy little person she is growing into and am looking forward to what the next year will bring.

Siblings October 2015 – a year of Siblings!

Posted by Caroline Elliott

This month marks a year since my Monkey became a big brother and I started documenting the relationship between my two siblings. It is lovely to look back at how much they have both grown over the past year and how their relationship has grown with them.

This month we have had some lovely moments, especially on our holiday to Menorca. It was the first time they have ever shared a room and I will be honest I was a little nervous about how it would go… but honestly they did so well. The first night we waited with baited breath… but they were both asleep in minutes, clearly not fazed by sharing with each other at all.

A couple of times we tried to get them to nap at the same time during the day and that was a spectacular fail… athough not because either of them cried, instead there was so much laughter coming from both of them! Her standing in her cot squealing and laughing and him sat in bed chuckling. They had so much fun there was no chance of them napping at the same time, no matter how tired they were. They had lots of fun together at various times on the holiday and it is so lovely watching them laugh together.

The loveliest moments came at nighttimes though when we all read stories together on Monkey’s bed. LM absolutely adored this time with her big brother and often wanted to snuggle with him or grab him. Having had a recent obsession with Wall-E Monkey enjoyed pressing his forehead to hers and giving her a “head kiss” so cute!

LM has always adored her big brother and Monkey is so proud of his baby sister now she is walking and I shared recently just how much fun they have now she is walking independently…. though he does get frustrated by her lack of direction when we go out for a walk and gets very cross when she stops to pick something up, or walks the wrong way! Bless him I understand how he feels as it takes an age to get anywhere.

He also gets very frustrated with her trying to play with whatever he is playing with, or when she launches herself at him and pulls his hair or accidentally scratches him. She does it out of love but she does it to me too and it isn’t very comfortable so again I know how he feels!

He gets his own back sometimes though and incidentall she thought this was hilarious! 🙂

So that is my little siblings and their relationship this month, and to mark the year that has gone by here are some of the shots i have shared each month to show just how much they have grown over the last 12 months.

10 things I have learned since having a second child

Posted by Caroline Elliott

Ever since LM was born (nearly a year ago, eek!) I have had a vague idea that I would at some point write a post about coping with 2 kids. That post hasn’t ever materialised though as in truth I have no words of wisdom to offer and no idea how you cope. You just do. You have to get on with it as what choice do you have? I have learned a few things since having a second child though and I thought I would share some with you.

(I have read similar posts to this but I swear I have had this post in drafts for a while and am not copying anyone – I think it’s just inevitable that we write similar things sometimes!!)

1. All kids really, really are different. We thought we knew what we were facing after 1 but then LM came along and was totally different to her big brother. Things that worked with Monkey did not work for her, and things that never worked for him did with her. It was like starting from scratch all over again. After Monkey we thought we had got parenting down and that we were doing a pretty good job. Now though I think we were just lucky with him and any smugness has well and truly evaporated. Not only do I think LM is going to be far more challenging but Monkey’s behaviour has also gotten worse now he is fighting for our attention!

2. You can’t be everything to everyone. I know I haven’t been the best friend at times over the last year and I feel terrible about it.. but there is only so much of me to go around and sometimes in order to be the best wife and mummy I can, I have not been able to be the best friend. I know some friendships have suffered as a result and I can only hope they are strong enough to survive.

3. I could really do with an extra pair of hands. That would be very very useful on the occasions when I am feeding LM and Monkey decides he cannot wait to do a poo… or the time when Monkey started pooing on the floor and LM came crawling into the room. Two arms really was not enough in that situation!

4. Eyes in the back of my head would be handy too.. and on each side. Then I would know if baby fell or was pushed, or who had the toy first and who took it from who!

5. I love “Baby Jake” almost as much as I hate him. It is a freaky programme but it has saved my sanity on more than one occasion. The TV in general is on far more than I would like but you seriously have to pick your battles when you have 2 kids.

6. Having one kid can put a strain on the strongest relationship. Having a second seriously tests it! Finding babysitters willing to look after both of them so you can get some couple time can be a serious challenge too which doesn’t help. One friend said her and her other half hated each other for the 1st year of their 2nd baby’s life, and another has said it’s a good job she loves her husband so much as she wants to kill him at times.

7. Getting both kids ready to get out of the house will always take longer than you think. I hate being late so almost never am but it can be stressful getting out the house on time.

8.It is possible to feel more tired than you already do with 1 child. You may not think it but oh yes it is possible – the exhaustion can be immense.

9. It is absolutely possible to love no.2 every bit as much as you love no.1. I know many mums wonder about this before no.2 comes along but there is no doubt that no matter how challenging it is and how their screaming brings you to the brink of your sanity… you will love them as much as your first born.

10. Seeing your kids play together and watching their bond grow is so precious and makes everything worthwhile. Those moments may not last very long before one pulls the other’s hair or the whinging starts… but for as long as they do last they are amazing and will melt your heart.

So there we have it, 10 things I have learned since having a second child. I am not sure if this would convince you that having a second child is a terrible idea and it’s not, but you do have to be prepared for how challenging it can be. I really had no idea but now I get it and I have no idea how people cope with more than 2 kiddies I really don’t!!

Our Little Toddler – 11 mths

Posted by Caroline Elliott

So a little while ago I wrote that our baby girl had taken her first steps, and she has been wanting to walk more and more since then but she hadn’t quite had the confidence to really go for it – preferring to hold on to Mummy or Daddy. Suddenly though this week that has completely changed.

In one day she went from doing maybe 7 unaided steps at a time to literally walking around the whole house. I text hubs at work as I knew he wouldn’t believe the difference in the space of 1 day! So now she is everywhere. And I mean everywhere. I turn around and there are literally moments of “where is she?” and run off to find her in the showerroom standing banging on the glass, or in the new utility room trying to eat a receipt.

So childproofing has become uber important again as she really does want to explore every inch of the world now that she can, and at this point in time she currently wants to put EVERYTHING in her mouth. So the floor is being swept multiple times a day to prevent her eating any bits of stickers or dirt that has been walked in, stairgates and doorgates are being shut and I need eyes in the back of my head!! Letting her roam around outside is interesting as she loves it but she makes a beeline for stones and dirt and wants to put them straight in her mouth.

We say no but she is so cheeky that she just finds it funny and gives a big grin and carries on doing it anyway, grrr. So I sound like a broken record, no don’t eat that, no not in your mouth, over and over and over again!

I love seeing her toddle about though it just shows how much she is growing up and becoming less and less of a baby now. Her brother is adoring her newfound skill and is so proud of her for “walking all by herself!” For the first time ever they played together in his playhouse, playing peepo through the windows and they both loved it. Monkey enjoyed it so much that he ran up to her and shouted ” can I give you a cuddle?” and then squeezed her so tightly. Melted my heart I can tell you! They are going to be such lovely playmates for each other and I already love seeing them have fun together.

I remember feeling that walking was such a game changer when Monkey started walking properly, and it is a game changer again now but a new phase that I am so looking forward to – though it certainly brings challenges of his own!

Monkey at 3 1/3

Posted by Caroline Elliott

I have been thinking it was time to write a Monkey update for a while, and this started out being a 3 1/4 update.. but in all the chaos another month has passed and so it is now a 3 1/3 update! So here it goes.

I am going to start by being honest here, the threenager year is definitely the most challenging so far with our Monkey. We’ve actually been really lucky up to this point and we never had the terrible twos.. but he is without doubt a threenager. He can be defiant, stubborn, argumentative, attention seeking, jealous and a general pain in the wotsit a lot of the time lately. “I dont want to” and “I dont like it, I dont like anything” are probably the most frequently used phrases in our house and they drive us mad.

Mealtimes can be a real pain just trying to get him to eat food, even his favourites let alone anything new. He’s always been fussy but this is more defiance than anything and he gets so stubborn. He has regressed a bit and wants us to feed him a lot of the time (which is a bit bizarre as we don’t feed his baby sister, she feeds herself!) and often announces “I don’t like that, it’s rubbish”, or “that’s disgusting” without even trying it… then when he does eat it of course it is yummy.

We try and have tried a whole variety of different techniques. I’m all for mindful parenting and try so hard to be aware of what I say and do to see if this has any effect on his behaviour… but honestly no matter how hard I try I very often get the same response. I try and make sure we get 1 on 1 time, use positive language all of it. But no dice. He is worse when he is tired or hungry but even well fed and rested he can be very stroppy. So I keep having to remind myself (and hubs who all too easily gets drawn into an argument with him) that he is only 3 and just a phase!

Of course there are times he pushes our buttons too far and we shout and get cross. But then he turns our words back on us “just do it then” “no, you do it” shouting and pointing at us. Thank goodness the naughty step, and for the most part even just the threat of the naughty step, works as there are so many times we have to do it. Sit at the table or go on the naughty spot. Get in the bath or go on the naughty spot. Get your pyjamas on or go on the naughty spot. Not as a first threat but when the asking nicely and cajoling have got nowhere out it comes.

He also insists on repeating the same phrase over and over until he has gotten the response so he wants and honestly it drives me completely potty. That is often what leads me to shouting as I just can’t cope with hearing him say “but I neeeeeeed it” (about some toy or chocolate or whatever he wants at that moment) for the umpteenth time in quick succession.

So that is my little moan out of the way, at times when he is not driving me completely crazy or having a major meltdown he is actually very lovely and such a cute little boy. He seems so grown up sometimes that I have to remind myself he is only 3 so does need a bit of leniency.

He is so very loveable and frequently loves telling us how much he loves us. He likes doing things “as a family” and often talks about all of us and gives his baby sister lovely cuddles too. He adores his extended family and whenever we say we are going to see one of his aunts or uncles or to her relatives he announces “Oh I love…. and … and …” and then starts reeling off all his family members. Very sweet. He loves playing with his friends too and frequnrtly gives them cuddles and kisses, and he is getting much more confident at speaking to approaching children he hasn’t met before and sparking up conversation.

He loves jumping, and considering how long it took him to learn to jump he is certainly making up for lost time. He jumps over just about every crack in the pavement and I’ve never seen him so happy as on our friends trampoline a few weeks back!

He is turning into a right little performer, sometimes whipping out from behind the curtains saying “welcome to the show” and then singing a song or telling us about something. I haven’t managed to catch it on camera as he is always very impromptu with it and if I ty and get him to repeat it he is having none of it. Apparently though he got up and sang a song with one of the key workers at playgroup the other week which melted my heart. He also loves performing to his family and saying things that make everyone laugh, and then repeating it over and over and over!

Speaking of playgroup, playgroup/pre-school is going very well. He is getting much better at going without getting upset. We had been working on him running in with a big smile on his face, which he did a couple of weeks ago and then turned back to me so proud of himself shouting “I did it Mummy!” Love him.

Having had so many builders in our house for so long he is so desperate to be a builder with them and wants to help them with all of their jobs. He is also getting amazing at building his duplo and lego and is actually building houses and things now which I love. He has such an imagination, often having little conversations with his toys, or finding a belt and saying it is his superhero belt. He loves dressng up and lots of things are turned into hats, be it a builders hat, postmans hat, or something else!

Buzz lightyear often comes to the rescue of trains and cars falling off the side of some furniture, most cars are Lightning McQueen or other “Cars” cars, and most planes are Dusty Crophopper or Skipper from Planes. Because he is now of an age where he LOVES disney films. Not all, but most. He tends to get an obsession where he wants to watch one over and over and over and then I eventually persuade him to try another one and the obsession to that. Recently it was Aladdin, then Wall-E and then for a changewe started watching some dreamworks films, Madagascar and Madagascar 2. So the current obsession is Madagascar 2 and it does make me chuckle hearing him sing “I like to move it move it” hehe.

So our little man is stubborn, defiant and completely adorable, even while he is irritating. He goes off for a little sulk with his arms folded and then when we laugh he turns and laughs too. He doesn’t generally hold a grudge for long thankfully… though having said that some of his meltdowns have been epic lately! I just have to grit my teeth and bear it when it comes to his tantrums and focus on all the lovely times instead!

Little Miss at 11 months

Posted by Caroline Elliott

As I write this in many ways I can’t believe that it has nearly been a year and that our little lady is not far off being 1… but in other ways, I just look at her and is she really not 1 yet? She’s almost a fully fledged toddler now and it is hard to equate her with the teeny baby we brought home 11 months ago.

So anyway, what has she been up to?

Well, since her first steps a couple of weeks ago she has been walking. A lot! She can now get herself up to standing without having to pull up on anything (or anyone) which means she can just randomly start toddling about. She wants to walk constantly but she is not confident to walk unaided for more than about 10 steps as I write this… but that is increasing daily so it may well be more by the time I publish. The rest of the time we are walking loosely holding on to one hand – so it gives her the confidence but helps save her from too many nasty falls.

Because of course the downside of all this walking is the number of face plants she has done and the quantity of bumps and bruises. She can be absolutely fine and sturdy then suddenly she goes and while I like to think I have the reflexes of a cat, sometimes I just can’t quite catch her in time. Cue Mummy guilt as she has a mouthful of dirt and a grazed nose when I only looked up for a second to make sure her big brother was stopping at the road. Of course that was the second she got distracted by something and went face forwards. Silly Mummy.

Her little personality is coming through more and more now. I call her a diva a lot as she certainly likes to make sure we know when she isn’t happy about something, and I swear she is the loudest baby on the planet! But for the most part she is a happy little thing really. She is a bit of a Mummy’s girl at the moment though and can definitely be a little shy of strangers or people she doesn’t see quite so often but that’s just the age really isn’t it? Don’t believe this little lady can be a diva, what do these faces tell you??

Speaking of age, so far so good on the food front. By this age her big brother had suddenly turned fussy but so far she is still pretty good and eats practically everything we put in front of her – especially fruit, she adores all fruit so far, except watermelon bizarrely. It’s funny as in comparing her to her big brother, he will happily eat whenever you offer him food, and would probably eat all day… certain types of food at the very least. Whereas she will eat just about anything but only if she is hungry enough, turning her nose up to everything if she isn’t hungry enough. She also has to feed herself 99% of the time!

She had a bit of a funny stage where she was terrifed of the bath, and I literally mean terrified screaming her head off as soon as it was time to go in. It came from nowhere but honestly she was so unhappy. I tried getting in with her, tried different temps but nothing worked. So I decided to try and remind her water is fun with a play session in the garden which, as you can see, she absolutely adored. She crawled herself in and had a whale of a time.

She was still scared though until one day I was in the bathy with Monkey and she was so desperate to come in with us after standing outside watching us. It still took a few goes but eventually she sat on my lap while we had a bathy the 3 of us (I will spare you any photos of that) and since then she has been enjoying bathy time again, having so much fun splashing and playing. So who knows where it came from but at least she is happy in there again now.

Some of her favourite things (Other than walking). She loves books and being read to – her favourites at the moment include “Rainbow Rob” (a firm family fave) and “Whose nose?” She particularly loves it when I roar to her during this one, really gives her the giggles.

She loves dancing. For some time it has been Daddys go-to method for cheering her up when she is whining or being a diva and they have had so many happy times dancing around the living room to the tune of “I know you, I’ve walked with you once upon a dream…” from sleeping beauty. No idea why Daddy chooses that one everytime but maybe they will have a daddy-daughter dance to it at her wedding or something one day :). She also adores dancing by herself now she is on her feet more and I love her little bottom bouncing up and down. here’s a little clip, which isn’t amazing but you get the idea. It’s even better for us as we have a very similar clip of her big brother doing the exact same dance to that music table!!

She also loves being thrown in the air, and, random child that she is, loves being tipped upside down and sometimes it is a job getting her to stay right side up and she tips her head so far back! Funny but gorgeous child that she is 🙂

Sleepwise she is so good through the night and varies in the day sometimes she will have one nap, sometimes two. I keep thinking she is dropping the second nap then she will have a day when she sleeps for ages in the morning and afternoon. So again I need to take deep breaths and just go with it. Who needs a routine anyway? (me me me!) She sleeps in the oddest positions too. for example, I have no idea how she is comfy enough to sleep like this?

I could probably keep banging on and remembering more little details but will leave it there for now!

Siblings September 2015

Posted by Caroline Elliott

There is a lot of big changes going on here at the moment, both at home and on the blog, but one thing I really want to maintain is my monthly updates on our two siblings. I love seeing their relationship grow and change as they themselves grow and change and this is just such a lovely way to record that for the future.

LM adores Monkey and wants to be near him all the time. At the moment one of the way she shows her love (to anyone) is by grabbing faces and heads, so she is constantly trying to grab Monkey’s hair, ears, feet, anything she can get her hand on. In the bath last night she got so excited that they were sharing the bath together that she ran over, grabbed his ears and fell on his head! She thought it was hilarious and he was less than impressed.

Monkey gets so annoyed shouting “get off” and “keep away from me” and I have to explain why he can’t push her away and why he has to be a bit gentle. He’s also playing up quite a bit at the moment in general which I think is jealousy. LM is growing and getting more active and interesting, meaning she is taking more of our attention. She is coming on leaps and bounds and is walking more and more so obviously we are giving her a lot of praise too. As a result we have noticed Monkey seeking attention by being more defiant and pushing our buttons. Which makes life very difficult at times. He is also regressing a little and wants help to eat and dress and put his shoes on and it is difficult to choose between just going with it for an easy(ish) life, or trying to make him do what we know he is capable of doing.

He loves his little sister too though. Just this morning when he came downstairs, I was in the kitchen and LM in the new room. I called out a good morning but he saw his sister, immediately shouted “let’s go see LM” ran into the new room and gave his sister a cuddle. So cute! He loves making her laugh, especially at bathy time and now she is toddling about a bit he keeps saying what a “big girl” she is. He hates when she cries and tells her to be quiet but also at times pulls faces and baby talks to her as he knows it makes her smile.

So I guess it is a pretty normal sibling relationship, driving each other crazy but loving each other fiercely too. Here are some lovely shots of the gorgeous pair plaing together from over the last month.