Playing

My baby is growing up and can now do more and more for herself.  As you can see here she can now go on the slide all by herself. (However, for the record, I am closer than the video makes it looks and ready to catch her at a moment's notice.)

Also, we still very much like going on the swing, though not for too long as it is far too sedentary an activity.

First haircut!

Naomi has had her first haircut!!  Clearly all this meant was I chopped a tiny bit off her fringe, but I can't believe what a difference this has made to her face, though!  She seems to quite like it.

How Do You Find The Time?

I've been tagged by Mrs JC in this #meme started by Sex, Drugs, Rocker and Stroller.

RULES

• Please post the rules.
• When answering the questions, please give as much detail as possible.
• Leave a message on Sex, Drugs Rocker and Stroller, baby, so we can keep track of the meme and I can totally steal your routine tips to make my world a happier place.
• Also if you want (and I'd really like you to) add a little paragraph at the bottom to give a general summing up about your weekly routine.
• Tag 3 or more people and link to them on your blog.
• Tweet tweet tweet #howdoyoufindthetimetomeme

Righty-o. Lets crack on, shall we?

How and when do you find the time to...

... do your laundry?

Washing is my nemesis.  I can just about keep on top of the dirty stuff by throwing a load on each morning but I often comment that I feel like I am drowning in clean washing.  I try to make the most of time when Sandy is around or when I have friends round so that someone can keep Naomi amused while I get some washing away.  I've tried putting away the washing while also amusing Naomi but she just 'helps' by adding or removing from any piles I've made or adding to or emptying drawers but not necessarily with the correct things!  Of course using cloth nappies adds to my washing but I now have enough nappies that I only have to wash those every other day, so one day is nappies and the next is clothes.  Living in the sunnier climes of England make it easier to get things dry but I find that quite a challenge too, as I don't like to use the tumbler too much but I don't really have anywhere to keep a clothes horse.

... write a blog post?

I'd like to write more blog posts than I do, this blog is obviously mainly for news about Naomi and The Child II but I have another blog which I have ideas for all the time but it just doesn't happen.  That said, those I do write are normally written during nap time, I'm already terrified for the day that Naomi gives up naps, or when the baby comes and I might not be able to get them to sleep at the same time!!

... look after yourself (ie; wash your hair, paint your nails, take a bubble bath etc)?

I try to get a shower/wash my hair before Sandy goes to work in the morning, especially if we've got up a bit earlier so aren't in quite such a rush.  It's just easier to do if I am not also trying to make sure Naomi isn't shoving a toilet roll down the loo!

Thankfully I'm not the kind of person to spend a long time on hair and I never wear make-up (unless I'm going out) so as long as I can find enough time to pull a hairbrush through my hair I'm content!

Sometimes if I want a bath or something like that to relax then I do it in the evenings, Sandy is left in charge of the baby monitor and I get some time in the bath.  I'd like to do it a little more than I do but a separate issue is that our hot tank is in Naomi's bedroom and it is not unheard of to wake Naomi while running the bath!!

... spend time with your other half?

Date night!!  We schedule a night every week where laptops, phones and other such technology are not allowed and we just spend quality time together.  We also try to have a "going out" date about once a month, though we're aware that this is made more possible because we know lots of very generous people who are willing and able to babysit for free.  It can be hard not to get stuck in a rit but we like to watch films together (on DVD or at the cinema), play games or cook together.

... do fun stuff with your LO?

I make a point of taking Naomi to groups so that she can have fun with me and also other children and we go to something at least 3 times a week.  She also loves being at the park so we do that quite often too.  If we're at home we just spend time reading together or playing with some of her toys.  We have a little garden too so can go outside to kick a ball around or play with her water table.

... spend time with family?

I'm interpreting this as extended family and this is something we don't get to do nearly enough, not so much because of time but more because of distance.  That said, Sandy gets a reasonable amount of leave and I managed to get some extra (unpaid) leave when I started my job so that we can normally manage 3 trips back to Aberdeen that allow us to split our time between the two families.  We try and make the most of being closer to the England-based family too, by going to visit sisters and Aunts/Uncles as much as our schedules will allow.

 ... socialise with friends?



Most of my friends have children so we have quite a few play dates, this is sometimes more successful than others, mainly depending how well behaved the children are feeling on the day.


Sometimes I'll invite friends round in an evening to hang out once Naomi is in bed, particularly if Sandy is out in an evening and very occasionally I leave Sandy at home and go and hang out with my friends at their house.



... prepare an evening meal juggling a baby/toddler routine?

Bulk cook everything (two family portions of everything) and freeze!  Again, during nap times.  Or doing the same at the weekend when Sandy can look after Naomi while I cook.  Though, as Naomi gets older it easier to give her some books or puzzles or similar and get some cooking done, or indeed let her into the kitchen with her own bowl and spoon and she will mix away while I cook.

... deep clean your house?

yes, I do that!  It is well known in my family that cleaning is not my favourite activity (you can imagine the hilarity when I got a job as a cleaner!) and as such we tend to clean each room once it gets to the point I can't cope with it any more.  This is normally a nap-time activity (every nap time sees me drink at least one cup of tea and complete at least one chore).  I try and keep on top of things by having a tidy round once Naomi goes to bed at night, though in time I'll try and include her in such activities as I don't want her to think that tidying is something that magically happens but indeed is something that people do!

... do the food shopping?

  Naomi loves being out in the buggy and going for walks so if we have nowhere to go we go to Tesco, this means we buy a few things every other day so we can fit it all on the buggy to get it home and she doesn't have to be in the shop for more than about 5-10 minutes.  If we get there earlyish in the morning (before 9.30am) I even let her get out and walk around, she thinks this is an amazing treat!

... bulk ironing?

  I only iron things that I am sewing (as in making rather than mending) it is not an issue!


Allllllrighty then. Who shall I tag...?
I pick Dad and Proud , Mother Scuffer and Stupid Girl
Take it away, ladies x

Sunshine

So,it's been jolly warm here the past week or so, and we've had a lot of fun outside enjoying it. On the down side, our house has been something of an oven, which has meant sleep hasn't been so good (for Naomi in particular). Anyway, part of the fun has been with a water table that Naomi has, and here's a clip of a few minutes with her having a good old play. It's quite nice to watch her having a lot of fun! I quite like that she makes puddles to splash in by herself :)

At the weekend there was a barbecue at the shared house some members of our church live in. During this we gave Naomi an ice lolly, and though she really enjoyed it, she was a bit too enthusiastic, taking big bites of it, leading repeatedly to this expression:

I also thought you might enjoy this "classic" child picture of someone really enjoying their dinner...

Caption

A caption competition for a Wednesday afternoon... we thought it could be "Dolly was experiencing payback after a night on the tiles" - any other suggestions?

We are also quite amused by the fun that can be had with a simple box of breadsticks. which the picture doesn't really do justice to...

Butteries

Not a Naomi-related post at all. For many weeks now I've had something of a longing for one of those great pieces of Scottish (or at least North East Scottish) culture, the buttery. For those who don't know, these delightful beasts are a savoury pastry-like product, designed to be high in calories and salt and not prone to going off, to sustain fishermen out at sea. They are incredibly unhealthy, but rather tasty!

Having discussed butteries at work a couple of weeks ago, I was pushed over the edge, and determined to use the plain flour that's been sitting in our cupboard for as long as I can remember on something worthwhile. A quick bit of googling revealed a recipe:

http://www.scottishrecipes.co.uk/butteries.htm

See how much fat there is? That's why they taste good. Unfortunately, though simple, it was time-consuming, so had to wait until the bank holiday for me to do it. (English bank holidays are still taking some getting used to...)

Anyway, here they are about to go in the oven...

Here they are in the oven...

And here's the finished article...

 Of course, the day after these were made, we all had a nasty illness that lasted best part of a week and knocked out appetites for six, so I've only just been able to start eating them. Note to self: make more, they do taste good!

Talking

Naomi has been babbling for a good long while but has been so focussed on walking and climbing (much to the dismay of my blood pressure) that talking has been on a bit of a back burner before now.

Slowly but surely we are getting the hang of talking though, we now have a very definite 2 words.

One is "duck" (although, more often than not it sounds like 'du')

This word is to be used on seeing any bird but also on seeing a rubber duck in the bath or a picture of a duck in a book.

This picture doesn't have any ducks in it, but the day it was taken (I had taken Naomi to the park to splash in puddles, she loved it!) she pointed at every single pigeon in the park, each in turn, looked at me and said "du".  She was adamant!

Her other word is "Cat" - next door has a cat that often walks passed our dining room window so is a source of much entertainment over meal times, yesterday when out for a walk with our good friend Liz, she pointed at one and said Cat!  I think the recent visitation of my friend, Cat, may have confused her but cats are back on track!

Here is another photo of Naomi, just for the fun of it!

Wake up Mummy, I want to PLAY!!!