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.

Nadolig Llawen!

And no, I'm not going to give a pronunciation guide. If you thought Gaelic was ... different ... OK, let's leave it at that!

Anyway, it's Christmas Evening, Lil'Moo's out for the count, and Christine's cooking up a storm in the kitchen, so it's time to kick back with the Wychwood Plum Duff and report on Lil'Moo's first Christmas...

Really started a couple of weeks ago wen she met Santa at Day Care. She handled the idea of sitting on the knee of a strange man in dressed all in red really well, the jaw only hitting the floor when she got a present - and that was only to make sure she could fit it in her mouth for a good tasting. (She started teething a couple of months ago, so everything but everything goes in there for a good dribble and rub.)

Next up was C Eve, when we all went to Llandaff Cathedral for the Festal Service of Nine Lessons and Carols. A special treat, on two counts - first, we were seated in the Lady Chapel, where the choir processes from, and therefore where the solo starting the whole thing is sung from, and second, because Lil'Moo got to play with anything she wanted to keep her quiet - by that time all she wanted to do was sleep, so glasses, button, hymn sheets, everything was fair game to keep the noise down. But we made it all the way through, and there's something very John Masefield about hearing a Welsh cathedral choir at Christmas.

Then was last night, the first night she's really given trouble in going to sleep - it's quite impressive that a nine month old already has the idea that Christmas Eve might be an exciting time...

However, she did sleep through to 8 am, so we've still got the trick of the stocking at the end of the bed to deflect the 4am start.

She thought it was just another day, until about 30 seconds after she flew through the curtain to the living room and clocked the tree (which went up after she went to bed) and all the presents. Cue three hours (interupted for breakfast) of wripping, wrapping and chewing. To be fair, presents got as much attention as paper and boxes, and everything went in her mouth!

The day then disappeared somewhere, between feeding, sleeping and playing; we did manage to get out for a walk after lunch, but we've delayed our dinner, Doctor Who and Wallace and Gromit until we have a little quiet...here's hoping the programmes are up to the goose dinner...

Whatever you're up to, we wish you a Merry Christmas, and we promise Santa's Little Helpers will be more organised and on time next year!

What Might Have Been

What can one say? How close can you come to beating the world champions but not actually do it? This would have been a famous victory, if two out of three missed penalties had gone over, or if one of those other efforts had given a try. But you get used to the might-have-beens as a fan of Scottish Rugby. Does make the games more exciting though. It must be boring being an All Black and expecting to win all the time.

Marnie certainly enjoyed the match, getting thrown about when Nathan Hines finally scored. Probably a good thing for her Scotland didn't win!

She's taken to growling and ARRRing like an octogenarian pirate, though it's a little pitiful at the moment as she's starting another cold which is taking her voice. So instead of her usual range of dulcet tones, there's a barrage of effort accompanied by a collection of grunts and squeaks like a church organ with a bad attack of field mice. And a flashing smile and occasional single tear for effect.

The roof appears to be holding well, the rooms are drying out nicely, and we're now on the hunt for a plasterer who will actually tum up to look at the walls and tell us what needs doing. Then Marnie can get on with sleeping in the fantastic cot / bed / sofa Dad made her. The fact that it's not in our room has nothing to do with it!

On a final note, if you've a fan of clever, pun driven comedy, I highly recommend Another Case of Milton Jones, which is back on BBC Radio 4 on Monday. Not sure if the downloads work outside the UK, but give it a try. It's some of the most entertaining stuff I've heard in a long time - but people tell me I have an odd sense of humour...

I'd also recommend Fags, Mags and Bags. Corner shop as found nowhere else but Glasgow. Ah, it takes me back... "Do you want your Tiger Tokens?"

About Time Too...

Apologies for the interruption to our (ir)regular service. It's been one thing after another for the last few months - holidays, visitors, roofs, cars, building work, with Marnie growing and changing (and deploying her Time Absorption Field* amongst all of it.

I won't make this a long post, but thought I'd better get something up to let you know we're all OK, just finding there's only 24 hours in a day when you need about 37.

Marnie's started Day Care since Christine went back to work in September. She's absolutely loving it - painting and making pictures, babbling and playing so much she doesn't sleep too much! In fact she's seems to be enjoying herself there so much we suspect she's a bit bored at home - I'm sure she'd mark our report card must try harder.

We were warned, and it did happen, that when she started at Day Care she'd pick up colds and sniffles for a few weeks, and true enough, she's had a terriffic cold / cough for quite a few weeks, which thankfully seems to be clearing. But trooper that she is, she never let it get in the way of finding fun, just sleep. So she'll crash out at night only to start coughing hard from about 02:00... As she's still sleeping in our room, that doesn't do much for our sleep patterns, and I think we're both just a bit run down.

And she's still sleeping in our room 'cos hers has a damp problem. But we've now had part of the roof rebuilt, so hopefully the multiple problems built in to our roof and the gulley to next door by bad workmanship have been rectified and we can start drying out what will be the nursery and the living room. Redecoration activities should take up most free time in the run up to Christmas.

On happier notes, Marnie is now sitting up quite happily and steadily, babbling like mad, dribbling like Rooney on a plumber's course, communicating fairly clearly (whining like a little puppy when she's not happy, smiling and laughing most of the time), trying to stand, performing vanishing tricks on bottles of milk (I bet she'd give you a run for your money over a timed pint, Neil, although I'm not sure what beer would taste like from a baby's bottle...) and bowls of real foods and scarily quickly figuring out how all her toys work.

Not much apart from the home stuff to report, except I am keenly following the US election, and yes, I probably will be up late on Tuesday. I have to admit to finding these a little strange, but definately skillful. Oh yes, and going with Chantal to see the Cardiff Blues defeat Gloucester in the Millenium Stadium was quite something, especially as a victory wasn't expected. Couldn't speak clearly for a few days afterwards. The Stewart Voice does come in handy when trying to fill the Stadium...

I'll post some more pictures on Flickr soon, and we'll get back to posting more regularly. Plenty more news to pass on, but must go and do the housekeeping. Those nappies don't wash themselves. Unfortunately.

(*Time Absorption Field - I'm sure it's not unique to Marnie, but she seems to have come equipped with a Field Within Which Time Disappears. Proximity doesn't seem to be important, nor activity - you don't have to be doing anything with her or near her for time to just evaporate. Given most parents lament about how the time just flies past, and wish they'd done more while the kids were young, I guess children come with this as a common 'feature'.)