Poor thing (Anna)

Emma's sick, poor thing, with some kind of virus (fever and rash included at no extra price). The timing couldn't be worse - Caroline is about to go into the busiest two weeks of her year. So Emma and I are bunked down at home, while she cries and looks at me like I'm letting her down cos I can't take it all away. I'm hoping that the next 24 hour cycle includes more than the four hours of sleep (yes, that's total) she and I both got in the last 24 hours.

R.I.P little toothbrush (Anna)

R.I.P Emma's toothbrush.

Emma's toothbrush, a regular guest in our home, died an untimely death this morning in the toilet bowl of the upstairs bathroom, at the hands of a curious toddler.

Although having a reputation by some for having a rather bristly character, Toothbrush was known by close family for her soft side, and will be remembered fondly for her love of being held close and the obvious joy she experienced while dancing in circles. She had a calm, even temperement that held her in good stead during the bitings and meltdowns that were a frequent part of her chosen line of work.

Experts speculate that the last sounds Toothbrush would have heard were "splash" and a babe's delighted chuckle.

Although revival is sometimes possible in cases of toothbrush drowning, it is exceptionally rare when the body of water involved is a toilet.

A contrary little creature (Anna)

Emma has adopted an adorable habit of saying "Noooooo" and shaking her head...at everything.

At the end of a meal, "Do you want to go down, Emma?"
"Noooo" (shakes her head)
"So you want to stay in your high chair?"
"Noooo" (shakes her head)

At bed-time, "Are you ready for bed, Emmy?"
"Noooo" (shakes her head)
"So you want to stay up a bit longer?
"Noooo" (shakes her head)

Outside, "Do you want to go in?"
"Nooooo" (shakes her head)
"So you want to stay outside?"
"Noooo" (shakes her head)

Often, luckily, the noooo has nothing to do with a corresponding action.
In the bath, "Sit down, little one. Sit on your bum."
"Nooooo' (shakes her head fervently - while sitting down and doing exactly what she's been asked to do.)

But, if we say "Do you want a kiss?" she still says "Mmmmwhaaaa." So all is good in the world.

She also can't get enough of her books at the moment. Sometimes, we're not sure what she needs or is asking for, so a conversation might look like this:

"Are you tired?" (+ sign for sleep)
"noooo" (shakes her head)
"Are you thirsty?" (+ sign for drink)
"noooo" (shakes her head)
"Do you have a poo?" (+ sign for dirty nappy)
"noooo" (shakes her head)
"Are you hungry?"(+ sign for food)
"noooo" (shakes her head)
"Do you want to go outside?"
"noooo" (shakes her head)
Do you need a cuddle?"
"noooo" (shakes her head - usually holding out her arms to be picked up)
Do you want to play?
"noooo" (shakes her head)
"Would you like a book?"
"Buk?" Her eyes light up and suddenly she's interested. She nods frantically before dashing off to collect a pile. She comes back to us, presents us with a suitable selection, and shows us which one she wants first. Then she turns around, backs into our lap and plops down, expectantly. And the noooos stop for another few minutes, while she happily goes through her new words, all of which include exclamation marks as part of their spelling: "train!" "air-pla-!" "orange!" "star!" "'pider!" "purple!""blo-!" "bucket!" "blanket!"etc etc, occasionally intercepted by the urgent need to point to us and say "Mumma" or "Mummy" (still a little indiscrimately - most days,we're both just Mumma) or lable our nose (another "no-"), eyes and ears. Every day, there are new words we didn't know she knew.

She also points to the pictures on the wall and declares "Em-ma!"

Off topic ruminations (Anna)

There's a bible shop near us. At the moment, there's a sign outside that reads:

Sale

Fiction 4.99
Non-fiction 5.99

So my question is, how much would I pay for a bible?

Emma-envy (Anna)

Emma hasn't been sleeping well recently, which means she has two Mums who are exhausted.

I wish a kind, caring person would come up to my desk at work and say, "Hiya, little one. I noticed that you're getting a bit cranky. I think someone needs a nap. Let's go and get some sleep, hey?" And they would take whatever writing I was working on and lay it down gently, reach under my arms and pick me up. My colleagues would blow kisses at me and say "bye-bye" or "nigh-nigh" as I went past.

My protector would carry me to a comfy bed, stroking my head as it lolls on their shoulder. Then they would lie me down gently, tuck a bunny under my arm and a blanket over my bum. They would say, softly "Sleepy-sleep, my little one." And then, while I started to drift off into a deep slumber, they would sing made-up lullabies to me in a soft voice, and gently kiss my cheeks. If I woke up and cried, they would tuck me back in and say, "Back to sleep. It's ok" in that funny sing-song voice reserved for babies and pat my back rhythmically, and I would go back to sleep for as long as I needed to.

This was my fantasy today. I think my workplace should seriously consider adding this service to our extended benefits plan.

First fury (Anna)

Emma is going through lots of major cognitive shifts at the moment, including creating short sentences. "Bye bye Mummy" rather than just "Bye bye" or "Hello cat" rather than just "Hello".

And last night, we saw the full force of her toddler fury when things don't go her way. She was so angry at being told to go to sleep, she grabbed her blanket and threw it across the room at us. When that didn't seem to change anything, she threw her treasured bunny at us. Neither of us have ever seen her deliberately throw things in rage before. We've seen her throw whatever happens to be in her hand in frustration, but never deliberately grabbing something with the expressed intention of sending it hurling in our direction furiously.

I suspect there'll be more to come. Seems that our little one has some opinions of her own. We will, of course, discourage them - after all, neither of her parents is stubborn and has opinions ;)

Bye-bye (Anna)

It's getting harder and harder to get Emma out of the door. She insists on saying bye bye to as many inanimate objects as possible as we walk out, and has to make eye contact with each of them. So the walk down the hallway can take five minutes while she says bye-bye to the chair,a pair of socks, the mirror, our sneakers, the wall, the door, the floorboards, any clothes that are hanging around, the letter box, the wall...you get the picture. It's a bit like "Goodnight Moon".

If there's anything with a face on it, it's even harder. She says bye bye, but then has to run through her "face vocab" - nose, eyes, ears, teeth, tongue, cheek, etc, sometimes several times. ("Yes, little one. It's STILL a nose. Just like it was the last 20 times you asked...")

And she has developed more emotional needs as well. At bed time a week ago, she suddenly decided it was extremely important to cuddle her bunny and pull her blanket up (both of which she had previously ignored). Then, last night, she wouldn't sleep until I had kissed the bunny goodnight on its nose as well as hers. She did make it easy for me to figure out, holding the bunny up to my face and saying "Mmmmwhhma pliz" until I kissed it.

Her vocab is exploding - new words every day, and she has the most wonderful giggle in the world. Neither talking nor giggling are things she'll do with a camera in her face, so we'll just have to enjoy the moment and not worry too much about capturing it for prosterity.

We are torn between wanting her to keep getting older so we can see what else she has in store for us, and wanting her to stay this age forever.