New blog

It has been a long time...

I have moved over to wordpress now, so here is the url for my new blog. Hope to see you over there some time soon. xxx

http://indigobird.wordpress.com/

A pretty perfect day

We had such a lovely day today that I just had to post! Brett was in London for work this morning, which meant he had to leave at the crack of dawn and he won't be home till very late tonight. Emma has been a bit difficult recently - she is teething a lot (does it ever end???) and signs of the terrible twos are kicking in. She has some days when all she wants to do all day is watch TV or breastfeed, and if I try to get her to do anything else she gets really narky. She had a really good night's sleep last night though.

We were up and about early, and at 8.30 we went out in the rain to the playground. OK, it wasn't raining when I left the house, but it started about 30 seconds later! Of course the place was deserted in that kind of weather (and at that crazy time in the morning!) so we had the run of the place. Emma loved it. She doesn't really like to go on anything, but just to run about. She started to look a bit cold after a while, so I popped her in the sling and we went on the swings together. She really loved it, and started to go for a little snooze.

At home, we played sticking stickers in her magazine, tearing up the magazine into little pieces, tidying up games, trying on silly hats, singing stupid songs, taking funny photos... it was just a very sweet silly day.






























We had no disagreements or tears at all! Well, apart from a tiny bit when this happened...



We had macaroni cheese for dinner, which is always a huge favourite, and then a huge portion of eton mess which was given to us by our lovely neighbour Marie. It was so messy, we had to use the big Christmas bib! Thank goodness she is using a spoon now! Emma was tired out this evening, and went to bed with no fuss at all.















So, no special occasions or anything like that... just a really nice day. We haven't had one that good in a while, so hopefully tomorrow will be just as good. :-)

What a princess!

We were at a christening last weekend. Em was in a shockingly bad mood for most of the day due to lack of sleep, but it didn't stop her looking like a little princess! My brother Sam bought this dress for Emma for her birthday back in February, and this is the first excuse she has had to wear it. Shame the pic is of her back, but it is better than nothing.

London Summer Sling Show

Wow it has been a while hasn't it. Life with a mobile toddler suddenly seems very busy! Emma has gone from cruising round the furniture being too scared to let go, to running about like a mad thing in just a few weeks! She did have her first nasty tumble the other day though, and is now sporting a rather unfetching graze on her nose. I am sure this will be the first of many. :-(

Emma had her first trip to London yesterday, to the Summer Sling Show. It was great - we drove to Shepherds Bush and took the tube from there, which she really loved. Her face lit up every time we got to a station! She was very well behaved.

The sling show was great - loads of stalls, and I met lots of people that I chat to on forums which was lovely. Here are a few photos...

Meeting Beatrice from Didymos. This was quite exciting! :-) I was gearing myself up to sell the wrap I am wearing here, but Beatrice was very sweet and seemed very happy to see Emma fast asleep all snuggled up in there. So now I think I have to keep it!















Trying on a Grisefanten mei tai in the park.

























Lunch in the park... lovely, although Emma did almost have her first taste of cigarette butts. I managed to get it off her just in time!















Trying a colibri mei tai in the park. These aren't made any more, which is such a shame because I think this is the most comfy mei tai I have ever tried on!

























Trying a Vatanai Pamir wrap. This is the last wrap on my wish list, and now that I have tried it on for real I reeeeeeeally want one! It might not look that fancy, but it is so beautifully hand woven, and it has the exact right amount of stretch and bounce to it. It was insanely comfortable, and Emma loved it too!






















Back at home again, Emma had her first taste of profiteroles! They were (as expected) a big hit!

Lake District

We have just got back from a wonderful holiday in the Lake District! We stayed for a week in a cottage in Glenridding, at the edge of Ullswater.

Here is a selection of photos for your viewing pleasure.

My uncle Bill came over for a day, as did my cousin Jen and her family. It was lovely to catch up with them. Bill brought a play tent for Emma, which she really loved and spent most of the holiday in! It became a bit of a hidey hole for toys, books, remote controls, etc. Bill was pretty dismayed when he found out we had come all the way to the lakes with no walking boots or waterproof coats. We rectified this very quickly though, and I ended up getting an enormous waterproof that went over both me and Emma! Lucky we did - it rained a lot during the week. It didn't stop us having fun though.

On one of the dry days, we took a walk suggested in a book we had borrowed up Glenridding Dodd and over Sheffield Pike. The book described it as "steep at first"... but that actually should have read "death defying!!!" It was sooooo steep on both the way up and down, and really hard work. It was totally worth it though - the view was wonderful. If the weather had been better we would have done a lot more walking because we really enjoyed it.

We also visited Ambleside, Windermere, Lakeside, and lots of other places. We managed to fit a lot into just a week! Emma really enjoyed herself and...

... she finally started to walk on her own!! I am so proud of her. My little baby suddenly seems so much more grown up. I guess this means I should buy her first pair of shoes now!

Dog!

Emma is normally a bit a chatter box, but just baby talk rather than real words. She does quite often say something that sounds like "book" when we look at picture books together, but it is more of an "ook" than "book"! And she always calls herself "baba" when she sees herself in the mirror.

But I turned the TV on just now, and there was a puppet dog singing a song. Emma went straight up to the TV, bounced up and down, and shouted "dog, dog dog" over and over! Now please don't tell me that was just coincidence!

Lots to do

Wow we have been busy lately! We went over to the Netherlands to visit my Dad for a few days which was brilliant. We managed to catch up with some friends (but of course not everyone - isn't that always the way!) and spent a lovely day at the beach.

Emma is really enjoying all the sunshine, and is growing like a weed. She still (still!!) isn't walking on her own, apart from the odd few steps here and there, but to be honest I like it like that. (Don't grow up too fast!!) She is into everything at the moment - the world is a big place and every nook and cranny needs to be investigated!

I have been really busy recently. Its funny - when I stopped working I was worried that I would find full time motherhood boring. But how wrong could I be! I feel so lucky to be able to do it this way, and to be honest I have never been busier! As well as looking after Emma, I am working on a few websites, and the garden is taking a load of my time up (in a good way!) I don't seem to have a lot of news to blog about at the moment. That doesn't mean that life is boring in the slightest - we just seem to have settled in a nice rhythm.

We had our June Oxford Sling Meet last week, which was really lovely. Photos are up on our website here!

And finally, here are a couple of photos I managed to get at lunch time today. Em always manages to get her bib off while I am not looking. Not such a great idea when she is eating tomatoes!!

Happy Birthday Mum

We have had a lovely family weekend. My Dad and brother came to see us on Friday, and it was the first time they have seen the new house. We went into Oxford for the afternoon, and had a wonderful time. On Saturday we went to stay with my Mum because it was her birthday this weekend. The whole family was there, and it was lots of fun to see everyone. Emma enjoyed being the inevitable centre of attention! My brother took some great pictures of us.

Naughty face:














Dancing in the garden:














Family portrait:














Looking at flowers:























Big blue eyes!

What is it about a hat?

We have been taking full advantage of our gorgeous garden and all the sunshine this week! I was in town with Emma a few days ago and realised I had not bought her a summer hat yet. So, I popped into one of the kiddies shops on the High Street and came out with a little pink number. What is it about children and hats that makes them so sweet! :-)

Emma is not completely comfortable being out in the garden yet. She doesn't really like to venture beyond the blanket, and if I show any sign of moving away she gets very upset. I guess these are her first little steps into the big wide world.

Speaking of steps... she did some all on her own a couple of days ago! She is getting more confident about standing without support, and is now sometimes able to take a few steps. She has a little walker that she wizzes around the house with, but she seems to really enjoy playing games where she stands and lets go of my hands at the moment.











































And here she is being very helpful, and unpacking the shopping and tucking into a courgette. We were running a bit late with dinner, so I guess she thought she would just help herself! :-)

Fabric Fairy

Yesterday, the postman came just as I was heading out of the door to the La Leche League meeting, so I took it all along with me. I thought there was nothing exciting - a couple of bills, and what looked like a sling donation for the Oxford sling library that I am helping to set up. So I just shoved it all in my handbag.

Anyway... when I opened what I thought was the sling, I was in for a heck of a surprise. It was in fact a yard of fabric that I have been after for ages. It is out of print and hard to get hold of, especially in this colour. With it was a little note saying it was a present from the fabric fairy!! I have my suspicions about who sent it to me, so if you are reading this thank you so so so much. It put a smile on my face all day to think that there are such lovely people out there!

Here it is, with its little note!