Month 27 - February 2012

Another month, Lexi Loo, and we had snow, which was fun for exactly one day, and then it just irked me - you seeemed to enjoy it though and even when there was the barest amount of slush clinging to grass verges, you insisted on galuphing through them shouting, 'SNOOOOOOW!' WOOOHOOOOOO!', which was very cute.



You guys certainly enjoyed throwing snowballs at each other, and even after the snow had melted your favourite game was throwing and reacting to pretend snowballs.



I was the first person out playing in the snow - before 9 am on a Sunday, I had already rolled a snowball too big for me to roll into our front garden without help. Luckily help was on hand from you guys (not really that helpful), Daddy (much more helpful) and our neighbour, Suzanne (thanks, Suzanne). In no time we had a great big snowman, which lasted for a good couple of weeks before the warmer weather finally got to it. And here he is:



You also made another one, apparently it was a Gruffalo snowman, in the park at Fleetville, with Daddy while I was doing the weekly shop, and here he is:



If snow only lasted a day, I'd be a big fan - but who cares, I'm old, jaded and pregnant so I'm probably allowed to grump about it a little - you feel free to enjoy it for as long as you can!



February saw us celebrate Nanny and Grandad's birthdays - we made them a joint cake:



Or rather I made a cake and you guys licked the bowls!



under Daddy's watchful eye...



We didn't just leave it at cake either, come Pancake day we (or rather I) made pancakes. You insisted on getting some pancakes, loudly called for them and declared your unswerving love and devotion to them. Then on receiving said pancakes, just like last year, you said, 'Ugh! Horrible! Disgusting! Not delicious!' and refused to eat them.



Georgie decided that she loved pancakes more than life and managed to cajole me into making them quite regularly - I think they may have become a part of the Nutella Sunday tradition, and very occasionally, a School Day Breakfast Treat! Georgie likes them with Strawberry sauce, I like them with Maple Syrup & bananas and Steve likes them with Golden Syrup. And recently, you decided that you like them enough to eat them, as long as they officially belong to someone else. Typical!



We have managed to spend a bit of time with Auntie Izzie again this month, which is always a popular entertainment option!



You've been spending a lot of time with Nanny and Grandad lately as I have a lot of essays to get done before baby Charlie makes an appearance. You don't seem to mind however, which is a good thing.

You continue to impress us with your loquacity, potty-trainedness and general wizardry, and to charm us with your impishness and unfailingly ability to be consistently random!

We love you as ever, and look forward to seeing what you're going to do next!

Love from you Mama xxx

Month 26 - January 2012

Dear Lexi-Loo,

You have had quite a month!

The first thing I want to talk about is the most recent - 7 days ago we started potty training you. We started on a day when we had loads of family around for dinner to jointly celebrate Gran and Jackie's birthdays, and so we got 20 pairs of princess pants for you and you made lots of puddles on the floor.



By day 3 you seem to have pretty much nailed the potty, with decreasing puddle incidents. One week later and we have had no accidents for a couple of days! I can't believe how quickly you seem to have 'got it' and I am partially braced for any kind of regression - especially when Charlie comes along. You have blown us away with this superfast potty training. Georgie was pretty good but you are flipping amazing. To be fair to Georgie, your enthusiasm for the potty and your new pants is pretty much inspired by all your recent achievements - to be 'big girl like Georige'. Its often annoying (for you and for us) when you try to be like your big sister because so much of the time you simply can't do the things she can do, even though you try, it's too early.



But the other leaps you have recently made include dressing yourself (you need a bit of help but you're very persistent and generally successful, you rock at putting on your own mittens now, even the tricky thumb part,) swapping your high chair for a normal chair (you kneel on your chiar to get to the right height) and using a knife and fork (sort of, but it's progress!) So well done little Lexi, I haven't had to change a pooey nappy for a whole week now and I'm not missing it. In a way this is probably a bad thing because come May, baby Charlie will be turning out a whole mess of them and I'll be unused to it - but I'll risk it! Of course you still have a nappy at night, but that's fine, I have no problem with that at all.



You recently decided you don't mind dressing up anymore - the yellow 'Belle' dress seemed to capture your imagination almost over night and you went from a staunch 'No!' to all dressing up to begging for the Belle dress and some dangerous ELC princess heels to totter around in almost every day!



You've been getting into the Willow's Farm experience, although you really want to be allowed to range through the 'big kid' part. I would go with you, but I'm big anyway, and now I'm pregnant I can't really bend at the waist and run a serious risk of getting stuck in there, so I spend a lot of time fending you off from that area and attempting to decant you into the 2 - 4 area, which you sometimes take to and sometimes reject. Hopefully this will change soon.

You are so funny, and seem to find everything so funny - you're favourite exclamation is 'Woo-hooooo!' and we heard that a lot in January. As your independence grows it's wonderful to watch you develop even more personality (can it be possible?) and so exciting to see more and more of the person you're turning into!

We love you little girl, with your fabulous princess pants!

Love from your Mama xxx

September, October, November and December 2011

So, Lexi,

I'm cobbling together four months into one post - sorry about that. I've been feeling morning sick, making you a baby brother or sister (due in May 2012), I'm back at uni and when life speeds up, my ability to keep a monthly blog seems to go right out the window. But you know that :-D



So Georgie started school in September - you covet her uniform openly and put it on when ever you think you can get away with it!


Stolen school uniform

Of course we still get to spend time with Georgie, and on the whole you are very sweet to each other - you annoy her and she annoys you but people often comment on how nicely you can play together. Let's hope it's a trend that sticks!


Bed time milky with Georgie


Playing tea parties


Brushing teeth together


Swinging sisters


Building sand castles

Among other things, Georgie's forray into the world of big school left us with a new routine - Mondays and Fridays you go to Nanny and Grandad while I try to get some work done - you did go for the whole day but since you sleep most of the afternoon away until I have to get Georgie, we modified that to just the mornings and then I keep working while you sleep until pick up.


Nanny and Lexi

Tuesdays we go to playgroup at The Vineyard, which you love. You totally monopolise the toy police car. You get in there, put bunny on a back shelf, pull the police radio out and ride around, saying: "I'm driving! I'm driving!" Actually your live commentary on your action of the moment has been a major feature of the last few months - "I'm running!" while running and particularly "I'm scooting!" while scooting, especially since Father Christmas brought you a scooter - but we'll get to Christmas later.


You don't usually eat much, but I seem to take a lot of pictures of you sitting down to meals! At least you look cheerful enough!

So back to the routine - Wednesday mornings you spend with your Linda while I go to counselling (it's for my course and is actually one of the best parts of my week! Therapy is like a spa for the mind! Mmmmm) - anyway, yes, your Linda - that is what you call her "my Linda!" and as soon as you have had breakfast you prattle on about your Linda and seeing her and her son, your friend, Dante until you do see them.


Butterfly Baby

I pick you up (quite often beautifully and expertly face-painted,) just after 1pm (sometimes having to rip you away from your Linda, you love her so much) and then deposit you at Gran and Gramps' house until five or six pm.


Lexi, Henry and Amy

Sometimes on Wednesdays we see Kerry, Leah and Sarah and their kids before we go to Linda's - it depends on how sick everyone is - autumn brought out so many sickness bugs and colds we could go for weeks either infectious or trying to avoid infection!


Sliding at Clarence Park

Thursdays now involve going to Willow's Farm, since we bought a family membership in December. Prior to that we used to just chill out, at parks when it was warm enough or just around the house when it wasn't.


Swimming in the leaf-fall at Clarence Park

Sometimes you watch Show Me Show Me, Something Special, Ballamory or more recently Sooty and sometimes you just play.

So you can see that we don't spend loads of time together one on one - I hope this doesn't affect you badly, and I do feel guilty that you are sent away so much. Then again, I think you have much more fun with Nanny, Grandad, Gran, Gramps and Linda than you do with me - play doh, painting, drawing, facepainting and crucially, one on one time with other people who love you, and whom you clearly love. I continually ask myself if I should discontinue my studies and wait until you guys are all at full time school rather than pass you around this way during your most formative years.


Fleetville Park

The reason I'm doing it (so far) is because your Daddy is working so hard to keep us all afloat and I think it's getting harder for him to do it. He works six days a week, at a hard job, working long days, often in the freezing cold or the boiling heat. This uni stuff should lead to the kind of job that will allow me to take the financial pressure of him and hopefully mean that I can set my own hours, and so be able to dictate my own work life balance. That's the theory, but it's going to take a while. Now that we are expcecting another baby, I don't know if I'll be able to get through this course in one go, but I'm going to try really hard - I love the work that I'm learning to do and I really want your daddy to be able to take it easier and spend more time with us (and maybe one day, his golf clubs once more!)


Cheeky chops

Your hairstyle moved from bunches to a rather shorter style, with quite a severe fringe - it's softened up a bit now but it was kind of funny for a while there, I won't lie. You don't seem to mind though. The hairdresser told me it would look a bit high and odd but that it should help your hairline to fall in a more convenient way.


Pensive

This has not happened - bits of your hair that apparently should submit to a different parting continually dangle in your eyes and get stuck to your face with the food, drool and snot that also abide there. It's an attractive look :-D We made this hair cut choice mainly because you suddenly rebelled against your pig tails and all manner of clips. Something had to be done. I loved the pig tails and I hope we will get back to those again some day soon.



2nd Birthday!

You turned two in November and we had a small family party and a slightly bigger, Peppa Pig party for below-school-age friends (and their mums!)


Birthday cake with family


You with your Peppa Pig kitchen, which came from Auntie Izzie, or SheeShee, as you call her.


Pam as Shrek - you kept making her dress up as Shrek and then kept getting scared and running awya from her! Nutter xxx


Cupcakes and biscuits! Sweets for my sweet xxx

Lexi and Gran


You and your Peppa Pig cake


The Peppa Pig magnets from 'my Linda' also went down well and (generally) live on the dishwasher


Nanny, Shee-Shee and Grandad at your party


The only shot I manged to get of the cake with candles alight!

Bye Bye Cot - Hello New Bedroom!

I don't have any pictures of it right now, but shortly after your birthday we moved you into the smaller room, Peppa Pig pimped it and put you in the toddler bed with a little pink guard to stop you falling out of bed and a big white gate on the door to stop you escaping from your room. The first two night you stood at the gate and cried for between 10 and 12 minutes. You didn't sound very distressed so we let you alone and you put yourself back to bed without any further fuss, and have been happy there ever since.

Christmas 2011

We had a good Christmas - didn't manage to get all the decorations up but we had two trees with lights and baubles, which isn't bad!


You guys put out mince pies, a carrot and a gin and tonic for Father Christmas and Rudolph


Unwrapping stockings at the respectable time of 8.45! I can't believe we had to wake you up!

Safety First!

You and your sister both love your new scooters and the saftey gear that came with them - in fact you almost love the helmet and your neon hi-viz vest more than the scooter itself!











Enjoying some TV time with Shee-Shee and Georgie



You have definitely found your terrible twos temper, and like to shriek your defiance when you don't get your own way, but so far, you're tantrums are reasonably short-lived, as long as you've had enough sleep (bit like me really!)

Most of the time you are actually very loving - you spend a lot of time kissing people repeatedly. You often come up to me and for no reason you clamber up into my lap, stroke my hair, wind your arms around my neck and shower me with kisses, hugging me tightly - it's sweet beyond the telling of it. You stroke, kiss and wave at the rapidly expanding tummy bump; you also try to kiss and hug the dog but in general she's having none of it. Usually she gets a big chin to forehead lick on you first - her tongue is longer after all. You are quick to say sorry (even when it's not you who had done something wrong!) You even blow kisses to the people on the checkout at Morrisons!

Since August your speech has come on very rapidly and your prattle away to everyone in a stream of consciousness that varies between crystal clear and rather Dadaist but always entertaining.

We love you very, very much and can't wait to see what the new year holds for you.

Love from your Mama xxx