'I missed you, Daddy Luke.'

I take out the phone to snap a pic of Arya
bouncing happily, and by the time the
shutter goes, she looks like she's about to
start talking in tongues.

This weekend was a bit of a thing.

Hanna brought Arya and Andrew over on Friday and we had dinner, then she went out with Kieran for the night. I gave Arya a bath, which was an unexpectedly painless experience. We had a little fussing as I rinsed the last of the shampoo out of her hair, but for the most part it went well. Then, while we were getting her milk, she turned and hugged me and said: "I missed you, Daddy Luke." I melted.

In the morning, we planned to take a bus to Tumble Tots. As usual, we mistimed a little and had to hustle her out of the door, which meant that we forgot her gloves. Then the bus didn't show up. After half an hour, our connection was no longer possible and, although Andrew had run back for the gloves, Arya was very cold. We decided to call it, and Arya immediately began screaming that she wanted the bus. Of course she did: The bus was going to take us to Tumble Tots and to see Mummy. She was utterly distraught, so I took her shopping to calm down and Andrew called Hanna, who swooped to the rescue and drove us to Tumble Tots in the nick of time. Big damn hero.

First run for the Rey dress-up.

Tumble Tots was great; Arya even danced like a good un. At home we played board games with some success, although Arya tore the board for one of them trying to fold it the wrong way. Interestingly, Room on the Broom (for 3 years and up) is still a bit of a stretch, but Go Go Dragons (4 years and up) fits a treat (although from a game design point of view has some flaws, not least of which is, as Daddy Andrew learned, that you can flat out lose in the set up phase.) Then she decided that Dr Princess Elsa Bear was too dirty (which is fair; (s)he has been slobbered on and subjected to lord knows what indignities in her threeish years of diligent service, so Dr Bear went to the salon on a delicates cycle and Arya cuddled Duck instead.

:)

Arya spent much of the afternoon, after Mummy headed off again, doing puzzles and watching Sarah and Duck with Daddy Andrew. I don't mind this; it's great to see her click with him, and I wasn't exactly left out in the cold. Saturday night, Arya wanted a book when we went to bed, so we sat down and red 'Frog and the Stranger' by fairy light, then she lay down very sweetly and went straight to sleep.

On Sunday, we went to the park. It was freezing cold, but Arya had a great time anyway. On the way back, I left her biking around the Harley Davidson green with Andrew while I went to shop, but they came and caught up with me after a short while, Arya running a little too fast and taking a spill. At home we had lunch then settled in for a quiet afternoon of Sarah and Duck, with the occasional Melody break.

Having got mud on her leggings,
she opted for a summery wardrobe.

When Mummy came back, Arya was quick to assume the duty of looking after Mummy's new beanie, Hans the lamb. Then she poured wanter over Mummy while Mummy had a bath. Dinner was half-homemade pizza (homemade sauce on bought pizza bases, plus toppings,) by special request of Arya, although we almost sent her to bed without any when she started wielding her hairclips as if they were a pair of scissors and tried to cut Daddy Andrew.

We went to bed and read 'Frog in Winter', and once more she went right off after that. I am pleased by this progress.