a swimming high

Yesterday Evie had another swimming lesson she was actually kicking her feet (without me prompting her) but I did have to remind her to do her arms ;o)

Last night Evie started singing Happy Birthday - we were singing it at Tumble Tots so we started singing it to her toy dog ;o)

I will try and video motion picture her singing it ;o)

Last night I was putting Evie to bed when she kept on saying "wait Mummy pool" she then added downstairs (and I realised she meant waiting for me while I went down the steps into the pool) and she added dangerous after I said that it was dangerous at the pool so she has to wait for me) It even took an extra 10 minutes to read her this book ;o)

For 2014 Project Flickr is having monthly tasks as well as the weekly tasks for January it is 12 months of the same image - you have to take a photo of the same thing every month from the same position on roughly the same day so you can see how much it has changed over the year) so naturally I chose Evie ;o)

Here she is sitting in the washing basket ;o)

I will need an op

I went to the doctors yesterday to discuss the hernia ultrasound that I had on Friday.

I will need to have an operation and they are (or probably have) referring me for surgery!

Im not too worried about it as I have been through more serious surgery when I was nine years old - it was very surreal knowing that I may not make it through.

I remember telling my Mum after that I was scared and she told me that she was scared too (but neither of us said anything as we didnt want to worry each other).

And then I think of Steve Irwin and the fact that he risked his life with crocodiles but gets killed by a stingray!

On the bright side I asked if it was alright to book a holiday and I was told that it was ok and to tell the consultants when it is booked for, I just now have to wait for James holiday year to start in April before he can book some time off ;o)

her way of telling me that she has had enough

This weeks project flickr is about love ;o)

I always try to involve Evie in anyway I can ;o)

and here she is telling me that she had had enough of this photo taking lark ;o)

more articulation

Yesterday me & Evie were at Tumble Tots...

...at the beginning of the session they ask the kiddies questions like "did you get upto anything good at the weekend?" and because the weather was horrible the lady running it asked if they had done anything indoors like going to the library or swimming?

Hearing the word "swimming" Evie shouted out SWIMMING ;o)

Evie was then asked if she had gone swimming and I explained that we had gone to a swimming class on Thursday and Evie was even doing the arm motions ;o)

She then asked if anyone else had gone swimming and this boy came running up to the front so he was talking to the lady asking the questions and told her that he had been swimming as well ;o)

hernia update

Back when I was pregnant I developed a hernia...

In December I finally decided to go to the doctors about it (I wasnt worried about it) but my friends Mum gave my friends a pep talk (which they told me about as I couldnt make going to meet them) about getting anything that we are worried about checked out sooner rather than later.

It also prompted one of my friends to go to the doctors about a spot on the roof of her mouth.

I had to go for a scan of the hernia here and because it was a private place (althogh through the NHS) I was seen early ;o)

Anyway the lady doing the scan said that the hernia was small to medium and as it is where it is then they will probably want to do a repair on it.

So tomorrow I shall call my doctors surgery and will book an appointment.

they worked a treat

Yesterday it was time to test my great idea...

When we were getting ready before we left took a spare swimming nappy in case she did a poop before we got there and I took 2 pairs of the pull on nappies nappies too just in case.

...so after the swimming lesson we went into the changing cubicle (with all of our bits after nabbing them out of the locker) got Evie undressed took off her swimming nappy and got her to step into the pull up nappy I had to undo one of the sides to get it over her tummy and then stuck the velcro fastener back together - hey presto I didnt have to worry that her nappy was on properly ;o)

getting back on the slide

Yesterday me & Evie and a couple of other Mums went to a different soft play place,

Evie had decided that she wanted to play in the over 4's area ;o)

So we decided to go down the big wavy slide...

...the first time Evie sat on my lap (because there was someone in the lane next to me with her little boy in the third lane), the second time I let Evie sit next to me, I was half way down when I saw Evie lying on her side coming down with a frightened look on her face where she had toppled over :o(

As she wouldnt let me take her back on the slide (she started really crying when I started walking her up the stairs) we wet into the ball pool and then up some steep soft stairs and bumped down them again ;o).

So we went to look at the big wavy slide again after having some water and Evie said slide so I took that as a "I want to go back on there now" so I told her that she would sit on my lap again and she didnt cry this time and we did it another few times after that too ;o)

I was scared that she would have a fear of slides had I not got her back on there quickly!

They had a merry-go-round carousel kids ride and we each paid £1 for the three little ones to ride it ;o)

Then we packed up our stuff and went to Nandos for lunch ;o)

I got Evie the chicken strips with garlic bread and chips (I think all three kids had the same meal) and I had the chicken breast in a pitta bread with mango & lime sauce with chips & spicy rice (Evie loves her rice) so I put the bowl between us so Evie could take spoonfuls of it ;o)

Then we finished off with some chocolate birthday cake ;o)

Evies done her own flavour

I was just doing Evies breakfast of a bagel with butter and it gave me an idea for another flavour to enter ;o)

So I have entered Evies bagel with butter and and did another flavour too of cumberland sausage panini with onion marmalade ;o)

not such a daredevil

Firstly the important bit...

...my flavour got approved ;o) so if you are on facebook you can like it ;o)  I have also just submitted egg in fried bread so will let you know if that gets approved too ;o)

We went to Tumble Tots yesterday and the theme was books there was Toy Story, Mr Men, and Mr Tumble on the Mr Tumble Station there was a big barrel that Evie had to lean against and as it rolled backwards her hands were to touch the mat and then she would do a backwards roly poly - as soon as we started doing it and she was leaning back she started crying where she didnt like it, so when we did the station again we tried doing it with her lying forwards and she didnt like that either!  She is ok when she lies tummy first and there is the big, medium and little barrels to roll over she just didnt like going "head first".

do us a flavour

I was watching Dancing on Ice last night and was fast forwarding through the adverts like I normally do and I saw a walkers advert so I rewound the recording back (I dont do live tv if I can help it) and saw that they were doing their do us a flavour competition, and a chance to win £1,000,000 (not that I really have a cat in hells chance).

So I wracked my brain and have entered toad in the hole with the home grown flavour of pork from Norfolk ;o)

I will let you know if it does make it through to the final six but Im not holding my breath ;o)

pull on nappy pants

Following Evies swimming lesson and me having to put Evies nappy on with her standing up, I had the brilliant idea of getting Evie some pull on nappies ;o)

I let James go off to get the nappies while we do our grocery shopping and because they had an offer 2 for £7 he came back with size 4 and size 5, we got both packs as the size 5 ones start at 11 kgs and Evie is just over 10 kgs (at the moment) so will be in them eventually and if we are only going to use one pair a week then she is bound to be the right weight by the time we get to use them ;o).

She is still no nearer to potty training at the moment so its not like we wont be using them by the time she is heavy enough!

swimming lesson

Yesterday I took Evie for her very first swimming lesson ;o)

I put both of our swimming costumes on before we even left the house and bought underwear and a clean vest for Evie with me for us to change into after.

We got to the Leisure Centre in plenty of time and waited for a baby change cubicle - we finally got into one and whilst the cubicle was twice the size of a normal one the seat certainly wasnt big enough to lay a baby on it!

So I got us both undressed found a locker put in my one pound deposit took the key, I saw another Mum with her little boy waiting for the class to start and realised that she had a towel with her so I took Evie back to the locker with me to get one of the towels to wrap Evie in after.

A bit later we were beckoned to come into the baby pool (and I saw a Mum and her little girl who go to Tumble Tots ;o)), I hang our towel on a hook and the teacher took the register, there were six of us in the duckling class ;o)

She asked me if I could swim and I said that I cant and she asked me if I wanted some armbands for me (she had already put some on Evie) so I asked her if I would need them? and she said it was just to give me confidence if I was scared of the water, and I said I would let her know if I did need some ;o)

She even put a rubber ring on Evie as well just in case she slipped out of my arms for extra safety ;o)

It was a lot of me supporting Evie and getting her to kick her legs and then there was jumping into the pool and then there was pushing off from the side of the pool and getting them to come back to you.

And then the lady thew balls and toys into the pool for the kids to go after ;o)

Evie seemed to enjoy herself the only problem was that the pool was only 31 degrees so the water was only luke warm :o(

conversations and feet

Yesterday morning while me & Evie were having our breakfast I said to Evie "we have a busy day today" and Evie said "tot tots" which is what she calls Tumble Tots so I told her that we went there yesterday but we were going to get her feet measured and she said "new shoes" and I said "yes, if your feet have grown", I then said that we could then come home for a play and Evie said balls meaning he ball pools at the soft play places that we go to, and I told her that we would have a play at home ;o)

After going to the library to change Evies books we went to get her feet measured, there were a few Mums with their little ones in there but we found a seat and waited to get her seen to.

hee hee there were two Mums in there both inquiring about the same pair of brown boys shoes (in the same size) they must only have one pair of each size for every style!

It was finally our turn and the lady measured Evies feet (the other assistant working the kids area even recognized us ;o)) and she said that Evie was now a 4 1/2 (yes her feet had finally grown ;o)), so I told her that I liked the ankle boots but having them on her they looked a bit like orthopedic shoes, so we went for these instead ;o).

We were told to come back in eight weeks to get her feet measured again (in case they have grown again).

we moved classes at the right time

On Saturday I was chatting to someone whos son also goes to Tumble Tots.

She had been taking her little boy to another session (as Mondays wasnt working out well for her) and in the New Year she was going to take him back to Evies old session.

Anyway she told me that she was going to see if she could move her son to the earlier session because the later session was during lunch, and there were only four children in the class also (the late class has always been the quiet one but never that few kids).

She only lives a five minute walk away from the hall where they are held anyway.

As the session that we went to was at 1 pm I used to do Evies lunch at 11.30 am so we could get out in time and I would have something to eat when we got back.

Yesterday we were waiting for our session to start and  I saw a Mum and her little boy (different Mum & Son) and she said that they had moved to the early session as the later one had been moved to 12.30 pm.

I wouldnt have been too happy either and that also means that the people running dont get a lunch break now either!

If I thought that 18 kids were a lot last week this week we had 24!

first second and third opinions

Following my post from Thursday Evie woke up on Friday morning and the spots had spread to her face and the ones that she had on her chest and back still hadnt blistered.

So while Evie was having her breakfast I called the doctors surgery to book her an appointment...

...so I explained to the receptionist about the spots and she said that we would have to wait in a side room (I dont mind in the slightest as it means that she cant pick up any other germs).

So we got to the surgery and I signed us in on the touchscreen by reception and told the receptionist that we were told to wait in a side room - we were lead into an examination room with just enough room for the buggy and I sat on the couch.

The doctor that we were supposed to see had been called out on an urgent matter and we were seen by her registrar...

I undressed Evie so that she could see the spots and she ran her fingers over them and said that they looked like a viral rash (so not contagious) but she would get another doctor to have a look, and that children sometimes get rashes when they get a bug but they do grow out of it thankfully.

So a second doctor had a look and because I said that we first noticed the spots on her ears she wanted to get a third opinion!

So the third doctor had a look and said that it was just the gastroenteritis working its way out of her system and the rash was a sign that she was almost over it.

We were about to go food shopping this morning and James said that there was a frozen worm in the garden!

on close inspection (I made James put on a pair of rubber gloves and made him wear the 3D glasses that I got when we saw Men in Black 3D) we realised after jabbing it with a fork that it was a spaghetti strand from Evies dinner last night of spaghetti and meatballs!

poorly tummy

On Tuesday lunchtime we met with some friends at a soft play place.

Evie enjoyed herself we went down the big pink slide twice while sitting on my lap ;o)  She even told James when he got home, she said lap big slide ;o)

When we got home I gave Evie her afternoon snack of a chocolate yoghurt cake bar and she was just picking at it and not eating it with the normal gusto, so I ended up finishing it for her (I wasnt going to let chocolate go to waste!) ;o)

When it came to her dinner she woukdnt even touch it so I did yer some pilau rice (which she normally loves) and she took a few mouthfuls and then started to really cry so I got her out of her high chair and she was still really crying (real tears as well), I was cuddling her in the kitchen and she threw up what she had eaten.

So we went upstairs and she was still really crying and saying that her tummy hurt and she had a temperature, so I called NHS direct answered all of their questions and they said to take her to the doctors the next day.

Poor Evie spent the rest of the evening lying on our bed with either me or James sitting there with her, we got her into her cot when she should have gone to bed.

The next day she woke up still saying that her tummy hurt, but she did manage to eat her breakfast and kept it down which was good.

So we went to the doctors and told him everything that happened and he said that she has a mild case of gastroenteritis and that the medication out there is too strong for her so we will have to ride it out.

Luckily she has still been eating which has been good.

Yesterday Evie was supposed to have her first swimming lesson so her poorly tummy put paid to that yesterday.

Yesterday morning one of the friends I met up with said that her little girl has chicken pox, then yesterday afternoon Evie started getting spots, smaller ones on her tummy and bigger ones on her back (but they werent blistering) and just before she went to bed we noticed some appearing on her neck.

Evie is still asleep at the moment, if the spots still dont look like chicken pox then I shall take her to the doctors.

a busy mummy monday

On Sunday night a double checked the 4 Children website to check when the walk in weigh in clinic was on - I honestly thought it had said 1 to 3 pm but looking now it does say 1-2.30 pm...

Yesterday morning I made sure that I got dressed after having my shower (I usually wait until after I have got Evie dressed).

Evie woke up just after 7.30 am so I got her up, changed her nappy, did our breakfast, we share a bagel and Evie had a bowl of coco pops.

After I cleared up the breakfast bits we went upstairs and I got Evie dressed.

We got downstairs and it was only 9.05, as I had to leave by 9.55 that meant I had 50 whole minutes to spare so I put the tv on for Evie and got the buggy out and because it was raining I had the raincover draped over the buggy and my pac am ac was out too.

At 9.30 i got Evies shoes out and put them on her and then put her coat on got her in the buggy (mid tantrum) as she had decided that she wanted to play with her jigsaw puzzle!

I got my coat and shoes on and off we went.

We got to Tumble Tots nice and early and I got Evie out of the buggy and we watched the end song of the early walking to 2 class (I think Evie was a bit miffed that she couldnt join in).

I was watching the ladies set up the equipment for the 2-3 class and was surprised at how high some of the bits were!  There was one particularly high tressle to climb up with a slide to slide down and then to do a roly poly at the end.

It was time for the class to begin and we all had to sit in a circle and sang songs and then they counted how many children there were (there were 18) and the kids got split up into 4 groups with every group going onto a different couple of bits of equipment.

It worked well although Evie didnt like the fact that she couldnt just run around like a lunatic and picking and choosing what she wanted to go on.

They probably had about 8 minutes at each section.

At the end we all sat in a circle again and the children who had moved up from the walking to 2 class (there were 4 of them including Evie) all got their certificates they even had to walk to the front to get them and all us Mums clapped ;o)

Then the little ones got a sticker each.

Then it was time to come home, Evie was exhausted and fell asleep by the time we got home.

So I had my lunch and Evie eventually woke up at 1.30 pm so I got her out of the buggy and gave her her lunch.

As I thought that the weigh in clinic was until 3pm as we were ready to go out by 2.15 pm, so we rushed into town and got to the library (where the weigh in is held) to be told that they were already over running and they wouldnt have time to see Evie!

I told them that the 4 children website said that the clinic was until 3pm and they agreed to weigh Evie for me.

As Evie is now 2 she can stand on the scales like a big girl and stayed dressed and only had to take her shoes off ;o).

And after we had finished we treated ourselves to a latte and a babyccino ;o)

Just before 8 pm Evie said that she wanted to have a lie down with Daddy, James tried to get her to lie in her cot but she wanted to lie on our bed, so James stayed upstairs with her until we changed her nappy just before 9 pm and gave her some warm milk ;o)

I hope this doesnt mean that she will be too tired

Last night at 1.45 am I woke up and could tell that Evie was kicking my back.

Sh had woken up and started crying and because she wouldnt lie back down in her cot James bought her into bed with us...

...she was snuggling her muslin cloth so was tired but just not sleepy...

...so I asked her if she wanted some water and she said water so I gave her her cup and she took a couple of sips and I put it back on my side of the bed...

...but she still would not go to sleep!

As last night she fell asleep before she had her milk we asked her if she wanted milk and she said moot so James went down to heat her up some milk...

...I tried to carry her back into her bedroom so she could drink her milk in her cot but she was really crying so I sat on our bed with her resting her head on my shoulder and when James bought the warm milk up she drank some but was lying down and not willing to sit up.

So we carried her in her bedroom with her still crying and gently put her in her cot and I stroked her back and she fell asleep ;o)

This is just typical as we have our 2-3 year old session at 10.30 this morning, oh well hopefully she wont be too sleepy ;o)

digging and dusting

Following Evies recent love of popcorn I got James to get the popcorn maker out of the garage ;o).

As we didnt have any popcorn kernels we went into Holland & Barrett to buy some.

So after Evie had her dinner I made her half a scoopful and she happily sat their eating it and then I finished the rest of it after she said that she was all done ;o)

I must say I forgot how nice fresh popcorn is - I might do a whole scoopful tonight and eat the rest ;o)

persistent Mummy rules ok

Following being told that there were no vacancies in the 2 - 3 class at Tumble Tots, I rang them this morning after I saw on their website that there were a couple of vacancies in that class.

When I explained the whole scenario to the bloke he said that the website was down and they were trying to fix it but would look at the class sheet to count how many were in there.

He came back and said that it was ok and she has now been moved to the 10.30 class ;o)

two shoe shop visits

On Tuesday I decided to get Evies feet measured again (as last time we went in they hadnt grown)...

...so at 11.30 I walked into the shop, and the kids section at the back was teeming and their was a Mum with her daughter waiting to be seen too!

So we walked out of the shop (so that Evie could have her lunch first) and we would see if it was any better in there later.

So Evie had her lunch of quinoa & edamame salad and her milky bar dessert and then we went back in...

...the kids section only had one person in there this time so we sat down and a lady came over (the same one who measured Evie last time) she measured her feet and they still havent grown!

oh well we will go back in another couple of weeks...

ooohhhh heck another year

Happy New Year everyone ;o)

We have had loads of highs this year...

Evie started walking and graduated from gymbabes to tumble tots (just looked at the site and it seems that they now have a couple of vacancies (just tried calling and there was no answer so shall call tomorrow!), they were supposed to let me know when a vacancy came up! hammmm I shall let you know how I get on!

Evie is now talking more and lets us know what she wants and stuff ;o)

Evie can now sing three songs: baa baa black sheep, miss polly and just recently twinkle twinkle little star (I shall have to video motion picture her singing that one ;o)

and as it was so much fun last year seeing how much Evie had changed I give you 12 months of Evie ;o)

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

(I cant believe that I only uploaded videos motion pictures in November this, this and this

December