So I’ve had a bit of an unintended break from blogging in recent weeks. In my last post but one I was counting down to Christmas, looking forward to all the festive fun ahead. Well we’ve had plenty of that and life was generally incredibly busy – hence the lack of writing action – and now we’re looking ahead again to an exciting new year.
But before I commit a few resolutions to this page, some quick reflections on the last few weeks…
Climbing the mountains of toddlerdom
Little Miss is coming on in leaps and bounds and seems more a little girl by the day. Her proudest recent achievement has been perfecting the art of climbing up onto the sofa. She is quite petite so this is one obstacle that’s eluded her for a long time and she is so pleased with herself. So while her new-found skill does bring with it some extra issues for us (she can now reach the landline phone and the light dimmer switch, not to mention the perils of falling off as she discovered this morning!), we can’t help but share in her excitement at discovering she can do something new.
Sticking with climbing, Little Miss Initiative has also realised she can get up onto our bed by pulling out a storage box and using it as a step. Again, despite needing eyes in the back of my head, I can’t help but feel proud at how she worked this out all by herself.
Her speech has also come on a lot. New words are learnt every day and she’s now quite the mimic. She’s also increasingly stringing words together. We woke up on Christmas Eve morning, after the big storm, to hear her rather appropriately singing ‘row, row, row your boat’ in her cot!
Opening ‘winows’
Little Miss quickly got the hang of her Advent calendar and every morning at breakfast asked to open a ‘winow’ and see a new picture. It was so cute and I miss it now!
Lights!
The decorations were a big hit from the start and I always think the lights drag the house out of the wintery gloom when it’s so dark outside. I don’t really want to take them down! Little Miss heralded the daily switch-on with excited squeals of ‘lights, lights’! She was also pretty good with the tree and while baubles were occasionally removed nothing was actually broken.
Christmas gifts from nursery
We had the joy of receiving our first toddler-made Christmas card and a calendar from nursery, complete with some lovely photos of Little Miss enjoying making them and generally playing. It was lovely to see her looking so happy in the pictures and great to see that she has a good time when she’s there.
Visiting Santa and lots of lovely presents
We weren’t sure what Little Miss would make of Father Christmas but we took a punt and visited him anyway at our local Hillier’s Garden Centre. As it turned out she was fine, thanks to the skill and patience of this particular Santa. We all sat in his little wooden Christmas Chalet – me, the husband, nanny and granddad – and he took time to talk to her and read a story. It was lovely and Little Miss was quietly inquisitive but certainly not spooked as we’d feared she might be. It was a magical moment and one I know her grandparents were thrilled to share. And she loves the little cuddly puppy toy she received as her gift.
And the presents continued… she quickly got the hang of tearing off paper on Christmas Day and was especially thrilled with her main presents – a play kitchen, a little table and chairs set and a new ‘baby’ (doll). She had some lovely gifts. And it’s great being a parent as you can be a big kid all over again and play with all the new toys!
Watching The Snowman
This was as much for me to relive my childhood as it was about introducing it to Little Miss. It’s been years since I watched it and I’m sure I didn’t used to find it quite as emotional as I did this year – maybe that’s the mothering hormones kicking in again! Also enjoyed watching The Snowman and the Snow Dog for the first time, but I’m a child of the ‘80s and my loyalties lay firmly with the original and that epic soundtrack *lump returns to throat*.
Food glorious food
In terms of turkey, Little Miss seemed to favour it being smothered in cranberry sauce before it passed her little lips but she absolutely adored the mince pies and Christmas pudding! One of my favourite festive photos is of her happily tucking into her bowl of pudding and custard.
And finally a book recommendation
We love books and our all-round family favourite for the festive season was the highly amusing I’m Not Santa, featuring Baby Owl. This is one the adults enjoyed just as much as Little Miss. You can read a bigger review here.
So that was Christmas for us. Next post will be those resolutions!
Photo credit: luigi diamanti/FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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