Fancy Fairy

Anna attended her first ever Fancy Dress party this week.

The party was held at our music class, in aid of Children in Need (which is always my alarm bell to alert me to the fact that Anna's birthday is not far away!! As if I needed reminding!). You may remember that last year's fundraising party was a Pyjama theme where Freya's mum and I were the only adults to dress up despite the invitation stating all adults should take part in the silliness, as well as the children!)

Following on from the magic wand which Anna has not been able to put down since the Fireworks part on Saturday, it was very apt that Anna went to the party dressed as a fairy so off we plodded to the shops to find a fairy dress costume.

There were lots to choose from and some were actually very pretty with little diamonds (fake obviously... my daughter may be spoilt but NOT that spoilt!) sewn into the lace overlay and silk material. Of course, Anna didn't want the pretty little dresses. No, Anna decided that she wanted the one that looked rather over the top and a tad gaudy!!!

Despite my reservations however, she did actually look gorgeous in it and her fairy wings looked very nice too. James had suggested (for reasons that will become apparent in a minute) that I didn't actually put the fairy wings on her until we got to the party but in my enthusiasm, I forgot and, whilst preparing breakfast, Anna was getting very over-excited running around the house in full fairy dress complete with wings. She then got rather frustrated and she kept shouting 'FLY, FLY' and pulling at her wings so I had to explain that these wings were not real and she just had to pretend to be a fairy who could fly. Anna looked at me as though I was stupid and continued to run around the house and getting rather annoyed at her wonky wings (after pulling them too hard!!).

It was rather a big challenge when trying to sit Anna down for breakfast as she insisted that her fairy wings must be kept on. Fortunately, the harness was big enough that I could get round the problem. Unfortunately, the car seat proved too big a challenge and, despite Anna's insistence (shouting and losing patience) that she had to wear her fairy wings in the car, there was no way that she would have fitted in the car seat as the wings were wider than the actual seat itself. I then had to have a long discussion with Anna about the fact that fairies sometimes need a rest and travel by car so they don't have to fly and therefore she wouldn't need her wings. I'm not sure that she understood what I was saying but she got so bored with my explanation that she just gave up getting agitated at her lack of wings and cuddled her cube instead.

When arriving at the party, I clearly wasn't the only one to have trouble. Libby's mum also looked rather frazzled after struggling to get Libby in the car seat, who had a massive hoop under her dress in order to get the skirt to look floaty and princess-like. When her mum had tried to persuade Libby to take the hoop out, Libby had said 'I'm Princess Jasmine and Princess Jasmine wouldn't go to a party without her dress looking right.' (Libby is 2 and a half, going on 22 and a half!).

The party went well although we did have hysterics when the parachute emerged and then a few tears when we played 'Pass the Parcel' because Anna couldn't understand why everyone was getting to open the parcel except her (although she calmed down brilliantly when I explained, which I was really proud of). I was also really pleased when, after being offered some chocolate, Anna chose not to have it and asked for some grapes instead!! I am fully expecting that to be the first and last time that Anna ever turns treats down (once she realises what chocolate is, which she doesn't yet so we may still be winning that one for a while!).

So Fairy Anna returned home looking a little tired and, as soon as we got in, threw her wand to one side and headed for her toy teapot and a cuppa! There is only so much fairy business that you can take in one day!

Firework Flops and Fairy Frogs!

Before this weekend, I had assumed that Bonfire night was not a social event in the Gibson calender due to Anna being too young for it all. I then noticed that Chester racecourse was holding the big fireworks event, as they do every year, but that there was also a special 'Toddlers Fireworks Party' earlier in the evening (with no loud bangs). I was still not convinced that Anna would be that interested. However, our neighbourhood has become a party central with fireworks going off every evening this week. It has sounded like a war zone before you then look out of the window and see an amazing amount of beautiful colours lighting up the sky. (That is what happens when you end up living next to a road full of hotels, all having fireworks on the same night!!!!). Anna has loved it and the bangs, whooshes and whistling noises have not fazed her in the slightest (even when they have started to explode at 11pm at night!!)

Therefore, we thought that the toddlers fireworks would be a good way of introducing her to the world of Bonfire night.

The evening started well as we ate our dinner in a nice restaurant in town before strolling down the hill to the racecourse.

When entering the racecourse, we were met with a fair which had the noisiest rides going, complete with hip hop music blasting out of the high speakers. Anna, of course, loved it and asked to go on all the rides which went upside down. I don't like the idea of her going on rides that go upside down when she is 18 years old, let alone when she is 2!! We quickly steered Anna away from them and she found herself confronted with a stall selling toys made up of LED lights that flashed on and off. Of course, Anna wanted one so just grabbed the nearest one, which happened to be in the hand of a lady who had just purchased one for her little boy!

So, complete with magic wand that flashes neon pink at 100mph, (we bought her one so she didn't have to steal the little boy's!), we headed off to the fireworks arena. As soon as we found our position, the skies opened and the rain poured. Anna just thought that this was all part of the attraction and insisted on holding the gigantic umbrella that we had, which she thought was amazing!

After a delayed start, the fireworks began, in time with the accompanying music. Anna didn't pay any attention whatsoever.

Then, the Teletubbies music began (those bloody things follow me everywhere!!) and Anna's eyes lit up! She actually noticed the fireworks and started to watch and smile. We think it was probably because the speakers, which were still blasting out the Teletubbies, happened to be in the same direction as the fireworks. It had nothing to do with the firework display. This was followed by Bob the Builder (which Anna hates on the TV but loves the song) so, as the rain soaked us, Anna sang at the top of her voice.

In 5 minutes, it was over and I felt my admission fee (which was expensive) had gone up in smoke rather too quickly. 'Is that it?' I said. Anna didn't care as she was now too interested in waving her wand at her Daddy, shouting 'Abracadabra' (which she has learnt from her 'Winnie the Witch' books, which she adores) and then shouting 'frog.' We think she was trying to turn her Daddy into a frog, which cheered me up a lot!!

I don't think it was the short duration of the fireworks or even the expensive admission fee that made me more than a little disappointed. It was just the fact that it wasn't a bonfire night celebration. There was no Guy Fawkes made from straw, or even a bonfire. Being one for tradition, I like the whole historical story surrounding Bonfire night (obviously not the torture bit but the fact that we are celebrating history). I love feeling the heat from the fire on a cold night and watching children with sparklers, while I eat a Hot Dog! (James insists that you are meant to eat Toffee apples on Bonfire night but I never had that tradition... it was always hot dog for me!) I obviously realise that Anna wouldn't have understood all that at this age but I wanted her to experience a proper Bonfire night and not just a commercial event, trying to get as much profit as possible.

Now that I know that Anna is not afraid of Fireworks, I have already lined up our Bonfire Night celebrations for next year. I have heard of a village close to where James works, which has a Bonfire, including a 6ft Guy Fawkes sitting on the top, as well as a good firework display. Anna will get the true experience of Bonfire Night next year!

As for Anna, she didn't care that we hadn't seen tradition. She had her magic flashing wand and as we were walking back to the car, she was still attempting to get her wand to work by shaking it and shouting 'Abracadabra Frog' whilst waving it at her Daddy. So despite the firework disappointment, I still had a huge smile on my face!

Anna's First Haircut

On Saturday 18th October (Yes, it has taken me this long to find time to be able to sit at a computer long enough to write this blog post!), Anna had her first haircut. She was accompanied by her Daddy!

There are 3 reasons why her Daddy took Anna to the hairdressers. The first of these is that it is actually Daddy's hairdresser that we assigned the mission of cutting Anna's hair. This is because we thought the hairdresser, having 5 children herself, would have the patience to deal with a fidgety Anna and her salon also has lots of children's books, which is always a plus where Anna is concerned. The second reason was that James doesn't often get the chance to do 'firsts' (first dance class, first music class, first painting, first time with glue and glitter etc) with Anna on his own and I thought it might be nice for him. The last reason (and the main one to be honest!!) is I am a wimp and couldn't face the prospect of dealing with a very fidgety Anna on my lap while the hairdresser held scissors close to my daughters head. I had visions of bits of ear missing (not the hairdressers fault but just because Anna is so unpredictable at times!).

So, while I amused myself browsing in the shops (which I am NEVER able to do any more so it felt like complete luxury!), Anna and her Daddy trotted off to the hairdressers for a much needed haircut (it was very long at the back although still lacking down the sides!)

I am told by James that the first hairdressing experience was a complete success. At first, Anna insisted on doing the job herself and took the scissors, brush and comb from the hairdresser within 3 seconds of it going near her head and then proceeded to try and cut her own hair. However, the hairdresser was prepared for such a situation and promptly gave Anna her own child-friendly set to play with.

As soon as Anna had been given the children's set of hairdressing equipment, she was no longer interested in being a 'hairdresser' and sat beautifully while she studied her reflection in the mirror and tried to kiss her own reflection several thousand times during the haircut.

A very proud Anna, wearing a huge sticker, came and found me with a big grin on her face and James looked somewhat relieved.

Dancing Queen

For the whole of this year, I have been excitedly waiting until the day that Anna could start her dance classes. The day arrived this week.

Back in January, I found out that there were dance classes for children aged 2 years upwards and I immediately knew that Anna would adore it. Seeing as though Anna's favourite thing in the world is to dance and prance around all day every day (even the Forest Warden suggested that Anna could go to dance classes after she dances her way around the trees during every Forest Tot session).

The classes are called Diddi Dance and are aimed at 2 to 4 year old children. Each half term focuses on a different style of dance such as Salsa or Tap or Ballet but there is also general dancing thrown in each lesson where they dance to well-known pop songs in a non-specif genre. They are also given a variety of props to experiment with whilst dancing such as Hula Hoops, ribbons or batons.

So all year, I have been waiting with excited anticipation. To be fair, the teacher did say that Anna could start the classes as early as 18 months due to her love of dancing. However, I resisted the temptation because, although Anna might love the dancing bit, her ability to follow instructions is still lacking at times!

Recently I had heard on the grapevine that Diddi Dance classes were over-subscribed and fully booked so I decided to phone the teacher to make sure we were put on a waiting list. Fortunately for us, she still had some places remaining in her Ellesmere Port class which we could join now (there were no guarantees that they would still be available in November) so I took the plunge and so, this week, saw Anna booked on her first dance class.

Now, considering that I have been waiting all year for this class, anticipating that Anna would adore it and even getting rather excited myself (Mum's are encouraged to dance with their little ones too. Yay!!), you would think that I couldn't be too nervous about the prospect of Anna in her first dance class.

I didn't sleep a wink on Wednesday night as nerves had got a hold, fearing what would happen in this dance class that Anna was attending at 10am the next morning. I allowed my mind to run away with me. Despite all the class members being 2 to 4 years old, I had this image in my head of all these toddlers performing a perfect sequence of movements in time to the music, using their ribbons and hula hoops (think 'Fame' but with much younger kids!!). Then this image of Anna popped into my head, doing completely her own thing and going in the completely opposite direction to the others, twirling around uncontrollably and shouting Ting Tings at the top of her voice until all the children, mum's and teacher all ended up in a heap on the floor with Anna still dancing as she pirouetted out the room!

Fortunately, the reality was much different.

While waiting for the class to start, Anna decided to do her warm-up exercises and started running round and round the dance floor, spinning, twirling and doing leap frog jumps. One of the mum's turned to me and said 'She won't have any energy left for the class at this rate'.
'I wouldn't bet on it' I replied .

I wasn't wrong. As soon as the teacher started the music, Anna became even more excited and immediately started copying everything that the teacher did (which was very dramatic and exaggerated as she used to dance in West End shows etc so is a bit of a diva herself!) . For the entire 45 mins (except for the 5 minutes when they had the parachute out, which Anna has a MASSIVE phobia of. She cannot even stay in the same room as the parachute at both Diddi Dance and Jo Jingles and screams, shakes, sobs and gets hysterical, much worse than the hoover phobia ever was!)

I think the dance teacher has met her match as Anna showed her diva traits too. By the end of the class, Anna was standing next to the teacher, attempting to show all of the children how to do it! Unfortunately, the dance teacher is not as patient as the Jo Jingles teacher (strict is one word to describe her!) so didn't appreciate Anna taking over so firmly lead her back to the dance floor to the other children. I suppose that is what happens when divas get together!!!

I had 3 different mum's comment to me on how much energy Anna had and how she never stops. One even said that I must be permanently worn out if she has this much energy all the time. One look at the bags under my eyes would have probably given her confirmation of that!

However, despite the teacher's lack of appreciation for Anna's unique dance moves, Anna continued to dance away and, even after the music had stopped and everyone had gone home, Anna was still dancing to her own tune, by singing herself!

Dipsy Day

Despite my best efforts, Anna has taken a liking to the Teletubbies. It all happened because the Teletubbies programme immediately follows 'In the Night Garden' and, one day while I was on the toilet (too much information possibly!!), it came on and Anna was transfixed. Anna thinks it is hilarious and giggles so much that she has to lie down because she is laughing so hard!

Being the mean Mummy that I am, it is still a programme that I dislike (I can't see the educational value to it and think it encourages poor speech!) so quickly turn the TV off after her 'Night Garden' fix. However, her favourite CD is the C Beebies one, which we listen to in the car and it does happen to have the Teletubbies tune on it so Anna knows all the words!

After listening to the song several million times and watching the programme twice, she now knows the name of each teletubby. I didn't think there was much harm in that until yesterday.

Just so that you have a clear image in your head for the purposes of this blog post... this is a picture of the teletubby called Dipsy.

Yesterday afternoon, Anna and I are walking through the park. It is 3.30pm so we are meeting lots and lots of people as all the high school and primary school children make their way home. Being the sociable and friendly girl that Anna is, she insists that we say hello to each and every one of them. You can just imagine how thrilled I was when I saw 4 teenage boys hurtling towards us on their bikes and Anna stands directly in their path and shouts 'stop' whilst holding her hand above her head as though she is a policewoman! Thankfully, the teenagers were brilliant and screeched to a halt before I had to dive in and rescue her. They even said hello to her and one even shook her hand (to which Anna just jumped up and down with glee!) before they rode on.

So we carry on sauntering along when I see a lady coming in the opposite direction. This lady is wearing a velour tracksuit. A lime green velour tracksuit. A lime green remarkably similar to a certain teletubby.

Anna starts waving at her enthusiastically and I am none the wiser, just thinking what a wonderfully polite girl I have! As the lady gets closer, Anna starts saying Hello to which the lady, very kindly, says 'hello' back. Anna then replies with 'Hello Dipsy'.

I think I could have got away with it if we had managed to walk away at that second but, after no response, Anna turns to me and says. 'Dipsy' as she points to the lady. It is then that I pretend to look puzzled, hoping that the lady would not think anything more about it. With hindsight, I think that was a mistake because Anna could see that I looked puzzled. Therefore, to help me and make things clearer for me, Anna says 'Dipsy teletubby'... while patting the lady's tummy (which was a similar size to mine. I.e: Not small!!)

At this point, my brain was screaming to the ground.. 'open up and swallow me NOW'.

Thankfully, I think the lady was so taken with Anna 'being cute' that she didn't actually understand the teletubby reference. I hope!

For the duration of our walk, Anna and I then had an in-depth discussion (with me doing the talking and Anna ignoring me!) about the differences between a teletubby and a real human being.

I knew those Teletubbies would be trouble!

Delilah

I am truly amazed at how fast Anna is developing at the moment. She is absorbing everything around her, even when you don't realise it.

She is copying everything! If she hears an 'interesting' word off the TV or radio, she will repeat it and this happens at least 50 times a day. Tonight's word was 'baboon', which she heard on the TV and then repeated over and over.

We also have to be extremely careful with what we say. The other night, whilst eating dinner, I was talking about a certain mother, who I shall call 'Jane' for the purpose of this blog! She attends Forest Tots with her son and has a tendency to show-off about her horses and stables (completely ignoring her son while he runs off towards the pond.) I was telling James about her when suddenly Anna started saying 'snobby Jane, snobby Jane'. Oops! I now have a vision of Anna going up to this lady and saying it to her face! I will be steering Anna away from her at the next Forest Tots.

The times when I am most reminded of Anna's ability to hear everything and use it, is when there is music about. For songs that capture her imagination, she will listen intently to the song and then start singing it back to you once it has finished. I am astonished at how well she can pick up the tune, let alone the lyrics. Of course, the Ting Tings are still her firm favourite. Their first 2 singles have been rather 'shouty' and sounding similar so I figured that was the attraction. However, their new single is quite a lot slower and more 'tuneful' and she still ran over to the radio and started grinning like a Cheshire cat, dancing around as though her bum was on fire and shouting 'Ting Tings' at the top of her voice. I didn't even know it was the Tings Tings until the song ended and the DJ told me so but Anna recognised it was the Ting Tings as soon as the song started and she had never heard it before!

However, the classic example of how Anna is picking things up and repeating them comes in the form of a Tom Jones impersonation.

Each night, while I cook the tea, we listen to Chris Evans. Friday night is especially good as Mr Evans has a request show where all the songs are very up-beat and cheesy for most of the time. As part of the Friday show, he plays Delilah each week, to which we are all meant to sing along at the top of our voices. I normally refrain (I need to concentrate while cooking the tea as I find it rather stressful to cook!!).

One recent Friday, we were sat at the dining table eating our dinner, after having switched the radio off several minutes before, when suddenly Anna starts singing 'Delilah'.

'Cry, cry, cry Delilah',
'Why, why, why Delilah'.
'So before you come to la la la la' (she forgot the words at this point)

She continued to sing while wrestling peas onto her fork and scooping up the last of her salmon fishcake!!!

We didn't even realise that she had been listening that closely to the radio!!! James and I just sat there looking at Anna, open-mouthed with our forks hanging in mid-air!

For the last 3 weeks, we have had Anna singing 'Delilah' at least 5 times a day. Thankfully, I also have witnesses as most people who have seen Anna in the last 3 weeks have also had the pleasure of being entertained by Anna singing 'Delilah'. Bizarrely, every time that her Grandma Lynn phones, Anna starts singing it immediately. I think Anna thinks her Grandma Lynn is called 'Delilah' or maybe Anna thinks that Grandad Flob is Tom Jones!

I have to admit that it does sound very very cute when she sings 'Delilah' and I am not the only one to say it! Everyone says it is very sweet and Grandma Lynn says Anna sounds like a little Pixie singing!

So not only do I have to be careful with what I say now but I also have to remember to be very careful with our music selections too! For example, on my mobile phone, I have a gorgeous sounding Kelly Jones (male lead singer of the Sterophonics) singing as my ring tone so it is only a matter of time before Anna starts singing the same song at the top of her voice. I'm just not sure that Anna singing 'You sexy thing' would impress the Forest Tots (even if Kelly Jones does sound gorgeous when he sings it!). I think I will be finding a new ring tone tomorrow!

Bug Hunt

Today, in Forest Tots, we went on a bug hunt. The idea was that we would go and find some bugs in the forest and then return to make bug hats, complete with googly eyes and antennae.

Unfortunately, it was a wet day but the rain held off just long enough to do our walk and get back to the lodge. So, all dressed up in our wellies and raincoats, we set off.

It wasn't long before the 10 children (all aged 2 and 3) were jumping in the puddles. They were not even little jumps, this was full-on getting wet. The control freak in me wanted to steer Anna away to look at blades of grass or something (You would never guess that my childhood was spent living in the countryside if you look at me trying to stay clean nowadays!!). However, the sensible, fun Mummy kicked in and I remembered that 'dirt is good' and so I let her go. Anna was having a fantastic time, jumping in the water and shouting 'splash' at the top of her voice. (From the 3 previous weeks of Forest Tots, I have learnt that putting Anna in anything other than her scruffy clothes is a really silly idea. Getting Muddy seems to be the main aim of this class!).

After a while, the forest Warden, Anita, found lots of logs and so all the children raced off to watch as Anita lifted up the logs to find bugs. It was lovely to see all the children literally holding their breath while the log was picked up, watching the anticipation in their faces as they expected to see hundreds of creepy crawlies. Unfortunately, every log seemed to have nothing underneath except some old moss and broken twigs. However, undeterred, the children marched off with Anita as leader, hoping that the next log would be home to the bugs.

Well, most children followed Anita. Anna was still having an amazing time shouting 'splash' and seeking out every single puddle that was in the forest.

After walking for a good 20 minutes, we came to the last log (or the last puddle in Anna's case) and Anita picked the log up. Suddenly, I heard lots of 'wow' and 'ooh' and 'arhhhhh' as a bug was eventually found. It was a big one too! Anita told everyone that it was a beetle that was called a 'cold back' (or something that sounded like that). All the children were still and quiet as they watched Anita point to it and describe it.

At this point, Anna looked up from the puddle and finally wondered what everyone was fascinated by so ran off to join them, with me racing behind her in a desperate attempt to catch her up.

Meanwhile, all the children are still crouched down, open mouthed, gazing at this beetle scratching in the mud. Then Anna comes hurtling across and... runs over it. One flat Beetle.

It has taken the entire walk through the forest to find this beetle and Anna manages to flatten it within 5 seconds. Thankfully, the children are oblivious and thinks the beetle has gone to sleep (due to lack of movement) and the other mothers are too busy talking about horse shows, stable management and where they got their sleek riding boots from (which they have worn to Forest Tots!!). Anita, the forest warden, takes it well too. 'These things happen' she muttered.

The rest of the morning was pretty uneventful in comparison. Anna made a ladybird hat (Making a Beetle hat would have been a painful memory every time that I look at it hanging in our kitchen!). Anna adored doing it, so much so that she didn't even look twice at her biscuit because she was so busy with paint! She managed to get red paint in her hair, up her nose and smeared across her T-shirt.

We must have looked quite a sight walking back to the car at the end of the class with me clutching a paper plate smeared in red and black paint, Anna's trousers soaking wet and extremely muddy and the top half of her body, including her face, covered in red paint.

Oh well, another fun morning had by all (except the beetle)!