It’s been sunny so we’ve actually been out for a bit!

I decided I wanted to try my bike without stabilisers so Dad suggested I take one off and see how I got on. I got on very well and didn’t fall off but I did have to go a bit slower. After a while I decided I’d like it back on again so I could get back up to speed.
I sat and watched them ride up and down the close in my buggy. Hmm, not the most exciting afternoon I’ve ever had.
It hasn’t all been excitement this week though:

Me and the cat have been having a lot of tender moments lately but I wish she wouldn’t try and sit on my lap, why would she want to do that?
I love the cat too, she’s a great distraction when I’m supposed to be drinking my milk. On the subject of food and drink I’m well over my bout of illness and eating like a pig (whatever that means). I’m loving everything they give me except for something they called spaghetti, I thought it was string! I thought they were supposed to stop me from choking not encourage it. I expect they think it’s okay because I’ve just acquired my first tooth at the top. I’ve also started saying Mu-Mu which Mum has decided is my attempt at saying Mummy. I’ll let her think that if she wants, it seems to make her happy.
While we’re on the subject of feeding us dodgy foodstuffs, I had to have my coco pops with a strawberry yoghurt on them this morning as we didn’t have any milk. Mums pretty inventive with food, maybe she should go on Masterchef?
Mum and I are still talking about kings and queens and history in general, we talked about Oliver Cromwell and Mum said he was dead. I was instantly concerned that he would be up in heaven with Nanny, roughing her up and wasn’t happy. Mum assured me that this would not be the case….
So at the weekend we went to the seaside in the sunshine. Alan sat in the seat in the boot and played computer games all the way there, what a geek!
I got a taste of things to come when I was hastily fed a weetabix in the back of the car:

Andy got all his gear on and headed off into the sea for a surf, the rest of us took our positions on the pier to watch:


Alan and I kept an eye out for him, but they all looked the same from up here.

I decided to do my best catalogue pose for a photo.
We soon got bored on the pier and headed down onto the sand to do some paddling. There was no stopping me, shoes and socks off, trousers rolled up and in! It was freezing and before long my feet were purple with cold.

I managed to coax Mum in for a paddle to, but it was very short lived and she ran off up the beach squealing….
Once everyone was dry and dressed we had some lunch and then went to the aquarium:

We watched the sharks have their dinner….

Then we went under the main tank in a tunnel to see the fishes from underneath. I loved trying to tickle the sting ray’s bellies with a little help from Dad.
Then it was on to the arcade:

I had a ride in Lightning McQueen…great! Then Mum and I came last playing on the racing game…very bad, very bad indeed!
Sunday was Hugo’s party, now as you all know, I wasn’t that bothered about this one at all……

First off was 30 minutes of unlicensed, anything goes cage fighting, at one point Hugo and I were the only ones on the castle as all the other kids were casualties, crying and having a cuddle with their mum’s. We all made up again though and had an hour on the soft playground set up which was brilliant fun before having something to eat with the grown ups being sent away until we were finished:

It was brilliant fun and probably the best party I’ve ever been to.

Well it’s it all sicknotes and gross stuff this week I’m afraid.
I’ve been to the doctors with my itchy skin and got some new cream, which has worked wonders and I’m now well on the mend. Dad’s been really getting on my case about scratching, it’s soooo itchy I can’t help it though. I know he’s trying to help and all but I didn’t want Mum to tell him I’d had a particularly good scratch one afternoon last week. But guess what? He does it too! Mum and I were sat reading a book (the Kings and Queens one still) when he walks into the front room and starts rubbing his back against the wall, caught red handed! Mum and I made a right song and dance about it too, ha ha. We agreed a truce afterwards and things have been much better since. When I do have a little itch he just gives me a hard stare and I stop…..turn around and just do a little bit more to finish the job off.
And I’ve been puking and pooing, along with a bout of conjunctivitis and another snotty cold. Pretty much a full house there I reckon. Still, I’ve still had plenty of smiles to dish out for anyone brave enough to come close and for those poor unfortunate suckers who’ve been wearing some rather unsavoury sick patches on their clothes and cleaning me up. We’ve still managed to get out and about a bit over the weekend though.
Yeah, Saturday was Fantasy World:

Here I am, right at the top.
I had a great time watching all the kids running about and shouting at each other from my buggy. It looked great fun and I can’t wait to get stuck in sometime soon.
Just as we were leaving my friend Jacob from nursery arrived:

We were both really excited to see each other and disappeared off together for a really good play, that delayed lunch a bit….
…I wasn’t hungry, I forgive you.
We went home, watched some horse racing and then watched ‘People Bumping Their Heads’ (or you’ve been framed as the grown ups keep calling it).
Sunday Mum said it was going to be dry, so we went up to Donnington castle for a walk and a bit of fresh air:

She was fibbing, it was still raining. Never the less we made the most of it, it was nice to be outside:

We knocked at the castle door, but nobody was home…

Mum told me some great stories about Kings, wars, people with round heads and people getting their heads chopped off, I loved it!

Dad reckons this little room was always full of waist deep mud when he was little:

I got dragged along for the ride but the fresh air must have done me good and I soon fell asleep:

We walked out the back of the castle through a farm where we visited a very friendly horse (even though we didn’t have a carrot or any Polo’s for him).

I was even brave enough to pat this one on the nose:

We carried on walking past the golf course (Dad says I’m not to go too near these, they’re bad places) and ended up on the bridge over the fast road:

I love the fast road, but it seemed much faster on the bridge than it does in the car!
Nick, Carol and Abi were brave enough to enter the house later on for a visit. Poor old Abi already had the mucky eyes anyway….
….and I got to show her my smart remote controlled wooden train that Santa bought me. They also brought me some batteries that Santa had forgot to put in my walkie talkies. They’re great, you can talk to people when they’re upstairs and I even spoke to Dad when he was out in the garage. I’m sure they’re going to prove to be lots of fun and a valuable asset.
So then it was Monday, but due to my continued spewing Mum stayed home and neither of us went to nursery. I was really good for Mum and she thought I was over it. Once Dad came home and took over though I was sick all over his work clothes and Ned while we were having a book. Once they had both got changed I decided to have another good go, but could only manage to get it on Dad second time around. I have been very good though, going to bed nicely and not doing any crying or anything but I’ve had enough of it now really. I expect I’ve also lost all the weight I’d managed to pile on over recent weeks too, that’ll be another telling off next time we go to the health visitor I expect. So then, that’s about all this week and there won’t be a close up of me this week as I look a pretty sorry state…..

So it’s been raining then? Rubbish. Makes Dad tetchy as well, especially when he’s trying to load the pair of us into the car during a downpour and I start messing about…
I’d just been weighed and had put on over a pound. How about that then? My new hearty appetite is certainly paying dividends.
When we finally got home, soggy and miserable Dad must have felt guilty for shouting so we made a robot out of the old boxes and what have you we’ve been saving up:

We were really pleased with it, except after I had added a few embellishments he wouldn’t actually stand up anymore.
The upshot of all this wet weather is that I got to see my first proper rainbow n the way home from nursery, a real bright one right across the sky.
I wasn’t fussed about it, I just made my new favourite noise…..growling!!! I growl all the time and really love it. Everyone else must too as they growl back with a smile.
Friday night was cards night, Abi came over for a bit and then went to bed in her travel cot upstairs with Ellis and myself.

We were all very good though and let the grown ups play nicely. Mum put in a strong performance for second after a long absence from the game so well done to her. I’ll look forward to helping her spend her prize money. I’m sure Abi will help her Dad spend his winners money?
Saturday morning and I had been promised a trip to go bowling, trouble was that I was a right miserable monkey (probably tired). We tried to leave once but I was so naughty we all got marched back into the house and I got sent to bed. After we’d all cooled down we tried again….this time more successfully. I wasn’t that bothered about the bowling this time to be honest, even though I got a strike and a couple of spares. It was a rare occasion indeed though as Dad actually beat Mum. He was pretty pleased with himself I think.

I preferred the air hockey, I scored loads of goals…albeit at the wrong end of the table.

We had a family drive as well….

I loved it at the bowling alley, there was noise, movement, light and colour everywhere. I can’t wait to have a go myself.
In the afternoon we took Mum shopping for some new work clothes. I was pretty good for a while (if you count licking the mirrors in the fitting rooms as being good) but eventually I ended up back in the doghouse and we had a very brisk walk back to the car, which ‘made my bones hurt’ it was so fast. Oh dear.
I tell you what, he’s been a right miserable little git lately, my brother. I’ve cried more because of him crying and shouting than I ever have because I’m upset.

Yeah, but you still like me the best!!!
Grandad and Anne came round for dinner on Sunday. They bought me a new baby bouncer, pictures next week I promise when I get a bit more used to it. I’m pretty sure I’m going to love it though, I’m starting to get a bit bored of the floor!
We took them out for a walk after lunch, first off to see the horses:

And then on to the park up the hill, I had a great game with Grandad on the swings when he pinched my wellies and tried to put them back on as I swung back and forth. We didn’t stay long though as it was really windy and freezing cold.
So then, this weeks round up….I’ve not worn the same outfit twice since Christmas (I’m like my cousin Laura), I still have only two teeth and I’m still enjoying nursery. They always tell Mum and Dad I’ve been really smiley but I’m pretty tired out in the afternoons and have started going to bed a bit earlier now as well.

I’m learning all about caterpillars at nursery, how they turn into butterflies and the like, all very interesting. My favourite book at the moment is one of mums that’s all about the old kings and queens and best of all the Vikings! I make Mum read me loads of it and I listen intently to every word, even when she thinks I’ve fallen asleep and not listening anymore…..

This weeks big news is that I’m really eating. Bread and butter was pretty much the break through and now there’s no stopping me. I love veg the best but don’t really like fruit and as for that peach yoghurt they tried to feed me…..wel I think my face said it all. My favourite so far has been roast dinners (three bowlfuls in one sitting!).
I’ve also just about mastered the art of waving a little bit when the mood takes me.
And I’ve been getting really creative. My colouring in has become really tidy of late and pretty much everyday when Dad comes to pick me up from nursery I’m sat with the girls quietly colouring in while all the other boys are running riot. The ladies love a sensitive creative sort I reckon….
I’ve also really missed Mum, I don’t like to mention it to her as I know she gets a little upset but every time Dad tells me off in the afternoons I want my Mummy. Still, it’s not all bad that she’s back to work because we got to visit the pasty shop with her at lunchtime last week.
Auntie Christine came to look after us last Friday night, we played Christmas dominoes and she had a hard time completing my Lightning McQueen jigsaw. Laura came over for a bit too which was lovely. And I missed it all because I had an early night, all the smiling at nursery is making me tired, here we are on a typical afternoon:

Owen came round and played some Wii:

I’m still wearing all my fancy new Christmas clothes:

And I’ve got round to playing with some of the more time consuming presents I had for Christmas like my glittery sand pictures:





They look brilliant, even if I do say so myself. Dad even did one with me on his own this afternoon which was pretty brave of him.
We went swimming on Saturday morning, brilliant! I swam all the way across one of the Jacuzzi pools all on my own, Mum was very pleased with me.
And I had a great time splashing about in the water with everybody, I really love the pool.
Then Mum and I made our last batch of Christmas biscuits while Dad took the tree down and chucked it out into the garden. So that’s Christmas done and dusted then. Still, never mind, I was talking to Mum about ice-creams on the beach today….
Sunday we went to feed the ducks and swans at the park:


Mum and I decided that Red jackets are this seasons hot fashion must have:

And then some real excitement…..we went to the car wash!

It was really funny, the car got squirted and then cleaned by these big bristley things. It looked really shiny and nice afterwards and Dad wasn’t even wet like he usually is when I help him with the hose pipe.
Okey then, here’s my photography selection of the week:

Here’s my first piece this week, the vents of one of the large chiller cabinets in Marks and Spencer.
The second one this week is a close up of some chocolate:

And this week’s third instalment is probably my best picture to date of one of the swans we fed:

That’s all for this week:

Did you miss us then? I bet you did, but surely you’ve all had better things to do than be on the internet over Christmas?
Okay then, going way back to the Wednesday before Christmas I accompanied Mum to have her hair cut, how very lady like.
I went to nursery and then made Dad come out and play bikes with me:

I was way too fast for him and made Mum and Ellis freeze on the doorstep watching us. A bit later on in the afternoon we headed over to see Yanna and Fen. We were joined by Nick, Carol, Abi and Andy as well. Melissa sorted us kids out some proper dinner while all the grown ups had to make do with takeaway curry…yuck!!! I love playing with all their toys, and this time I especially liked the dressing up stuff:

We even had special early Christmas presents, I was rather late to bed…..
…and on Thursday morning I got given the choice of nursery or Tesco’s. Rather surprisingly I chose Tesco and helped Mum get all the good stuff in to help tide us over for Christmas.
I had a weigh in with the health visitor in the afternoon and I’m piling it now!
While we were in town I decided I wanted a haircut too, well Auntie Christine wasn’t at work so it was the next easiest way of getting a lollipop. I was really good during my trim though and looked pretty cool afterwards. After tea we dropped Dad off at the pub for his Christmas party which I found intriguing, a party without me!!!
Yeah, and he wasn’t looking too clever on Friday morning! We all walked to nursery with Ned and I in our double buggy to help Dad clear his head (he had a day off work, probably just as well). It was freezing on the way home after we had dropped Ned off but Mum did her best to keep me warm. I’m not so sure about this winter lark. A bit later on in the morning I got taken to nursery for my trial run. Mum and Dad dropped me off with Jess and off they went for a couple of hours. I didn’t mind though, I had a great time.
Yeah, and I made sure everyone in my room knew that my sister was at nursery and I paid her a visit to check up on her.
In the afternoon it was back to nursery once again for our fancy dress carol concert:

We’d put in lots of hard work and performed almost faultlessly for all the parents who had turned up to watch. We even had mince pies and drinks before nursery finished for Christmas.
We went off to the park on Saturday in the double buggy, I love the double buggy! It’s ace, I get to chat to Mum non stop while she pushes, antagonise Ellis and have a kip if I feel like it too. When we got home Slim and Tracey came round to see us:

I reckon I got pretty close to actually having a cuddle with uncle Slim too, never mind, maybe next time……
Sunday we did some Christmas baking…chocolate chip cookies to be precise. They were lovely but unfortunately I had to share them with all the usual suspects who turned up in the evening for board games.
I got have a cuddle with Ben and Kimi:

……while I made a series of apparently hilarious suggestions during a game called outburst.
So then, Christmas eve. Last day of the advent calendar, last day of the fairy visits, last day of waiting for the big man in red to come. We tracked Santa’s progress around the world using on the computer from first thing in the morning it was really exciting.
Then we had a bath to make sure we were all clean and shiny for Santa:

We went off to the big park, it was freezing again, so I got nicely wrapped up:

And I opened my shop for the last time in 2007. Stock was, as usual pretty thin on the ground to say the least:

Once we got home we had to make a few final preparations, firstly the Santa Stop sign was placed outside, his special key left in it's hiding place (we don’t have a chimney) and some provisions were laid out:

We decided that Santa would probably like Ribena instead of booze, even though Dad took some convincing. We also left him a home made chocolate chip cookie and a carrot for Rudolph. I also had a last minute wobble and decided that I would prefer it if Santa didn’t come into my room to fill my stocking.
I had no idea what on earth was going on……
We saw santa getting closer to us on the computer and decided it would be best to get off to bed before it was too late.
Ned got us up nice and early at about 6 am on Christmas day. First off we had our stockings on Mum and Dad’s bed. They were stuffed absolutely full and he was very excited about it. The presents were okay I suppose but I loved the paper most of all. It’s great on so many levels. It looks nice, it sounds nice and it even tastes nice!
We then moved downstairs, here I am getting a cuddle under the tree.

I was in charge of present retrieval from under the tree:

Mum and Dad had some dull old tat, Ellis and I had some great stuff….

It was even raining so I could try out my new Lightning Mcqueen umbrella:

We had some breakfast, did some playing, had a visit from uncle Den who got the full inventory run down of what we’d had so far and then headed out to pick up Grandma before going on to Alan’s for lunch with Grandad and Anne too! Alan had done us all proud in the kitchen.

Except me, here I am tucking into my new favourite foodstuff, bread and butter, so exciting I fell asleep:

After lunch it was more presents….I got the most!!!!

Although I was soon asleep again….
After a lovely dinner and lovely presents the whistle stop tour continued and took us to Auntie Chistines.

More presents, more cuddles and more nice things to eat. A special mention must go to Auntie Trish and Uncle Al here. I unwrapped a big present that was a special Lighning Mcqueen box, that had even more wrapped presents inside, it was so exciting.
I even managed to stay awake for a bit as well:

Presents? Lets just say I’ll be the best dressed girl in the world this year.
So that was Christmas day then, we were all tired out and went straight to sleep as soon as we got into the car to go home….except Mum who was driving!!!
We went to visit Grandad and Anne on boxing day and used the new Sat Nav that Mum had for Christmas. It’s great, it draws little pictures and tells Dad where to go….I love to copy it and shout ‘Left’ and ‘Right’ at him (I now know my left from my right as a result). We watched film about Rudolph and I had my own personal lunch (thanks Anne). I even had the end piece of the yule log, which is usually reserved for Mum.
I sat about in my posh frock looking lovely:

And then I decided to try and pull Grandad’s nose off:

So then, the day after Boxing Day doesn’t have a name of it’s own? How disappointing…we stayed in and played with our new stuff:

I shared my things very nicely with Ned…..he wasn’t quite so giving.
We had a quick dash to the shop for some food, and I chanced my arm by asking for toys and chocolate…even though we had a houseful. Needless to say I got nothing and had to make do with a nice mug of hot chocolate:

Friday we went fancy dress shoppng for New years eve, Ned carried my lunch and milk for me in his new backpack/cool bag thing which I thought was rather decent of him.
We went to Nick and Carol’s for tea with Andy, Alan, Rach, Ben and Kimi. They were having a nice grown up 75 course meal that I decided to liven up a little bit when I returned from the toilet with my trousers and pants around my ankles!
Saturday was a lazy old day again, with a visit from Auntie Christine and Uncle Ian. I can’t believe they had waited soooo long to come and and see all of our toys, you can come round whenever you like you know!
Sunday was time for a trip out, to the Zoo!

I had a lovely al-fresco feed.

I went on the massive slide!
We looked at animals:

The Gibbons were really good, but my favourite were some small birds with brightly coloured heads. For some reason they really made me laugh…..
My favourite was the little train that we had two goes on, although the Meerkats were really good too:

But the most savage of creatures was this, horrible, scary looking beast:

I spent a large part of the day in my new role of official photographer with my new digital camera. Here’s one of some leggy bird:

And here’s one of some rather shorter legged birds:

New years eve was a pretty slow day, I was itching to get to the party at Rich and Kaz’s. To pass a bit of time Dad and I went for a bike ride up the woods and got really muddy. He can clean my bike now.
Finally it was party time, we got dressed up in silly outfits (Bob the builder for me, Woody and Jessie for Mum and Dad:

And a baby-grow for me, what a party pooper!
What a party animal I was, biting balloons and making them pop making everyone laugh and setting a new world record for the most party poppers let off in 10 minutes.

I was a Jedi!

I was part of the most hilarious double act in the history of bingo!

I nearly caused a fight with a ladies handbag just like Dad did many years ago.

And then I crashed and burnt. To be fair it was 2am though.
New years Day we went out for lunch with Alan. He was amazed at just how long I can take to eat such a little amount of food…..
We came home and played some games on the Wii in the afternoon before having a nice early night….
…Because today it was back to nursery and Mum went back to work, which meant that it was Ellis’ first full day at nursery too. We went in the double buggy and it was still dark when we left. We’ve got quite used to getting up late over Christmas so it was quite a shock to the system.
I had a great time, didn’t cry, ate my dinner (although not I decided against my milk), had a nice kip and gave Ned and Dad a big old smile when they came to pick me up at lunch time, even if they did get me woken up. I don’t think Mum had such a good morning, apparently she had 2500 emails, whatever they are?
So now it’s thank you time…
Thanks to everyone who got us such lovely presents, both Ned and I were really pleased with them (and I know Mum and Dad were too, although they have said that they would appreciate help funding a storage unit or maybe an extension). Also thanks to everyone who’s fed us, cuddled us or just spent time with us over the last couple of weeks or so, we’re really lucky to have so many lovely friends and relatives.
Last of all I’d like to give a big thank you to Mum, who’s looked after me so well for my first seven months now that she’s gone back to work. X
No close up this week, but here’s a picture I took of Ellis with my own camera: