Her Two Dads

Makes me so happy.

This was another weekend without Mummy, thanks to the demands of work and study. Andrew brought a sleeping Arya to the house at about quarter to ten and I moved her into the bed, where she cuddled up to me after I turned in. Hanna and I have been musing that it may be most productive to let her sleep in with one of us for now, just to make sure she gets plenty of sleep.

In the morning she slept late, so we popped her in the pushchair and took her off to ballet. She woke up on the bus and sat on my lap being super chatty, but got all shy once we got to the studio. She told me that she didn't want to do ballet because she didn't want people to see her in her deer onsie, so we persuaded her to get changed before anyone saw it. She wasn't wild about the wanted me to come in with her, but left me at the door and seemed to settle in quickly enough. She certainly told us that she had a good time, and was happy enough to tuck up in the pushchair so that we could get the bus to Soham in good time (although we had to buy another ticket because I'd managed to lose the original one.)

Once we reached the school, Arya became fascinated that the door into the main classroom area was, for once, open instead of locked. Eventually we got her changed, however, and I took her across to the new M&S food shop over the way for snacks. She munched on carrots and humus and rice cakes, then went in to Tumble Tots on her own, and even agreed to try to use the toilet before we set off again. There was no teacup ride today, but we did a little shopping and had lunch in Ely while we waited for the bus back to Littleport. As usual, it was a very long 'morning' (lasting to about three o'clock,) and Arya was pretty beat by the time we got home, so we did puzzles and played board games, then watched a little TV until dinner time.

Play that funky music.

Dinner got a little fraught, as Arya insisted on eating with her fingers when we asked her to use a fork. It wasn't so much the fingers per se as the fact that she repeatedly and unapologetically refused even to listen to what we were saying. She kicked off because we woudln't allow her pudding, then when it was time to get ready for bed she shouted at Andrew and punched him. Now, she really only did this because she was extremely tired, so we tried to calm her down and get her into bed, and eventually she did say sorry, and settle, and didn't make a fuss about not having time for stories.

I wanted to make a fuss about the stories. I like the stories.

Sunday was a self-consciously quiet day. We chilled, watched some My Little Pony and even some PAW Patrol, and then gave Arya a bath. She was brilliant, letting me lean her back to wet and rinse her hair, washing herself and getting out in good time to get her dry and go out on her bike. After that we went to the shop and she talked us into buying her a My Little Pony magazine. Normally I have a firm line on this sort of thing, but she really got a lot of mileage out of the Halloween issue of same. It did bring home that I really need to work on my MLP voices.

We had pizza for dinner and she did well enough that we had no problems with going on to ice cream, and got ready to travel in plenty of time for an episode of Pajanimals. Not enough for two episodes, which upset her a little, but she quickly calmed down and curled up in the pushchair, intent on an early night falling asleep on the train, because - and recognising this was such a step forward - she was tired. We cuddled loads before she set off, calling out a cheery 'goodbye' as she went instead of wailing to be leaving, so that was amazing as well.

As much as she can be sassy and as wandering as her attention is, I'm really proud of the way that she's grown up, and of the little girl that my baby has turned into.

Loss and the Real Girl

Good dog.

Yesterday was Arya's taster day at King's Ely. It seems to have gone well and we're waiting now to hear if they want her. That all sort of fell by the wayside, however, as we got the news mid-afternoon that Hanna's dog Cleo had died.

When Hanna, who was utterly gutted(1), first explained this to Arya, reminding her of a story they read about a rabbit who goes away and his friends are sad, Arya was clearly upset for Mummy, and said as well that she wanted 'to look at Cleo always.' Although at first wary of the dogs, Arya has been increasingly confident with Cleo and her larger counterpart Bres(2), and very much looked forward to seeing them when visiting her grandparents, or when they have been visiting. I'm sure that she will miss them, although I'm not sure that the totality of it has sunk in yet.

At bedtime I explained that Mummy needed some time because she was sad, because Cleo was gone. Arya asked 'Is Cleo poorly.' I said that yes, she had been very poorly; so poorly that she had gone to sleep and never came back. This is actually the simple truth in Cleo's case, as she went under anaesthesia for an examination and the vet determined that there was just too much cancer damage to be able to wake her to anything but pain. Arya told me that she liked Cleo, because she was a small dog and she likes small dogs more than big dogs, and she would like a small dog like Skye(3).

I don't know if she entirely gets it still, but I'm loathe to go to the extent of getting a copy of Badger's Parting Gifts or, heaven help me, Goodbye Mog, not least because if she liked it I would be forced to lose my shit composure completely every bedtime for a month. Maybe next weekend we can read Frog and the Birdsong.

(1) I have no comparable experience, being much younger when our cats died of car-related symptoms, but I do know that we were so torn up we never had pets again.
(2) Cleo and Bres have been platonic lifemates for more than a decade, which is the real reason that Cleo still lived in Leeds. we worry greatly for Bres now he's on his own.
(3) From PAW Patrol, but Hanna and I are united in our opposition to a Cockapoo; I don't think any of us have the energy.

The Wild-Haired Dancer

Flump.

It's been a tough weekend this one. We had all three parents around, but Arya was determined that she wanted to sleep in with Mummy and Daddy Luke. This meant that, twice, I was woken up at four-thirty in the morning by Andrew bringing Arya through from her room. If she'd gone straight back to sleep, this would have been fine, but the truth is that there isn't the space in the bed anymore. She tries, bless her, but what usually happens is that I get forced to the edge of the bed, then she squiggles anyway and wakes Hanna, and then we're all getting pushed back and forth and no-one is getting sleep. We've reached a stage where Arya actually knows that she's tired, but I haven't yet convinced her that not trying to fit in with us is the answer.

Anyway, we dragged our carcasses out of bed on Saturday and, true to predictions, despite the fact that Hanna was here to drive we still ended up rushing to ballet. Andrew and I dashed in with her and got her changed, but feeling more pressure than there was, I sent her in with her hair loose, having shaken loosen from the bun I'd tied it in earlier (which was a thing of beauty, I tell you.) We had a nice chat with the other parents, commiserating with the mum from Virginia over her newly inaugurated President, until Arya came out, looking as if she'd had a great time. Obviously, this was a great advance on last week, so we paid for the half-term.

Easy rider.

After ballet Arya got a ride on the teacups, then we went shopping. We went to Sainsbury's particularly to get some more chocolate cereal for Arya, but they were out. Instead we picked up not-specifically-gluten-free Moana branded cereal, because Arya does love her some Disney(1). Then we headed to Tumble Tots, where she went in without a fuss but refused the yellow t-shirt; she said it was because it wasn't pink, and we think she may be reacting to being told she has to wear dark blue for school.

After that... Well, I'm going to be honest here. After that, we went home and crashed hard. We did take Arya out on her bike for a bit, and Hanna and Arya made some cookies before Hanna went out for the evening, but mostly we watched My Little Pony and mellowed out. It wasn't the best of times, but it was very nice having her snuggle up next to me on the sofa. Too much TV watching is bad, but I do wonder if we undervalue a little bit of quiet time.

On Sunday I was good for almost nothing, and probably a little better off than Hanna. Andrew was a trouper and put together a grand lunch, while Arya and I crashed on the sofa and Hanna passed out again in bed. We watched TV, ate chicken and then they went off home by way of the supermarket. Arya opted to go with them instead of waiting for me while they shopped, but I consider this a plus. I can't deny that it's flattering when she wants to stay with me, but I'd rather she was happy with any of us. Anyway, they're back this evening (Monday) for Arya's school taster day tomorrow, so expect another midweek Ersatz.

(1) Sadly, this seems to include The Little Mermaid, complete with its not-so-scary bad lessons.

The Midweek Ersatz

"I'm no Heifetz, but I get by."

As a bonus this week, I had a visit from Hanna and Arya to attend a school tour. They arrived on Monday night in time for dinner (chicken risotto) and although we finished late, Arya was out in record time and asleep by 8:30. I rule!

And then she woke up less than forty-five minutes later complaining of pain in her legs. Mummy cuddled her while we gave her some Calpol and then I lay with her while she went back to sleep. Hanna is concerned that Arya may have hypermobile joints and sometimes wake in pain because of that. She's certainly a very flexible girl, although I usually put that down to being three. Anyway, Hanna stayed in with Arya, so I slept on the sofa-bed in the living room.

On Tuesday we were up and at it bright and early. Well, I was, beginning with my discovery at four-thirty that we were far enough from the solstice that if I leave the sitting room windows open the light wakes me up at around, oh, four-thirty. I managed to get back to sleep for the ninety minutes until my alarm went off, then gave Hanna another ninety minutes, which left Not Enough Time(TM) to comfortably get Arya ready for the day; especially when she decided that she wanted to wear her pink tutu with her posh dress(1). In the end she went for the other posh dress, because it's a more generous fit, and accepted that the tutu might not work.

We arrived somewhat late thanks to a tricky bit of satnaving (the school has four sites(2) and gives one postcode.) Once there, Arya clung to our legs for a minute and then went haring off to explore on her own. She was up and down stairs, in and out of rooms and even sat down with the maths booster class. We had tea and they found her some gluten free biscuits, then she ran off to explore and found the library, where she got some books to read with us and then sat at the piano and showed a marvelous awareness of how the instrument is played, if not actually of how to play it. When the head of the nursery was free, she took us to look at that, as Arya may well be starting there soon. We booked a taster morning for her next week and then went to meet my parents for lunch.

This park is even colder than it looks.

We stopped briefly at the park, where it was very, very cold, then went to the Cutter Inn for a very good, very large and very filling lunch. Arya was off around the restaurant quite a bit, including running after Granny and Grandad to give them a goodbye hug, so we figured we'd shop and then head home. At the shop, Arya got into the toy section and found the PAW Patrol goodies, and I had to be tough with her and explain that we can't just buy everything, however much she wants it, but we could add it to the list to consider for birthday. Then we lost Hanna for a bit (she was in the toilet, but my phone didn't have enough signal to pick up her explanatory text,) and Arya got out of my sight around the clothes section and I panicked a little, but all was well that ended well. We shopped and headed home, where I watched Sarah & Duck and My Little Pony with Arya, while Hanna napped and then cooked.

We had beans and sausages on toast, because cooking anything more serious was just not happening.

It would have been nice to settle Arya and have a crack at finishing at least one episode of The 100, but Hanna was pretty wiped, so they headed off early. It was good to see them midweek, although exhausting, and it makes me ponder the future of this blog. Once Hanna and Arya are living with me, I suspect it will shift to moe or less daily posts, but each one significantly shorter than my current standard.

(1) We wanted to make a good impression. I was wearing my best shirt with combats and a cable-knit jumper, so didn't feel too able to criticise.
(2) We managed to avoid the playing fields, I think, but took in the rest.

On the Buses

While you're awwing, I would invite you to note that her feet are all over my
side of the bed.

Hanna was working this weekend, and when not working was on call in case a delivery became available. It did, she got it, and this is awesome, but it did mean we had to face the dreaded bus weekend.

Andrew brought Arya up on the train and I decanted her from the pushchair to my bed, figuring we'd go with that again as it meant Andrew could sleep in her room and we should all get a decent night's sleep.

I reckoned without the Coriolis effect, which as we all know causes children in the southern hemisphere to rotate clockwise while they sleep, and children in the northern hemisphere to rotate anticlockwise. It's a purely natural phenomenon, which is small comfort when you wake at three in the morning with your daughter slumbering peacefully with her toes wedged underneath you and forcing your spine to contort awkwardly. Still, I managed to get up in good time, and wake Arya up for actual breakfast. Then things got a little slower because Arya wanted to help with everything, but we made the bus (by the skin of our teeth) and got into ballet. There, Arya was skittish, apparently because she needed the toilet but didn't want to say, and once I'd got her changed and wanted to do her hair, she decided that she didn't want to do ballet, now or ever, although no we couldn't give the uniform to someone else.

In the end, I had to take her in and stay for half the lesson before being able to slip out, and she still came to the door to check I was right outside. Afterwards, she insisted on a proper change before leaving, but she was good about it and we managed to catch the bus to Soham handily. Unfortunately, not being able to leave the studio during the lesson meant that I hadn't got anything for snacks, so Andrew had to go up the road and find the only shop in Soham to buy what he could - Dairylea Dunkers, Quavers(1) and ham, plus a bottle of Ribena - so that Arya could eat and drink. Arya was somewhat distraught that the drinking fountain at the school was out of order, but went in to Tumble Tots like an absolute champ and asked for the toilet when she came out.

Basically, the thing about Saturday was that she was tired; she hadn't got to sleep until well past nine and then we woke her at about seven. This meant that she had little to work with between 'manic energy' and 'everything is terrible'. Bedtime was thus a hoot. She ate her mostly homemade(2) chicken korma beautifully, but then she began refusing to do her bedtime routine right up to the point that we had both told her that she was out of chances and she was going to sleep in her bed on her own. Cue tears, and... I feel kind of bad, because I know what was going on. She wasn't mucking about to be naughty, but because finishing up her prep meant going to bed and not being with Daddy and Daddy anymore. She wanted us to chase her; she wanted us to pay attention to her. We wanted her to go to bed and not be so tired in the morning; seriously, the difference after a couple of decent nights last week was astonishing.

"No selfies!"

Eventually we got her into bed. She struggled with sleep and eventually lost, but it was not an easy night, and when I went to bed she once more swung her feet over. I tried to move her and she half-woke to complain 'but I'm cosy'. I did what I could with the feet and mostly slept okay, but was only partly successful in letting her lie in as she woke to a leaky nappy, poor mite.

There ensued a grand old time as we tried to focus her on any one thing and she bounced around:

"I'm wet!"
"Well, let's get your shorts and nappy off and get you dressed, then..."
"Wait(3)! My morning vitamin!"
"How about we get you dressed first, or at least out of..."
"No, my morning vitamin!"

After we'd got her out of the nappy, then given her a vitamin, then got her dressed, then weathered a storm of tears, established that she was upset because Daddy Andrew had put her into the wrong pair of knickers (she'd handed him two from the box without further explanation,) persuaded her that asking properly would be better than wailing, changed her knickers because she'd asked nicely, then got her dressed again, it was time for bed.

Breakfast! I mean it was time for breakfast. It just felt like it was time for bed(4).

Sunday was an unashamedly lazy day. We sat out, played some Where's My Water? and watched My Little Pony. We had a big, latish lunch of pasta and cheese - over which we discussed the possibility of Arya making conversation as an attention getter, rather than rubbing cheese sauce on her clothes -and I saw them off at about half three with a care package of apples and rice cakes and Ribena, because I didn't want them to be travelling after it got seriously dark and cold. Arya tried to delay and ended up in tears. I wanted to cuddle her forever, and instead had to agree to look after her sticker book for her, promise to see her soon (she and Hanna will be over tonight for a school thing,) and slip Andrew the last of the jelly babies of courage.

Some time later, Hanna dropped me a line to ask me to give Andrew something to bring home and I realised that the plan had been to send them back after dinner to meet Hanna at the station.

(1) Not gluten free.
(2) Sauce was from a jar.
(3) "Wait" is one of her phrases of the moment. Another is "what in tarnation." Thanks for that one, My Little Pony.
(4) As a rule of thumb, the number of photos of Arya I manage to take is inversely proportional to how tired I am.

Arya and Midlife

Birthday!

So, after the long ersatz of Christmas, I was on my own for all of... thirty hours, before Hanna and Arya were back for my brithday, which Arya celebrated by waking up super early. Since I have literally no experience of planning such celebrations, my fortieth birthday involved a cinema trip (Ballerina, because Arya was with us), lunch at Wagamama's and a small, gluten free madeira cake. I have had worse.

Thursday morning was another early one. We went to soft play so that Arya could get her energy out while Hanna got some work done for her course. The big news is that Arya actively and unprompted offered to share one of her favourite pieces of equipment with a smaller girl. Then Arya took ages to go down in the evening and woke up screaming and clutching her nappy before midnight. We figured cystitis, since she doesn't drink anywhere near enough without a struggle, but got her to the out of hours where a very lovely doctor told us not to worry too much. As a result, by Friday morning we were wiped (although Arya seemed much more herself.)

Hanna went off to a game and left Arya and I to each other's company. I'm not going to lie, she probably watched more TV than is usual, but we also did puzzles, made cakes, and went out with her bike. She leaped at me several times and tried to lick my face for catching her (I worry that she has ambitions to become an uplifted canine rescue worker.) She also discovered my new headset and spent a while happily listening to the soundtrack of Moana. The next day we stuck to speakers, but put together a playlist on Amazon; possibly her first playlist, including lots of Frozen and Moana, as well as Regina Spektor's cover of 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps' and Ylvis' 'The Fox' (I failed to get video of her dancing to the last of these, although the still I took instead is still darling.)

What does the fox say?

On Sunday she wanted to take her bike and go looking for Mummy, and we did venture to the shop, which is a step outside her comfort zone (the car park behind the house.) Getting a bike around the shop is a pain and we ought to get a lock if we're going to do this a lot.

During Hanna's absence, I put Arya down in our bed and we slept side-by-side, each with our own duvet. She slept beautifully, and I wonder if that extra feeling that we're going to be there made the difference. That and having her Sarah & Duck bedding in place. On Sunday night she was less settled and woke up on Monday morning to ask if she could have Mummy next to her. When I say Monday morning, I mean four o'clock of course. I'm just glad I was well-rested from the preceding two days. On the upside, I'm more than ever confident that we can get a more settled pattern going once Hanna and Arya move in in a few months.

No idea that I'm about to almost drop her.

This morning she didn't want to leave, but needs must. Of course, she wouldn't have been awake if I hadn't fallen over while trying to pick her up off the sofa. I stumbled, slipped and managed to catch myself on one hand while holding her in the other arm and just managing not to knock her on anything. That got the adrenaline pumping, I can tell you.

This is a shorter blog post than usual, in part because it was a quiet weekend, and in part because I wrote so much not long ago for the Christmas entry. This should not be taken to imply that it was uneventful, or that the time spent with Arya did not feel well spent. In forty years this is far and away the most important, most rewarding thing I have ever done; and I was a teacher. She turns four in March and will be officially 1/10th my age, so we're very much at the start of a long and exciting journey. They say that life begins at 40, but mine kind of kicked off at 36.

The Fourth Noel

Christmassy Arya.

'Tis the season where I write up about a fortnight of Christmas ersatzery. I have notes and everything!

We began on the evening of the 22nd December, with the family arriving for a curry dinner and a major reworking of the living room. We moved the sofa back, tucked the table away and it made a big difference to the available space. Arya took forever to settle because she was excited. Like... really excited. With Mummy and both Daddies, and Christmas ahead, she was bouncing off the walls, but at last she did go to sleep, and so did we.

Mugging for the camera.

The 23rd was day one of Christmas prep. We hit Chiquito's for brunch and spent much of the day shopping. Arya was still excited, but kept it together apart from some distraction as she got more tired. By the time we got home she was bouncing off the walls, but after making a big fuss about her bath, she actually apologised for making a big fuss about her fussing. It was around this point that we realised that we had a lot of presents. We really tried not to, but we did, and not just from other people. As a result, we decided that we would expand Christmas Eve, so that Arya didn't just bury the early presents in wrapping paper. Dinner was a pizza floor party (but not, as Hanna suggested, floor pizza.) Arya was a bit down on Andrew most of the day, so it was nice to see her wanting to stick with him when he went to look for his bank card in the evening. She wanted to go to bed with Mummy.

On Christmas Eve we began in earnest, beginning with a few presents, of which the most popular was by a long way the Sarah & Duck bed linen set (or 'Sarah & Duck bed in Arya-speak.) We were prepping like we were expecting the apocalypse, not least because of Hanna's sudden craving for poultry after we'd ordered the lamb meant we had three meats to organise. According to the spreadsheet, which we totally had, Christmas Eve was for ham and chicken; lamb would be cooked 'live' on the day. There was also a duck to be cooked for the evening. In amongst all the cooking we played balloon catch and didn't really have a lunch, which was a mistake. Thus we ate heroic quantities of Jamie Oliver-inspired Christmas duck with the mother of all gravies. Arya actually made a grand fist of it, which is pretty impressive for such a rich meat.

Before bed, we cracked out the Christmas Eve bag and she drank hot chocolate with marshmallows from her new giraffe mug, which was the best thing ever. Then we looked at Google's Santa tracker(1) and watched The Snowman. Arya was pretty good with bed, although she kind of wanted to stay up for Santa (even though nursery had explained that he knows when you're sleeping.) We had stories - the last of the Advent books - and then she wanted Daddy Andrew to tag in.

What is it!?

And then at half-past midnight she was awake in tears and only Mummy would do, so I was in the living room in the morning when she came through (at 7.30) to see if Santa had been. Now, since Mummy and Daddy Andrew had put in a splendid hour's work putting together and wrapping her new Princess bike (from Santa) this was quite a moment for her. The actual opening was delayed until after breakfast, when she chained through her pile of gifts.

After that, we went out with the bike, and she showed growing confidence despite the circling helicopter parents. In the end we only came back because she needed the toilet, and Daddy Andrew took her into the church to use theirs on the way home. The priest came out after them, as service was ending, to make sure we hadn't missed the service by mistake and were aware of their schedule and 'messy church' times. He was very lovely, so we didn't drop the poly-agnostic-wiccan thing on him.

We spent the rest of the day in, including our first round of Lego Dimensions couch co-op. Arya showed her first delight in flying Voldemort(2) around, and a sharp awareness of the compulsive nature of the villainous character:

"Now he'll come and kill Batman."
"What! Why?" (I was playing Batman at the time.)
"It's what he does!"

Dinner was a great success, against all odds. Hanna eleventh-houred the pigs in blankets - which Arya then mainlined - and stuffing and it was glorious. After a big day, Arya opted for an early night, and then drove us all crazy not sleeping. It's not just that she doesn't, but that she doesn't sleep kind of on purpose. Basically, every time she's about to go she rubs at her eyes or kicks her legs or turns over or something to wake herself up. Getting her to sleep is basically a matter of persuading her to lie still and close her eyes for five minutes, but that is quite a struggle.

Specs.

On then to Boxing Day, when we went to visit Granny and Grandpa Slater. We began the day with a little more Lego and then a bath, although she rankled at Daddy Andrew's cold hands and we had to have words about talking to her parents if there's a problem instead of just screaming for another one. Anyway, we headed out to the Mill, where Daddy Andrew ate all the corn chips (she claims, although she made her own contribution well enough.) Dinner had crackers and funny faces, which went down a storm, and chocolate cake to follow.

In the afternoon we broke out the Marvel Storytelling Adventures and created a story. Arya mostly wanted to use the Hulk card and the emotion die, but at least understood that the Hulk can be angry because he's sad or sad because he's angry. After that we broke out the box of fun, which now contains the puzzle cars, wooden trains, a couple of model cars and a bunch of Lego. She spent ages pushing the cars around and explaining to me that the man in the racing car was sad until he got a lift in the red car, possibly because he didn't have a roof.

Towards the end of the day we changed her into her new deer onsie, and was delighted when Granny appeared to be quite taken in by her disguise. We loaded her up and drove home, and while she didn't really sleep in the car she went down quickly after we got her into bed.

The gang's all here.

On the 27th we - she and I - were up ahead of everyone else. We had breakfast and played half an hour of Lego(3), and as it had been hard to fit things in the day before we sat to work out the day's plan. I drew pictures of the bath and her bike and we agreed that she would do both of these in the morning and that she would like to go to the park in the afternoon if she got both of those done. She was much more reluctant on the bike, with none of the day one confidence. To try to work this out, when we finished we paused for a few minutes to show her how the pedals and the wheel work, so that she would understand what she was doing. The bath was also a bit of a struggle, at least until she was in. I suggested we listen to some music(4) while she bathed, which did the trick, and she enjoyed the fizzing of her Lush bath bear.

After lunch, we kept our side of the deal and Daddy and Daddy took her to park. It was getting dark, so it was a short stay, but she had fun and afterwards went to the tailors' with Andrew to get his coat mended. She settled in to watching PAW Patrol on her new tablet at home, and we lured her out of that to play some more Lego before dinner. Bed was another struggle; she was clingy and sleep-avoidant in the extreme. This was something of a pattern at this point.

But where is her water?

Anyway, on to the 28th, and Auntie Sam's arrival to whisk Andrew away for a day and a bit of work before the New Year. We watched all the Gruffalo films (including Stick Man, at last!) and then went out on the bike again. She was a little better, and very keen to see how it worked. She wasn't keen on the lunch venison, but ate lots of potatoes and then cleaned up on the blueberries, despite the being a little tart.

She was gutted when Andrew left, clinging to him and howling until mollified with ice cream, and even then ruing the exchange afterwards. She was more subdued after that, watching things quietly and playing Where's My Water?(5) on her tablet. All in all it was a quiet afternoon, except when she shouted greetings down the phone to my sister, and the evening was surprisingly easy. Arya was very tired and unusually willing to settle, especially if it meant keeping me close. I find it hard to fault her for wanting her family close, but it can make bedtimes hard.

It's also a bookcase, so that's about the best
thing ever.

Mummy promised Arya could sleep in with her if she went to sleep well, so we moved her through and in the morning she was disgruntled by the absence of her Sarah & Duck duvet. We had a long, easy morning of shopping in Ely and began to ease into a less festive mode of living. Perhaps the most impressive moment came when we encountered a pair of Pyrenees Mountain Dogs outside the Cycle Store (also toy shop and haberdasher) and Arya approached - after being told they were friendly - to pet them, without any obvious nerves and observing good petting etiquette. Taking to her bike with Mummy, Arya turned it around completely, chasing us around and laughing with glee as she did it. I wonder if she plays the baby a little more for her Daddies.

We had a good bath and a quiet dinner on the floor, and a decent bedtime. It took a while, but she was out by eight which I think was the earliest all holiday.

In the morning I was called in just past seven to retrieve Dolly from the floor. Arya tried to go back to sleep, and when she seemed upset she couldn't, I pointed out it was wakey time. She was super keen to go out on her bike. We suggested she wait and show Daddy Andrew how good she was getting once he got home, but she insisted on an early practice. We had a snack picnic for lunch and watched Pete's Dragon (the new one) several times over. We had some trouble when the gingerbread men came out and she decided that she needed to win things(6), but she apologised and told Mummy she wanted them both to win after all.

Cut-out princesses and Lego spaceships.

She was thrilled to see Daddy Andrew back and to show off her cycling. Then she told me Daddy Andrew had told her to get popcorn - he hadn't - and when I asked why she'd lied admitted 'Because I wanted it.' I guess that's honest at least.

Later, we broke out the Princess and Marvel Storytelling games and played them together, crafting a tale in which Gaston duped Flynn Rider and Captain America into trying to steal the Fairy Godmother's wand, ostensibly to restore Rapunzel's hair, while a Chitauri jacked Cap's ride and tried to nick the wand for himself. Cap ended up in a dance fight with Prince Philip, while Arya drove the story with her commitment to the emotion die.

Perhaps having a full house again got her excited, because she gave us quiet hell at bedtime, fighting sleep hard but without much fuss.

On the 31st we had bike practice with all three parents and she was loving it. She asked us to move through from the garages to the largely empty car park, where she rocked up and down the gentle slope many, many times. By this point she was showing a real joy in the activity that was wonderful to watch. After that she was keen to go to the library, and just so disappointed when it turned out to be closed (the website had said otherwise,) because that meant that she couldn't take her books back and get new ones. It was lovely, although she has now lost all trust in my ability to know when the library is open or not. To make it up to her, we went to the shop and bought apples and consolatory jelly babies.

When we got back, we rolled out pastry to make a load of mini pizza bases (like, 28 of them.) They were smaller than planned, because Arya insisted on using the pink pastry cutter instead of the orange. Then we broke out the storytelling adventures and discussed how the not-emotion dice could work, and the big stumbling block that you could tell a story about Cinderella being angry, despite the picture being happy. And then I fell asleep in my chair, which was a bit embarrassing.

Then we had a bath and a hairwash, and Mummy let her use her Christmas wand from Lush, so the water was gold and sparkly. She was really good about it, and after dinner she was very good at getting to bed and to sleep, although we were a little later than on the 29th.

I know it's probably poor parenting, but it's
just so adorable.

Now... we didn't get to bed by 9 on New Year's Eve, of course, so when Daddy Andrew brought Arya in to us at 6.30 I kind of wanted to kill him. Arya was wriggly and Hanna was shattered, so I took Arya to her room and we played with her off-brand ponies(7) for a while. I'm terrible at plaiting pony manes, but so it goes. We went into the living room for breakfast, then played some more and... Okay, hands up; I made a mistake. When she asked to play Lego I admit I jumped at doing something that was somewhat interactive but required little focus on my part and we played way too much of it as the start of a very lazy day. Arya went out on her bike with Andrew, and we watched PAW Patrol, a lot of Beat Bugs and The Last Dragonslayer. The latter was a little scary, but she made it through with cuddles.

She got a little upset when the TV went off, but was soon happy to come and sit with me and read Horton Hears a Who. She got that and Oh, The Places You'll Go! for Christmas and has been very taken with Dr Seuss. She ate well, but after dinner she was giggly and silly, stropping and messing around, and wouldn't go to sleep without a hand off.

Putting the tree away.

And so to the second, and the last day of our Christmas. Arya came in at 7.30, a more civilised hour, and I got her breakfast; toast and reheated sausages from the night before as we were out of her chocolate cereal. We had a quiet morning watching CBeebies, and then the PS4 was uninstalled and switched back with the BluRay player. At once the last DVD in started playing, so we watched The Snowman again, and then The Snowman and the Snowdog, which was a nice cap on the season. Then we took down the decorations and the tree and rearranged the living room before the family headed back to Ipswich. Hanna and Arya are back today (I write this on the 3rd) for my birthday tomorrow, but the house is so weirdly quiet.

(1) I thought that the numbers were off, and by a bit of triangulation discovered that we were in fact in the Gulf of Guinea, which was a hell of a thing to spring on us.
(2) Voldemort - or 'flying man' - is now on the list of things that she loves, along with her parents, PAW Patrol, carrots and the colour pink.
(3) Pre-setting the limit was a brainwave I failed to use any other time, which meant we somewhat overdid the Lego Dimensions in later days. I blame the exhaustion.
(4) The Moana soundtrack.
(5) A puzzle game in which you have to route water to feed a sewer-dwelling alligator's bath, without destroying the rubber ducks with bleach or acid. Arya is actually really good at it; she's also getting good at memory games and pinch-zooming.
(6) Speed of gingerbread man eating, I think.
(7) I think of them as First Person Possessive Micro-Equines.