A little song

This is Imogen's favourite song at the moment. She's obviously picked it up from nursery, 'cos I haven't really sung it much with her - in fact I had to look the words up when she got frustrated that I wouldn't sing it with her!

Mummy!

After many months of waiting...

It started with her signing "Daddy"
This moved on to signing and saying "Daddy"
Then came signing "Mummy" and saying "Daddy"

Today, when I went to pick Imogen up from nursery, I opened the room door and...

she signed and spoke "Mummy" :)

Why..

Why is it that when I'm having a bad day - tired & not feeling well - Imogen decides that's when she's not going to have a good day either? Yesterday afternoon was awful - she didn't have a proper nap and then spent the rest of the afternoon and evening in a very bad mood, while all I wanted to do was go to sleep! Turns out I was brewing a migraine which hit last night :(

Competition winner!

Last weekend was the village show where Mum & Dad live. Among the competitions were the usual photographic ones. Dad entered this photo in the "people" section - and won! Nothing to do with the great composition and lovely colours - it was all to do with the gorgeous little girl!!!

SAGGA camp 2009

It was a few weeks ago now, but I've had trouble with the photos. This year's camp was at Giant's Seat campsite near Radcliffe in Manchester, and we went for just over a week. The weather was OK - a few days of rain, but nothing too bad.
I was worried before we went that tea-time and bed-time were going to be a nightmare - food being later than we'd eat at home, and everything going on stopping her wanting to go to bed. But it was all OK - there were a couple of evenings that were a bit harder, but generally not too many problems. Daytime naps were not as long as she'd have at home - and she was suffering for that later in the week - but we got through without too many tears.
Imogen loved being out in the fresh air with all the space - and plenty of people to play with. Simple things like bubbles were a hit and kept her occupied for ages, with Charlie teaching her to "pop, pop, pop" the ones on the floor. And the big digger was also exciting to watch - but only for a while! In true SAGGA style Imogen tried to get stuck in with the work - after watching others leveling some concrete, she later picked up some tools and had a go herself!
I was more relaxed this year about leaving her with others, and Dave took his turn at being "in charge", so I got some time and space as well which was nice. We didn't really get to visit any tourist attractions (a planned visit to the MOSI was abandoned in favour of a lie-in!) but still got off site to the nearby country park and into Bury for some shopping. Obligatory visits to the swimming pool for a wash were also enjoyed!

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!