Baby brain

It seems as though Baby Juliet is always on Big Sister Alice's mind...

From the daily diary from nursery:

"Each day, the Dolphins room incorporates a home corner area including a kitchen area along with dolls and beds. Today, Alice and Emily spent time together in the home corner caring for their babies. With Alice having experience from home and Emily practicing for a new arrival, the experience gave rise to a valuable opportunity of exploring caring for babies and how to treat those that are smaller than ourselves.

 
Emily and Alice used verbal communication to express themselves to one another and conversed throughout their play experience;


Alice: “This is my baby Juliet”

Emily: “This is my Georgia! She still in Mummy’s tummy”

Alice: “Shh Juliet. Time for a sleep. It’s time for a sleep Emily!”

Emily: “I pat my baby. She falling asleep now”

The girls showed amazing development of care and empathy and were able to recreate familiar scenarios in their play.

They used verbal communication to express themselves throughout the dramatic play experience."

And later, at the playdough table:
 
"The Dolphins children joined one another at the table where they helped divide the play dough evenly among friends.


William C- “I made buzz light year”


Emily- “I made a sausage”

Ari- “I made a dinosaur, Roar!”

William E- “I made a sleepy baby”

Arabella- “I made a happy bear”

Angus H- “I made a happy bear”

Alice – “I made baby Juliet”

Sisterly love

Juliet withstands a lot of affection from Alice.  She loves watching her sister's antics and although I worry that Alice will literally squash her one day, Juliet has only been reduced to tears once (when Alice prized her fingers apart looking for fluff in a slightly over-zealous manner).

Bath and bedtime continues hectic and I put Juliet to bed around 6.30pm and leave her to finish grumbling about this on her own.  I dash off to sort out Alice's bath.  Last night I couldn't find my oldest child, until she was eventually located in the darkened room, patting (I should really say, slapping) Juliet's tummy "because she was kwy-ing, Mummy.  I had to sort her out".  Juliet had dropped off nicely. 

An example of the affection.  If you look carefully, you can see Juliet smiling...

Christmassy shots

Alice loved decorating the tree.  She gave herself one little clap after hanging each bauble. 



One down one to go

Alice's left grommet came out a couple of weeks ago.  She had a bad night and in the morning, there it was, sitting in her ear.  We saw the ENT on Wednesday.  She was really good; when asked how she was, her bottom lip started to quiver and she told him in great detail how she had shut her fingers in a drawer at home.  Kindly, he examined them and while she was still holding them aloft in rather a forlorn manner, he checked her ears.

The right grommet is still in there, by the skin of its teeth and we'll go back in three months to see if she's still having earaches after it has come out.  She's had two already this spring in the left ear - one with the grommet in place and one while it was loose so I think she'll probably be back on the operating table.

Little blue grommet

Juliet at 9 weeks

Bless Juliet - she just goes about the business of being a baby and doesn't get much of a mention in these here parts.

She's a really very good little person and is treating us to many smiles.  She settles really, really nicely - you can literally pop her in the cot, walk away and she'll doze off with hardly a sound.  It's still difficult to get her to stay awake for longer than 90 minutes and if she is any form of vehicle, it'll be less time still.

I'm really working hard on keeping her awake for longer in the day, however, as she was showing no signs of sleeping longer at night.  Yesterday, I ventured out of the house twice without her and she woke crying both times.  The evening session lasted for 2 full hours (poor valient Daddy who didn't call me to come home) although he gave her a bottle, she wasn't for settling.  However, the really great upside was that she slept from 10.30 - 5.45am after I had sauntered back through the door at 9.30pm and fed her as usual.  I feel like a whole new woman today!

Juliet accompanied me to our work Christmas lunch last week and behaved amazingly well.  She didn't cry at all and was passed from person to person with no fuss.  Here she is in her finery.

In fact she behaved much better than my workmates, some of whom were over 2 hours late and all of whom had far too much wine ;)  Can't wait until nursing is over!

Milking Santa

Off for a meal out, leaving pater in charge, I prepared a little message for Alice from Santa.  Last time I had departed on similar circumstances, she'd cried her eyes out, so I thought it would be a good distraction and that she'd be really excited.

Apparently the poor child was terrifed.

Watch it here

However, she did apparently go to bed without a peep and this morning announced that she wasn't going to "throw a tantrum"...

Stalking Santa

Alice is desperately excited about Christmas.  In fact, we spent one happy rainy morning in a department store in October, as she ran amok in the Christmas trim area, marvelling at the trees and froliking to the music of a dancing Santa.

It was to some consternation that Auntie Rosie, Juliet and I witnessed a fullscale meltdown at the feet of Father "Westfield" Christmas when we tried to get Alice's photo taken with him.  All agreed that I had failed to prepare Alice sufficiently well - she needs a few weeks' build up to these things.  We've therefore been talking about him ever since.

Yesterday was the annual Santa morning tea at daycare with all the parents and not just a few hangers on present.  Alice was wonderfully excited to have us all there and was uncharacteristically relaxed with all the adults around.  I guess she sees them all every day when they deliver their offspring, but it was nice not to have her hanging off my thigh.

Still a little shy when the big man appeared, she gained some courage when she discovered that the present was to be a Charlie and Lola book.

So emboldened was she that we managed to get a photo with the DJ Santa, coming to a Christmas card near you if you are a grandparent...

Grandparents

We had a lovely day on Sunday - Alice and Juliet were feeling particularly sociable and enjoyed an early Skype with Grannie and Grandad Y, as well as a late night chat with Nanna and Grandad K.  Juliet even smiled across the miles through the webcam.

Our friends Nick and Sarah came round later to view the baby.  Nick and Stu caught a bit of the cricket before they were bundled off to housework and work respectively.

"Looks like Grandad" was Alice's comment:

Juliet's 6-8 week check

Juliet and I have now completed the trifecta of 6 week medical appointments today (innoculations, obstetrician and her check-up).  All has been well in all cases.

She now weighs 5.01kg, and all her measurements - length, head and that weight are in the 75th percentile, which is back where she was when she was born.  So am feeling very proud of that catch-up.  They all know her at the clinic as the 10/10/10 baby so everyone remembered her and commented on what a good job I'd done.  Yeay me.  A comedy of errors ensued as my remaining hormonalness made me have a little snivel at the praise, which meant they got out the post-natal depression questionnaire, which meant that Juliet's feed was delayed, which meant she screamed the place down, but apart from that all was well. 

Juliet's healthy in all other ways and has really started to be interested in the world around her, playing with the teddies on her Baby Bjorn chair, loving mirrors and enjoying "Juliet goes up; Juliet goes down" which is a fun game that Daddy has invented, involving lifting her up and down while she's in her worm suit.

Lots of fun times ahead as she gets more and more engaged and engaging.

The Observer

"Ooh you can tell she's taking it all in, can't you?" was oft repeated by passing kind old ladies when Alice was small.  Conversely, she can sometimes drive a parent to distraction by seeming to take nothing in at all, especially when being asked to do something.  Or answering "Not anything" to any question posed.  Selective hearing - nature or nurture?  I blame her father's skills in this area, either way!

When we drive home from daycare, usually to the sound of Juliet's screams until we get through the city traffic and get moving, Alice often slumps into a little reverie.  Processing her day/ chomping a snack/ looking out of the window take precedence before we get 10 minutes or so into the journey.  After she's had a chance to digest events and biscuits, she can get quite chatty, but prior to that, I assume she's in her own little world.  I listen to the radio, taking advantage of the distraction from the crying and staving off the inevitable requests for Dora Music.

Yesterday there was an accident in the Eastern Distributor (that's the name of the tunnel and that's all they call it on the radio traffic reports).  As the entrance to the tunnel usually marks the 10 minute mark, we have a little routine conversation to get the ball rolling.  Being English, we remark on the weather outside the tunnel and the traffic inside.   Alice told me that it was a beautiful day and I let Alice know that there was an accident in the tunnel so there'd be traffic.  "The lady already said that on the radio, Mummy", she said.  I marvelled at her comprehension and how she had joined the dots.  How I wished that the segment immediately prior to the earlier traffic report had not been a preview of a segment on the breakfast show, where there is a competition called "sex secrets".   It'll be Dora Music all the way home from now on to protect little ears.

Summer trim

Bald as a coot until at least 12 months, perhaps 24, Alice loves to wear her hair down in celebration of having any.  She gets really hot when she sleeps and when she runs about so this morning we braved the elements to get a bob.  Every time we go, she gets a little braver and today she actually sat in the airplane chair and wore the gown.  I had to hold her hand, but that was really no bother.

The ladies there are great and make a big fuss of her.  She got a Hiawatha feather at the end that we called a fascinator and looked really pretty.

Early smiles

It's been raining all day, so no one has had very much to smile about today, but a little ray of Juliet sunshine broke through the clouds...

You'll see from the tum that she's putting on weight nicely now.  We have her 8 week check tomorrow to see exactly how much, but I have scaled down the hectic regime of motillium, feed, express, feed, express, feed, top-up, motillium, feed, top-up, motillium, feed, top-up, feed, top-up, night feed because it left me about 13 spare minutes all day, not even taking into account showering and all the sterilising of bottles. 

We're getting into a bit of a rhythm now and bath and bedtime - my erstwhile period of dread - are coming along nicely.  I cheated today, since the weather was so bad, and didn't put Alice down for her lunchtime nap.  This meant that she went to sleep very easily, after hardly any exercise.  My, it was a long day without my "lunchbreak".

Good Weekend

It is a truth universally acknowledged that as soon as you write anything down, then the exact opposite will happen.  So I won't elaborate except to say, Look!  The Family Von Yardley.

And their two year old slept through the night last night.  And their baby went to bed at 7pm nicely.  And settled after her night feed.  Two nights running.  It won't last.  I have to say that or it won't!

We've resorted to bribery with Alice.  No mother of the year awards there, but I was unlikely to win any on 4 hours broken sleep either, but you pick your battles.

Music for Tutus

Auntie Rosie arrived this week and celebrated her birthday with us.  I had big plans for a lovely Rosified day - morning tea at Circular Quay, pop to the Opera House for a show, champagne lunch and dinner out.  Alice, Juliet and a massive thunder storm conspired to make this more like morning tea in the queue for the Baby Proms, Alice whinging all the way through the Baby Proms, lunch overlooking the harbour and my left breast, and a picnic takeaway pizza in our lounge while Rosie struggled to keep her eyes open.

This Baby Proms was "Music for Tutus", featuring a couple of dancers from the Australian Ballet, dancing all the bits of ballets that you know - from Swan Lake, the Nutcracker and Sleeping Beauty.  The children all dress up like ballerinas and are invited to dance with the cast at the end. We started well.  My girls were excited to go to the Opera House...

(Shame I muzzled the wrong child)

Alice had fun with her new wand as it cast spells the length and breadth of Circular Quay...

She was incredibly excited during the first, oh, five minutes, when the principal ballerina was playing Clara and opened a Christmas present.  Her present was a wand, just like Alice's (as well as some ballet shoes) so our little one was chuffed to bits.  After a few jumps and pirouettes, Alice lost interest until the "Daddy" (aka the prince) came on.  He held her attention for another 30 seconds and then she started asking to go.  Many times.  But Rosie and I had a lovely time, so that's what matters.  Juliet slept through the whole thing, which was really helpful and Alice gracefully declined the opportunity to plie at the end.

After a relaxing lunch by the water (sans champagne because we had to eat away Alice's tantrum and it was too early), we went home for sleeps and cake.

Decorations were all Alice's own work and some of the marshmallows were even still there when we lit the candles.  Happy Birthday Auntie Rosie!

Sculptures by the Sea

It hasn't been all doom and gloom around here.  We've managed quite a few outings...

Alice, Juliet, Nanna and I had a great time at the Sculptures by the Sea.  It was a picture perfect Sydney Saturday.  Alice loved the "statues".

Juliet at one month (a stream of consciousness)

All goes well in the House of Yardley.  Juliet has settled in nicely.

She has finally regained her (somewhat enormous) birth weight, stacking on 300g over the past week, so the marathon effort of Motillium, expressing and formula top-ups have paid off.  I am left with about 3 spare minutes a day by the time I have done all of that (minutes which I try to spend with Alice - see below) but at least she's filling out again.  The local Early Childhood Clinic have been so kind and helpful but I'll look forward to not having to report there every week, which will hopefully happen if the weight gain is sustained.  Happily she was a good size to start with (although I might not have used the word "good" if you'd spoken to me at 11.41pm on 10/10/10) so there have never been any serious concerns.  She's the full length of 0-3 month clothes now and her head has been growing every week, so she's progressing nicely.

Juliet has been feeding every 3 hours since we brought her home.  Sometimes I have to wake her to reinforce this, but she's pretty regular.  So we start at the time honoured 7am and progress from there.  She has one long stretch from her 10pm feed until about 4am, which is brilliant, but she absolutely will not settle after that.  So Stu has been getting up with her from 5am and they watch football together.  This would be a delightful arrangement for all concerned if Alice weren't waking at least twice before the 4am feed.  Shouts of "Daddy, Daddy, I've lost my pillow" or "Mummy, Mummy, I've lost my cover" or "I've lost me" echo down the hallway and so we're all pretty tired.  I should mention that she usually has not lost her cover, her pillow or herself, but she yells so loudly that we have to go to her. 

Which brings me to Alice by day...I'd like her to look back on this blog one day, so a polite description would be to say that she's going through an adjustment period.  Another way would be to say that she resembles the Little Girl with the Curl, right in the middle of her forehead.  Obviously homelife has changed beyond recognition for Alice so I'm trying to be as patient as possible on very broken sleep.

This too shall pass.

The race that stops a nation

Yesterday was Melbourne Cup Day, here in Oz.  A public holiday in some states, it may as well be so in Sydney too for all the work that gets done.  Many a memory of a boozy lunch flooded into my brain, as I sat watching the race with a baby attached to my boob.

We had a sweepstake at home - Juliet won and will receive a day's golf.  No fair.

Fashions on the field involved a tracksuit for me, a babygro for her and his sweaty running kit for Stu.  However, the real queen of the day was Miss Alice Yardley, who made ties and fascinators at daycare and here she is, modelling her creation, as she listens to the race with the rest of the gang. 

Apparently they played it on the radio and all the children yelled, "Go, horsies".

The daily report even managed a little psycho babble.  This activity allegedly "introduced an historic event and allowed the children to celebrate with the community".  As far as I know, the Dolphins didn't place bets and weren't later seen falling in the street drunk with their knickers on display, but they seemed to have had a lovely time.



Bugging me Bugaboo (ah-ha-a)

Unfairly or no, I have a little bit of a reputation as a purchaser of prams.  True, we did get through three different models within Alice's first six months of stroller travel, but the untimely demise of one of those was due to Qantas and the other two served their purposes well.  The fact that we additionally have part ownship in a gorgeous Silver Cross at Nanna Keefe's house, plus a Target $30 rubbishy one for travel is by the by.  The fact remains that we have two children and two prams at our Sydney residence.  Not so bad.

I still love love my the Bugaboo Bee and so could not bring myself to replace it with the birth of Juliet.  I live in hope that Alice, nearing the age of 3, will decide that she's willing to walk further and more frequently and so couldn't be bothered with changing to a double buggy for the sake of a few months.  Plus there's only one day a week when I'll have both children on my own, so I thought that (if we manage to leave the house at all) we could just go to places where ambulation is not required.

Thus it was with much joy that the toddler buggy board was received from Nanna Keefe as her gift to Juliet.  Juliet benefits by not having an older sister sulk and scream when she occupies the Bug, so is really very grateful.  Alice has been travelling in the Target number for a few months to dissassociate herself from the more glamourous wheels but the threat of a meltdown is always close at hand, given the slightest provocation in these early days.

Yet... O Glorious Day!  Hip, hip hooray!  We finally took the skateboard for a test drive to the farmers market this morning and Alice absolutely loved it. 

So I'm envisaging many happy trips around the Eastern suburbs on a Wednesday.  Now I just need to work out a way to get out of the house with two children before 10.30am (and that was with Stu's help!)

A further note on the pram.  Don't even get me started on the fact that the capsule doesn't clip straight into the Bee, but works with the Chameleon and the Frog.  You are not getting any more of my money, pram manufacturers.  Except, obviously, if I see the cupholder for the Bee on sale....

Just the five of us

As Juliet nears the three week mark, I find myself very behind on the old blog with no real excuses.   Nanna agreed to stay on in Sydney for an extra couple of weeks if we threw in a ticket to see "Ben Hur, the Stadium Spectacular" and has been playing the role of Mary Poppins, cook and fetcher of older child from nursery to much critical acclaim.  Juliet is quite a good little sleeper (touch wetwipe) so I have been resting when she does during the day and making up all the hours of a full night's sleep, even if they don't come all at once.  And so the blog has gone to pot.

In a "here's what you missed on the Yardley show" type round up, a brief summary of what has passed:
There was the birth - took a long time to get going, but she eventually appeared around 9 hours after they broke my waters.  We didn't manage to get her out while the midwife from Bolton was on shift and the next midwife, from Australia, was unimpressed by my uninformed questions (No 1: Can we try to get her out while it's still 10/10/10 and No 2: Will the epidural last - it looks like it's running low) and I am firmly convinced that she turned down the dosage thereafter to spite me.  It really hurt.  I'm a bit embarrassed to go back to the obstetrician for the six week check after all my whinging, (Him: "It's too late to top up the epidural."  Me: "No it isn't!".  Midwife: "Your baby will be born with the next contraction.  Look down." Me: "No, I don't want to" etc etc).  I'm sure they've heard worse from people who aren't on very powerful drugs (at one point I was chomping into the gas and air as well as the massive dose of local anaesthetics and opoids which were flowing into my spine) but I still feel like a bit of a wuss.  Hey ho.  All over now.

Anyway, then there was the hospital, where I was quick to remember to make the most of the fact that Juliet was newborn and sleepy and would probably settle nicely.  So that was a peaceful happy time (once Stu extricated me from a shared room).

Then there was the hotel - delightful in every way.  The hospital has taken over a floor of the Crowne Plaza at Coogee and one enjoys views, nice food, midwives and movies for a couple of nights. 

Juliet very much enjoyed falling asleep to the sound of the waves - the surf was really high while we were there.

I was very sad to come away and hoped for a spike in my blood pressure or somesuch so that I could stay an extra night.  This photo was taken the morning after she went on her Day 3 feeding frenzy so not quite my best side.

What else have you missed, fair readers?  Well, time at home has been very relaxing and lovely, thanks to Washerwoman Nanna.  Alice is adapting nicely to having a baby sister - Juliet doesn't encroach on her terribly at the moment except when I'm confined to a chair to feed her.  It'll be a different story when all the help has dried up, I'm sure.  In fact, Alice is really keen to share her news with anyone she meets - people in lifts, checkout ladies, friends, daycare teachers etc - so it seems that she is genuinely pleased.  We've been out for girly time the last two Saturdays, just the two of us, and hopefully we can make a little ritual of that.

The lady of the hour, Juliet herself, is quite the baby about town.  We're trying to just do one thing a day, but that one thing has been, for example, being wheeled about Circular Quay while Mummy and Daddy dine at Aria; sitting under the table at the Bronte Road Bistro over lunch; multiple excursions to Westfield and she'll be off to see the Sculpture by the Sea exhibition tomorrow.  She's doing really well with her sleeping and feeding and we have her newborn check on Monday, so it'll be interesting to see if she has regained her (hefty) birth weight yet.  I've started giving her a little bottle of formula at night as a small top-up and so she's generally just up once a night, at 3ish.  This is fairly manageable when combined with a daytime nap (for me) so I'm feeling quite well and she seems pretty happy.

More soon...

What's in a name?

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose

By any other name would smell as sweet."

Words aptly spoken by Juliet Capulet whom we hope will not be providing hints and tips in the romance department to our fair maiden.

I thought I would just satisfy any curious onlookers about the origin of the name Oonagh.  It's here: http://theadventuresofalice.blogspot.com/2008/06/tribute-to-great-auntie-oonagh.html

She's here!

Juliet's birth anouncement, as shared by her proud Dad.

Just a short note to share my delight at the arrival of Juliet Oonagh Yardley, who was born at 11.42pm on 10.10.10. Juliet weighed in at 3.9 kilos, or 8lbs 9ozs in old money.

Both Helen and Juliet are doing very well, and as you might expect, I executed my own role in proceedings with perfection and no little flair. It will come as no surprise to learn that big sister Alice is extremely excited, or as the tabloids might put it, in wonderland. The fact that one of the midwives was originally from Bolton was the perfect demi glace cherry to top it all off.

Becoming a father to first Alice and now Juliet, I'm reminded of a tale told by President Bartlet in the TV series the West Wing, of his taking a trip to Egypt with his wife and family. Bartlet describes it thus:

"We had a guide, a Bedouin man, who called me 'Abu el Banat'. And whenever we'd meet another Bedouin, he'd introduce me as Abu el Banat. And the Bedouin would laugh and laugh and offer me a cup of tea. And I'd go to pay them for the tea and they wouldn't let me. 'Abu el Banat' means 'Father of daughters'. They thought the tea was the least they could do".

I guess that's my way of saying all advice gratefully accepted!
 

 
More news and photos to follow.  All very well, just predicably knackered.

Launch ready

One week to go!

Thong Day

To the consternation of the "just off the boat" new Irish assistant at daycare, Friday was apparently Thong Day.  National Thong Day, to be precise.  We've lived here so long that we are happy to discuss and share how many pairs of thongs we have with friends, whether we've bought any new ones this summer and the scare stories about how not washing your thongs gives you a nasty rash.  Still, I have to admit to having a Sid James-esque titter when the slide show came through on Friday afternoon.

This from page 1:

"The Dolphins did their bit to raise awareness for this worthy day and have fun with thongs, celebrating their youth and freedom. They engaged in thong painting! Thongs were painted and then, SLAP! They were banged onto the page to create prints."

To be fair to Young Alice, she came home discussing how she had participated in various activities involving flip flops and seemed to understand that "thongs are going to help the sick people".

Alice "bangs her thong".

Some other thong activity, which followed on from a pretend party.  It seems that Alice was reluctant to relinquish her party hat, having gained no little degree of celebrity during that activity by "leading the group in singing 'Happy Birthday'".  She's very keen on birthdays at the moment and can rattle off the list of family events until her own.  "First it's your baby's birthday [points to my stomach], then it's my baby's birthday [points to own stomach], then it's Daddy's birthday, then it's Kiss-Mass, then it's Allie's".  Apparently we're having a Dora cake this year.  And she still remembers that she had a Makka Pakka one last year.  I'm going to use this as a test of earliest memories as she gets older.

Right.  Off to get a pedicure to show off my new thongs in their best light.  Chortle.



*Update provided for parents on Thong Day:  Friday the 1st of October is National Thong Day, an awareness day organised and for the benefit of Youngcare – an organisation striving to change the care and accommodation options for young Australians with full-time care needs. Currently 6500 young people are living in aged care due to lack of alternatives and another 700,000 being cared for at home by family and friends. Youngcare have used the thong – a symbol of youth, freedom and fun – to drive their awareness campaign. Today, donations can be made to Youngcare via the Thong Day website to assist in finding alternative living arrangements for or young people in need – www.thongday.com.au

Alex the Camel

Stu arrived to pick Alice up from daycare the other day and all the Dolphins were singing "Alex the Camel".  Apparently they used to sing it properly, but at the point of "Go, Alice! Go! Boom, boom, boom", Alice used to get up and walk over the side of the room in complete bewilderment.  After every verse.  She couldn't understand why they all wanted her to go away.  So they've had to change the words.  Bless her.

Action kids?

Alice and I had a lovely day yesterday - the kind of golden day that you dream you might have while spending quality time with your firstborn before the second child comes crashing into your world.  There were no tantrums, no last minute bids for freedom from lifts at the shops and hardly any shouting. 

We spent the morning with Little Friend Cora and "Cora Mummy who is called Orlaith, my Mummy's called Helen" (as Cora's Mummy is now called) and had a not-at-all civilised coffee and cake at Pain Quotidien while Alice and Cora ran up and down the thankfully empty walkway, yelling as loudly as possible.

After persuading Alice that slithering like a snake would get her pretty dress dirty, I managed to get her into an upright position and we set off for "Adele's Action Kids".  We haven't been to this music and movement class before, but it was brilliant - like an unstructured gymbaroo - you just joined in if you wanted to do and had a little rest if you didn't.  Alice was reluctant to go in at first, as there were tonnes of children and parents milling around due to a class changeover, but once they'd all cleared out and "Thank you for the Music" came on, she began swaying, singing and twirling in a trancelike state, with her arms outstretched.  The free format meant that I could sit down from time to time, while Adele produced all kinds of props - mini toy monkeys for "5 Monkeys sitting on the bed"; spiders made out of bouncey balls for "Incey Wincey Spider"; balls, hoops and bubbles whenever possible.  Alice was in her element with lots of songs to sing to (she is utterly tuneless, so it's largely irrelevant whether she knows the song or not) and almost fell asleep at the end of the class, so active was her participation.  All the other pregnant Mummies had a lovely sit and chat around the sides of the room, but Alice was so enthusiastic, she wanted me to share her fun.

We returned home for a well deserved nap and then made cookies in the afternoon.  Alice then decided she would read me a story because "Mummy's tired with the baby in her tummy". 

A quick aside to note that Alice and now most of her little friends also have babies in their tummies at the moment.  It's not quite clear when they are all due to be born, although both her baby and my baby get a separate mention in the roll call of birthdays that will occur before Alice "can have a Dora birthday cake". 

So here's an excerpt of Alice reading me a story - an Aussie favourite, which was actually a present for the new baby from lovely former work colleagues, but which Alice has slightly stolen.  She'll be able to read it to the littlest Yardley after a bit more practice. 

Please ignore the slightly scary dolly on the floor in the second video and her even scarier positioning. 

Daycare days

As we get to the business end of this pregnancy, both Alice and I are enjoying the days that she goes to daycare more and more.  Our Wednesdays are a special time together, but suffice to say that by 7pm we are pretty much exhausted with one another and I especially look forward to a little rest while she goes off to nursery for Thursday and Friday.

Alice had a massive gain in confidence about a month ago and has stopped hiding her face when people in shops talk to her and will now - thankfully - say "Hello"back when greeted by the various "tradespeople" in her life.  (Eg, "Hello postman", "Please lady, I have a marshmallow with my Cino?", "My not shy anymore" [while performing a sort of tapdance] to the familiar checkout lady in Woolworths.  This has coincided with Alice being mostly happy to go to daycare, as opposed to the lying on the floor tantrums which were a feature of dropoffs before and after our holiday.  One theory could be that since she's started sleeping in, there's no time for food before we leave home in the mornings, so she's literally starving on arrival, but I prefer to think of it as a confidence boost/settling in.

One recent Dolphins daily report would seem to substantiate this, with the whole group parading around the outside area to the song, "We're following the leader".  Apparently "Alice was keen to be the leader" and insisted on, "I'll take everyone to work".  I can't seem to extract the photo, (but have sent it to those who have powerpoint!) of Alice leading everyone a merry dance around the grassy knoll.  When I arrived to pick her up, they seemed to have arrived at work, as they were all digging and hammering - and spitting.  Not in an impression of a builders yard, but more in an effort to "whistle" while they were at it. 

She's gone off Dora a bit, which is a blessed relief (I had visions of having to do all feeds to the tune of "We did it", "I'm the Map" etc, so I'm off to buy some Disney films for her.  Snow White will obviously be top of the list.

The run up to Fathers Day

In celebration of Alice's dear papa and Fathers Day coming up in September (the first that Alice and Stu will spend in the same country), some paternal moments from the last week.

First up we have an actual blog contribution from "Our Stuart".  Simple but effective as we people talking up his contribution (to the blog not our lives) for the first time in 2+ years, like to say...

Spot the Difference:

Norman Wisdom

Alice Yardley

















Secondly, an exerpt from the class discussion at daycare: "What I did at the weekend".

"Alice: 'I played with my toys with my Daddy, Stu.'

The Dolphins showed keen interest in sharing their experiences with one another and the teacher. They each had clear ideas about what picture should be drawn to represent their activity and Kate (attempted!) to draw these for them on the chalkboard."

And finally, we all had a lovely time at Baby Thomas's christening on Sunday.  Alice provided a lively commentary throughout the (thankfully) very relaxed service, "What's Baby Thomas doing"; "Why is he wearing that white hat" and, during the anointing with oil, or dousing or changing (there was a lot of activity in this relatively high Catholic service), provided a rousing rendition of Old Macdonald had a farm (complete with piglet).  I removed her at this point.

Hat question was not entirely unreasonable...


At the party afterwards, she played really nicely, mainly cared for by her darling Dad.  Poor old Stu didn't get much chance to chat to people.  Or so I thought.  On my way around the crowd to bid our farewells, every bloke in the place was very quick to mention, in tremulous tones of envy, "So, Stu's told me that he's off to Phuket next weekend".  Obviously he had no time to chat, but did find time to dance about the garden, kicking his heels with the freedom of one who knows he will not be "playing with toys" for a few days.

I'll report back after Alice and my "girls weekend".  If I am still standing.  I might go into labour for a rest.

Baby names

Alice's current baby name choices:
"Stu"
"Daddy"
"Madison"
"Helen"
"My Cousin Milly"
[Conversation went something like this:
m
Me: "What would you like to call our new baby, Alice?"
Alice: "'My Cousin Milly'"
Me: "'My Cousin Milly?'"
Alice: "Not 'Your Cousin Milly.' 'My Cousin Milly'"
Me: "OK, 'My Cousin Milly'"
Alice: "Not..." etc
And so we went on. It's part wind-up, part tiredness at the end of the day on both our parts, I would say!

Yesterday at Dolphins

For the benefit of the paternal grandparents who somehow have managed to buy a computer without powerpoint on it, I'm including a few exerpts from yesterday's daycare report.  Bear with us, other readers and good people of Runcorn: since I can't forward these minutiae to them directly you'll all have the pleasure:

Outer Space
Aim: To extend on interest in stars, planets and space and introduce concept of astronomy.

- The children were eager to explore the outer space area, with Harry, George, Olivia, Savannah, Angus Y and Alice approaching following Kate hanging images of stars, galaxies, the moon, Earth and the Solar System.

- Alice and Olivia stretched their arms out and began to move around the room, with Olivia saying; “we flying in the sky”. Alice responded; “I can see the stars”. They stretched their arms out and ‘flew’ through the room also and then landed back in the space area.

- The children demonstrated emerging dramatic play skills and early knowledge about outer space.

My little planet

Self Help Skills

Each day, the junior preschool children are encouraged to practice their developing independence and self-help skills. Today, after returning inside from outdoor play, the children removed their hats, coats and shoes (if they wished) so they were comfortable for indoor play.

- Alice, Theo, Angus Y and Isabella sat down and concentrated on removing their own shoes and socks. Alice pulled on the toe of her sock hard and then asked for help to take it off. She then placed her socks inside her shoes and put her shoes in the shoe box.

- The children showed developing self-help and independence when dressing and undressing themselves.

Outdoor Play

The children are provided with outdoor play daily, as the weather is cold and chilly, the children prefer to run and climb to keep warm. Balancing is of most interest to some children. Ball games are also being observed, the children have been independently choosing their play, wether it be independently or with peers.

- Alice showed pride in herself by recognizing her achievement from sliding down by herself. “Alice did it” smiling

Action Shot

The Lobambolas come to stay

Sarah, Marley and Madison came to stay a couple of weeks ago, at the conclusion of their Australian sojourn.  We were over the holiday jet lag, but still didn't really have the wherewithal to take many photos so not many good ones to share.

When we had got over the initial hurdle of Alice throwing a tantrum at the fact that there were unfamiliar children sitting next to her in the car, the visit went very well.  Madison gamely explored Alice's toys and Alice gamely followed her about.  They bonded on the last night over Dora the Explorer in french and sat on Stu holding hands (did not manage to capture that in a photo!).  On the final morning, they even got as far as learning each others' names, with Madison finally referring to Alice as something other than, "That girl" and Alice learning that actually only one of the three guests was called "Marley", rather than all of them.  As soon as Madison had departed, Alice began to miss her desperately and I still haven't been allowed to move the booster seat out of the car, so that Alice can, "See Madison now?" 

Madison's main bonding, however, was with Little Clifford.  Thank goodness she (LC) had her feet up during that visit as I spent most of the weekend with her little hands attached to my belly in case the baby kicked. 

Since their departure, Alice has become obsessed with which country everyone lives in.  Madison has been found to live in France, Nanna in "Ling-land" and most importantly "the boobies" (whose popularity was reignited by Madison's regular requests for updates as to whether they had milk in them yet), which live "in Australia with Mummy".

Little Clifford update

I thought it might be timely to post a little bit of information about Baby Clifford.  We went for a scan today and she currently weighs 4lb 4oz and is therefore in the 64th percentile so far.  Alice, at this stage, was in the 40th and ended up bang on average at 5 days overdue.  So this one shouldn't be too enormous if she stays on track.

Clifford is still in the breech position, as was Alice at this stage.  I'm sure that she has been head down at some point (see "The Lobambolas come to stay") but she seems to have spun back around.  Anyway, she is currently crouching with her feet on my cervix, which is really uncomfortable and a bit of a shock each time that she decides to kick me.  It also made the scan a little more invasive than it might otherwise have been so that they could measure the cervix etc without the feet being in the way.  Anyway, aside from the father to be preferring to leave the room, all was well, with all the organs looking good, a lovely strong heart beat and a pretty active little person in there.

I finish work 3 weeks today and am hoping for some extended sleeping/ reading/ movie watching time before the big day.  Alice still wants to call the baby, "Stu".  We've added it to the list but are also using the next 8 weeks to agree on some other names.  Nursery decorating and furniture reorganising starts this weekend.  All very exciting.

Alice, Alice, quite contrary...

"There are three ways to get something done: do it yourself, hire someone to do it, or ask your kids not to do it." -Malcolm L. Kushner

This is pretty much the way of things in our house at the moment. 

Granted, Stu is being very helpful when he's not off lunching (Cafe Sydney two days in a row?  Hello?!), but in terms of the other two methods:

Alice has shown a notable appreciation of hired help over the past few weeks.  Car dirty?  "Get the man to clean it", she suggested.  Arrive home from work/daycare to find the cleaners still hard at work? "Hi, Man! Are you cleaning our floor?"  Mummy can't stay and sing another lullaby at bedtime, using the excuse that she needs to make dinner? "Get a man to bring it", she proffers (like last week when the snot clearing curry was delivered, prompting another round of. "Hi, Man!).  I suppose at some time we should address this tendency to think that money fixes things - the morning at Bondi Beach a couple of weeks ago when her spade could not be found was slightly marred by the continual demands to, "Buy a new spade now?" - but I can't imagine that a new baby's arrival to a family without family support is going to see us using any fewer paid resources.

Ho hum.  I think that I wrote earlier this week about the current phase of general contrariness.  I genuinely think that I might try asking her not to go to bed and see what happens.  This morning we sat in the car letting ourselves be corrected/nagged, "Not music", "Don't sing, Mummy", "Daddy, don't talk" and then, upon deciding to ignore her completely, could hear the odd snatch of whinging as she tried to disagree with any overhead snippets of conversation, "Not with what you say disagree try to"....  *Sigh*

My little teenager

The lie-ins have continued.  We nearly made it past 7am the other day, but at 6.58am the familiar cry of "Mama, come and get me", arose.

Unfortunately other teenaged behaviours are coming to the fore.  Everything we say is corrected us or wilfully disobeyed.  A recent example would be in reply to her mother remarking on the number of cars on the road, and then on how dark it was in the tunnel, "No, there's not traffic.  It's a beautiful day".  [You could say that wasn't the most stimulating conversation, but really, whatever gets us through the drive home].  Another when playing about with a crisp packet.  Me: ":Don't tip it upside down, Alice".  Alice: looks at me, turns away and shakes bag upside down until all crumbs come out.

"I don't want to..." is also pretty frequent when asked to do pretty much anything.  Yesterday she announced that, "I don't want to see it before", when reassured that something would be familiar.  So I'm assuming she's testing boundaries like kids do, but so far, as can be seen, her resistance has been pretty futile.

This morning she lapsed into sulky mono-syllables when we talked about what she might get up to today.

I'm surprised that I haven't had to start nagging her to tidy her room.  That'll be next.

One of my younger siblings seemed to enter the mood swings of puberty at around 8 years old.  Could Alice be about to break the family record?!

Just for the record

This morning I had to wake Alice up so that I could get her ready to leave the house for work/Dolphins.  She told me twice, at 5 minute intervals that "I don't want to get out of bed" and rolled over to go back to sleep. 

Am just recording this for posterity.  Long may such antics continue.

Dressing up

This weekend we're going to put together a dressing up box for Alice.  She so loves her ballerina skirt from Nanna and has enjoyed all the various dress-up games at Dolphins* recently, so it'll be good to have some of that stuff available to play with at home.

Alice has particularly enjoyed my shoes recently (they're all flat at the moment, so easy to walk around in) but the selection at daycare seem much more entertaining.  Apparently "Alice quietly put pink shoes on. Then with a smile and a look of excitement said, 'Look Alice wearing pink shoes' "

Actually, Alice looks quite elegant (and always so colour co-ordinated).  I shouldn't post pictures of the other kids, but there were some choice images of little boys in drag, together with excerpts that would have had Stu grumbling if one of them were his son:

"Angus H and Angus Y independently chose handbags and shoes to wear. Walking around the room saying, 'Look at me'"

And my personal favourite:

"Declan clickity clacked around the room with his red shoes and bag. 'Lets go', he said."

*"Did you play Doctors and Nurses today?"

"Doctors.  Not Nurses.  Silly Mummy.", she sneered.

Poor Alice

We hear this refrain quite a lot from Young Alice.  However, this time, I do feel a little bad.  From a Dolphins update:

"As Alice drew a picture for her mum she had a discussion with the teacher that he mummy is having a baby and can’t pick her up. She asked the teacher to put her name on her pictures for mummy. Alice used her right hand in a tripod grip."