Blossom

We've been moving furniture about lately. It's good to have a fresh start and blow the dust out of some corners.  Audrey is very interested in the proceedings, and likes to hold on to the moved tables and chairs and dance along to her Gaelic nursery rhyme CD.

The point of moving furniture around is to try to make it a bit easier for us to sit down for meals as a family. This is something we're really not very good at, and it's a shame as I think it would be a great time to talk and connect and catch up on what we've all been doing, and to demonstrate lots of good eating skills with little Audrey. Meal times are such a great opportunity to practice lots of those fine motor skills and to explore different tastes, textures and colours, but I know that I'm guilty of spoon feeding or just dumping the food on her high chair when I feel I've not got the time or the energy.

 (These pics taken by Ian on a daddy-daughter park trip recently)

Well, this is my pledge to make a bit more time and energy to have fun with our food. To take the chance to practice words - hot, cold, tasty, crunchy, soft, scoop, cut, spoon, chew, yum... To practice using toddler forks and spoons (she is SO good with a spoon now) and let her drink by herself from a grown up cup.

I've packed up the high chair, because really Audrey can sit on a cushion on a big chair without any problems at all now. I've moved the table in front of the window so we have a beautiful view of the blossoming trees outside. I have a really good feeling about this.

In other recent news, bath time has been extra fun lately.

Audrey knows the words for all her little bath friends - "crab" and "penguin" and "fish" and "duck" and "dolphin" and "octopus" and "turtle". If you ask her to pass you the penguin, she knows just what to do. If you ask her to pass you the duck, she'll pass it and, if you're lucky, she'll quack a few times too! We have the most fun playing this game.

After bath time Audrey brushes her teeth, and she is SO good at this. She really seems to enjoy imitating me while I brush my teeth, I can see the beginnings of a feeling that will become pride that she's able to be so grown up and brush her teeth all by herself.

I always dreamed of this, of being a mama. And it's even more amazing than I could have thought. Look how she's blossoming.

Catching up

I'm running a little behind with posts as I'm still rather poorly with this wretched cold. Audrey seems a lot better though, at least!

I've been meaning to write about what a wonderful week we had recently when my dear friend Cori came to visit.

Cori spent a lot of time with Audrey before moving away a few months back, and she is one of Audrey's favourite people. I was sure Audrey would remember her, at least enough to not be shy around her, and sure enough within an hour or so she was lifting her arms up asking for Cori-hugs and wanting to be carried everywhere.

On the first day we went out into town and bought Audrey some new pirate wellies to stomp around in the rain in. She finds them tricky to walk in as they're a totally different kind of shoe than she's used to, but they are so much fun.

We went out for lunch with Ros and Cori after doing some clothes shopping for me (really hard to do when it's just me and Audrey!) and Audrey bombed around the place chatting to people and making all the other diners smile with her antics.

On Wednesday we went with Audrey's friend Mia and Mia's mum Carrie to Gorgie Farm, and Audrey had a fantastic time seeing all the animals and making all the noises (she was especially good at clucking at the chickens).

We saw and got to stroke some adorable baby lambs.

And a bird riding a horse.

It was a freezing cold day, but definitely a lot of fun.

And we finished by having lunch in the cafe - Audrey seemed to quite like my butternut squash soup.

 We went for walks, read lots of stories, played lots of games and generally had a really fun week of company and friendship.

She really is so precious to us all.

Audrey is not amused

Audrey and I have been sick with rotten colds over the past few days.

And to add insult to injury, her first tooth has finally come through. She spends a lot of time collapsed in my arms, all snuffly and struggling to breathe properly.

Still, little girl is so brave. She's still so happy, even with a cold and a sore mouth. We went playing in the park in the sunshine this afternoon and she wandered across the grass while I sat on a bench and watched. Occasionally she would turn and stretch out her arms to me and I'd run over and she would squeal with laughter before I even reached her to grab her up in the air and swing her round and round.

Feel better soon, little Bea.

Video post: Audrey helping

Audrey loves to help lately. No matter what I'm doing, she just loves to get involved. It means things take a little longer, but oh my goodness it's so worth it to see how proud and happy she gets.

Yesterday she helped me with the laundry, bringing me the wet clothing a piece at a time from the washing machine to where I was hanging them up on the drier. "Can I have another one, please?" I'd ask, and she would turn and toddle the few steps back to the washing machine as fast as she could to pull out another sock or shirt. Some things were easy, like her little clothes, and she proudly carried her dinosaur top around the kitchen before handing it to me. Some things were difficult, like Ian's jeans that were heavy and unwieldy for her to carry, but she managed them anyway.

Later on we folded the dry laundry, which again she brought to me piece by piece then watched me sort and fold it ready to be put away.

I try to get her involved in cooking, give her a bowl and a wooden spoon and some (safe) ingredients from whatever I'm making for her to play with and taste. I show her what the food looks like periodically as I chop and stir and season. And this summer we'll be visiting our friends Ace and Faye to see how they grow vegetables and fruits, to learn more about where food comes from and how to treat it with respect. I hope this gives her the impression that food doesn't magically appear on our plates, or even in the supermarkets.

I also encourage her to be involved in taking care of the animals, both at home and at the shelter. She's definitely got the mad-about-animals gene from me, and is very enthusiastic about helping with them. I think it's so good for her to spend time at the shelter, we're usually there for one or two afternoons a week and she potters about pointing at the animals and stroking them, helping us feed them cabbages and carrots and sharing her apple slices with the guinea pigs.

Lately her favourite thing at the shelter is to help the volunteers with cleaning up. We clean out all the rabbits and guinea pigs every day, so that's a lot of cleaning! Audrey grabs a dustpan and brush and pitches right in, pretending to sweep up the mess that the other volunteers have swept into a tidy pile. She also loves to wander round holding the big broom and occasionally banging it on the floor in imitation of the bigger people. It's adorable and also fascinating to see her watching and imitating the things around her so carefully.