Down on the Farm

Last week, we spent a week down in Hereford. Of course, Anna loved every second of it as it just meant her getting spoilt by her nanny and Grandad and various other members of the family.

It was a very busy week. We took her to the Royal Welsh Show, where she got to see flying motorbikes, lots and lots of farmyard animals looking their best (coats shampooed and brushed every hour) and lots of welsh people talking welsh!

We also had a walk in the forest. All was going well except when we got back to the car and there were some big boys playing football on the grass. Anna wanted to play so ran over and grabbed the football, just as one boy was about to take a penalty kick. Unfortunately, Anna didn't understand when they didn't want to play chase with her (I think she thought it was rugby!) so then lay down in the middle of the 'pitch' and had a tantrum! The boys were not amused but were kind enough to just stand and watch until Anna stood up, glared at them and then stomped off!

Anna also went shopping in Hereford town centre, which wasn't the most exciting adventure but was probably a highlight for Anna when considering that Nanny spent a fortune in the toy shop! She also spent lots of time at Goo-Goo's house (her great Nan) where she seems to have an uncanny ability to create absolute chaos and mayhem!

We attended my friend's wedding, where she wowed all the guests with her singing in church. We were lucky enough to be sat immediately in front of the choir who were extremely good and seemed to fill the whole church with their voices, which Anna was mesmerised by and fell in love with. Anna then promptly fell asleep while the organ recital was being played.

Anna also got to drive, not 1, but 2 cars. My parents have quite a long drive (when compared to our driveway anyway!!) so Anna was allowed to sit on Grandad and Uncle Phil's lap while holding the steering wheel and being shown how to change gear and indicate. She was worryingly good at it (although did drive on the lawn several times!!!) Unfortunately, her car seat now seems very boring and she is asking to sit in the drivers seat of my car ever since we got back home! Not a chance!

Having a new obsession with strawberries, we also planned to take Anna strawberry-picking but, unfortunately, ran out of time so she just had to make do with eating lots of Herefordshire strawberries instead!

However, I think the true highlight of the week was down on the farm where she got to see, stroke and feed the donkeys, pigs, guinea pigs, rabbits, kittens, cats, ducks, cows/calves, goats, sheep/lambs and chickens. She also got to see her mum milking Daisy who was a very patient and placid cow, thankfully! I would love to post the photographic evidence on the blog but sitting on a stool caressing a cows udder is not the most flattering of images! Anna had an amazing time talking to the animals (lots of moo's, baa's and 'hello's'). I think her favourite were the ducks who responded in loud chorus when Anna shouted 'Quack Quack' at them and they all shouted 'quack quack' back, which Anna thought was very polite of them!

The photograph is Nanny Mary milking Daisy, with Anna and her Daddy cheering her on (with Anna wondering what on earth her Nanny is doing with that poor cow!)

We also went on a tractor ride and I got an opportunity to show Anna the beautiful views of Herefordshire. I think the scenery was a little lost on her but her Mummy enjoyed it!!

Although meeting the animals was very special, I'm not sure that Anna would have said that was the best bit, if you were able to ask her. I think she just enjoyed the fact that she got to run around in huge fields and meadows with no obstacles or hazards and nobody telling her to slow down!

Within 10 minutes of arriving back at my parents house, both James and Anna were fast asleep. All that fresh countryside air must have got to them!! It wasn't even a short nap... they were both asleep for 3 hours!! They're such Townies!

This photograph was taken whilst on our tractor ride. If you look closely, you should be able to spot a church steeple (tucked behind a cream coloured house). The church is our local village church where James and I got married, 4 years ago today! What a great view!

Happy Talk

An echo has suddenly developed in our house. Anna is talking! For the majority of the time, she is getting her inspiration from everything that James and I say and she then repeats it back to us. Up until this week, I was keeping a list of everything that she was able to say but that list has flown out of the window as she is attempting to say everything and being successful most of the time! There is definitely no swearing in our house for the next 18 years!

I'm not even sure how it has happened. 2 weeks ago, she was saying approx 20 words and now, Anna is saying everything! We have been in Hereford this past week so it must be that Herefordian air and being surrounded by farmyard animals. Anna is now talking non-stop! It really is like we have an echo in the house. She is copying every word that we say with amazing accuracy. Scarily, she is also 'reading' whole books back to us. Obviously, she is not actually 'reading' but has memorised the book and can now say the words, word-for-word, on every page of her 'Where is Jessie?' book and 'Brown Bear, Brown Bear'! (Admittedly, they are not the most complicate of words but even so...).

Also, she says the last word of most lines form the 'Mercy' song, in time with Duffy and then proceeds to hum the tune in time to the music.

I have always had conversations with her but Anna has normally replied with something that I am obviously just too silly to understand. However, I now find myself having proper conversations with her and it feels very new and strange. E.G:

Anna: Look Mummy... sheep'.
Me: Well done Anna. What does a sheep say?
Anna: Baa.
Me: Good girl Anna.
Anna: Bye Bye Sheep (as she waves her hand).

We then go through every animal in the book/toy box/field/on the TC with the same conversation going over and over again. We also have the same conversation but with the 'In the Night Garden' characters (along with vocal impressions of the characters as she says their name. Her Makka Pakka voice is very good!) Having such conversations with Anna is almost like having a new child (albeit still the same gorgeous, beautiful and funny Anna that I have always known).

Last week, while staying in Hereford, every time that my mum (Nanny Mary) said Hello to James, Anna copied it and said 'Hello James' to her Daddy!

We get a lot of 'No' as well! E.G.

Would you like some milk Anna?
No
Would you like to eats something Anna?
No
Could you stop pouring water all over the carpet Anna?
NO!

Suddenly, Anna is a little girl!

The photograph was taken this weekend, just before attending my friend's wedding. Many thanks to Bethan and Dave for inviting us to such a wonderful day, Grandma Lynn for finding the beautiful dress and Nanny Mary for being so lovely that Anna even allowed her Nanny to brush Anna's hair for the occasion!

A Winter's Tale?

Just as I was starting to feel brave and get my hopes up that hospital trips may just be a winter hazard....

Another 3 days in hospital.

Exactly the same scenario as the previous 4 occasions. Exactly the same thing said by the doctor, exactly the same frightening emotions, boredom and frustration and exactly the same ever-so-helpful advice of 'There really isn't anything else you can do to prevent this from happening again'. However, I think, even the doctors are starting to sympathise with the frequency as one look on their faces when they read the notes tends to give it away. This was the 5th admission in 5 months.

Private consultants, constant questions, endless background reading and numerous specialists all say that this is just unlucky and something that we may have to endure.

Meanwhile, the parties planned for end-of term clubs, the week we had planned while James is off, the meet-up with friends all now look dubious as Anna may be too unwell to attend. This feels more than just unlucky... this feels very unfair and very difficult at the moment.

Club Chaos

The start of this week started off very well in playgroup but, unfortunately, it seems to have gone downhill at the rest of our clubs!

We began our week with Anna visiting a friend's house. I think it would be fair to say that I was slightly nervous about it, due to Anna's reaction to other little children in recent times, specifically when they have been playing with toys that she has an eye on (see previous post regarding playgroup). However, I am thrilled and relieved to report that Anna may have turned a corner!

When Anna was playing with her little friend, even if he was playing something that she wanted, she patiently watched until he had finished with it and then had her turn. Even when her little friend wanted something that Anna had found, Anna simply let him have it and went to find something else. The only slight issue was when her friend tried to take her red cube. For anyone that doesn't know, Anna's red cube is her most treasured object in the whole wide world. She takes it everywhere and, without her red cube, sleep would be non-existent. It is her security blanket and seeing someone else taking it away was a little too much. After playing so nicely, Anna's little friend looked slightly miffed at having this strange new object taken off him by Anna so his mum suggested that he go and find his teddy. Unfortunately, he couldn't see it but Anna was soon on the case and, without any prompting from me, had found the Teddy within seconds and had ran back to give it to him, to make him feel better. They finished the day by playing Kiss Chase! I think it would be fair to say that the game was a little one-sided though as Anna was doing all the chasing and her friend had a job on his hands to run away from a determined Anna! Once Anna had caught up with him, he was the recipient of some huge hugs and kisses.

Following the success at her play date, Playgroup saw Anna demonstrating her wonderful side yet again. She didn't snatch any toys and, if other children were playing with something that she would have liked, she either watched them or just walked away and came back to it later. Cue one very relieved Mummy! I have also decided that Anna is incredibly sociable. With the staff and other mum's being ignored for the majority of the time, Anna insists on going up to each and every mum, carer and staff member and waving and saying 'Hello' before giving them a huge smile.

After 2 great successes, I was feeling on a high for Anna's music class on Tuesday. As I have said before, Anna doesn't just sing in this class (like all of the other children do!). Anna goes for the whole experience and likes to dance too! Her current favourite trick is to spin around until she is dizzy and then go swaying until she falls over (in time to the music of course!). Unfortunately, Anna didn't feel as though enough people were watching at Tuesday's class so insisted on standing in front of the teacher and demonstrating, to make sure everyone was watching her. (I don't know where she gets this showing-off from... 'like Mother, like Daughter', I hear some of you mutter!!!). Anyway, not only did she upstage the teacher but she then felt an extra song was needed so, while the teacher was changing the CD's over, Anna decided to give her own rendition of the naughty monkey song. Everyone was instructed to listen (by Anna singing louder and louder until everyone was quiet) and then finished it off with a rousing applause... for herself. All of the other mum's then joined in and cheered and clapped her too. I then reminded them that their applauding her just encourages Anna's inner diva.

Now, some teachers could have become slightly annoyed with Anna for constantly doing her song and dance routine and interrupting the flow of the lesson. In fact, I was talking to some mum's in playgroup this week who were complaining that their babies' music teacher (they go to a different class to Anna) was not very good as she made any child sit down if they started jigging about. I then replied by saying how fantastic Anna's teacher is and how she actively encourages Anna to go to the front of the class and 'perform'. Anna's confidence is unbelievably high, thanks to her efforts and I am so fortunate that Anna has had such a wonderful experience, thanks to Sue. Therefore, imagine my horror, when Sue (Anna's music teacher) announced that she was stopping the class! I feel gutted about it! The silver lining is that a teacher from another area has decided to expand her business so will take over in this area. However, I am now panicking that they may not be quite so tolerant of Anna's diva-like enthusiasm. Anna adores her music class and it just won't be the same anymore!

I then think back to today's session at Tumble Tots and my heart sinks even lower. I had decided that Anna may benefit from going to Baby gym classes again. We did attempt to do this when she was 6 months old (in the 6 months - walking class) but Anna refused to roll, let alone crawl so we had to stop going. However, seeing as though Anna is now using the sofa as a trampoline and the dining table as a climbing frame (given half a chance and a seconds hesitation by me!), I thought she would enjoy using gym equipment. Oh dear!!! For the entire 45 minutes session, Anna refused to go on any of the equipment apart from crawling through a tunnel twice, where she insisted on going in the wrong direction so that the queue of children coming from the correct direction had to back up. For the rest of the time, she ran around the hall like something had just stung her on the bum, only to then start spinning around extremely quickly until she fell over. Just in case the staff couldn't see, she then went round every staff member (all wearing white T-shirts so easily identifiable to Anna) and spin wildly directly in front of them. There was just no controlling her! Every time I managed to catch up with her and try to pick her up, she shouted and went stiff-like. I tried putting her on top of the slide (which she adores when we go to the park) and she wouldn't bend her legs so that I could sit her down. I wouldn't have minded her running around for the entire 45 mins if it was open-space but this was a hall packed with 2 year olds so Anna had no choice but to bump into unsuspecting children. The equipment was completely lost on her. Thankfully, it was a trial session but, after Anna's reluctance to do anything which involved gym-based activities, I am very reluctant to pay £5 for Anna to just run around for 45 mins. She does that in the park or garden most days and it doesn't cost anything!

Our baby signing has stopped now as well, due to a change in the teacher's circumstances and swimming is still too risky at the moment, even taking her to normal lessons which don't dunk them underwater. Considering that I used to attend 5 clubs a week (one each day), Anna and I only attend 2 sessions now (Playgroup on Mondays and Music on a Tuesday) and Music club might have to end if the new teacher doesn't see Anna's enthusiasm in quite the same way as others see it!

I am now feeling very lost about all of our social gatherings. I fear that, without enough clubs to keep us busy and entertained, Anna and I will find ourselves making a lot of mischief!

Train Trips

Last weekend saw Anna taking her first ever trip by train. I was very excited!

We had decided to go to Liverpool. Being Capital of Culture, they have spent millions on transforming the city and we were curious to see how it had changed. It actually works out much cheaper for us to get the train and, as they leave Chester very 15 minutes, it would be just as quick too (we only live a 15 minute walk away from Chester station) .

I have a fondness for trains (Not as much as a train spotter, I hasten to add) as it is trains that I have to thank for my relationship with James. Every Saturday, after my shift at the local supermarket (I was at University at the time), I would travel 2 and a half hours to spend the weekend with him.

Most of the time, I actually found train travel really relaxing. It gave me 2 and a half hours where I could do very little except lose myself in a good book. However, that is no longer the case as I was hardly going to have time to read a timetable, let alone a few pages of a book, with Anna accompanying me on a train!!

Anna was oblivious to the fact that we were on a train until we had actually sat down and it had started to move. I think Anna immediately thought trains were much more preferable than cars. For a start, there were lots more people to talk to and watch and it was even better when they all started cooing and 'oohing' at her. Anna was also taken with the 'Clickity Clack' sound of the train as it sped along. She then started to point to all of the other trains out of the window and say 'Choo Choo' every 5 seconds. She had a beaming smile form ear to ear. She also thought it was hysterically funny every time that the announcer (automated voice) announced the next station stop. I have never heard anyone laugh quite so loudly at the name 'Birkenhead Central'.

I was a little worried about the tunnels as, when she was younger, she would always get a little upset when we drove through the Mersey tunnel (on the way to Grandad Flob and Grandma Lynn's house) but, on the train, the tunnels didn't faze her in the slightest and Anna thought it was all part of the adventure. Anna was very disappointed when it was time to get off.

After a long but great day in Liverpool, it was time to head back to the train. Unfortunately, Anna was so tired after seeing so many new sights and sounds, she fell asleep and completely missed the return leg of the journey. She even stayed asleep when the train pulled into the underground station with the train driver being a little too late in pulling on the brakes and making the train literally screech to a halt.

Despite missing the return journey, I think that Anna was rather taken with train travel. In previous playgroup sessions, she has completely ignored the 'Thomas the Tank engine' train set. This week, she took one look at it, smiled and said 'Choo Choo' before laughing and jumping up and down with excitement.

Care and Share

You may remember a while ago, on this blog, that I expressed concerns about Anna's inability to share her toys with other children and how I thought a toddler playgroup may help.

Well... Anna now attends toddler playgroup (with her Mummy tagging along to cramp her style!) and it appears that the 'sharing' issue is not getting any better.

Anna seems unable to share anything! If she sees a child playing with something that she wants, she will simply go up to that child and take it off them without any hesitation. I then proceed to give the toy back to the poor child in question and Anna simply takes it off them again. This then continues for the next 10 minutes until I have to pick Anna up, remove her from the scene of chaos which she has created, and then try to distract her with another toy. Unfortunately, the toy that I choose never seems as exciting as the toy that she attempted to snatch, so Anna then has a tantrum where she falls to the floor and shouts (If able to be translated, Anna would probably be saying 'Why do you always spoil my fun Mummy?') I have now learnt to ignore the tantrum but it doesn't seem to stop her trying to take another toy from a different child, only 5 minutes later. The only shimmer of silver lining is that she doesn't actually intentionally try and hurt another child while snatching their toy and if she does ever think that she hurt a child (which did happen once unfortunately), Anna does get extremely upset.

It is not even as though she is taking toys from children that are younger than her. Today, she had no hesitation in approaching a 4 year old boy in playgroup and taking his toy car off him. It didn't mater that he was twice her size! Last week, a little girl was sat in a red ride-on car and Anna tried pulling her off it (so she could have a go) by gently tugging on her T-shirt. The girl, however, was made of strong stuff and wouldn't move (good on her) so Anna decided to sit on top of her so that she could ride the car instead. I was absolutely mortified (so was the girl who Anna was sat on).

Anna is also quite possessive over her toys. We were staying in Hereford last week and Anna's little friend, Macy, came to play. (Macy is 14 months old). All morning, Anna had shown no interest in sitting in her little chair but, as soon as Macy sat down on it, Anna tried to take it off her so that she could sit down. Yet again, I tried to explain that it was nice to share and that there were lots of other toys to play with. All to no avail until Anna's Nanny came along and then Anna allowed Macy to sit in the chair!

Of course, in all of these situations, I hastily rush over, trying to console the poor victim, removing Anna from the situation while also trying to explain to Anna that it wasn't her toy to have and that she must share. I don't think I am helping matters though. James keeps reminding me that I am a teacher and used to deal with these types of situation on a daily basis (especially in my first school where sharing did not come naturally at all to some children as they never ever got to see it at home). I was even known to be strict by some children. Often, I would end up with unruly children who had been sent to the head for an afternoon (it didn't help that the year 2 classroom was next door to the head's office). My class of 5 year old's would think it was hilarious that other children thought I was strict. (After my class got used to me and knew the boundaries, they knew that as long as they followed the class rules, I was just a big softy who loved chocolate too much and giggled... a lot!!!) However, I am increasingly finding that being a teacher and being a mum are two very different skills altogether. I'm not sure other mum's realise that though. I can almost hear them thinking 'But she says that she was a teacher... what a rubbish teacher she must have been if she can't even tell off her daughter').

The really annoying part of all this is that we never see the uncaring side of Anna at home. In fact, it is the opposite. If she is eating something and I'm not, she will always break a bit of her biscuit/fruit off and offer me a piece. If ever Anna is playing with her toys and I start to talk about it, Anna will always try to give me the toy because she thinks that I want to play with it if I am talking about it! In music class, she will often make sure all of the other children have got an instrument before she picks one up herself. Likewise, I have also known Anna to go and give another child a hug if they are upset.

James and I are now role-playing situations at home so that Anna can see lots and lots and lots of examples of sharing and we are also more conscious of the fact that we shouldn't let Anna take something off us if she wants it immediately. (For example, if I am reading a leaflet, I used to let Anna take it off me to look at but I now say 'Anna, Mummy is reading it and you can have a look when I finish', even if I have finished reading it already). I am also starting to think that putting Anna in nursery one day a week may help. In nursery, she will have no choice but to share and, if she didn't, there would be someone who isn't her boring old mum, telling her that it was wrong. It would also mean that I could go to work one day a week (Maybe that would be a good thing for both me and Anna although I am petrified at the prospect of it). I am still undecided about it but it is certainly something I am thinking about.

Maybe all children go through this? I was certainly given more to think about this afternoon whilst shopping in Sainsburys'. I was picking some bananas from the basket and, to make Anna laugh, was singing 'Bananas in Pyjamas' and making the bananas do a silly dance at the same time. Anna was giggling and clapping her hands and we were having a great time. I then turned around to pick up some strawberries when suddenly this little boy (about 7 years old) walked past Anna, stopped and said 'I hate you' to Anna and stuck his tongue out at her. Poor Anna just looked at him and started sucking her thumb (thankfully I'm not sure she understood him or what poking your tongue out meant). I think it is the first time that anyone has ever intentionally been horrible to my little girl. I felt even worse than if someone (adult or child) had said that to me and I immediately wanted to pick Anna up and give her a huge hug and tell how beautiful and wonderful she was (even if she hadn't understood the nasty comments). My teacher instincts then told me to ask him why he had just been nasty to my little girl, who had done nothing wrong to him. I suppose I just wanted to defend my little girl. However, before I got a chance to say anything, his mother, who was stood at the end of the fruit aisle, said 'For goodness sake Harry, hurry up or you will be late for your tennis lesson'.

If, aged 7 years old, Anna is still being a little too keen to assert herself, maybe then I should worry. For now, maybe it is all part of learning.

Who's Who

Going upstairs and downstairs in our house is taking a very long time at the moment! It is not because Anna takes ages to climb the stairs. In fact, nowadays, she is climbing the stairs as though she is in a race (in which she wins). However, going up stairs is taking so long as Anna insists on playing the 'Who's Who' game at the peak!

We have a framed photo at the top of our stairs, basically showing pictures of close family members. Ever since Anna was born, I have shown her different faces and told them their name. I thought she was getting bored of it recently so we did stop for a while but Anna is now insistent (by making a loud whinging noise if we walk past it without stopping) that we have to stop and play.

The Who's Who' game involves me saying a name and then Anna pointing to the correct person. When she gets it right (points to the person whose name that I have just said), I then give a big 'Woo Hoo', which Anna thinks is very funny! As time has gone by, Anna has become increasingly good at this game so I am shouting 'Woo Hoo' a lot. In fact, she can point to Uncle Phil, Uncle Steve, Uncle Matthew, Auntie Sally, Uncle John, Nanny, Grandad and Grandad Flob every time. She is also practising her names and can say 'Steve' very very well. Uncle John is a very good attempt too but always sounds like 'Ug Jo.' I happened to mention this to John who thought it was so cool that he now has it as his profile status on Facebook. He has only got himself to blame when Anna is 20 years old and still calling him 'Ug Jo'.

To all those family members who have not been mentioned in this post, it doesn't mean that we haven't got photos of you hanging up or that Anna can't identify you from a line-up!! It just means that the photos are too high up the wall for Anna to reach. Therefore, I am currently on a mission to swap the photo's around so Anna can see you and you can be included in the 'Who's Who' game.

Rather worryingly, there is one person in the 'Who's Who' game that Anna gets wrong every time. When I say 'Point to Mummy', Anna points to everyone else except me! Admittedly, in the photo, I am in a wedding dress and my hair is actually looking tidy and in a controlled state, which is different from normal. In the photo, I also don't have Anna's food splattered all down my front or playdough stuck to my elbow! So that is why she can't recognise me... oh dear.