When your child is THAT child

Little Owl was a very easy baby.  She didn't mind where I took her or when, she didn't mind crowds and fireworks, and equally would sit quietly during a church service.  I could walk out of the room at a playgroup and she wouldn't mind, I could take her for lunch and she would sit there for hours.  Hell, I even flew to India with her on my own!

But Little Owl isn't a baby any more.  Little Owl is a two year old.  At first that was fine, but something happened when she turned two-and-a-quarter. It was almost a Kevin the teenager moment, her going to bed one night all sweetness and light, waking up the next morning this fireball of energy!

Little Owl favourite thing to do now is to play with her friends.  The trouble is, they aren't always so excited.  They don't always want kisses, or hugs.  Little Owl doesn't understand this and a hug with a toddler who is trying to get away can result in them both wrestling on the floor.  A subtle turning of the head to avoid a kiss is no challenge for Little Owl who merely grabs the child by both ears enforcing a head turn until the kiss is achieved.  Little Owl's attempt to get a child to play with her on the swings could look to an outsider (or the other child's parent) that she just pushed them over.

Is my child now that child?  Is my child the one that other children don't want to play with?  Is my child the child that other parents don't want near their children?  Am I about to discover that my new found mummy friends, aren't going to stick about?  Am I going to miss out on seeing them because of they don't want my child there?

I'm usually a quite confident person, but Little Owl's behaviour is making me feel very vulnerable.  If I feel like this, then how do less confident mums feel?  Those who's children are perhaps deliberately hurting other children?

I have tried telling Little Owl off.  It doesn't really work.  She doesn't understand.  She is just having fun.  Sometimes I wonder if I am just saying the words to appease the other parent.  The parent of the toddler who is now crying... And suddenly I'm all insecure again.  What if my friends don't approve of how I am parenting Little Owl?  What if on their secret meet ups they all sit round discussing how terrible Little Owl is and how its all my fault for being a bad parent?

I know some people might read this and say "well they can't really be your friend if they treat you like that" but would you really choose to hang around with someone if you knew their kid was going to make your child cry?

My cheeky monkey!

And how can I stop Little Owl's behaviour?  Helicopter parenting has never been my style, but maybe I should start to prevent others kids getting hurt until Little Owl is past this phase?  I think mixing with bigger kids might help, but apart from sending her to nursery or playgroup, I'm not really sure where to find bigger kids!  And while nursery and/or playgroup are on the cards, I almost feel like this needs sorting first.  She is my child.  Her behaviour is my responsibility.  I can't pass that on to someone else.  I know many do.  I teach their children when they get to secondary school and its hard.  

So while I try to cling on to my friends, old and new, and try to prevent Little Owl from hurting anyone too bad, I have come up with a simple rule that Little Owl does understand: "no touching"

Now someone get me a gin and tonic and make it a large one!

A Gentle Approach to Toilet Training

Toilet training or potty training is something you see come up on facebook and twitter time and time again.  Its like its a magic art, and no one knows quite how its going to work out for them and so they keep asking questions until they come out on the other side.

Apparently there are books you can buy on the topic, strangely by people who haven't had kids.  And the general consensus is that you wait until some magic time, usually after their 3rd birthday, cancel all plans for the week and just take their nappies off.  If they have too many accidents (an unquantified amount), you go back to what you were doing before and try again in another month or two.

I'm writing this post because I would like parents to know there is another way, in fact I suspect there are many different approaches, this is ours.  Through out the whole process, we let Little Owl guide us, and show us when she was ready for the next stage.

I have been told that my Grandma used to sit me on a potty on her lap and read stories to me from a very young age.  And a friend's mum told me that (in her opinion) if you waited until a child could walk, you had left it too late!

Armed with this information, I introduced Little Owl to the potty at around 6 months.  Nothing major, I would just sit her on it when I did a nappy change, while I was tidying stuff away before putting the clean nappy on.  Not every time, just when I was at home and had time.  And more often then not, something would happen.

Little Owl is lucky enough to have a sink in her bedroom, and for a long long time that is where we used to bath her.  So I used to sit her on the potty next to the sink while I brushed her teeth and filled the sink.  Regularly we would have a potty to empty and so this became part of our night time 'routine' before putting her pjs on.  As we used cloth nappies, it really did make a difference to us!

This had become a habit by the time Little Owl turned one.  Shortly afterwards we spent the evening at my brothers house. His children are older and were past the potty stage but did have a toilet seat. With nothing to loose we put Little Owl on the toilet and, well she did what she needed to do!

Brilliant! We could cut out the middle man and pop Little Owl straight on the toilet! We rushed out and bought a toilet seat the very next day!

And that was it.  Little Owl was pretty much clean from that day, it helped that she had just learnt the sign for nappy and could tell us if she wanted to 'go' at another time.  We would have the odd 'accident' in her nappy, about once a month and this was usually linked in with teething.

The last accident happened when we were in India.  We were out shopping one evening, buying saris, and Little Owl became very distressed on my back.  I got her down from the sling and she was all hot and sweaty and obviously upset but I couldn't work out what was wrong.  It wasn't until we got home that night, after dinner, that I realised what had happened.  The poor little thing had been too embarrassed to tell me she had a full nappy.  She hasn't had an accident since.

Little Owl showed signs of being dry last summer too, but as a bum shuffler, I wasn't prepared to let her go nappy free - can you imagine the carpet burn?!!!

But I did invest in some TotsBots training pants.  I've read many comments on Facebook saying that training pants are not worth it and you should go straight to pants, and I agree for disposables as they are just as absorbent as normal disposables and so the only difference for the child is that you can pull them up.  However with cloth training pants they are much smaller than a nappy and only just hold one wee, meaning the child knows if they've gone and the parent does too.  I would use them at home if I was having a lazy day and could do regular potty stops. I took them camping last summer, and I took them to India to save me using too many disposables.  While in India, I noticed that, more often than not, they were dry, and Little Owl was using the toilet.

TotsBots training pants

So at half term, aged 21 months, we stopped using nappies at home during the day.  The potty has become very useful as Little Owl doesn't like to stop the activity she is doing to visit the toilet.   With only one or two accidents over the following 6 weeks, and reports from Little Owl's Grandparents that her nappies were always dry, I decided the Easter Holidays was the time to venture out without nappies.

It did mean that I needed a slightly bigger bag again as I now needed to take a toilet seat (I have a foldable one), spare pants and a pair of leggings with me - its not a lot really and it does fit in my handbag!

That was a month ago, we've only had one accident while not at home which I think it pretty good going.  Already Little Owl is happy to use a public toilet without a toilet seat, so my bag has got smaller again!  She even did her first alfresco wee this week as we were on the beach and a mile from the nearest loo!

The whole process has felt very natural for us.  It hasn't been stressful.  Little Owl hasn't had to 'learn' what to do, as she has always stayed one (or more) steps ahead of me.  She's still wearing nappies at night and currently there isn't sign of that stopping anytime soon, but I'm so glad that she is sleeping, that I don't want to risk that anyhow!

The Mummy Tag

The lovely Baked Potato Mummy has tagged me in the Mummy Tag.  The idea is for me to answer 20 questions about myself so that my readers can find out a little bit more about me!  I will in turn tag another blogger and so the tag continues.

1. Are you a Stay at Home Mum, or a Working Mum?
Working Mum, but only 2 days a week, term time only so it doesn't really count does it?
2. Would you have it any other way?
No I don't think I would.  Little Owl goes to my parents when I am working and she loves it and so do they.  Two days works really well for me too, it means I really appreciate the 3 days I get to be with Little Owl.
3. Do you co-sleep?
Yes.  Well we did.  Its one of those things that you say "oh I'd never do that" before you have kids but then realise that its one of the most natural things to do.  Little Owl was a great sleeper for the first month or two and then she quite simply stopped and the only way we would get any sleep was for her to be in our bed, and that's where she stayed until she was nearly 2 when someone flicked a switch and she suddenly started sleeping in her own bed all night.  It was magic and we still can't quite believe it.
4. What is your one must-have item for your baby?
A sling.  We've had various ones over the last two years, different types to suit different stages and situations, but I wouldn't be without. 
5. How many kids do you plan on having?
Oooh - this is an interesting one!  At least one more (fingers crossed), maybe two?
6. Date nights? How many do you have per month?
PER MONTH?!!!!  You're kidding right?!!!  Gosh, in the last two years, we have been to the cinema once and out to dinner once.  I think there might have been a couple of other nights out.  So um, that's once every 6 months.
7. Your child’s favourite show?
Anything on CBeebies really.  Pingu was a favourite for a while but think that was just because she could do a Pingu impression!  RaaRaa, Granny Murray anything really.
8. Name one thing you bought before you had the baby and never ended up using?
A breastfeeding scarf.  I totally bought it because I fell in love with the picture of the woman calmly and elegantly feeding her baby on their packaging.  When it came it stank (you know how pregnant noses are extra sensitive).  And then it turned out when I tried to use it, I wasn't as skinny or elegant as the woman in the photo and it was just a mess.  So I put it in a drawer and bought another less elegant scarf to hide my endless bulges of flesh that would make an escape bid while I try to get Little Owl to latch!
9. Your child’s favourite food?
Peas?  Maybe grapes?  I've never known her to turn down a sausage either... Not sure really as with limited speech she's unable to communicate the complete range!
10. How many cars does your family have?
Two.  A sensible one and a mini.
11. Weight gain, before pregnancy, during, after and now?
I lost over 7 stone before I fell pregnant, put most of it back on during pregnancy, and the rest while I was trying to establish breastfeeding.  Suspect I have put a bit more on now.  Oh well.
12. Dream holiday with your kids?
When Little Owl (and any future Owls) are older, I'd love to take them to Egypt and see the pyramids, Valley of the Kings etc.  I went in 2005 with Explore and it was amazing.  Its a trip that would capture the imagination of kids too.
13. Dream holiday without your kids?
Maldives?  I always see those little huts perched out over the sea and think wow!  We did consider it for our honeymoon but were told that the weather couldn't be guaranteed - you'd be gutted if you went and it was raining right?!
14. How has your life changed since having kids?
Really?  You need to ask?  How can you even begin to answer this question? Life has changed.  Lots.
16. Where do you shop for your kids?
I love shopping for Little Owl and try to find some different and unusual clothes in bright designs.  H&M is my favourite high street shop as the clothes are neat fitting while designed to fit over cloth nappies.  Actually, most of my favourite brands fit over cloth nappies, Frugi are so lovely and soft as are Me&i and both ethically and organically produced.  I've also become a bit of a fan of a Danish brand called Me Too although haven't found anywhere that stocks them yet!

17. Favourite make-up and skincare products?
Not really my thing, but I like BarryM eyeshadow, and Body Shop products.

18. Huggies or Pampers?
Neither.  I have used disposables, mainly when we've been on holiday, but generally we use cloth nappies - TotsBots are my favourites!
19. Have you always wanted kids?
Yes.  I was never in a rush but always assumed that it was something that would happen one day.
20. Best part of being a mum?
If you are a mum you don't need to ask!

Question 15 appears to have disappeared in the depths of time.  I have back tracked through the Mummy Tag and there is no sign of it!  If you happen to come across it, please send it back! 

So that's me - hope you have enjoyed the read.  I am tagging Mary-Kate from Mummy Memories, Ickle Pickle from The Little Life of Ickle Pickle and Louise from Tattooed Lady with a Baby.

Teaching to the Test

Testing and assessments start at birth with the APGAR test being carried out at just a minute old.

On Friday Little Owl will be assessed yet again by the Health Visitors.

The Health Visitors.

It hasn't been a happy relationship with the health visitors meaning that any interaction with them needs careful thought and planning.  This does not sit well with my normally happy go lucky nature!

For her Two Year assessment, we have been sent a form to fill in, with a covering letter explaining the form is American and they could help us if we are unfamiliar with the words!  Apparently the NHS has not paid for the full license allowing them to adapt the form for the UK.  I find this a little bit embarrassing.

We were sent the form 3 weeks prior to the appointment to allow us time to "complete the activities" with Little Owl.  So this is how we have found ourselves, at just 23 months old, teaching to the test!

Communication

To be honest, Little Owl has nailed this section, they don't seem to be concerned about the number of clear words that she is saying, as long as she is saying some, can understand instructions and is making 2 or 3 word sentences.  We'll be fine as long as they don't show her a picture of a cat and ask her what it is as Little Owl is still calling them "babbies".  Don't ask.

Actually, I thought I had this section nailed until I turned the page and found the last question:

"Does your child correctly use at least two words like 'me' 'I' 'mine' and 'you'?"

Little Owl very briefly said "mine", just for a couple of hours, and has said "me" ever since.  Does that count?  Can I tick the sometimes box?  Has Little Owl failed already?

Just to be on the safe side, Papa Owl and I have come up with a new game which basically involves us repeatedly pointing at each other and Little Owl and saying "you".  So far Little Owl has failed to say "you" but does think this game is "fun" which is her latest word and sign.

Gross Motor

Thanks to living in a Victorian terrace house, Little Owl can walk up and down the stairs. Running is not a problem either, and we've been actively encouraging jumping over the last few weeks and that's paid off.  So that just leaves the questions about kicking a ball... the only ball we could find was from her ball pit!

Kicking ball - tick!

Pity they don't ask about forward rolls... she can do them no problem!

Fine Motor
Spoon - tick!  Turning pages of a book - tick!  Flip switches - tick!  But really - are we meant to be encouraging that?


Time to dig out the bottle (to check turning motion), blocks or toys (to check ability to stack 7) and buttons or beads (to check ability to thread).

Turning - tick!  Cups - tick!  Buttons - nope.  She can pull them off ok but really isn't that interested in threading them.  Interestingly, the box suggests its an activity for 3-6 year olds.

Problem Solving
This section is quite complicated.

Drawing lines - tick. Pretending (such as using object as phone or putting boxes on head pretending its a hat) - tick!

Line up 4 objects in a row - why would she even want to?

The next one intrigues me "after a crumb or Cheerio is dropped into a small clear bottle does your child turn the bottle upside down to dump out the crumb or Cheerio?"  Crumb or Cheerio? Seriously?  Fine that its American but product placement?  That's just not British!

Little Owl did it by the way, I put a hair clip in the bottle used in the last section - she had to unscrew the lid before she could tip it upside down - real problem solving!

Does your child put things away where they belong?

Serious?  Do kids do this before they move out?  Not sure I can tick this one myself! (Pappa owl tells me she puts her toys away after a bath with him so maybe its just me!)

If your child wants something she cannot reach, does she find a chair or box to stand on to reach it?

My mother would have kittens if Little Owl did this!


I think Little Owl is a great little problem solver for example she worked out how to get into the bathroom before me, close the door and slide the bolt across.  That was a neat trick we only let her do once! 

Personal-Social
Drink from a cup - tick!  Copy us - tick! Eat with a fork - tick (but I'd like to know why eating with fork is a social skill when eating with a spoon is a fine motor skill). Feeds dolls and pushes them in pram - tick and tick!


"Does your child call herself 'I' or 'me' more often than her own name?"  Yes - but that's probably got more to do with 'Little Owl' being a bit of a mouthful - I reckon if we named her something like Mia she would be able to say it by now!

Overall
That concludes the main part of the questionnaire.  The end section has a few leading questions, encouraging the parents to highlight any concerns we may have about her development.

Do we have any concerns?  Well yeeess - the more we are hearing of Little Owls voice, the more we are having to come to terms with the fact that she sounds like the Spanish Interpreter from Blackadder!

Little Owl @ 23 months

Teeth

Still no sightings of those pesky back molars although they are giving Little Owl some gip!  She has however, had her first visit to the dentist!

Signs and Speech

Little Owl is still using signs to communicate, but as the words come through the signs are slowly dropping off - although she has started doing all the signs and actions along to songs now which is really cute!  And the words really are coming now - new this month is Grandma but Granddad is still a sign.  An "oooh" sound has been discovered which gives us "poo" and "bool" (ball).  "Peas" and "please" has been developed to give us "pee".  "Pear" and "bear" are new too.  Its like Little Owl is learning to spell at the same time as talk!   

What's new?

Well the new words might give you a clue - pee and poo are becoming quite dominant!  Little Owl has started wearing pants when we are at home!  I've even been brave a couple of times and taken her out in Totsbots training pants but only when I've known we won't be long!  Will she be dry by her birthday? Watch this space!

Something I have begun to notice with Little Owl is that she is beginning to get shy when meeting new people.  She'll hide behind my legs and take a while to make sure of things before coming out.  I guess I'm finding it strange as she has always been so confident, but until recently, when she met new people or went into a strange room, she would have always been in my arms.  Now she is more independent, she is looking for safety in me - it is very sweet!

Backwards Meal

When I imagined parenthood, I somehow thought that I was going to magically turn into a domestic goddess, with healthy home cooked meals made from fresh ingredients every night.

But life doesn't always work out like that.

Tonight, I arrived home with Little Owl at 6 o'clock from a long day at work. I was starving as my current school has lunch at 11:30 (and again at 1:30 but by that time you have eaten all your lunch and aren't really hungry anyway), and Little Owl was tired.

We try to eat at 6o'clock but that blatantly wasn't going to happen tonight, and with Papa Owl out at another meeting, I had to come up with something quick!

The trouble was that Little Owl was so tired and hungry, she just wanted Mummy cuddles.  Not very easy to do when you are trying to cook food.

This was where the backwards meal started...

I sat Little Owl at the table with a cup of milk, some flapjack and an orange.

 Meanwhile I was then able to put some fish fingers, a pizza and garlic in the oven - a bit random and not terribly healthy but it was all we had in the freezer that could be cooked from frozen in the shortest time!

Little Owl then said she wanted peas although she then said "no" when I got them out of the freezer. She pointed instead at the mixed veg.

By this time Little Owl had finished her pudding and was beginning to get restless, asking for cuddles again (it is so very cute when she signs cuddle).  So I popped the mixed veg in the microwave...

A second course of mixed veg begins...

Finally the food in the oven was finished and we could complete our meal as we should have begun!

The true reality of modern parenting!
 

Little Owl visits the dentist

Little Owl had her first visit to the dentist this week.  

She spent the morning practising showing  her teeth.

Little Owl wasn't booked in for a full appointment, 

she was accompanying me to mine to see what was happens.

But she also got a turn sitting in the chair.

Although she wasn't so keen on showing her teeth off!

Best of all....

Little Owl got a sticker for being a good girl!

Missing my baby

Last night I wasn't at home.

I had travelled 200 miles to go to a meeting

I had waved goodbye to Little Owl early in the morning

She thought I was just going to work as usual

She didn't know I wouldn't be home that night

Or the next day


Not til late

I had tried to tell her but at 22 months I'm not sure she understood

That Dada would be putting her to bed that night

I didn't know what I felt as I drove to work.

A little choked, a little teary, a little overwhelmed...

I got to work and was immediately busy

with teachers off sick and others on courses my day was full.

I was checking my phone at break and lunch - asking for photos, I was missing my baby already and I hadn't gone anywhere yet!

After school I drove, my challenge was to get on the M25 before the traffic built up too much

But this meant I was driving west, away from my baby.

A tightness in my chest, an anxious feeling...

all of which I coped with by eating.

I wasn't hungry but I could feel my anxious hand keep dipping into the bag of sweets...

Soon there was none left

This anxious feeling stayed until I heard that Little Owl was fast asleep in bed

I realised then that my anxiety was that she would get upset going to bed

and I wouldn't be there for her

As her mother, I should be there.

Always.

Date Night

 They don't happen often

Actually, in the 21 months that Little Owl has been with us, we've had two date nights.

Just two.

We've planned others, but illness has always meant they have been cancelled.

In the end we gave up!

But today we have another planned.

Date Night #3

 Although planned isn't exactly true...

Little Owl is spending the night at her Grandparents!  

The whole night!

It'll be the first time that I have spent a night away from her.

Meanwhile Papa Owl and I are going out to dinner!

Although we haven't booked anywhere yet.

I'm looking forward to it, especially us both being able to have a drink with the knowledge that we can sleep it off in the morning!

But having dropped Little Owl off with her Grandparents

and kissed her goodnight

I had a little tear in my eye

And felt the need for gin.

x

How do you eat yours?

Papa Owl treated Little Owl and I to a Sunday roast last night.  Its not something we do often but its a lovely treat when we do.  We even lit a fire so Little Owl and I could snuggle on the sofa while Papa Owl was busy cooking.

A perfect Sunday.

But Little Owl didn't seem so keen on her roast.

Don't want it!

She kept asking for something from the fridge.

We told her she would have to wait for us to finish dinner before she could have desert.

Little Owl still wanted something from the fridge.

Again we told her to wait.

But still Little Owl wanted something from the fridge.

Not quite the relaxing meal we had hoped for.

Eventually Papa Owl and I finished our plates.

We opened the fridge door to see what it was that Little Owl wanted.

Cheese?

No.

Milk?

No.

Cream?

No.

Other cheese?

No.

Yogurt?

No.

Ham?

No.

Eventually.....



At last - they understood!



I just want some mayo on my roast...

That's better! 

 Sprouts and mayo...

 the way it should be!

Little Owl finished her entire plate!

TinyTalk Baby Signing

I've always had an interest in Sign Language ever since the Comic Relief fundraising pack in 1989 included a guide to some basic signs and a joke of course - what's white and goes up?   Stupid Snow!

I started going to TinyTalk with Little Owl when she was just 4 months old.  It was September last year and with the new term I was trying out several different classes to see what would suit us.

There was many reasons why I loved the TinyTalk classes so much, here are just a few:

• Lisa - the amazing teacher who can sing beautifully, entertain the babies and really knows her stuff!
• It gave me something to think about.  It is true that maternity leave can turn your brain to mush.  It wasn't much but I challenged myself to learn the signs each week, Lisa gave us 'homework' which was a reminder of the signs we had learnt that week.  I would make sure I knew them before I left each week, then would practise them at home!
• You get a cup of tea!  This is always a winner with Mums!  When the singing and signing part of the class is over, Lisa would make everyone a cuppa and then play with the babies so the Mum's could drink it in peace - perfect!
• Little Owl just loves the classes!  From the singing to the shakers, Little Owl just took everything in - but mainly it was her love of Lisa.  Little Owl would often do 'firsts' at TinyTalk, most notably was the first time she sat without support.

We made some great friends and decided that even if Little Owl never used sign language to communicate with us, that the classes were well worth going to!  The babies even got to dress up at Christmas!



Christmas Friends

It was over the Christmas break, aged 8 months, that Little Owl made her first sign - "more".  This was of course to do with food, once she realised she could request more there was no stopping her! 





First Signs

As well as learning signs, TinyTalk helped me focus on my conversations with Little Owl.  Sure I would natter away to her all day and she enjoyed to hear me talk, but as I tried to fit the signs that I had learnt into my nattering I found it gave me focus.  I would no longer say something like "its lunch time, what shall we have?" as that didn't include any signs I knew, so instead I would say "its lunch time, what food shall we have to eat?".  I found that Little Owl would respond better if I signed as well, for instanced if I signed and said that I was going to the toilet, she wouldn't mind me leaving the room.

Since Little Owl turned one, there has been an explosion of signs!  Some are really useful - milk, food and nappy for starters!  Others are instructions for us to sing certain songs - rabbit for Peter Rabbit, swimming for 3 Little Ducks and hat for Dingle Dangle Scarecrow. Little Owl can be very demanding too - its hard so say no when she asks so clearly for cheese!  And then there are the Mummy pleasing signs - please, thank you and sorry. 

I love that Little Owl can now communicate with me but it also makes things easier when she is with Grandma and Granddad as she can tell them when she is hungry or needs her nappy changing.

I was very proud of my little signer last week when she received her certificate for knowing 25 signs!

25 Signs

WE LOVE TINYTALK





All by myself....

...don't wanna be all by myself... (imagining scene from Bridget Jones in my head...)

Papa Owl and I are both teachers which has the wonderful added bonus that we have had the last 5 weeks together, spending time with Little Owl.  We have shared everything, which made tonight, when Papa Owl had to go out, a bit of a shock to the system!

It all started to go wrong with dinner.

I gave Little Owl some pencils to play with while I cooked the well known dish Beans on Toast!  Little Owl thought the best way to play with pencils was to throw them on the floor and I discovered that we had no bread, Beans on Toast became Beans on Beans!

The next challenge was the bath, normally Papa Owl's domain, but I was ahead of the game - or so I thought.  Our water pressure is practically non-existent and so I knew the trick of running the cold water while Little Owl was on the loo...  apparently the water pressure has improved and I had a foot of cold water in the bath!

It was while I was washing Little Owl's hair that I realised that I hadn't got her bottle, unable to leave her in the bath or anywhere nearby we both headed back downstairs to the kitchen - could I find a clean bottle?  Could I heck!

OK, so these weren't the biggest disasters and luckily the rest of bedtime went quite smoothly but I am getting quite nervous about the start of term!  We have a week left of Papa Owl at home, then its evenings and weekends only until Christmas.  However I'm quite looking forward to spending more time with Little Owl, just the two of us - I even have a little road trip planned!

Little Owl is a Toddler!

Slow and unsteady, nearly 3 months after her first steps, Little Owl is toddling!

The start of the next adventure...

Play Days

Today we took a trip to the park.

We didn't know what to expect, we thought we might be there for an hour, perhaps longer if we bumped into someone we knew. 

What we saw was amazing!  An entire field absolutely jam packed with activities.  They really did cover all age ranges, and while I focused mainly on things that Little Owl could take part in there really was children climbing trees!

We started by playing in the sand

we thought it would be cleaner 
than playing with the mud



but then Little Owl found the water!



There were boxes for children to paint (and hide in)

Or the chance to make your own boxes
with hammers and saws!

I think this was for painting
but we didn't see any paper!


There really was a lot to see and do!  The park was packed with children of all ages which felt a little over whelming with Little Owl at times so we headed to the fenced off area that was being staffed by the Children's Centre especially for 0-5 year olds.  There was a buggy park right next to it so there was no risk of little fingers being run over, and two adults from the Children's Centre stood there making sure no little ones left without their adults!  Inside there was loads of toys for the kids to play with, and a gazebo in the corner with a few seats and rugs for those mummies who were breastfeeding - they really had thought of everything!

There were toys to climb on...

and toys to ride on!



Places to hide....

and places to get messy!

Did I mention getting messy?



In fact there was so much to do that Little Owl
just didn't know what to do next!

In the end we spent nearly 4 hours in the park!  We never expected to find so much to do and all for free!  Thank you so much Hastings Borough Council and Hastings & St Leonards Children's Centres - can't wait for the Play Days next year!

I'll walk when I'm ready Mummy... and not before!

Little Owl is a true bum shuffler!  She places both feet together and makes a kind of scooping action, lifting her bum and bouncing forward!  Its a bit like yogic flying and sometimes she bounces so high, she looks like she could stand!  The girl must have abs of steel!

The bum shuffling has worked well for her - it means she can see where she is going and can carry things too!  While all her crawling friends had to stop moving and sit up to see all the sparkly things under the parachute, Little Owl could bounce along taking it all in and exploring everything there was to see.

Distance isn't a problem either - on a camping trip at the beginning of June, Little Owl was happy to bounce across a field in order to follow the other children.  On that same trip we bought her a pair of wellies (a size too big) to protect her feet if she did try any walking.  At 13 months she was happy to have a go if you held her hand. 

The wellies and the bumpy ground must have given her some confidence as the evening we returned from camp, Little Owl took her first tentative solo steps!

That was over 10 weeks ago!  Progress since then... well...

The week Little Owl turned 15 months, she learnt to crawl!  We thought that stage had been completely bypassed but no, after refusing tummy time since she learnt to roll, Little Owl has spent the last few weeks practising the art of crawling.  Its fascinating to watch her perfect the method, and when she chooses to crawl or when she chooses to bum shuffle. Crawling is definitely used for getting under things.  Crawling also appears to be the movement of choice to get around corners and to see what is happening but as soon as she has line of sight - its back on the bum! 

While I'm impatient for her to get up and walk, I know I will miss the bum shuffle which has become so much a part of her character.  So for now, I shall sit back and enjoy this phase, no longer a baby but not yet a toddler - she is a boddler!

Climbing Adventures

When you find out you are expecting your first child, you start imagining how family life will be together, and what adventures you will get up to.  For Papa Owl this meant climbing, his greatest passion.

Despite my best efforts, Papa Owl caught on to the fact that I was never going to be a climber shortly after we started dating.  He had been curious when I insisted on wearing my sunglasses, a cunning plan on my part to hide the tears as my feet left the ground and I found myself stuck and alone halfway up a cliff face! Ok - so I was only 5 foot off the ground but try telling that to my quivering knees!

After that, it was agreed that my only role in climbing would be to sit at the bottom on a picnic blanket, book in hand, maybe occasionally being asked to hold the end of a rope.I also agreed that any children we had would be encouraged to climb - I'm happy for this - I know I'm a complete wuss but it doesn't mean I want my kids to be (in fact I want to positively train them to catch spiders)!

Papa Owl did some research and discovered that the smallest climbing harnesses fits from age two.  I knew that meant from next year we would be going on regular climbing trips, plenty of time for me to stock up on books and sunscreen!

However, we had a preview this week as a visiting relative fancied a go at climbing.  Picnic blanket in hand we set off for Harrisons Rocks - a local place known for its climbing.

Hidden amongst the trees, we set up camp and Papa Owl set up the ropes. Little Owl played in the sand at the bottom, and mainly ate her picnic and waved at passers by!  Little Owl is not yet walking on her own beyond a few steps, and she only discovered crawling last week (although is a master of the bum shuffle).  This didn't stop Papa Owl taking her over to a large slab of rock and helping her clamber all over it. The grin on Little Owl's face could only be matched by that on Papa Owl's face - I think his dreams are coming true!

Yes, I can see that I am going to be spending a lot of time sat on a picnic blanket...

An introduction...

So here I am, my first blog and I’m not really sure why I am here.  I have been fascinated by the blogs I have read over the last year, mainly if not all parenting ones, I guess I am generally a nosy rosy!  Laughing and crying alongside many other parents, sharing the complete wonder that is parenthood.  I began to feel like I was on the outside looking in, enjoying the jokes but not quite part of the party, but I couldn’t write a blog, I mean, I only just scrapped my GCSE in English, and besides – my life is nowhere near as interesting as all these other parents – is it?  OK, so I don’t have twins (a lot of parenting blogs are written by those with twins), but most of the other blogs are written by regular folk, and it’s their writing that makes their lives sound so much more interesting than mine.  Well I can do that – I’ve always felt only boring people are bored and life is what you make of it, so I’m now going to make something of it in a very public way!

In many many ways I’m in the most stable period of my life – I am very happily married to Papa Owl, we’ve been together for 7 years, married for the last two of those and it’s great!  We bought a house just over two years ago which we planned to make our home and where we would bring up our family, so we were delighted a year later when Little Owl, our beautiful daughter, popped into our world.  Motherhood is everything I imagined and so much more!  I’ve had plenty of adventures in my life time and always thought about having a family when I had ‘settled down’ a bit and wanted a quieter life.  Nothing could have prepared me for the adventure of motherhood – the biggest and best yet!

It all sounds bliss, but life isn’t all that stable at the moment.  Our house is undergoing the slow process of renovation, and I don’t just mean a lick of paint.  Serious works have been done on this place, and there’s plenty more to follow.  After two years, we still don’t have a living room (but we’re so close) and are using one of the bedrooms for that purpose. 

As for me, I’ve just quit my job of 7 years as a secondary school maths teacher, and really don’t know what I’m going to do next.  Not sure I am made of the right stuff to be a Stay At Home Mum, housework has never been my strong point!  I would love to be a Work At Home Mum but have no great business ideas.  Papa Owl bought me a sewing machine last Christmas and I dream of making things good enough to sell, but that is only a dream.  Meanwhile the mortgage needs paying, so I need to get a ‘proper’ job!