Dubstep Giraffes and Other Strangeness

"Is that beard real?"(1)

This weekend, there were giraffes, both regular and dubstep.

We began as normal with Hanna and Andrew arriving with Arya, having texted me their ETA and the message not getting to me because my flat is a mobile reception blackspot. Thus, I did not have dinner ready and had to race to do that, then get Arya into bed and to sleep, which took quite some time and an emergency mummy cuddle to achieve.

On Saturday morning, at about 2.30, Arya woke up and wanted Mummy. I ended up on the sofa, Hanna barely slept, and we all slept in in the morning and were in a terrible rush to get up and out and about. Ballet first, then Tumble Tots, after which we changed Arya into her princess dress (and man, that Anna dress has done sterling service since Hanna got it for her. Like... at least a year and it still fits nicely. Anna dress, we salute you) and headed for Colchester Zoo, more or less via Ipswich. We were all so tired that we almost called it, but we'd bought tickets and Arya had told all her friends she'd be going.

It was exhausting. It was occasionally frustrating. But I'm glad we did it.

As zoo visits go, it might not tick all the usual boxes. We didn't see a lot of animals, and many of them only in passing, but on this occasion that wasn't the point. Our first stop was to the giraffes, for Arya to feed them. This was almost a total bust, as of the two giraffes that came into the feeding pen, one was shy and the other didn't want to eat without his friend, but they got their nerve up and took the leaves, and Arya was very happy with that.

My photo game was not strong; I blame cold fingers.

After that, we fed ourselves and Arya ran around one of the playgrounds, then we wandered back to the far end of the zoo to visit Santa. We went past a reindeer stable en route, which Arya was quite taken with, and she loved Santa's grotto, running back and forth, looking at the vignettes and very politely asking Mrs Claus for another marshmallow (that being the only gluten free option.) The virtual sleigh ride just seemed to baffle her, however, and by the time we reached Santa she was flagging and back to being really shy (although she liked her present; a slightly-too-young puzzle... with a giraffe on it(2).) Mind you, she was wary of Santa the last time she visited one, so she might just not trust big white beards.

Arya is far right, looking overwhelmed.

We spent a little time at the indoor softplay area, but Arya got lost and couldn't find her way out, then fell over while Mummy was trying to find her way in. That was a bit traumatic. Then we had some dinner and went to the shop, where Arya found a pair of My Little Pony beanies that she instantly adored, and a flamingo for Daddy Andrew's Christmas present, which I had to hide up my jumper after we bought it, giving me what Arya tactfully called a 'fat flamingo belly'. Thanks, kiddo.

By this point, it was clear that the pantomime which began at seven was right out, but we stayed for the lights. Initially just some swinging spotlights and blinking fairy lights, these kicked it up a notch when the giraffe statue started to flash and pulse in time to the dubstep carols. Arya loved this, of course, but nonetheless decided that she wanted to go home now, and this felt fair. She conked out in the car and so did I, and when we got home we put her to bed.

Hat selfie.

In the morning she came through to Mummy at about eight while I was creeping about trying to get breakfast ready. She complained of an owy belly and wanted to get dressed, but when we asked if she woudl try to use the toilet she fell asleep again while protesting that she didn't need to. Then she woke up and had cereal and a banana, then more cereal, and in the end didn't eat much of her sausage, egg, beans and bacon at all(3). Once we'd eaten - as per usual, much later than planned - they were off once again, as Arya's best friend Cory(4) was having his birthday party.

So cool.

Thus Sunday was unusually solo; restful, but a bit melancholy. Apparently she was asking to come back to my place on Sunday evening, which is good to know.

Saturday was a long, long day, but a good one, even if I spent most of it without my glasses(5). We were all pretty wiped, but a fine time was had. Giraffes were fed, and Arya even got close to the goats without panicking, which is a huge step forward for someone who not long ago fled the mere presence of a goat.

I can't believe I don't have a picture of the dubstep giraffe at all. Hopefully Hanna or Andrew will have one.

(1) Not an actual quote.
(2) I'm not sure if it's really been clear from this blog, but she loves giraffes. They're her favourite; even more than unicorns and PAW Patrol.
(3) So that was lunch.
(4) He of the 'PAW Patrol is just for boys' claim.
(5) Because I forgot them, not because Arya wanted to borrow my prescription shades.

Joy and Madness

Oooo.

So, we had a bit of an adventure this weekend. Friday was pretty standard: Arrive, cuddles, dinner (pasta cheese,) bed, 'I can't sleep,' 'lie down and close your eyes,' 'seriously, eyes closed, sweetie,' sleep. On Saturday we were back to the run of ballet, shopping and Tumble Tots, with a side trip to pick up warm clothes for Arya. She requested Batman gloves and a Elsa hat, but needs must and we ended up with My Little Pony gloves and hat and a big, pink scarf. We also ended up running a little late (my bad, I just had to put the shopping cart away and throw the rubbish,) but it all worked out in the end.

Also, free magazine from Tumble Tots, which always triggers a welter of guilt. This term: Why giving children milk at bedtime makes you a horrible monster!

We went home and had lunch, then very shortly after we were onto pizzas for dinner. Arya helped me with the toppings, and I hadn't the heart to gainsay her. See, I'd had to go across the road for mozzarella. I asked Arya if she wanted to come with me, but explained that we'd have to go straight away, not when her episode of PAW Patrol finished. She decided that she wanted to finish her episode, so I nipped out and back, at which point she put on her flipflops and asked if they were okay for going out in.

The first couple of bangs spooked Arya a
little.

I am a monster.

The reason for the early dinner was that we'd decided to take Arya to the fireworks in Cambridge. Well, actually we decided to take her to the fireworks in Ely, but there weren't any and we'd already made the offer to her. We left much later than planned, but still got there in time.

Actually, it was pretty great timing in the end. We got a decent spot and didn't have time to be distracted by the funfair rides. We did get Arya a flashing wand, and although they were out of the butterfly ones that she really fancied she was pretty taken with the star in the end. The first few bangs were a shock, but it was a good display and she was soon swept up in the excitement. She was also utterly adorable bundled up in her hat and scarf, and we even managed not to lose a glove or an Everest.

Oh, yeah; her gran bought her an Everest (from PAW Patrol) plushie, which is just the best thing ever in Arya's eyes. Granny Scott has completely won at presents.

Heading back, we spent forty-five minutes or so getting out of the car park, then Arya went to sleep in the car. It was quite late, so I'm glad to say that she slept in a bit. I was up and about when she emerged from her room.

Polystyrene packing = rescue
ladder for Everest.

We went out for a last bit of shopping, but spent most of the day getting some rest. As we discussed:

Arya: I'm a little bit tired.
Me: We're going to have a quiet day today because we're all a little bit tired. It was a long day yesterday and a late night.
Arya: (with absolute gravity) Yep.

Hanna sat to watch Beauty & the Beast with Arya, but Arya got a little spooked and asked to go home to Ipswich, which seemed an extreme way of asking for the film to be changed. As Hanna was flagging, she went for a nap and Arya had a bounce around.

"This isn't my house! I need a
better house."

Then I unboxed my new computer with a little help from Arya, and this proved to be a grand plan.She set the packing up as a ladder. I pointed out that she'd be too big, so she declared 'Everest could climb it!' And so she did. Then she decided to climb inside and decorate the box itself, drawing on the insides of the box with her crayons and asking for tickets to enter it (I provided an old season ticket for the purpose.)

To round out the day, she decided that the computer itself was a fine thing, so she sat and did some drawing using Paint. Once she got the hang of the controls, she really went to town, and I'm pretty sure she freehanded the complete London Underground map. After dinner, she decided that she wanted to go back to Ipswich straight away, which made me a little sad - I quite liked putting her to bed first last week - but given how sleepy Hanna was, it was probably better they get away quickly.

As I put her in the car, she asked to stay with me, but I know she also likes to get back to Daddy Andrew. Hopefully it won't be too long before we can get a place for all of us.

The London Underground, by Arya

Troubles

This thing had a lot of expectation
to meet.

It's been a bit of a weekend at Chez Ersatz.

Arya arrived half asleep. She pretty much immediately wanted cupcakes and biscuits, neither of which we had, and grumped at her dinner. She took a little time to put down on Friday night, but was basically pretty good.

She slept through, pretty much, but woke up still tired. Usually, I go in with her from about one in the morning and at six o'clock she wakes me up hissing: "Daddy Luke! We wake up now?" This week we got to seven and I tried to get her up. In response she grumbled: "It's still dark out."

It's Stick Man!

We got her up for Tumble Tots and she was pretty good through that, just losing focus at the end. Then we went to Ely to do some shopping, and after weeks of asking, she got to ride on the teacup ride with the Jungle Book car. She looked pretty nonplussed as she went around, but wailed when she had to get off anyway. Fortunately a bacon sandwich calmed her down - this was our planned lunch stop, getting the bacon roll folks to put bacon and ketchup in a gluten free flatbread, rather than some sort of ill-advised bribe to stop crying - and then it was off to Thetford Forest for the Stick Man activity trail.

Owl!

Thetford is a bit of a drive for us and Arya was already quite tired - as were we - but we figured the Stick Man trail was a good excuse to get out and about and the weather was lovely. It rained on Sunday, so no regrets.

After we arrived, Arya had a run around the playground and we considered the fourth birthday possibilities of Go Ape. Then we searched for a while and finally asked where the Stick Man trail was. We set out filled with hope, mostly that it wouldn't be all that long. It probably wasn't, but it kind of felt it.

We walked the trail and looked at the signs, although Arya was a bit more into hugging the several wooden owl sculptures and playing in the wickerwork hut.

"I shall love it and hug it and call
it George."

So it goes, and she was out and about at least. It's nice to expand one's horizons, even if only as far as Thetford, and for her that's a long way from home.

There were also Gruffalo in them thar woods, and Arya tried to sleep on the recumbent Gruffalo's Child.

But who is this creature with
terrible claws?

She also made an effort to adopt a piece of wood, which was a bit random. It was hard work, because everyone was tired, but it was a lot of fun as well. It was also a chance to get out in the fresh air somewhere other than the same old play park, and it gave Arya a lot of good exercise.

Unfortunately, she fell asleep in the car, which meant that after dinner - which ended up being crazy late anyway - she wasn't really in the mood to sleep. At about ten past nine she looked up at me and said: "We wake up now?" despite that fact that doing so was literally impossible until she went to sleep.

Sunday was... a challenge.

Early on, we went to Treetops, and that was grand. There was a bit of a barney with another kid - he rolled the roller she was climbing over so she fell; she through a plastic ball and hit him on the head - but it wasn't bad at all. After we got home, however...

Arya drives, while the 'children' sleep in
the back of the car.

Let's be clear; Arya was very tired. After several days without accident, she was 0 for 3 on asking for the toilet and she was getting very grumpy. At one point I had to hold the cupcakes hostage to try to get her to change her knickers and wash her hands. She was highly resistant to the argument that one ought not to make cupcakes with poo in one's pants, or without knickers on, or with dirty hands. Words were had and she had to apologise to me and to Mummy. After her next accident, she once more refused to wash her hands, and shut the door in my face, so I had to make good on my threat to put her in a nappy and put her to bed (at four o'clock in the afternoon.)

After she'd done howling... Okay, I'm not that tough. After she's stopped generically howling and started calling my name, I went back and opened the door, and she was somewhat repentant, but still reluctant to wash her hands. We suspect it's the coldness of the water, but she also doesn't want it warm.

Once more, dinner ran late, and Hanna put Arya to bed while it was still cooking. Arya refused to settle for Hanna - often the case, which is why bedtime is a Daddy job - and in the end I had to tag in. The whole process took about ninety minutes and the fish pie ended up more like a potato cake.

She was better this morning, and we said goodbye pleasantly enough. I hope we have better sleeping next weekend, because it's frustrating to watch her wrestle with her own tiredness like that, and to have to take a tough line on it.

In other news, we did a body count on her CD of children's songs. The average was one per song - assuming that the fox died; we're confident the grey goose had had his chips - although skewed by 'Three Jolly Rogues of Lynn' and 'Froggie Went a'Courting' at three deaths apiece.

Short Time

Comfy.

It was a short visit this weekend, as Hanna had a shift on Sunday.

They came up on Friday. I was off work with a bit of sickness, so it wasn't a dead loss for me and I got to spend most of the day with them. We went into Ely for Hanna to meet a friend; I was supposed to be walking Arya around, but she was in a mad Mummy mood. As we started away, she threw a fit (and a cup full of Frozen(TM) cereal all over the floor) and just kept going. We stopped and I asked her to listen to me and... she did. She listened, and agreed that if we went back to Mummy, she would sit quietly on Mummy's lap. And she did. Mostly.

Honestly, just stopping to listen and discuss the possibility of a compromise was such a huge step forward that I couldn't not give her something. "Arya; listen to Daddy instead of just screaming and maybe we'll just do exactly what we were doing anyway" isn't much of an incentive to interact and use her words instead of just screaming. You have to give her an alternative.

We have a habit of presenting things to Arya as a fait accompli by saying 'We'll just do this, okay?' I know this, because she's started saying to us: 'You sit there, okay?' or 'That's Mummy's tea, okay?'

Also comfy, she says.

She was lively this weekend, at her most adorable and most trying simultaneously. She was particularly unfocused at Tumble Tots, but definitely keen.Saturday was much more of a Daddy Day and we spent a lot of time playing Duplo and puzzles (she's getting much better at jigsaw puzzles, but really can't maintain focus through an entire 20-piecer.) We also watched the usual suspects quite a bit (that is, her usual suspects, not The Usual Suspects, which is probably not suitable.)

At one point she was asking for 'Frozen Cake', which was a bit of an issue. She was quite taking with the Frozen themed cupcake kit in Tescos, but of course she can't have regular cupcakes because gluten. If they'd sold the decorations separately I might have gone for those, but binning the cupcake mix feels like a waste and making the cakes for myself just a bad plan. So, I thought she wanted to make cupcakes, but it turns out that this was the cake in question:

'Frozen Cake' is the obviously more correct title for Frozen Fever...

So we watched Frozen Fever a half-dozen times. And Cinderella, since the disc was in. I'm not sure what Arya makes of Cinderella at present, with its real people and lack of singing.

Total ninjas.

Ninja stealth attack!

Then, while I was washing up, Hanna and Arya decided to hide from me. Hanna did a great job of making enough of a fuss about it that I heard and came to see what was going on, without which it would all have been for naught. I can't describe how much I adore watching Hanna and Arya playing together. There's so much joy in both their faces. I hope she looks as happy playing with me.

To get the photos, I had to stop in the doorway, sneak back to the kitchen for my camera, then back to the living room. Totally worth it.

They left on Saturday evening and I missed them hard, especially waking up on Sunday as if for swimming (seriously, I was awake 10 minutes before my alarm didn't go off) and then trying to go back to sleep. It's much easier to do that if Hanna isn't getting up either.

Super Dad

Fire-fighter Arya!

This Easter weekend, I have had sole care of Arya while her Mummy and Daddy Andrew were at Empire, so this post is likely to be a biggie.

Mummy and Daddy Andrew headed out early on Friday morning, leaving Arya upset, but not inconsolable (this is apparently a sign of secure attachment, which means she loves having parents around, but as long as one of us is there trusts the others to come back.) We headed out for a day in Ely, including a visit to the playground, a simple picnic lunch and a visit to the Ely Museum.

"I never said it was always wrong
to enter fairyland..."

Arya had a great time on the climbing frame at the playground, and clearly enjoyed the automatic doors of the museum. She was less keen on the museum in general, having no creepy Victorian taxidermy collection, the highlight of any childhood museum visit, but did get to push a wooden eel around on wheels and gave it back without having to be pushed too hard. She also had fun with the eel hive in the park, and quite charmed some passing old ladies:

"Oh, aren't you sweet!"
"Your daddy took a picture of you."
"Your mummy's home cooking you dinner."

I felt like pointing out that Mummy was camping in a field with her husband and I was just her fancy man. Hanna thinks I should have told them my wife was dead.

By the time we got home, we'd been out and about for about six hours, so I may have overplanned that one. Still, we had risotto for dinner and she went to sleep beautifully, only waking briefly during the night to demand milk, spill it on the pillow and drop off again.

On Saturday we went to the library. Not much interest in the books this week, but the book train was a hit. A little later, my parents came over and we had a curry together. They were very impressed by the way she ate her chicken korma (and a little lamb dansak.) We went for a walk after and she howled at being put in the pushchair, but eventually relented and went to sleep. That was her only nap of the weekend.

Eatin' milk with a spoon. Classy.

On Sunday we went into Cambridge to see Big Hero Six. It turned out to be a little too scary for her, so we came out after an hour, but we did get to have breakfast together, which was lovely. On the way back I got into her bad books by stopping her getting off the train at Ely. I'm not sure why she wanted to get off at Ely; perhaps she remembered the playground was there.

"I'm going to go up, and come back
down, and then we can go in."

Later on, we had a few disputes. She's into serious boundary testing, so getting her to hold my hand when we'e out and about is harder than it was. At one point she basically tried to walk into the road in front of a car. She was rattled by the experience, I could tell, because she didn't protest when I caught her and held her back. She did try to make a point by climbing up and down the stairs before consenting to come into the flat.

And then she tried to assert ownership of my glasses. She's very into things being 'my' at the moment, but I put my foot down with the glasses. "You can do what you like with them, but they are mine."

Cue massive tantrum and me being all stern with her, then leaving her to work it through as if I sat near her she just pushed me away. Eventually she called out to me and I think started trying to spit-shine the floor (classy girl.) I got down low as I go so as not to be all tall and intimidating and said I was sorry for snapping, but some things aren't hers. She kept taking my hand and throwing it away, but I realised after a while that actually she was pushing my hand up, because she wanted me to stand. She then gave me her hand to help her up and asked for a cuddle, which I gave.

I asked if she wanted to pick up with going to bed and she said yes. Drama done.

On Monday we made cupcakes. Arya was very keen to help, but a little unguided.

There's something about this look
that suggests to me she wants to be
in a Transformers movie.

"I hep!"
"Yes, but we don't need the eggs yet."
"I hep."
"Yes, but not the flour yet."

When we added the eggs, she broke the last one, cracking it on the edge of the bowl before crushing it in her grip. She was a little upset, but I gave her a wipe to clean her hands and I think I got all of the shell out of the cake batter. They were very tasty, despite my concerns that the butter had been too cold and the mix not properly mixed.

We went out for a nap walk after lunch, but although she was super good and calm, she basically woke all kinds of up when we got stuck in the queue because nothing at the big Co-op works right. She was then hyper all afternoon and into the evening and entered a phase of precariously balancing on furniture. I got her to channel some of that into playing on her rocking dragon, Lola, but by early evening I wasn't sure I could leave her long enough to cook.

Dragon rider!

I tried to put a pan on to boil pasta. There was a thump and I ran in to find the baby monitor on the floor next to a decapitated Gromit. That was about when Hanna called to say they were running late. I tried to give up and order pizza, but was so incensed that I could get two large pizzas, sides and a drink for what they were asking for two small gluten free bases that I rebelled and went back to the pasta cheese plan. It was a fraught and slow process, and in the end I was coaxing Arya into her sleepsuit when Hanna and Andrew rolled up at 8:30 (two and a half hours after originally planned, but half an hour earlier than expected.)

Actually, I tell a lie. She was washing the floor having dribbled toothpaste on it. She'd offered to 'help' and I gave her the cloth absent mindedly as her milk was done heating. She then refused to be stopped from wiping for a full five minutes until she was sure everything was clean.

There followed some serious Mummy cuddling, then I took her to bed. I sang her 'The Land of Hush' and quite unexpectedly, she sand me about nine repeats of what I recognised by snippets of complete lyric to be 'Incy-Winsey Spider', the nursery rhyme equivalent of that film with Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts about white people enduring a natural disaster that devastated South-East Asia. Then she went to sleep.

Monday was pretty tough, especially by comparison to the rest of the weekend, so I think we've found a cap on how long she is happy to spend without Mummy. I'm heartened that it's only a little less time that she spends without me most weeks; also that she was sad to see me go this morning, even after a solid weekend of time with me. I'm also proud that I managed to vary activities and even when resorting to telly mixed up the Sarah & Duck with some other movies and Despicable Me shorts. I also kept the washing up up to date, got a load of laundry done, and watched episodes of Person of Interest, Bones and Agents of SHIELD. Having it all, gentles; having it all.

We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo

The day begins as it means to go on: with owls. Arya is very
taken with the snowy owls.

On Thursday, our little girl turned two. In celebration, we decided to damn the costs; we were taking her to the zoo.

There are many arguments for and against zoos, but honestly, we took our little girl to the zoo; it was a good zoo, with a solid conservation programme, and if you have a problem with that then maybe we can discuss it another time; not here.

The zoo in question was Banham Zoo, a deceptively small establishment, given the size of many of the animal enclosures, in Norfolk. It took about an hour to drive there, we got Arya into her backpack/baby reins, gave her a helium balloon (which she adored) and set off for the entrance. For once I skimped on the gift aid, simply because Arya wanted to get on and go through the gate.

Golden lion tamarin, not tamarind. Tamarins
eat tamarinds for breakfast; or might do. I'm
not sure.

She was not to be disappointed, for on the far side there were owls. Arya has loved owls ever since she got to meet on in Cambridge (we gave serious thought to the Raptor Sanctuary, but Banham is close to my parents and looked like a more solid day out) and from the first was besotted with the ones she saw at Banham. The first pair were the snowy owls, and I've gone with the reaction shot rather than the slightly distant picture of the owls themselves. We did want to adopt an owl for Arya, but it's not cheap; I guess they eat a fair bit.

What immortal hand or eye...

The owls were a definite highlight, but there were also tamarins, a baby colobus monkey and a Siberian tiger strutting his or her* stuff right close to the glass. There were many lemurs, including a sun-bathing chap who seemed for all the world to be posing for the punters. I almost felt exploited by obliging him, but Hanna insisted that the collection would not be complete without, so here he is:

Basking.

We spent about four hours at the zoo in the end, which is a long time for a little girl. We saw the giraffes being fed and rode the road train - the driver of which pointed out that the elusive snow leopards were sitting on the roof of their house rather than any of the dramatic rocks in their enclosure - saw more owls, collected up stamps to exchange for a commemorative medal and finally went to the flying show. The European eagle in flight appeared to both delight and terrify Arya (as he* swooped a few inches overhead.)

Afterwards we went to tea with my parents, which was lovely, although by that point we were a little overloaded on sweet things and it was notable that the GF cocktail sausages went faster than any of the cakes.

The birthday girls.

We came home and had curry, because none of us had the energy left to cook, let alone wash up the cake-icing debris before hand. It had been a long day and an exciting one, and thankfully the former won out and Arya went down fast and only got a little restive in the night. Consequently, we were up and at 'em no Sunday for swimming.

Hanna remains convinced that I spook Arya at swimming. I am not conscious of doing so, but after a two week break she wasn't keen to be peeled off my neck in the pool. She did pour water over my head again, however.

The rest of the day was a Mother's Day chill out. Arya delivered Hanna's present neatly (although not as well as Hanna's birthday present, which I gave to her in the living room, saying: 'Could you give this to Mummy?' and was delighted to see her carry through to the kitchen and hand over,) although she did open my Mum's present, which I'd forgotten to take on Saturday. She napped beautifully, watched The Lion King with Hanna, rode her new hobby horse and demanded that her parents each take a turn.

I was sorry to see her go; more so even than usual. She refused to say goodbye to me, I think in the hope that if she didn't, I wouldn't let her leave. I didn't want to.

* It seemed rude to ask.

**In this case they told us.

I was dreaming when I wrote this

It's been something of a mixed weekend. Part of that is just stuff that happens, and part is my fault.

On Friday night, Arya came in asleep and when she woke up, she was all about the Daddy time. Lovely, you might think, but that left Hanna pretty frozen out, which was horrible for her and not much better for me. We both know that Arya doesn't mean anything by it, but that doesn't mean it doesn't sting when she's all about one parent or the other. It's a bit like how this weekend Bear was in favour, Babby and Rah having callously stopped over at my place for the week, except that Babby and Rah are stuffed with fluff and don't have actual feelings to hurt.

The triumphant return of the Gruffalo mug!

I was also pretty bushed on Saturday, since Arya had decided to cuddle against me in such a way that I was balanced on the edge of the bed with her head buried in the nerves of my neck (and her feet, of course, in Hanna's stomach,) so that what sleep I did get was incredibly uncomfortable.

Nevertheless, Saturday was a solid day (and thankfully a bit of a Mummy-focused day, because it was needed.) Hanna and Arya made cupcakes and I took pictures (see left.) I even remembered to sort out a sheet before the mat could get covered in eggs.

But then came Saturday night.

After a disturbed night's sleep, Arya
transformed into a somewhat 1950s stopout.

Partly, this went badly because Arya wasn't well. She had a cough which started sounding like a tickle, but developed into something more congested. She also started running a fever later in the night, but probably from teething rather than another flu. I went in to look after her when she got restless, but I made a major miscalculation. Unlike, say, a month ago, there just isn't room for me to cuddle up next to her in the single bed, and by the time I retreated to the bedroom to try to work out some of the kinks and then had to bring her through as the cough got worse, she was pretty much ready to get up and start the day.

It was shortly before five that she hopped out of bed and demanded 'Duck'. Hanna suggested I put on a Sarah & Duck DVD and cuddle up with Arya on the sofa. This was, all things considered, both the best option available to us and a not unpleasant idea, but I was tired, and I was cranky, and so I was grumpy and stroppy and passive aggressive and so I retorted: "Sure; because I don't need to sleep."

Which kind of goes to prove that I did, and also that I can be a colossal dick when I'm tired.

Sharing the fruits of their labours.

Hanna thus went to the sofa and told me to a) get some sleep and b) cram it, the latter of which at least was fair. There followed a dark pre-breakfast of the soul, after which I swapped out with Hanna and sat up until swimming time. Hanna was in no condition to drive, however, so I called it and let her get back to sleep.

Sunday proved to be one of those days when we feel like we're a bit lax as parents, as most of it was spent on the sofa in front of the TV. Arya was mostly dressed in just a nappy and a strappy number that was originally a full-length summer dress and now looks like a top. She also spent nearly two hours eating a cupcake, much of which ended up smooshed into the sofa cover.

For how it started, however, it was not a terrible day. Arya was distracted from the TV by playing with her kitchen set (now set up in the living room; for those who worry about stereotyping, her workbench is in Martlesham.) She was taken with Mummy's early birthday present (MASH Season 4, or more by the bag it was in which she carried around proudly on her shoulder.) Her fever was under control, and after a nap at about 9:30-10:30 she was bright and bubbly for most of the day.

Dance!

Hanna and Arya left after the nightly Pajanimals ritual, and I'm not going to see them for a couple of weeks now. I will, as ever, miss them both, and I'm sincerely glad that they didn't leave on Sunday morning, as I wouldn't want Saturday night to have been our last significant interaction for a fortnight. I know that it upset Hanna, and for myself it felt like I'd let her down, let Arya down (because I ought to embrace time spent with her, even at 4:30 in the morning) and myself down, because I hate the snarky, passive-aggressive side of me that snaps at the people I love. I felt especially bad because I knew that Hanna was feeling down, and while I hadn't meant it as an attack I know it came across as one.

And as Hanna reminded me, nights like that are the exception and not the rule. As she heads into the ostensibly terrible twos, it is worth remembering that Arya has been a dream to care for compared to a lot of babies, and always that I love her dearly, even when she's kicking me in the face in her sleep or smooshing cupcake into the furniture.

The Adventures of Baby Columbo, or 'Just One More Question'

Arya vs. Dinosaurs. Arya 1: Dinosaurs 0

Arya currently has three questions:

1. "What's that?" She asks this one over and over and over again about pretty much anything.

"What's that?"

"My glasses."

"What's that?"

"A button."

"What's that?"
"My nose."
"What's that?"
"A button."
"What's that?"
"It's still a button."

2. "Why?" Asked frequently and often out of context.

3. "Where are you?" A very sophisticated positional and contextual interrogative applied not only to people but to objects.

"Ball! Where are you?"

Speaking of 'what's that?' one of her most frequent subjects is the birthday card Hanna bought me on her behalf. It looks like this:

She loves to handle the card and stroke the monsters' fur, and point to each in turn and ask: "What's that?"
"That's Daddy."
"What's that?"
"That's Arya."
"What's that?"
"That's Daddy."
"What's that?"
"That's Arya."
"What's that?"
"That's Daddy."
"What's that?"
"That's Arya."
"What's that?"
"That's Daddy."
"What's that?"
"That's Arya."

And so on and so forth.

On Saturday, Arya was drawing a picture. I attach the picture on the right. It ended up a big squiggle, but there was a process especially to the top part of the offering on the left.

She drew a big circular squiggle, and next to it a smaller squiggle which she explained were 'Daddy' and 'Larlya', which is how she says her name at the moment. As if this weren't adorable enough, she drew a biger circular squiggle around and over them both and said: 'Oddle.' So there it is, a picture of Daddy and Arya having a cuddle. I could not be more delighted if she'd written a symphony (unless, you know, she'd written a symphony and explained how it used the full range of the orchestra to express Daddy and Arya having a cuddle.)

Arya has a habit of smiling when she's upset us, which used to be quite distressing, but I had a revelation this weekend. When she's upset, we smile to let her know things are going to be okay, and I think she's just doing the same when we're upset. That's why if she slaps or kicks us and we get upset she pats our shoulder and grins.

On Sunday we did something very different. It was half-term for swimming and so we finally took up a dear friend's offer of lunch (well, of dinner, but in the end we had to do a Sunday so it ended up being lunch for logistical reasons,) and so after a morning of jolly baby and weary parents (it's been one of those weekends) we packed into the car and shot off to Hatfield for lunch with MattMatt (so good they named him twice.)

It was a good lunch, but better yet from our perspective, MattMatt adores Arya, and after a bit of shyness while she reestablished recognition (we haven't seen him in a while, due to our increasing distance from that gaming circle) was happily leading him a chase around the flat, or pushing him over to retrieve her dinosaur from the top of his head. Sadly she has developed a keen camera shyness, and I didn't manage to get a decent shot of any of this. Neither was I able to photograph her picking up his flat phone, saying 'hello', and then 'bye' and putting it down again (accurately in the cradle.)

I'm sure for a while she was referring to him as 'Daddy', which I believe to be a definite seal of approval. I suspect that she was rather disappointed that we didn't kidnap him when we left, but she was tired out enough to fall asleep in short order, and while munching on a rice cake, so she must have been pretty content.

Long weekend

Tiny bear creature!

Wow, what a weekend.

It started on Wednesday night, when I went down to Ipswich and Hannah and I picked up Arya from school. I spent a couple of days in Martlesham, helping out as best I could.

Arya was her usual lively self on Thursday. We had a family evening at the swimming pool, where she was a bit nervous, but had a good time playing with the floats and trying to drown her daddies. She also drank a lot of pool water which, although not too chlorinated was apparently quite saline; this may have exacerbated her dicky tummy, and she was pretty poopy thereafter, resulting in a very sore tush; poor thing.

Saturday and Sunday nights were adventurous. On Saturday I got her down early, but she woke up not long after we went to bed, which means I was up half the night with her kicking me and Hannah was up three-quarters of the night fielding demands for milk. As a result, the question of whether to take her to swimming or not was rather academic; we didn't wake up until 9:30 on Sunday morning.

No photos inside, as I was too busy chasing
Arya, but this is their magic weather stone.

On Sunday we went to the Prickwillow Drainage Engine Museum, where Arya had a wonderful time evading her parents. It's an interesting little museum, and they were lovely about letting us eat our own food in the cafe (which inspired us to buy tea at least.)

On Sunday night I couldn't get her to sleep at all, and not for want of her trying. She was a little feverish and I think she might be teething. Already she'd refused all food despite obviously being hungry and wanting to eat; in much the same way she was both trying to sleep and not letting herself. Hannah got her down for half-nine, but she woke up just before we went to bed and thus followed much kickings.

At least on Sunday we realised that the double duvet was insufficient for two adults and Arya and so we weren't both lying with our backs exposed, thinking that at least the other was covered.

Regardless of these shenanigans, I was sorry to say goodbye this morning. I will miss her terribly.