F and her grandma played hide and seek and hide the toy golf club and watched Shrek 2, and read a Shrek the Third book we bought at the weekend. F had a lovely time with her grandma, as always. She tends to get a bit hysterical with the giggles and a bit shouty (not angry but just a bit crazy!) but mum managed to calm her down really well, thank goodness. It gave me some time and I even had a nice soak, so thanks Mum!
Also today, F wrote her name with geomags and also made a little person with them, while mum was here. She got out the Happy Land mat later and played with that, watched Sharkboy and Lavagirl a couple of times and played a bit of Zoombinis, some Lego Star Wars and some CBeebies Bob the Builder.
She's still quite wibbly and growth-spurtish, eating 3 breakfasts today. Seems to be over the worst of the wibbliness though. Very much looking forward to our holiday.
We got our so-called 'Full Structural Survey' today - what a joke! I could have written 90% of it and at least half the rest said things like 'get a specialist in to check wiring', etc. Found many people online with similar tales and judging this as one of the biggest rip-offs in the whole house-buying system in this country. And that's saying something!
Still got hayfever and eczema around eyes - delightful combination, but eyes are unsticking quicker in the mornings, so it's all good (as Scott of BB4 used to say).
Will have to start making holiday lists tomorrow I think.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Monday, June 18, 2007
You can take a child to group
but you can't make her socialize. Or at least you can't make her 'play with' other children, but I think it's still good that they are there.
F enjoys MMs - sometimes she plays with people, sometimes she wanders off on her own doing her own thing. It's interesting to see - she never desperately needs other children to play with her at all. Sometimes she perceives them as a bit of a hindrance, stopping the game from being what she wants it to be. Other times she will join in one of their games. She is very much her own person though.
Today she spent more than half the time there doing her own thing, wandering outside, rolling down the grassy slope, dancing on the rostra in the hall and trying to hide completely crouched under the toy storage bucket, moving it around the room in an amusing fashion. Some of the time she played with other children, running around with them and joining in various Dr Who and Harry Potter scenarios I think, and some of the time she spent with me, looking at a book, or just hanging out. She doesn't show much interest in the craft activities generally or the cooking, but has joined in with those very occasionally over the last few months.
There was a low turnout so I didn't bother doing a drama session in the end, though I then felt a bit sorry when it turned out someone had been expecting one after all, but it means I have one prepared for another time, which is good. MMs finishes soon and will be meeting in parks over summer. We will probably go sometimes although F does have a knack of disappearing in Brighton parks, which doesn't make for relaxing time.
Had a long wait for both buses on the way back, but good company so that was OK - the kids do enjoy all being on the bus together. Today there was much discussion of what would happen if the emergency exit lever was pulled. Various scenarios of cross bus drivers, painful injuries, fatalities and fines were all considered with a mixture of glee and trepidation.
Yesterday Grandma Ju came and took lots of our glass recycling backlog (yes, recycling glass without a car is really not easy - paper, plastic and cans get collected and I really wish glass did too, as our conservatory ends up being full of carrier bags of bottles and jars) to the recycling point, and also took cardboard too. So that freed up some space. She brought a dress for F (bought a while back but too small - she had been to get the next size up). I made some salad and we had it with ciabatta.
F enjoys MMs - sometimes she plays with people, sometimes she wanders off on her own doing her own thing. It's interesting to see - she never desperately needs other children to play with her at all. Sometimes she perceives them as a bit of a hindrance, stopping the game from being what she wants it to be. Other times she will join in one of their games. She is very much her own person though.
Today she spent more than half the time there doing her own thing, wandering outside, rolling down the grassy slope, dancing on the rostra in the hall and trying to hide completely crouched under the toy storage bucket, moving it around the room in an amusing fashion. Some of the time she played with other children, running around with them and joining in various Dr Who and Harry Potter scenarios I think, and some of the time she spent with me, looking at a book, or just hanging out. She doesn't show much interest in the craft activities generally or the cooking, but has joined in with those very occasionally over the last few months.
There was a low turnout so I didn't bother doing a drama session in the end, though I then felt a bit sorry when it turned out someone had been expecting one after all, but it means I have one prepared for another time, which is good. MMs finishes soon and will be meeting in parks over summer. We will probably go sometimes although F does have a knack of disappearing in Brighton parks, which doesn't make for relaxing time.
Had a long wait for both buses on the way back, but good company so that was OK - the kids do enjoy all being on the bus together. Today there was much discussion of what would happen if the emergency exit lever was pulled. Various scenarios of cross bus drivers, painful injuries, fatalities and fines were all considered with a mixture of glee and trepidation.
Yesterday Grandma Ju came and took lots of our glass recycling backlog (yes, recycling glass without a car is really not easy - paper, plastic and cans get collected and I really wish glass did too, as our conservatory ends up being full of carrier bags of bottles and jars) to the recycling point, and also took cardboard too. So that freed up some space. She brought a dress for F (bought a while back but too small - she had been to get the next size up). I made some salad and we had it with ciabatta.
Saturday, June 16, 2007
spinning bouncing and sliding
Yesterday morning was quiet and home-ish, with XBox, drawing and telly.
Yesterday afternoon was sunny after rain and we went to the park to mingle with the children appearing after their school day. F wasn't much up for mingling on this occasion so she just did her own thing but I chatted to a few people on the bench in the corner. We had a huge row on the way home that I'm not going to dwell on here.
Today we went to the local post-carnival fair and F went on bouncy things and slid down inflatable slides and spun in a tea-cup with J.
The fair was OK but catering had been cornered by 4 vans owned by 2 companies, none of which did anything other than meat burgers. It was one of those very reactionary Rotary club affairs, I guess, where more interesting catering companies are not allowed in for a share of the profit.
Afterwards we did a bit of shopping in town, had pizza at Pizza Express and walked home.
Am starting to think about Kessingland and things we need, which is good.
Yesterday afternoon was sunny after rain and we went to the park to mingle with the children appearing after their school day. F wasn't much up for mingling on this occasion so she just did her own thing but I chatted to a few people on the bench in the corner. We had a huge row on the way home that I'm not going to dwell on here.
Today we went to the local post-carnival fair and F went on bouncy things and slid down inflatable slides and spun in a tea-cup with J.
The fair was OK but catering had been cornered by 4 vans owned by 2 companies, none of which did anything other than meat burgers. It was one of those very reactionary Rotary club affairs, I guess, where more interesting catering companies are not allowed in for a share of the profit.
Afterwards we did a bit of shopping in town, had pizza at Pizza Express and walked home.
Am starting to think about Kessingland and things we need, which is good.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Where did that day go
Some of it went on Alice in Wonderland (2 film versions), some of it went on a wet 40 minutes at the park where F climbed to the top of the new climbing frame for the first time. Some of it went on a city in the garden and the house at the top and bugs. Some of it went on jumping on the sofa and wobbleboarding, some of it went on XBoxing with Star Wars Lego and the last bit of it went on word-building on the Leapster. Some of it went on a quick walk to the local shop with J and an early bit of it went on F deciding to write the name of Luke from Star Wars and writing it as 'LOOT' - close enough that I got it, given the context. She is getting it, you know, sounds are falling into place slowly.
What else? Cuddles - lots of those. Idle chat here and there, just nice homey day.
I feel really tired with hayfever and/or hayfever medication. My eyes especially could do with a month in the dark, closed with cucumber slices on them.
What else? Cuddles - lots of those. Idle chat here and there, just nice homey day.
I feel really tired with hayfever and/or hayfever medication. My eyes especially could do with a month in the dark, closed with cucumber slices on them.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Feels like summer
F has been doing a bit of colour mixing on the Leapster and this led to some colour mixing using paint, which was fun for both of us. F told me about the primary, secondary and tertiary colours. F and I also made some 'flip book' animations on the Leapster (have rediscovered a couple of cartridges in 'other' rucksack!).
I (dutifully) attended a tea-party with F, Dozy Mog and Fuzzy Mog at the top of the garden. Once I had checked that the 'tea' had come from the tap and fairly recently (as opposed to from a puddle or paddling pool/sandpit a while back), I relaxed and enjoyed the view of the Downs in the distance and thought about our new garden and whether we will be able to do much with it.
F watched The Incredible Journey while eating a lot (growth spurt) and I got some washing done and caught up online a bit.
I recently bought a rebounder and I got that out in the morning so we both had bounces intermittently all day. F also went on her wobble board quite a bit - I would love to but it's kids' weight limit only.
Just as we were about to go to the park, F was out in the garden and managed to tread on a bee and get stung, but after a bit of a scream and a cuddle she was still OK, so we popped over there.
Stayed for nearly 2 hours, bumped into several people we knew and made some new friends too - I know quite a few of the children of F's age in what would be her class at the nearest school and their parents by sight now, so time at the park often involves plenty of chat time. Had a couple of conversations about home ed, they were all dreading the summer holidays.
Came back via the shop and got F an ice-cream, bumping into a neighbour on the way. F watched some Dr Who and then we had rice with veggies cooked in and spicy dahl for grown-ups. F ate all of hers followed by ice-cream, a banana and a piece of granary bread and jam (see!).
I (dutifully) attended a tea-party with F, Dozy Mog and Fuzzy Mog at the top of the garden. Once I had checked that the 'tea' had come from the tap and fairly recently (as opposed to from a puddle or paddling pool/sandpit a while back), I relaxed and enjoyed the view of the Downs in the distance and thought about our new garden and whether we will be able to do much with it.
F watched The Incredible Journey while eating a lot (growth spurt) and I got some washing done and caught up online a bit.
I recently bought a rebounder and I got that out in the morning so we both had bounces intermittently all day. F also went on her wobble board quite a bit - I would love to but it's kids' weight limit only.
Just as we were about to go to the park, F was out in the garden and managed to tread on a bee and get stung, but after a bit of a scream and a cuddle she was still OK, so we popped over there.
Stayed for nearly 2 hours, bumped into several people we knew and made some new friends too - I know quite a few of the children of F's age in what would be her class at the nearest school and their parents by sight now, so time at the park often involves plenty of chat time. Had a couple of conversations about home ed, they were all dreading the summer holidays.
Came back via the shop and got F an ice-cream, bumping into a neighbour on the way. F watched some Dr Who and then we had rice with veggies cooked in and spicy dahl for grown-ups. F ate all of hers followed by ice-cream, a banana and a piece of granary bread and jam (see!).
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Tsk nonbloggery tut
Sorrrrry.
OK, the things that stand out:
F -
lots of drawing, making books, telling stories with pictures
socializing at MMs and with some people from MMs and with neighbours and at reopened park
Inside your Outside machine drawings as in Dr Seuss book
Dozy Mog's ultra-camp birthday celebrations - pink-tinted rose-scented bicarb sprinkled on our rug, along with glitter, glitter put into balloons for him to burst with his 'claws', disco music and much dancing and fur fabric for him to sit on in between tracks
wobble board, garden, making a den, handling woodlice and huge pupae that made me think of wichity grubs
me -
working, not working, hayfever, eczema, a certain reality show of bad reputation that starts at this time of year and the addicts' forum that goes with it
house - proceeding gradually...
I was tagged for 8 things but I haven't thought of them.
OK, the things that stand out:
F -
lots of drawing, making books, telling stories with pictures
socializing at MMs and with some people from MMs and with neighbours and at reopened park
Inside your Outside machine drawings as in Dr Seuss book
Dozy Mog's ultra-camp birthday celebrations - pink-tinted rose-scented bicarb sprinkled on our rug, along with glitter, glitter put into balloons for him to burst with his 'claws', disco music and much dancing and fur fabric for him to sit on in between tracks
wobble board, garden, making a den, handling woodlice and huge pupae that made me think of wichity grubs
me -
working, not working, hayfever, eczema, a certain reality show of bad reputation that starts at this time of year and the addicts' forum that goes with it
house - proceeding gradually...
I was tagged for 8 things but I haven't thought of them.
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