Bubble-tastic!

Tonight Imogen had bubbles in the bath. She's had them before and has enjoyed playing with them and laughing at Mummy with bubbles on her nose. But tonight as soon as she saw them she got very excited and uttered the fantastic word. Yes Bubble said "Bubble"! Over and over again!

Photos

Have changed the photo feed for the blog, so hopefully you should see the most recent photos at the top. If you want to see any older ones go to http://picasaweb.google.com/charlotte.pinney

Long awaited update

Once again we've been slack on blogging, so here's a bit of an update.

Since we went on the boat Imogen seems to have suddenly grown up. No longer does she need us to cuddle her to sleep - lovely as it means we have evenings back, but I do miss the cuddles! The other major thing is that she's no longer happy to sit in the push chair and just go for a ride - she'll sit for a bit, but then just wants to be out and walk. This is no bad thing - I'm all for making/letting kids walk, but it does mean that journeys take far longer than before as every leaf/flower/stone/bit of rubbish etc is just sooo interesting! Uncle Hugh bought her a wonderful little rucksack which she's quite happy to wear and means that, not only can I stop her running off after whatever is interesting, but also allows he to carry her own snack pot, drink & Mr Cow!

Healthwise, the snotty nose and viral rashes seem to have reduced in frequency (having said that she's not great at the moment!). We did have hand, foot & mout disease (no, not the same as what cows get!) which meant a week off nursery and not seeing a couple of friends for a bit who were concerned about little babies catching it. The blisters on her feet seemed to take ages to totally heal, and it did seem to have played havoc with her bowels.

She seems to really enjoy nursery. After the holiday and her illness we had a couple of week of her not being too sure about us leaving her, but that's all passed now. Sh'll quite happily gie me a kiss and a wave, then toddle off to play with whatever toy takes her fancy. I think she enjoys it all too much - there's so much going on that sleep is always a struggle there. We're lucky if she has more than an hour there and sometimes it's not even that (compared to 2+hrs at home) and she is always exhausted when she's home, which leads to tears and stress.

Her communication is improving all the time - she certainly makes it known what she wants. Her signing vocabulary grows all the time, and she'll often look at me waiting for the sign (shame I don't always know what the sign is!) and will try and sign new things after me doing it only once or twice. Nursery have said a few times about her using it there as well. I certainly think that it's helped us understand her, and reduces chances of frustration. And it certainly prooves that she understands a lot more than we'd have given her credit for. Her speaking is coming along as well. I'm still waiting for her to reliably say "Mummy", but there's plenty of other words. I'm not convinced other people would know what she's trying to say - either with signing or vocally - but we get along.

Holiday aboard Quintet

Last week we went away for a holiday on the boat. It was a lovely week, although you wouldn't exactly say relaxing!
We didn't get very far along the canal - it took us a week to travel as far as we would have got in an afternoon in the past. But that wasn't the aim of the holiday anyway - it was more about a change of scenery and escaping having to think about the boring things like bills!
During the day we spent plenty of time feeding the ducks and playing the in the park near the canal. Imogen and I also went swimming and to a soft play, while Dave and Buster enjoyed a few long walks. Dave and I also managed to have an evening out at the local pub, thanks to Mum & Dad babysitting.
Sleep was perhaps the most stressful part of the week - the boats not really set up with a safe place for a lively toddler to sleep. On a night she slept on a blow-up kiddie bed which we wedged in the corridor near the bathroom. During the day, naps were in a buggy squashed in front of the wardrobe! The first three nights were awful, with none of us getting a decent sleep - and we nearly gave up and came home - but things got better and she settled into sleeping through the nights, which made things easier.
There are a few more pictures here - feeding the ducks, wearing her life jacket (which, luckily, she was quite happy to keep on) and Buster, the captain!

Painting and drawing

Imogen seems to not have much interest in drawing and painting. She got an Aquadraw mat for her birthday, which she'll use for a few minutes, but that's about it. Try and get her to draw in birthday cards for people, and she'd rather eat the crayon. And painting's not much better. We've only had about 3 paintings from nursery and the last one came with a comment from the staff "I've never seen a child so uninterested in painting"!

Let's hope we can find some other creative outlet for her. I'd hate her to have nothing as she grows up - I think it's very important to have something to "escape" to.

How to...

...wash your face the Imogen way
1. Get Mummy to buy a flannel that has a character or face on it or, even better, one that's a puppet.
2. When Mummy wants me to have a wash, get her to hold the flannel so I can see the face, then put on a silly voice and say "Come on Imogen, give me a kiss!"
3. While the nice flannel is giving me lots of kisses, make sure Mummy is making silly sound effects.

...brush you teeth the Imogen way
1. Get Daddy to help. Mummy's useless!

More Imogen proofing required

Imogen's climbing has taken another step forward (no pun intended). This morning she was playing on the lounge floor while I was clearing the table after breakfast. I came back from the kitchen to find her sat on the sofa. Argh! All that stuff that was out of reach are no more - now very accessible and at risk! Help - where do we move it all to?

"I forgot to tell you..."

Or that's what Imogen seems to say to me some nights when I'm sitting with her while she goes to sleep. She'll be laid there, sucking her thumb, cuddling My Cow, all quiet and nearly sleep. Then suddenly she'll have a little manic phase - sit up, look at me, get all animated, chattering away and gesticulating - and then as suddenly as it started it's all over and she's laid quiet again. It's as if she suddenly remembers something about the day that she _has_ to tell me. Very cute and brings a smile to my face - I'd just love to know what she's trying to tell me about!

A little film

Here's a little film that we've created. Enjoy!

Baby encounters

Mad & Charlie came to visit today. It was good to see them, although I'm not sure Imogen would entirely agree!

Charlie's about 11 weeks old, and I reckon it must have been Imogen's first encounter with a baby a lot younger than her - especially in our house. She kept a close eye on her, looked puzzled when Charlie made "baby" noises (rather than the "toddler chat" that she makes) and seemed fascinated by breast-feeding (despite her still doing it, so she knows full well what it's all about!).

But I guess the most telling point came when I was left holding Charlie as Mad went off to get something. Imogen came over to me & Charlie and gave us a cuddle - all very nice - but then tried to move Charlie out of the way so she could get onto my knee as well/instead.

Still, she can't have disliked her that much - Imogen gave her a kiss as they were going - and they're not given out to just anyone!

No tears

There were no tears from Imogen when I dropped her off at nursery this morning. She was met at the gate by one of the staff and a couple of little friends and off she toddled to play. And that was it! I know that means she's happy at nursery and doesn't mind going, but it was a bit sad that she didn't even look back to say goodbye!

Hugs!

Yesterday at church there was another little girl, about 6 months older than Imogen. We hadn't seen the family before, but Imogen's a friendly kid and made them feel welcome - during one of the songs she walked up to Emily and, unprompted, put her arms round her to give her a big hug. Very cute!

No fear!

Sorry about the sideways video, but I keep forgetting to hold the camera "landscape".

Anyway, we've been to a soft play place today. We've been before and Imogen's always seemed to enjoy it, but today she was really having fun. No fear! Up and down the slides and ladders - yes, even up the slides and down the ladders. And when she realised that I was more scared than she was, she just giggled!

Wonky teeth

No, not individually wonky, just not growing in the "right" order. They started off growing in pairs - 4 at the top and 2 at the bottom. But the last couple have been a bit random. She now has 3 teeth at the bottom and 5 at the top - and the 5th on the top is not next to the other four, but further back in her mouth. We're at the dentist on Monday anyway, although I'm not quite sure how cooperative she's going to be with that!

Shoes

Imogen now has "proper" shoes. Her walking has suddenly taken off, and we decided she needed something to give more support and protection for outside. So, size 3,1/2 G little white buckle shoes have been bought. Yes, they're white, but ti was either that or pink, and pink doesn't always go with the green/brown/purple/red etc that she wears! They're actually pre-walker shoes, as the lady who measured her feet said that until she's really steady (and she's still fairly wobbly) having walker shoes could actually put her back a bit, as she wouldn't be able feel the ground properly etc.