Tale as Old as Time

Cucumber sandwiches. No crusts.

Ups and downs.

This weekend, the biggest down was that I was ill, probably with the same thing Arya had last week. I'm still recuperating from that.

On the upside, Arya was... 85% pure awesome and only 15% bane of our lives. I had to turn in early on Friday - by which I mean Hanna said at seven o'clock: "Arya, get Daddy's teddy bears, we're putting him to bed." - and she gave Mummy hell over going to sleep. I slept for about an hour and a half, then got up and had a little chat with Arya, which... that's not even a euphemism. I went in - which was obviously what she wanted, on top of what is looking disturbingly like more growing pains - sat down and talked to her, about what she'd done and why Mummy was upset, and we agreed that she ought to put her head down, close her eyes and go to sleep. I left her to it, and that seemed to do the trick.

On Saturday we did the usual morning stuff, except that I didn't go to ballet so as not to infect all of the other kids. Arya got another card and present, and no-one hated us for cancelling, so yay! The afternoon was sleepy, since no-one had had a great night and I was still ill. Hanna crashed for a few hours, and then my parents popped in in passing. Arya mostly ignored them, because she takes a little while to really click in with people, then asked why they hadn't stayed longer(1).

Hanna had spent much of the day persuading Arya to sign on with the planned cinema trip to see Beauty and the Beast. She's come to enjoy the original, but was worried it would be scary. To win her over, Hanna watched the trailer with her, and Arya got really into that, so we watched all the trailers. Teaser, story, final, domestic and international, with comparisons to the original; anything YouTube could offer. After dinner (pizza) she started worrying about being scared again, so I persuaded her to ask Mummy if she could borrow her Beast teddy bear to help her not be.

Winning!

In the morning we set out for the 9.30 showing (not ideal, as it meant no Chiquito's breakfast before, but too late for it after,) with Arya in her Belle dress absolutely owning the cinema. We had to nip out a couple of times - apparently Belle being attacked by a pack of slavering wolves is less scary than her future love interest snarling at her, which is probably good instincts in a lot of ways - but basically she was a brave little girl. She initially said that she liked the film, but later revised her opinion to say that she didn't like the film but she liked the singing and the dancing, and Belle, and the Beast when he was kind, and Gaston dancing, and basically everything but snarly Beast and the torch-wielding mob.

She did get a little confused by the ending:

Arya: But where are Beauty and the Beast?
Me: There they are, see.
Arya: That's not Beauty and the Beast. That's Beauty and the Prince.
Me: The Prince *is* the Beast.

Later, as I was telling this story to Hanna, Arya piped up: "I think you were right. The Prince is the Beast."

Validation of my crazy fan theories at last! Next I shall convince her that Bruce Wayne is just Batman with his hat off.

Also owning the bookshop. And Build-a-Bear. Basically, I'm sorry, but if you
thought you won the weekend, you were probably second place or lower.

Lunch at Chiquito's was disappointing - reminder to self, never order from the set lunch menu - but after that we went into town for some necessary shopping. Arya and I stopped off at a science centre display in the Grand Arcade and she made a virus and a bacteria. Then we picked up a frock coat for the Beast, and a Belle dress for Princess Doctor Bear before moving on to the bookshop. Arya wanted to find a book with a witch; a nice witch, specifically. We looked at Meg and Mog, and she said that wasn't right, 'but close.' One of the staff helped us find a couple of likely options, so we picked those up before meeting up with Hanna and heading home.

Arya watched some PAW Patrol while I read Hanna's essay. I felt a little bad for leaving her hanging, and she was very determined afterwards that I shouldn't ignore her any longer. That was a fair cop, although she pushed it a bit when we were getting her ready to go back to Ipswich. It's only a couple of weeks now until she and Hanna move in, which is scary, but definitely good, because she really, really doesn't want to go of a weekend, and kicks off to the point that I almost want her to go; not for her to be gone, but so that we won't be fighting any more.

(1) Because I might be infectious.

Birthday 2: Emetic Boogaloo

Happy birthday!

Round two of the family birthdays came this week and found us... in hospital.

Yes, this was not the best of Arya's birthdays. She vomited on her way over on Friday evening and, with her temperature running low and 111 obsessing over an unrelated and very minor bump on the head, we rushed her to hospital. She charmed the medical staff, despite the bile stains on her pajamas, and we got back home at about four in the morning with a large supply of Dioralyte and the word 'Dioralyte' stuck in our heads, sung either to the tune of Desmond Dekker's seminal reggae classic 'Israelites', or that of the Vitalite commercial, depending on that highly specific piece of cultural awareness.

Skye was much more of a hit than Barf and
Belch.

We did not got to ballet. Or Tumble Tots. I woke up briefly at seven and bitterly regretted my promise to take Arya to ballet by bus if she was up by half past, then it was eleven o'clock. We tried for an easy day, with Arya reluctantly taking more Dioralyte and a couple more vomiting episodes. We did however decide that we would extend her birthday and let her open presents through the weekend, to make up for the sickness. Highlights(1) included some PAW Patrol toys with which she effected rescue of tiny plastic kitties, and a Build a Bear Skye from Granny and Granddad Spot(2). The low point was the PAW Patrol walkie talkies, which were absurdly rubbish.

Now, I'll be honest, I'm not sure what else happened on Saturday, because we were all utterly shattered. I think we started watching some episodes of Numberblocks, which is like Alphablocks but with numbers instead of letters. Arya was not greatly impressed, probably because it represented an enforced break from PAW Patrol. We went shopping and Arya was sick in the car, probably because we were diverted along very rough roads, so I got her some emergency clothes and towels before we did the actual shopping.

We ate some food, but I basically can't remember what. Honestly, I don't think we ate well and Arya hardly at all - she didn't even manage her beans on toast and frozen sweetcorn - although she was great at taking water. After she went to bed, I whipped up a kilo of icing, baked an extra cake and Andrew and I 'consulted' on the decoration of Arya's cake. Primarily it was Hanna's magnum opus and she made a fine fist of it, despite some failings of self-confidence. The resulting cake was - and at time of writing about eighty percent of it still is - a magnificent edifice of chocolate sponge, chocolate buttercream and pink fondant, which may or may not have been influenced by the background of Legally Blonde 2.

That evening, she fell asleep on the sofa in the living room; that's how tired she was.


In the morning, we kicked off the birthday proper, but Arya was still a bit wobbly, and fluctuated from lively and active to languid and exhausted several times through the day. We cancelled the party at soft play, but invited a few people over, but then Arya got diarrhea, so it looked like it was noro after all and in the end it was just us. Even Arya eventually looked at me and said in her small, sage voice: "I think we'd better cancel my party." We had a little cake - too much for Arya's stomach, it turned out - and light nibbles. with increasing reluctance, Arya took more Dioralyte and drank water. She asked Hanna for milk at one point, but Hanna said she thought it would make Arya sick. Arya thought a moment and then admitted in that same small, sage voice: "I think you're probably right."

If you predict a tragic outcome of this
adorable scene, well done. She didn't drop
the bowl, but did put it too near the edge
when she set it down and now her Frozen
bowl is gone. We're looking for a new one in
similar style and in ceramic.

After another largely quiet night, it was decided that we would not be going to work, although I brought my work to me by logging in to the system from home. I wasn't actually ill, so work had to be done. Arya was much improved, although still tired, and when Mummy explained that she needed to go to the hospital for an appointment and that Daddy Andrew would be taking her home by train so as not to upset her stomach, she decided that - as I wouldn't (couldn't, shouldn't) make Mummy stay - she wanted to go in the car. For lunch, I finally made the sausage and pasta bake I'd been planning since Friday and so sent them off in fine style. Arya was later sick again, but threw up far less than all she had eaten, which was progress in my book.

So, that was Arya's birthday. It was far less than ideal, but I won't say the same about Arya. She was just so very, very brave, and despite a little fuss never failed to take her medicine, never complained more than seemed entirely reasonable(3), and was mindful of her own sickness. she was very apologetic about getting a bug in her tummy again - again we told her not to worry; it wasn't her fault - and remarked as a matter of curiosity when she had done a 'bad poo'.

Bless her.

(1) I can't say for sure when they opened, necessarily.
(2) Hanna's parents, blurring the surname 'Scott' with the epithet of Andrew's parents, Granny and Grandad Spain.
(3) Indeed, much less than might be expected of someone who was so sick on her birthday.

Poor Mite

Bat-Arya!

I feel like I'm saying this a lot, but it's been another tough weekend.

Saturday was actually pretty good. We had ballet and gave out invitations to Arya's birthday party (although we've since had some problems booking a table at the soft play place,) and Arya even let me put her hair into a bun without making a colossal fuss. She wore her Happy Meal Batgirl mask around the supermarket, which was super adorable, and went into Tumble Tots all on her own once again.

We had a quiet afternoon, including a little baking of cupcakes, but despite a pretty good night's sleep after a late night on Friday, Arya got very antsy towards the end of the day and had a fight with Daddy Andrew at bedtime. Andrew does have a habit of picking the wrong fights, especially at bedtime. I persuaded her to say sorry for shouting at him, but she was adamant that he needed to apologise to her as well. I... legitimately don't know how I feel about this. I don't want her to have favourites among us, but she is starting to recognise when she's in the wrong and I'm glad that she sticks up for herself if she thinks that she has been wronged(1).

Anyway, we got her off to sleep, but then she woke up around midnight and wanted to come in with me. Hanna went out to the sofa, and then at about one Arya woke up and threw up. Poor mite; I think it came as a shock to her, since this was her first real grown up vomit, so that's a red letter day. I carried her out and we met Mummy in the kitchen, fetching her some medicine having heard her crying and as she had been a little feverish earlier on. Hanna took Arya and got her cleaned up, while I cleaned the bed as best I could. Andrew got Arya clean pyjamas and some water, and we sat with her a while, watching Pajanimals while her nerve settled. She asked me for milk, but I suggested more water, and I explained that her stomach was still owy from trying to get rid of a bug. I read to her a bit, as she couldn't settle.

Blanket fort.

This was interrupted when Arya thought that she was going to be sick again, so we went into the bathroom. She was very worried about getting vomit in the toilet (fortunately, she didn't throw up again,) and noted apologetically that 'I didn't want to get a bug in my tummy.' Mummy heard us and came through to Arya's room with us, and Arya finally drifted off cuddling Mummy. We slept latish (apart from Mummy, sad to say, who ended up more blitzed than the rest of us,) and had a long, slow morning with lots of pancakes and strawberries(2).

In the afternoon, Arya found a bag of clothes pegs and asked to make a blanket fort. Hanna was sleeping and had a lot of the blankets in with her, but we did our best. I'm not going to say we created a landmark in soft-furnishing architecture, but it worked. I was impressed that Arya didn't want to disturb Mummy to get some toys, although she was then in and out getting clothes to change into. Still, it's progress of a kind.

As much as it's annoying if I'm trying to
read to her, it is adorable.

She was still a bit feverish, and her mood was up and down. We got to about dinner time and she started running up and down the passage. I offered to read her a book and she chose Noggin the Nog and the Flowers(3), but decided she was going to interrupt me over and over again by brushing her hair and saying 'no, no, no... perfect!' I put the book down and she got very upset, then when she wouldn't talk to me I read my own book in the hope that she would talk to me. Instead she went to Mummy, who was making lasagne in the kitchen, and said that I wouldn't talk to her, which... I guess at least she was talking to someone.

After dinner, I struggled a bit getting her ready, because she didn't want to leave. We're just a few weeks from moving in together, at least the three of us, but it's getting more and more traumatic to separate. I should probably treasure the attention before we get to the stage where she's kicking off at me because she wants Daddy Andrew to come home from Ipswich, but it's tough sometimes. It's tough every time.

(1) Rightly or wrongly.
(2) Hurrah for pancakes!
(3) The Saga of Noggin the Nog - and especially Noggin and the Flowers - was a favourite growing up, and I read most of the series to Hanna back when she was pregnant, so technically Arya has heard them before.

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.

Adventures with Viruses

Too much cute... Rebooting cynicism...
Cynicism load failed.

Well, this has been an exciting week.

Almost exactly a week ago, we set off from my place for Leeds, to visit Hanna's grandparents for a sort of early Christmas(1). It's about a three hour drive, and although Arya went to sleep she then woke up as we took her in and we had a very, very late night in the end. This was a pattern followed for much of the weekend, as Arya was super, super psyched to have all three parents, a set of grandparents, Uncle Crazy and three dogs. She is much, much more comfortable with the dogs now she's a little bigger (although still much smaller than a staffie) and spent loads of time patting and cuddling them. Perhaps even more impressive, she's got 'how to pet dogs' down pat; none of your usual small child pooch spine battering here.

One of the reasons she went to sleep so late was that she realised that we weren't putting her down in her inflatable Peppa Pig bed, for the arguably insufficient reason that she's much too big for it now. She was adamant that the Peppa Pig bed is for camping and for Granny Spot's(2) house. In fairness, she had been looking forward to it; she told me so before we left. Anyway, to avert this issue in future, we lined up a set of options for her to look at on the Argos website and she was very taken with the Disney Princess bed. As Hanna was shattered from a) driving up the night before and b) driving out and around in the morning to find a suitable walk in centre because Arya was roasting(3), her brother David (the aforementioned Uncle Crazy) drove me out to pick up the bed. I also got a thermometer (now we have one in each house!) vitamins and a toothbrush for Arya. The last of these was a little battery-powered number like Daddy's power toothbrush and very, very exciting(4).

The new bed.

The theme of the day was very much 'collapsed on a sofa', which unfortunately meant that Arya did end up a little wired at bedtime. Or was that on Thursday?

Okay, so... I know pretty much all of the stuff that happened, but I'm going to be honest; I'm not sure what happened when necessarily. That's how tired I got.

Right, so I think she went down okay on Wednesday night. Late, but ultimately she just conked out on the new bed and I went down to spend a few minutes with family before giving up and turning in myself. It was my turn to sleep on the floor mattress, so I woke up to find Arya shaking my shoulder and telling me that she needed to go to the toilet.

Thrusday was actual un-Christmas, with turkey and presents around the tree. Arya had to be restrained from opening everything (but only really hers, so that's progress,) and we just opened one each otherwise. Then Hanna and Granny took Arya out for a girls' day. Arya, bless her, had no interest in a 'girls' day', but was delighted to spend time with Mummy and Granny Spot. I promptly fell asleep and woke up to find Arya knee deep in Mummy's old My Little Pony toys and accompanied by a brand new Chase, because Granny had gone a little mad on indulging her.

Mummy's old Ponies and Arya's new Chase.

And yes, it was on Thursday that she decided sleep was for tortoises, and instead bounced and wriggled and played with Granny's torch that we were using as an impromptu night light. It ended up requiring multiple parents to get her to sleep, and I was basically not fit for human company by the end of it.

On Friday we went to meet one of Hanna's old friends and former bridesmaids at Starbucks, and once we'd established which Starbucks we sat and had a pleasant natter broken by a nearly-very-nasty Brexit row. Andrew and I took Arya to IKEA while Hanna said her goodbyes and we went around the shop with Arya merrily pushing a tiny, child-sized trolley. We bought some bits and pieces, but really we were looking for a spare backboard and metal rack for the broken daybed. Amazingly, we - and by we I mean Andrew - found one. I took Arya to find somewhere for lunch while Andrew and Hanna packed the boards in the car and that, dear reader, is where the trouble really started.

You see, the Clio is a smallish car, and a bed is a longish thing. we had to call Grandpa Scott to pick up Andy and me and drive us home via a car place to pick up some straps. Hanna managed to arrange things so that we didn't have to carry the boards in the rain, but this did mean we were sort of crammed in, with the car seat on the wrong side and boards on our shoulders for the three hour drive home.  Still this did mean that we were truly glad to be back home. Even if I didn't have any milk for my tea.

Man, when they told her she had to leave it
behind...

And that was that, except that that was Friday and we still had a weekend ahead.

On Saturday I took Arya to ballet on the bus so that Hanna and Andrew could lie in, and then I just... stopped, because I had basically been awake since Arya kicked off at about 4.30. For that, and the fact that I had to take Arya out in her PJs and she didn't want any of the things I could find her for breakfast (she wanted a venison burger from the farmer's market, but in the absence of a GF bun, we had to take a rain check on that one,) it went pretty well.

She decided that she wanted to sit on the front seat of the bus, and then that she wanted to get changed in the front foyer of the dance studio but not when anyone was in there to see. Finally I got her changed at the bottom of the stairs, and we borrowed a hairbrush from one of the other mums to get her tangles sorted out. She went in eagerly, leaving me to chat with the mums. I think we're both doing pretty well with our respective social anxieties, and she came out entirely happy.

After persuading her to let me change her into street clothes, we headed out into the market and she rode the teacups. I don't know if she was doing it for everyone or just recognised repeat customers, but she got a present from the lady who runs the ride; a little Usborne early reader, which was lovely.

My brave traveller.

We met up with Mummy and Daddy Andrew and got her fed and to Tumble Tots (just), then home to basically pass out on the sofa with Arya occasionally shaking me to remind me it was still wakey time. I don't recall much of the afternoon - mostly I remember that at one point she got upset and told me that she didn't like Daddy Andrew, but later admitted that actually she didn't like something Daddy Andrew had done(5) - but in the evening we had fish and wedges (which went down very well) and she went to sleep with little trouble at all, although I also conked out for half an hour.

On Sunday we had cream cheese and egg pancakes for brunch, then went to the cinema. Moana proved fairly scary as these things go, but she stuck it out and, even when most complaining that she wanted to go home was glued to the screen. At home we had bolognese and then it was time for them all to head off. I was and am still pretty knackered (and coldy,) and as it's about quarter past ten, I'm going to sleep now.

Soupey twist.

(1) I dubbed it un-Christmas, but managed not to sing 'A Very Merry Unbirthday to Jesus', which might have been tacky.
(2) Her delightful rendition of 'Granny Scott'.
(3) In addition to a slight cold we brought with us, we were informed first thing in the morning that 'we've all got this virus.'
(4) We're working on the way to use it properly.
(5) Asked her to listen and told her he would take away Everest, which I did later suggest might be a bit much, since it wasn't directly consequential.

Bump

Because she's worth it.

It's been a nervewracking weekend, this one.

Friday was okay, although Arya continues to fight sleep with every fibre of her tiny being. I'm certain now that it's because she wants to spend time with us, but it means she quickly gets tired and irritable during the day.

On Saturday we had all the usual activities, and on the way home from TT we went to the park so I could buy drugs(1). Arya wanted Andrew and I to swing her, so we did, but in the cold our grip was not all it could have been and... Look, I wish I could say it was the worst knock of the weekend, but suffice to say that Andrew and I were looking up the address for Puppies, Pianos and Ponyies R Us(2).

We got home and I gave Arya a bath, and she was perfect. No fuss. No trouble. We had a chilled afternoon and all was good until bedtime, when she once more refused to sleep and in the end I had to go because I was ill and tired and grumpy and I didn't want to a) shout at her or b) be the reason that she wasn't sleeping. Hanna eventually got her to sleep, and we all felt kind of bad.

Sadly I was too slow to get a shot of her patting the wooden dog and
showing it her leaflet.

On Sunday we went out to Thetford Forest for a slightly ill-advised picnic and a walk on the Gruffalo orienteering course. The weather was foul, but a good time was had, with just a slight upset when the maypole swing swooped Arya out at 70 degrees to vertical, then swung her back into the central support. Fortunately a) the pole is padded, b) she swung back in as the swing slowed and c) she hung on like a boss. There were tears, but mostly from shock, and she was soon up and raring to go. She was especially excited to see the Gruffalo's Child again, so we missed the end of the trail(3) and went straight to the big finish.

Arya was so delighted with this picture
that she insisted on retaking it, and
pulled her own hat down at the last
moment in the retake.

We went home, where we chilled for a bit watching Room on the Broom and playing games. While Mummy and Daddy Andrew made dinner, Arya got her Doctor's kit out and checked my vitals. One ear turned up a temperature of 43 degrees and the other 42, which she told me wasn't good, because it meant I had blood in my ears. She got the 'ladder' (packing foam from my computer) and made a stretcher to push me to hospital on. to make it big enough, she worked on it with her thermometer as if it were a sonic screwdriver. Then she wanted to attach a suction cup to my tongue (which was broken, she decided) and produced another piece of packing material. I protested that it wouldn't fit in my mouth, to which she responded wearily: "I'm just pretending."

Sonic.

And then she fell off the sofa, which was thankfully the last of her falls for the weekend, and she was none the worse besides a few tears. She's a tough little sprout and no mistake.

She was much better at bedtime, letting me brush her hair without a fuss and mostly lying down when I asked her. It still took most of an hour for her to drop off,. but it wasn't too stressful. I can't say the same for her waking up at half two, insisting on coming to Mummy and Daddy Luke and slapping us about the faces for an hour. I am so tired right now...

They all left this morning, and I got up to say bye-bye. Now I'm in work, staring at things and waiting for them to make sense.

(1) The park is right by the GP's office and the pharmacy where I get my prescriptions filled.
(2) The one stop shop for all your parental guilt purchasing.
(3) Totally on purpose; we definitely didn't take a wrong turn.

Grump

Arya selfie. John Cleese and Eric Idle can
jog on.

It's been an exciting weekend in all... Well, some of the wrong ways, and I have been Captain Grumpy Pants.

Okay, it's not been all bad, but Arya has been ill and so have Hanna and I, and honestly, I was not able to provide the kind of unflagging familial support that I normally expect of myself. The strain of such days tends to manifest specifically in the bathroom, usually when I am trying to get Arya to either wash her hands or brush her teeth. Mostly the former, as my mild germaphobia desperately wants her to wash before she shoves her hand into her mouth up to the wrist (something I woudl rather she didn't do anyway, as I always worry she's going to choke or something.) So, the specifics of the weekend are a little vague in my head, and I'll do my best to sum up.

Friday we had dinner and I took Arya to bed. It took a while for her to get to sleep, and in the end she dropped off while cuddling Hanna's newest hottie, the beanie dinosaur soon to be called Rubble. In the morning, therefore, I offered her a deal: I would get her her own hottie if she would cuddle it while she went to sleep (since moving around is a big part of the problem, and cuddling a toy can be a good way to occupy fidgety limbs; it's why I still cuddle a toy tiger when I sleep(1).)

We did ballet, and then Tumble Tots, where they had a photographer in. It's pricey to get the pictures, but there were some really lovely shots and she took some with Hanna and I as well. There are also several with Skye the pink alicorn(2) hottie, which we picked up in Sainsbury's and which she's barely put down since. The dinosaur was retroactively named Rubble for a PAW Patrol theme.

Beauty and the Beast (not that Rubble is all
that beastly.)

We got home and Hanna and Arya managed to get all the way through Beauty & the Beast, which was also a new one for me and probably less of an allegory for the US election than I took it for. Unfortunately, Arya was getting more and more ill, and by bedtime she was a) exhausted and b) actively fighting sleep and incapable of getting comfortable. For the first time in a while I couldn't get her to go down, and Hanna had to take over. Given Arya's illness, Hanna went in with her and I passed out on the sofa. I thought this would mean I would be fine in the morning, but apparently not, as Hanna had to get up because I was losing my cool trying to get Arya to wash her hands. Partly this was because I'd been on a high after she agreed to try to use the toilet when she woke up without a struggle, and partly because I was coming down with Arya's cold and thus more tired and grumpy than I thought.

So, yeah; I feel a bit rubbish.

Sassy, dressing gown play-dough.

Arya was pretty zapped for most of the day, and kicked off at the slightest provocation. In particular she got very, very upset when Hanna called 111, and when we tried to take her to the out of hours GP (waiting an hour while later arrivals went in ahead of us, because why not,) and when the tap in the hospital toilet drenched her top. After that, she perked up immensely and was her usual, perky self by the time we saw the doctor. Quite refreshingly, he took us seriously and wrote a delayed prescription in case Arya gets another of her chest infections.

We came home, chilled and had dinner. I got Arya ready to go home, then we watched a bit of Pajanimals before they left. I was not entirely chill, but better than the morning.

So, yeah... I don't feel that I was as good as I should be, but it wasn't a total disaster. Work to do, and get plenty of sleep this week.

(1) Shut up, okay.
(2) Winged unicorn, as you'd know if you watched My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.

Planet of the Sleepus

So chuffed.

So, we don't know what it is. Maybe it's just that she's not exercising enough, or maybe it's the antibiotics for her ear infection, or the ear infection itself, but Arya is not sleeping well, which means we're not sleeping all that well, and above all that we're all a little off our game.

Hanna brought a sleeping Arya over on Friday night and I put her in bed. Hanna was pretty trollied, so we turned in soonish, and were woken up a bit before seven. Saturday is a busy morning now, so we got up and had breakfast and headed into Ely for ballet. Well, actually it's nursery play dance, but she's at the top end of the age range, so is looking at moving up if she has stick-to-it-ness. So far so good; she's listening to the teacher at least as much as she listens to her parents, and she was made up about her new ballet togs.

We wrestled her back into her street clothes while she stared at the mirror in the changing room - seriously, the kid is fascinated by mirrors. I'm just glad she wanted the curtain drawn so she couldn't see it reflecting the mirror opposite to infinity. What's weird is how insistent she was that the curtain be drawn, given that she's perfectly happy to change in public at Tumble Tots. After last week's show of confidence, she was a little more reticent to go in alone this week, but did it in the end, allowing us to feel both proud and validated.

When we got home there was some trauma, which I may talk about another time, but for now... I'm just going to chalk it up as an important lesson in being aware of what we say to and around Arya, and mindful that she talks very directly, without a lot of the nuance and inference that we as adults may assume just because she's quite erudite.

So Saturday afternoon wasn't easy, but we chilled into Saturday evening, and Arya got off to sleep... okay. Once more there was an early up, with Arya calling me in to check on something slight, then letting me return to bed for ten minutes. I got up at seven and shuffled next door again. She looked up at me and, because the GroClock is slightly slow said 'it's not wake up time yet.'

Pose!

Because it was a miserable day, we took her to Soft Play to get some exercise, which went pretty well apart from the giant, undersupervised kid who was shaking the net as she tried to climb it. I don't blame him; he looked like he was enormous for his size and with some pretty specific developmental needs that his parents were ill-attending by letting him go unsupervised into the under-5s area. He was constantly a misjudged turn from hurting someone, made Arya cry, and probably would have been distraught to realise either, but I wanted to go at his parents a time or two. Despite this, Arya got on with it. She called for my help one and was gone by the time I got there, and spent a good ten minutes playing a throwing game while weaving around the bigger kids in the soft soccer area. Then she went up, reached through the netting and started catching the balls coming out of the pneumo tube before dropping them into the net.

We had a fairly quiet afternoon, because as soon as we got back from soft play Arya crashed. She wasn't the only one. We were flopped out on the sofa watching PAW Patrol while Hanna napped, and I was suddenly aware of Arya trying to put a pillow behind my head and a blanket over my legs. I nearly checked myself into Shady Pines retirement home on the spot. If the blanket had been tartan I'd have lost all will to live.

We got through the day with no accidents, and Arya made a decent stab at her toad in the hole, despite declaring that the fancy gluten free sausages weren't proper like the sausages in Heinz beans and sausages (which are, marvel of marvels, gluten free.) She also talked a lot about mermaids (and merpups) and how Mummy likes the Little Mermaid. I told her that I didn't rate it because it taught bad lessons, but she assured me she wasn't scared of the bad lessons.

Wait; was that last week?

Yeah, so... sleep was not a thing that was happening, despite a very early bed and her extreme exhaustion. Eventually Mummy had to go in and finally settle her, although for all that she was out by about eight and then slept past seven. I left her slightly bemused, eating cereal in her car seat and asking for Help (the Beatles song, that is.)

The Empire Widower

There was a time she couldn't climb onto
that dragon without help.

This past weekend was Empire, which would normally mean a solitary weekend getting some housework done, or paying Dishonoured and occasionally feeling guilty about the not-doing of housework, but this time out, I got to spend the time with Arya.

She's not an Empire orphan, of course, since she has a character and everything. One of the firsts for this weekend was that she told me about her LARP character and regaled me with tales of Empire. Specifically, about the time she went camping and played with Little Bat and Little Spider, and that she doesn't want to be Little Biscuit. Of course, her preferred alternative character name is 'Arya'...

Hanna and Andrew came over on Thursday and left on Friay morning, leaving Arya with me. We went to the library, had cuddles, watched PAW Patrol in a carefully monitored pattern (one episode of PAW Patrol followed by something else; after an hour and a half tops, we do something other than TV.) This included a trip to the park, and a trip to the shops where Arya picked up a bottle from a flashy display.

"We get this."
"No, Arya; we don't need that."
"I think we do. If it gets sunny." Holds out bottle of kids factor 50 sunscreen
...
"Okay. Fair call."

We also had to visit the pharmacy on the way to the park, where Arya set her heart on a new toothbrush. It wasn't expensive and she swore up and down that she needed a new one for Ipswich, and she was otherwise very good about waiting for the pharmacist to get back, so I bought it for her. I would later regret this.

Getting her to bed was a bit of a struggle, and the new routine was hit and miss. After about half an hour of me checking in on her, she decided that she wanted me there and was going to fight for it. I sat and held her hand and she went off pretty quickly, and although she did then wake up in the middle of the night, she was off again once I brought her through and slept through.

That was the good night.

Swing!

Saturday was a lot like Friday, but with the added bonus of Arya coming down with a bit of a cold. She also became recalcitrant about washing her hands, insisting that she was scared to do so. 'Scared' appears to be a bit of a go to excuse, because she's learned that we are sympathetic if things scare her. We went to the park again, with Arya slathered in sunscreen (at her own insistence.) We played 'three little pigs' and traded off being the wolf a few times. She's also now insisting on using the zipline on her own, which is nerve-wracking. She loves to hang onto a strap three feet clear of the ground travelling at speed, but she's scared of the sink?

When we got home I ran her a bath, and this is where things started to go awry. It took a while to talk her into the bath, and we started with a hairwash. Flannel on the eyes, water on, and she looked down.

"Keeping looking up!"
"It's in my eyes!"
"Because you looked down, darling."

Okay, so I got her calmed down and gave her another dry flannel, which she put in the water. I think that one was by accident, but the third and final one was on purpose. I'm sorry to say I started to lose it at that point, and I did shout at her, which I hate doing. It was just... We'd got that one down, y'know? We'd finally cracked it, and now we're back to square one and she has ice cream in her hair. By this stage, however, the water was stone cold and I didn't want to keep her in.

She fussed about dinner, and then it was time to get ready for bed and she wanted to use her new toothbrush. No, Arya; that's for Ipswich. There followed a long talk about how she already has two toothbrushes here and she needs to use one of those, unless they're no good anymore, in which case they need to go in the bin. She immediately grabs them to put in the bin.

"But if I'm good they can come out again?"
"No. If they go in the bin, it's because they're broken."
"I keep this one and the new one?"
"No. If you keep that one, you use it now."

Eventually she dropped one of the brushes and tried to pick it up with her feet.

"Arya; pick that up with your hand."
"I can't!"
"Arya; if I have to pick that up, all three brushes go in the bin, and I'm going across the road to the shop, where I will buy you the most boring toothbrush imaginable."
"I can't!"
"Why not!"
"Because I want you to!"

She then went and sat at the back door and called for Mummy and Daddy Andrew for five minutes. After many tears, we reached a compromise, that I would pick up the toothbrush, and she would clean it off and brush her teeth with it, which she did.

"Can I have PAW Patrol?"
"Well, we said that you could have one more episode if you got ready fro bed quickly and without any fuss. Did you do that?"
*nods*
"Really? That bit where we screamed at each other in the bathroom, you ran out and we both burst into tears; that wasn't a fuss?"
*shakes head*
"No PAW Patrol. Maybe in the morning."

Alas, I spoke too soon. Arya was sparko by 8.15, but at one in the morning became restless and started talking in her sleep, eventually waking and calling me through. She was practically incandescent, so into Mummy and Daddy's bed and have some nasty medicine. Two hours later she woke up again feeling achy. The other sort of medicine, and we tried calling Mummy, who called back a bit later, after we'd watched some PAW Patrol on my phone. Once she'd spoken to Mummy, she settled, and woke me at eight, coughing and retching.

Play dough.

I did the whole dance of self-recrimination - did I feed her something with gluten in? did I accidentally take her to play in a plague pit? was the ham expired? - but basically she just had a fever. There was more medicine and careful feeding, and we had a sofa day with a more lax Paw Patrol policy, play dough and books.

Dinner was troublesome - "Do you still want chili?" "Yes." <later> "I don't want this!" - and I didn't get her to bed until half-eight, but she then went to sleep very quickly and neatly. When Hanna and Andrew got home I told them she was still awake, then looked in and saw she had just gone off.

They left this morning, with Arya mostly asleep, but she cuddled me as I carried her to the car and woke up to say a sort of goodbye. She drives me crazy, and I'm going to miss her through the week; just like always.

Me and My Girl

Sadly, by the time I had the camera ready she had put Twilight Sparkle down.
Previously, she'd been holding her like Blofeld's cat.

It's been a long weekend, despite not being a long weekend. Arya has a bit of a lingering virus which is throwing everything out of whack and leaving her tired and grumpy by about 9am (or earlier.)

She fell asleep just before arriving on Friday night, so I first saw her on Saturday morning. We got up, more slowly than usual, and went to the library before Tumble Tots, but Arya was I think a bit miffed at having to turn in a book that had a reservation on it and consequently decided that she didn't want any new books. So it goes.

At Tumble Tots she wanted Mummy to go in with her, but she get involved much more quickly and didn't mind either when I swapped out with Hanna or when I slipped out entirely. When she came out at the end of the session, she seemed thoroughly chipper. We had a fairly painless shopping trip, and the afternoon was only really marred by weather which made a park trip unfavourable. Bedtime was a little fraught, as she didn't really want to go on account of the fact that it was still light. This is something that we're going to have to deal with, because it's not going to start getting dark earlier anytime this side of the solstice. So it goes.

Monsters!

On Sunday morning, Hanna slipped out early and I had Arya solo until about five o'clock in the afternoon. Given her tiredness the night before and just how long it took her to go to sleep, I let her lie in as long as she wanted, which was until about seven-thirty.

We had a slow, lazy morning, which only got a little tense once she decided that she wanted to go to the park, but resisted the preliminary stages of getting dressed and going to the toilet (part of the reason for the lazy morning was that she wanted to stay in her pajamas.) She made a few tentative forays, but kept getting distracted by the 'monsters' - motes of light reflecting from the sequins of her night dress - which she tried to chase across the walls of the corridor. That was utterly adorable.

Eventually we got dressed and had some lunch - perennial favourite crackers with ham and cucumber, with cheese for Daddy - then made it to the park in time to enjoy some of the best weather of the weekend. There were slightly more people than she really likes, but mostly she had fun and even persuaded me to take a ride on the zipline, once I'd got her well out of the way.

You gotta go make it happen...

On the way home, she and Anders the unicorn sat on the memorial Harley.

At home, Arya had a little accident, which I used as the catalyst to get her into the bath. We had the usual palaver over hair washing, and especially rinsing. She's got too much hair for anything but a thorough dousing to get it clear of shampoo, and something always gets in her eyes. Still, she got clean and I let her watch the 'Magical Mystery Cure' episode of My Little Pony a couple of times to calm down.

The rest of the afternoon was basically pretty chilled as we waited for Hanna to get home, after which I made dinner. Arya then finished watching a last episode of MLP (because the Season 4 finale was a bit traumatic and she needed a bit of a wind down,) and we went to bet. It took some doing to start her moving bedwards, but one we got in things were pretty smooth. Hanna sang to her and she sang along. We read a couple of Frog books, I sang a couple of songs and she drifted off. I may have drifted off as well.

This morning her fever was up and she was pretty reluctant to do anything, and it was an emotionally exhausting struggle to get her dressed and into the car. She said goodbye beautifully at the station, however. I am of course missing her madly already.

The Mouse's Birthday

Presents!

This Saturday was Arya's third birthday. I know, right; three years old. We had a lot of plans, some of which alas fell through due to illness, but mostly it was a good weekend.

He summer house arrived on Friday and I moved the pieces into the yard, but we didn't have time to do anything with them as Hanna was making a cake; a modest two-tiered offering this time, but between that and the icing on Saturday morning the kitchen looked like a disaster area and Hanna was pretty ragged by the time people started cancelling for the party due to the rash of flu-like bug sweeping the nation. There was at least one suggestion that birthdays might be cancelled if certain persons, who shall remain nameless but who have become rather good at procrastinating lately, didn't get ready for bed.

Come the morning, she was pretty good about getting ready, although we still managed to be late for Tumble Tots. After next week, she'll be moving up to the later class and we are still going to cut it to the bone every week, I just know it.

Anyway, Arya was... excitable. She woke up tired and we knew we were in for fun. We're not sure why, but she's not sleeping so well at the moment, or rather she's sleeping plenty, but not resting. It's a struggle to get her to sleep, she sleeps through (mostly; she did wake up and want to come through on Saturday) and then wakes up still apparently exhausted. She's jittery in the morning and come afternoon is all over the place.

On the upside, she seemed to have a great time at softplay (barring a few larger kids making trouble on the toddler section, and I had to judiciously withhold from smacking the little snots) and got on really well with friend of parents' friends Tom. I'd invited one of my colleagues and her kids, and they all seemed to have fun too. Arya loved the Sarah & Duck t-shirt they made her and we made tentative future visiting arrangements.

Also, there was a butterfly.

Sunday was the day of building, which got occasionally tense as Arya wanted to play with sharp tools too. I was mostly on wrangling and entertaining duty, plus trying to keep everyone fed. We watched a lot of My Little Pony, but also did some running about. I offered to take her to the park, but she was of the definite opinion that it was too cold, and besides, the emergent house-within-a-house was clearly fascinating to her.

At dinner, the subject of whether it was worth trying to settle her while we watched something or if we ought to just get her into the care arose. Arya immediately offered: "I wanna go in the car now." I'd probably have been quite stung, but while we got her ready to leave, she gave me a big hug and said: "Thank you for my party."

Ersatz Illness

Nap time

I've been ill, which means I've not been in work, which in turn means I haven't done my ED post, since it's something I do at work.

Anyway, Hanna and Andrew brought Arya into town on Friday, before Hanna headed off for a game. Arya turned up in her onsie, so we popped up to the office to change her into some clothes, then Andrew took her into town. She wanted me to go with them; I can tell because as the lift doors closed she howled in rage and betrayal; it fair broke my heart. We caught up later and she didn't seem to hold it against me, and she was clearly tired, since she fell asleep on the way home. Of course, we knew this was going to be trouble later on, but she looked so darned cute and besides, we didn't want to wake her up on the train when there might be no way to get her to the toilet.

Schlurp!

On Saturday we hit out for Tumble Tots, and by most standards it was a pretty successful bus trip. I mean, we didn't miss the bus, which is a start. It was, however, fiercely cold, and Arya was not very happy with that. Part of the recurring problem is that before we get outside she insists that she doesn't want/need her coat/hat/gloves, and then when she does want them we don't necessarily have them. We need to have a prep routine so that we don't forget things like that.

On Saturday afternoon, we made cake; like, all the cake. A triple decker checkerboard cake for Mummy's birthday, in pink, red and purple by special request. since Arya doesn't much care for the mixer, I whipped up two sets of batter in the kitchen, while Andrew and Arya made the third at the living room table. On Sunday we did some decorating of the cakes.

Dat smile!

We also wrapped some of Hanna's presents together. Arya's approach to sticky tape is... odd.

Arya is increasingly into not just looking at her own photos, but participating in them, and insisting on 'reshoots'.

*click*

Intense face

"Can I see?"
Beat
"Again!"
*click*
"Can I see?"

I hope I'm not making her into a diva, but as long as she's happy posing for better shots of her slurping up pasta, I won't worry about her taking herself too seriously.

Toilet training is proceeding apace. Arya is still a little reticent to use the toilet at home, but is very good when we're out. She also sometimes just decides she's going to go all by herself, and does. Sure; sometimes she has accidents still, but I think we're in a progressive stage.

I am sure there's loads I'm missing. It was a lovely weekend, but as of Sunday I've been sick and things are a little woozy in my head. 

Sleep Daddy Days

"Why don't you bounce on the trampoline?"
"Hahaha. No."

It's been another slogger of a weekend. We're really not a winter family, and I'm considering making enquiries into the possibilities offered by hibernation. I think we'd make good bears.

Hanna was out this weekend, so Andrew brought Arya over late on Friday and I took her straight in to bed. Thankfully it was half term, so we didn't have to try and bus it to Tumble Tots, especially as Arya was worn out from fighting a cold. She was pretty knackered all weekend, and not up for much more than a few shopping trips and a visit to the library on Saturday.

The library visit was very successful. Arya made choices about which books to renew and which to return, and picked out a new book about babies. This book, 'How Did I Begin?' takes a very modern attitude to teaching young children the facts of life, which caused Andrew a little uncertainty when she asked him to read it to her, but we're very big on not raising her to think that a) anything about her body is intrinsically rude or dirty (but do wash your hands after toilet) or b) that sex is rude or funny, but not passing on our prejudices and awkwardness means first overcoming them, and that's not always easy. I sometimes think it would be easier to give up and raise her to join a convent.

On Sunday she was a bit more
chipper.

Other than that, Arya was a bit listless most of the day, due to the aforementioned illness and exhaustion. It didn't help that she wasn't eating or drinking well, and in the end she watched a lot of TV and played some games with us, but didn't really get out much. Her big exercise blitz was running up and down between 'Daddy Luke's house' (the living room) and 'Daddy Andrew's house' (her bedroom) and calling 'Hello' and 'Bye bye' (or 'Cheerio' and, in one case, 'Good luck') as she came and went. Nonetheless, she was tied enough to conk out fast when I took her to bed, and to seriously sleep in on Sunday morning.

I would never give up and raise my daughter to join a convent, in case you were worried.

Once she was up on Sunday, she seemed brighter, but no more eager to get out and about. When offered the choice, she chose to stay home with Daddy Andrew while Daddy Luke did the shopping, although ten minutes later she was demanding to shop with Daddy Luke and Andrew had to bring her out to the Co-op and then be dismissed (she's still very mean to Daddy Andrew sometimes,) while I waited around to finish my shop. Once we were done she asked me to put the pound coin from the trolley in her pocket, and later asked Andrew to open it so that she could feast on the sweet chocolate inside.

Mummy!

Our main goals were to keep her awake all day, and to try to get her to do something other than watching Sarah & Duck, and we were partially successful. It was not a very active day, although on the upside she did drink more (in part because I dug out her bottle of sugar free Ribena, or 'purple and blue juice'.)

She was as ever delighted to see Mummy come home and big hugs were had all round (you can't see it very well because I didn't get video, but in the picture on the left she's tucking a sleepy Mummy in to rest, including bringing Mummy one of her own bears. She even managed to tell me that she needed to use the toilet and then do so without mess, so props to her for that.

Bedtime was... less successful. She procrastinated a fair bit, and once we were in bed kept asking for medicine, although she wasn't feverish any more. She complained of painful legs, and strugled to get comfortable until I sat up and she settled on her own. I got another twinge of early-onset empty nest syndrome.

This morning, she headed off for Martlesham in her pajamas.

There was a weekend?

Grate times!

So, it's been a bit of a weekend all told. We were all hit hard with the sick stick, so we've been wheezing and snuffling and generally feeling like crap.Arya was super-clingy and utterly Mummy-oriented, which was fun, but understandable.

Arya got snuffly on Friday night and I went in to keep her company. I noticed that her room is quite cold, and I was glad she's started sleeping under the covers. In the morning she was reluctant to get up, and we ended up running late for Tumble Tots through a combination of that and just running late. Still, we made it and Arya was really good around the circuit, with some especially impressive waiting her turn.

After that we went to Newmarket to pick up an exercise bike. Now, I don't know if you've ever been to Newmarket, but it is not a great place to shop when it's freezing cold and raining. Even the shopping centre is open at both ends, and the only place we could find to eat was Pizza Express, which is a) good food, with b) decent if not excellent gluten free coverage, but c) really more expensive than we were hoping for in terms of lunch. Still, Arya ate her salad and pizza pretty much all up, and that doesn't happen so often.

Arya was also, for the record, super good in Claire's Accessories, where Hanna was buying hair bands. She picked up a whole lot of Frozen merchandise that she liked the look of, but put it all back with pretty much no fuss. More for her birthday list, I guess.

The awesome moment of crowning.

By the time we hit Argos for the bike itself, she was getting frazzled, however, and I got some resistance when we headed for Waitrose.

"I wanna go to the big shop."
"It's just up ahead, sweetie."
"No! The other big shop!"

Once we got her settled in a trolley seat next to Taren the reindeer and scanning barcodes for us, she seemed much happier, but we were amazed that even Muppet's Christmas Carol kept her awake until we reached home.

After another fitful night, in which I responded to calls from Arya only to be told "You need to come to sleep with me," we opted for a pajama day. It was Valentine's Day, for what that's worth, so we decided to tidy the flat a bit while watching The Last Unicorn, break down a couple of chairs which have just been holding clutter for months, and put the bike in their place.

Arya was getting a real pasting from the cold by this point, so after lunch (pancakes for us, ham salad for her) she and Hanna had some medicine then basically collapsed on the sofa. Arya ate grapes and crackers until she felt better and Hanna dozed. We had fish fingers for tea, because by that point I was way past anything fancy.

Since Arya had a theatre trip this morning, they left last night, and quite early for the sake of common sense. Although she'd been snubbing me in favour of Mummy most of the day, I got a proper goodbye cuddle from Arya, and that was nice.