A bad day in parenting land...

Poor Looby. I'm gutted. We had an accident today and I feel so guilty. I was making Amy and I coffee this morning and Lucy crept up on me and tried to get an apple of the work surface thereby dragging a very hot coffee onto her arm. She has a nasty burn, which, thankfully, is not blistered.

Being a parent means you take responsibility for a little one's safety and accident or not, you can't help feeling it. The worst thing is being involved in hurting your child. I have spent the day feeling morose and worried about her.

Looby, on the other hand, proudly told everybody at nursery about her injury, the ice pack mummy put on it, the cream we applied and as usual took it in her stride and hardly seems bothered at all. The greater the knowledge of the world the worse you feel. I could do with some of Looby's innocence and outlook on the world when times get tough.

Still feels like big brother in my house - day 56 and Lucy has still not pooed on the potty! Stubborn little minx!

Why does it always rain on me......

I must never organise a family day out. Forget the word organise, I must never even suggest a family day out. That black rain cloud that follows me around days out in Norfolk with the girls conspired to get me wet yet again. Our travels around the county today clearly indicated that the cloud conspired to be over the zoo and the zoo only. To put it mildly I am pissed off! It rained so much even the animals hid under the trees. We do have pictures but the camera is drying out. We endured it as all brave British day trippers do and as we drove out of the zoo, 3/4 mile down the road we came across glorious sunshine! God give me strength! Anyway please see picture of Anna by way of delightful distraction from the fact I cannot provide the reader with amusing tales of our trip to the zoo......

Daddy's taking us to the zoo tomorrow, we can go all day!

After last week's non event of a trip to the zoo, we are going to give it another go tomorrow and I can't wait! The forecast is good and a day out with my girls is just what the doctor ordered. It has been another week when I haven't seen much of Amy and the girls, but the time we have had has been lovely. On Wednesday we buried the girl's great grandmother, Sylvia, and despite it being an obviously sad day it was a joy to watch Lucy and her cousins run around for the afternoon. Sylvia would have loved it and it shows the amazing legacy she has left behind. I have never been to a funeral service that had so many children attending and they added to the celebration of life. Evie pointed out 'the vicar was wearing a dress!' and Lucy simply stated 'Shush, daddy, the man is talking!' You couldn't have scripted it any better.

Anna has continued to go from strength to strength and is still sleeping through the night. I wish I was! Lucy continues to frustrate and refuses to poo on the potty. I will break her, but I have no idea how. Lucy never does anything until she is ready and I don't think I will ever be able to force her to do anything. She has a strong will (just like her mummy AND daddy!) I think that is part of the magic of the relationship we have evolved, that we do battle about issues and it makes us stronger and we understand each other better. Or maybe we are just as stubborn as each other. Anyway I can't wait for our day out at the zoo. There will be much pictorial evidence.

Meet Grandma and the meaning of life....

Once again it has been a week when I have not seen much of the girls, so I thought that I would do a post introducing another one of the girl's extended family. This is Grandma, she is attached to my side of the family. There is no genetic connection between her and the girls as she is my foster parent and Lucy simply loves her to bits as do I. She was chuffed to bits and very proud when we discussed whether Lucy should call her Grandma. I grew up in a very diverse house and am very proud that Lucy and Anna's family continues that vein.

Both the girls and Amy have been slightly under the weather this week and slightly grumpy, understandably! I was hoping to write an entertaining ditty about our trip to the zoo today that we had planned, but once again work ruined that and I had to go in.

There is one magical moment worth mentioning this week: Lucy loves a bit of rough and tumble and got a fit of the giggles, her giggle is infectious and amazing and I said to my wife you can't get any closer to the meaning of life that listening to that sound. Then five minutes later Anna threw me the most magical smile and I had to think again!

It's the things you say...

Lucy is little miss chatterbox. She does not stop talking and she has a wonderful ability to hear a sentence and copy this sentence several days later, in context. Maybe she's just lucky, time will tell. Not bad for a child who is not yet three. For example presented with a twin pot yogurt (she's never seen one before) - she smiled, tilted her head and said 'how cool is that!'

Having been sick on Friday night she went around the car boot sale today telling everybody that 'she had put her food onto her bed'!

We won the battle with the television months ago, she is far less obsessed and enjoys doing other things. Despite this, her profile would state that her favourite film is 'The Incredibles'. The girl certainly has good taste. I am getting her ready for trips to the cinema and I simply can't wait to take my girls to go and see a film. For Anna, this is a long way off and the other problem would be getting Lucy to sit still for more than ten minutes. I describe her as 'Bambi on acid' and this description is very credible but the pictures in this blog never reflect her high levels of energy and activity. We have quite a few videos that reflect these exhausting levels of energy, but I still can't seem to upload one onto the blog - will keep trying though. It would add to and enhance the story of the girls and family life that I am putting together.

A sad family day.......

As I celebrate my blogging half century this week, a sad day has arrived in our family. The girl's great grandmother Sylvia passed away peacefully this morning. The girls have been extremely lucky to have a great grandmother in today's society, when extended family seems to be a thing of the past. Sylvia was extremely proud of all her great grand children and always talked of the joy they brought her. I am so pleased that she was well enough to witness Anna's birth and meet her last great grand child. Sylvia lived at the Care Home I manage until the last few weeks of her life and it was nothing short of a pleasure to see the enjoyment she got out of her great grand children. Lucy especially really enjoyed visiting her and Nana would always show her off. We have a wonderful picture in our house of Sylvia's and Lucy's hands together when she was a baby. To me it was always a lovely representation of the generations within a family and truly marked for me that I had begun the creation of my own when Lucy was born. A complete generation of my daughter's family has disappeared today and that makes it a very sad day. Rest in peace Sylvia and thank you for the kind words and love you always showed my girls.

One finger, one thumb, keeping moving...

Anna is still sleeping through the night. I think it might be the power of the thumb. She has discovered the joy of sucking it and it helps her chill out. Many people at work ask how she is, I explain she is sleeping well at night and they are amazed. I explain it's all the chardonnay Amy drinks in her breast milk! I can take no credit, Amy has worked really hard on a routine for Anna and she is finally responding well. I am starting to relax now into the role of being Anna's dad and a bond is emerging. She seems to find me funny and we are now getting five minute moments together where she smiles and is making noises of delight. I am such a parental glory hunter! But it is truly lovely, these small pockets of time with her........

I work one long week and....

I am afraid I have simply not seen a great deal of the girls at all this week. Work has been a complete nightmare. Since my last post my house has experienced the winds of change, and not just Anna's bottom! Anna has slept for the whole night for the last five , I repeat for the last five nights. I am reluctant to write it down in case the fates conspire against me and I have no sleep what so ever!. She is much more relaxed and happy in her own company, and the screaming of weeks past is considerably less. Noises to communicate are emerging and smiling is a day-to-day thing. She has a simply delightful smile too! Lucy (if it was possible!?!) seems to be finding more energy and lives life at a quicker pace at the moment. She exhausts me. I have alluded in previous posts that she simply does not stop. At the moment she puts the hyper into hyperactive, if she's not careful she will end up with a label. I am referring to the current culture in society to label children who are 'busy' with ADHD, I would describe her as bright and busy. Example picture attached! Yesterday Lucy attended her first birthday party with a nursery friend, on this occasion she was quiet and spent the time attached to her mother's coat tails. I'm not lying I promise, Lucy has experienced what it is like to feel shy!