The Power of Sticker

I find it truly amazing that a little bit of shiny paper with some tack on the back has the ability to almost utterly control the behaviour of a 2&3/4 year old.

But it does. Even when the brain controlling the behaviour is half asleep, the voice still says "sticker", in a feeble and distracted manner.

Little Moo, bless her little cotton socks, has learned to climb out of her cot. Pitch black middle of the night or bright dawn, side all the way up or sitting on the bottom. Floods of tears or bright and bouncing. She's out.

Actually, to be fair, I kinda encouraged her. Showed her how and helped her a couple of times. I figured it was about time she was doing more than lying there waiting for us to come in in the morning.

Hm.

Well, it seemed a good idea at the time. And to be honest, I still think it was.

However, she's taken about five years off my life. Or at least the apparition that greeted me twice right outside our bedroom door at oh-dark thirty when I got up to go to the loo has. Or the one that appeared at the foot of our bed whispering "daddy....daddy". (Did I mention she's mastered bedroom door handles as well? Time to install doorknobs.)

Not on.

So one slightly tired morning I mentioned this little problem in passing to the excellent staff at the Welsh Nursery Of The Year (aka Marnie's Day Care). I got as far as "Not staying in -" when the lady said "Stickers! Stickers'll sort it." Yeah right, I thought.

After another couple of nights, Lil'Moo and I had a conversation, which ended in me promising her a sticker if she stayed in bed all night. I wasn't expecting much reaction, so the bright light that lit up the depths of her eyes and the "sticker" repeated rythmically as she drifted off to sleep kinda took me by surprise. OK, I thought. Well, we'll see.

Well, it didn't work out exactly from the get go. We had a bit of forgetfulness about the idea, and then about the time (it doesn't really make it better that she's asking for a sticker for staying in bed when she's standing at the bottom of our bed at what-the-hell-time-is-it?). And then a bit too much rigour in applying the idea, so that she lay in her cot screaming after a nightmare.

But gradually the idea's sunk in; she gets a sticker (and we get a massive grin and a bounce) each morning she kinda gets it right, and now she's pretty happy to be in her bed awake until we come in to get her - unless like last night, she has a bad dream and then the noiseless ghost appears again. But we can live with that.

The coda to all this? Advice from Day Care comes at a price. Daddy has to do a dance for the day care ladies each morning Lil'Moo gets a sticker. And given Marnie stomps in shoving her sticker in everyone's face yelling "STICKER!" whenever she gets one, there's no way of avoiding it. But if it means a peaceful night's sleep...

When I Grow Up, What Will I Be?

It's perhaps a little early to start thinking of Lil'Moo's long term future, but certain interests are (currently) strong in this one. These include:

• Trampolinist - Everywhere has to be bounced to (or on - speciality - the Moo-Slam!) by our little fizzy bottle of pop. Trampolines and beds just add extra height, although they do take the breath away when bouncing continuously for half an hour. Pretending to be a menagerie of animals while bouncing just adds to the respiratory problems.

• Assassin - A recently developed penchant for climbing up people's backs in the swimming pool and shoving their heads under water suggests a darker streak...

• Baker - Very keen on baking cakes and biscuits, which is great. As long as she actually manages to bake things rather than just eat all the raw ingredients.

• Climber - Anything, anywhere, any time, including people, faces, chairs, climbing frames, railings...

• There might be a touch of the mafia don in the mix too...

• ...and, surprise, surprise, there's shoes in there as well.

• Oh, and whatever she goes on to do, sounds like there'll be a bike involved. That's nothing to do with me, that's what she's told us. Every time a motorbike goes past. Bike and a hat, she says. So at least she's got the safety thing down. Sometimes.

But, according to the little lady herself, she's going to be - sorry, is - a boy.

Whatever else awaits her, I think there may be a shock waiting...

We're baaack (again) (maybe) (just don't count on it)

It's been a while, and I'd be surprised if any-one's reading this anymore, but maybe if we start writing again...well, it would be a start, wouldn't it? Anyway we will attempt to write more regularly.

So what have we been doing the in yawning chasm since the last time we wrote? Lots of stuff, really, seeing as it's been over a year. I'll try and fill in some of the more interesting stuff in the next few posts. A sort of Back to the Past in the Future, if you will.

But for the moment, a little on our trips around the UK this year:

• a (Glasgow) family holiday to North Wales (pics here). A week of Marnie being well-looked after, beautiful weather and visiting spectacular places like Prestatyn, Chester and Chester Zoo, Liverpool (much more impressive than we remember it), Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, Llangolen and the valleys, the Glassblobbery, Snowdon (on the mountain railway, of course) and Portmeirion (Much smaller than it appears on The Prisoner, very good camera work there, but what a place - that is what I call art on a grand scale)(pics), with a final visit to the sea at Rhyl (a downmarket Blackpool...)
• a week in Northumberland with friends (pics here), visiting Alnwick Castle, the peaceful Holy Island of Lindisfarne , the wonderful Cragside House and estate where Marnie got lift a mini (car) and ate in the fantastic Treehouse restaurant, which will now go down in history for those who were there.
• another week with the Ratagan family in West Wales (pics here) at St David's (if ever there was reason not to call a place a city just because it had a cathedral...) and the humbling Cathedral, Saundersfoot and Whitesands beaches (amongst many others this summer - South Wales is hooching with excellent beaches), Fishguard, Strumble Head and its ponies, Ramsey Island and the Boat trip, Tenby Dinosaur Park.

So, what with trips to Glasgow and London thrown into the mix as well, we've been about a bit this year. All this, work and raising a daughter too. How do we manage it, eh?

Of Galloping, Gates and Gurgles

Well it's been a while, but our excuse is that the Lil'Moo has been keeping us on our toes by being on hers. In the last month or so she's:

• started climbing stairs - about a minute for 13 stairs is probably not a bad time, including a couple of "ooh what's that" stops...
  
• picked up an amazing turn of crawl-speed - inclduing down the rough concrete garden path!
• been cruising like mad around the house - gates are now in place at the top of the stairs and between the front room and the living room to protect the glass cabinets and our sanity - they provide us protection from her
  
• discovered the joy of puddles
• begun walking forwards holding our hands
• started eyeing up the gate handles - at the moment she's too short to reach them, but when she can...well hopefully she'll have learned what not to touch by that point
• gurgling, clicking, squeaking and vowblerising like a demented Robbie the Robot - we think I won the first word competition, but I say it doesn't count until she know what it means. At the moment, everything is Dadadadada. Not so flattering when she's pointing at the toilet.

So, given all this recent development, she's due to move up a class at Day Care in June. She's doing wee visits at the moment to get her used to the idea, and there haven't been too many tears so far. She's also had the first round of MMR jabs on top of several other immunisations, which she takes very well. Us not so well, as at least one of them keeps her awake.

Other than the ususal work and looking after the house, we enjoyed a week in the Peak District with the Glasgow family before Easter, doing touristy things such as visiting Chatsworth House - if you want to visit a spectacular stately home that's run as these things should be, Chatsworth's the one to go for. It'll also take my knees a long tmie to forget the visit to Treak Cliff Cavern, carrying Marnie in a backpack...

On a lighter note, for those who know my taste in nibbles, you won't be surprised that I'm following the 2009 Salt & Vinegar World Cup with interest. I was, however, surprised to find there were other people with such a passion for S&V - I thought everyone was cheese and onion fans...

Oh, and if you're into CSI et al, we highly recommend The Mentalist. Imagine Derren Brown instead of John Nettles and you're there. Latest episode we saw put Jane up against a psychic with enjoyable but not predictable results.

Now prepping for a visit north, for a week's boating on the Caledonian Canal with the other side of the family. Who knows, maybe Marnie mightbe tempting enough for Nessie to make an appearance...Will let you know.

Now We Are One (and a Day)

So, Marnie has made it to her first birthday, well, just. Not that we ever doubted she would - though there were times we doubted we would.

She is developing a neat sense of timing, and fell asleep for a solid two hours 15 minutes before her guests arrived, and so only just made it to her own birthday party. I'm sure there's a saying about being late for your own..., well, maybe not.

In her defence, she hasn't been sleeping well, having yet another cough (someone once named day care centres as viral exchange programmes, and I'm beginning to agree), as well as four teeth now. (Two each top and bottom, front and centre, since you ask. And they are little chisels - no way are our fingers going near her mouth now!) so she really doesn't stand a chance of sleeping well at night. During the day is another matter, usually just as something exciting is about to happen.

But we had a pleasant time. And a useful test run of the toddler-proofness of the house. It isn't, the glass doors on the bookcase and the DVD cabinets being the most obvious. Oh, and the chairs which collapse when you sit on them.

And then this evening, the follow up to our last post. Yes, she's up, and oh boy, it really is beginning. The first steps. Well, a sideways shuffle, and a lot of leg waving. I'm told this is a significant milestone, otherwise, of course, I wouldn't mention it. At least she's learning the cardinal rule of always having three points of contact...



I think that's it for now. Is it not enough? OK. Some pictures will hopefully be forthcoming, courtesy of award winning photographer Rachel Thomas. Will let you know when they're on Flickr.

She's Up!

Well, we're in for it now. Lil'Moo managed to pull herself for the first time this week...only to promptly pole-axe backwards when the Carer couldn't reach her in time. Luckily another wee girl gave her a soft landing :~

So this is now her favourite pastime - pulling herself to standing - and falling on her butt. About 30 times tonight. Apparently it can be difficult for kids learning to stand to get back down again, well, safely at any rate, but she seems to manage OK. Maybe the nappies she's in give a bit more padding.

So now we really have to crack on with Moo-proofing.

On more fun fronts. I wonder whether Marnie will be 18 before she sees enough snow to recognise what it is? (It has been a while since we posted...) She certainly wasn't fussed about it this time - if I understood her facial expressions, it's too cold to play with and it tastes of nothing. So what use is it? Snowy gloves, though. They're fun! You get a reaction shoved in people's faces! (Assisted by Mum.)

She's having a bit of a growth spurt, getting longer and heavier. Her nursery is coming along, but we'll need to be quick as she's pretty much out of her crib now. She wakes up with the cloth surround covering her head, looking like a very small nun caught in the act of wrapping her head. Doesn't help she's taken to sleeping with her hands behind her head - I guess it helps her find her dummy which is usually under her somewhere.Very comfortable, I'm sure.

She is definately developing her own ways of dealing with the world. She had two run ins with an energetic wee boy she knows. First time, he pinches her dummy (while she's watching, nonplussed) and gives it back with encouragement from his Mum. Second time, a few days later, he's standing on a bench as she sits on it beside him. His dummy's hanging free. While he's distracted watching something over the back of the bench, she leans forward and very gently takes his dummy and sits there sucking it until it looks like he's going to move, when she lets go and then pulls a face of pure innocence over her face when he looks her. Twice.

I think we're going to have to watch those tendencies, but it is good to see she's dealing with things rather than just accepting them.

Found an interesting story about being careful how you discuss things with chidren. Blue Peter does it again.

A slightly mixed rugby weekend down here, the Welsh dream shattered, but the Scots finally win something reasonably convincingly.

And finally a piece of news which may be good, or may be a really bad idea. We'll have to wait 'til Easter to find out. Red Dwarf is returning for a two parter - where they return to Earth...

More pics when we get them off the computer that isn't working...and yes, I can hear the groans / laughter down here.

A Grand New Year to You

It's just struck me that, if I'm going to stick pictures of Marnie on t'web to satisfy demand, it might be an idea to let people know they're there...

So a quick post to let you know that there are some Christmas pics, and they are available on a new area of Flickr here. What I'll try and do is put all the new pics of Marnie here, and move 'old' ones to here. (If there can be such things as old pics of a ten month old...)

And, in case you were wondering, the last post was wishing you a Merry Christmas in Welsh. And no, I'm still not going to try pronouncing it!

Apart from that, everything's pretty good here now. We've pretty much recovered from the colds that were Marnie's gifts to us, which clobbered us just before Christmas the best laid plans and all that don't survive contact with a child.

We were a little put out by the joy with which Marnie greeted being back in day care; we're obviously not entertaining enough. On the plus side, they must be running her ragged as she's sleeping through the nights pretty well now.

So, a short post, but a longer one soon. Honest, guv. I'm off to write a presentation.

We hope this New year is a grand one to you all.