More everyday stuff...

Playful days and quiet games...Story time and yoga, home made clothes, cuddles and tummy play...
Oh and toddler-made sushi!

And no matter if we get rain or sunshine, the garden calls to us. Especially if the sun shines though, I admit.

I love the postman!

Which would, of course, be funnier if our postman wasn't a postlady... Especially given the recent oh-so-amusing speculation by friends and family about the curiously red-headed four month old baby in the house...

Anyhow. Parcels! A second hand book I've been looking forward to reading for ages from Amazon, and a bundle of outgrown clothes from the wonderful Amber! Thankyou so much. I was especially touched to find the treasured handmade dress Ingrid wore for her first birthday... What a precious gift.

Through their eyes

Do you ever wish you could see things as your children do? I do, all the time. They have such beautiful and unique perspectives. They come out with some mad statements. And sometimes negotiating with them requires mind-reading skills I'm just not up to.

A few days ago I was busying myself with jobs upstairs first thing in the morning. When I came down to see what they had been up to without me I found them photographing their world. So I am delighted to share my living room, through the eyes of two little monkeys with a camera. Considered removing some of these due to the embarrasment of my messy house, but decided to let you see us as we are instead...

Book Sharing Monday: Hello Baby

I know so many people know this book, but it IS one of our favorites.This image here has really stuck with me... Brings a tear to my eye every time.

In the kitchen

Today we've done some baking, played with the button box, done some sewing again, and generally been around the house. We've been out far more than we expected this week, so it's good to catch up around the house and take things a bit slower.

Yesterday was especially exciting because we saw my cousins and introduced them to Rowan - they broke off contact with us when I married Martin, and although things are better with my family now we still see mum's sisters very infrequently. It's hard to go back to normal... Forgiveness is easier when the other party realises that there was hurt... I don't really want to dwell on that though, it was so good to see them and be NORMAL with them. Though my uncle persists in telling me that the baby will be clingy if I hold her so much - and then a moment later tells me how contented and confident she is LOL.

To make up for the (tasty but less healthy) quiches we've made for tea (and apple pie for desert!) we had a big raw lunch. Jenna came in to see what I was up to, with Morgan on a chair chopping cucumber next to me. She saw the chopping board and said with delight, "OOOH yummy, a load of vegetables!" I can't believe she is actually eating this stuff, after so many picky phases and worrying whether she was eating enough full stop. Now I have a little fruit-and-veg addict. The key to dealing with the eating issues with Jenna was mostly just telling myself that the issue was ME and not saying anything.

Meanwhile my collection of nice teas seems to have been reproducing while I wasn't paying attention, because my cupboards are full of interesting fruit and herbal type boxes, which Martin pulls faces at. Must not buy more tea until I've used up these ones!

This week...

The girls have been to the zoo, and swimming twice. My tiny stayed in the water for an hour again. We have been to a play area and, well, mostly played in the mud.I even had a little bit of time alone with Morgan. :)Rowan has been, well, herself. Nursing and sweet chattering (she has babbled ALL the time since she was born!) oh and she sat unaided for the first time. This was not that time. ;)I have had new books!And spent a quiet afternoon with only the sleepy Rowan.And on tuesday evening we went to the folk and acoustic club I used to sing at, and I did a set with a baby in a sling. Jenna came up to do a song with me too, her brave clear sweet four year old voice ringing out as she proudly sat at a microphone. I secretly hadn't thought she'd go through with it.

Every day they surprise and amaze me in so many small ways

Feeling belligerent...

If anyone is asked to stop feeding their baby in public, it really probably won't be me. A few times lately, someone has looked like they are about to say something and then walked off very quickly looking worried. I must be sending out very strong don't-mess-with-mama waves.

The truth of it is, I'm concious when I nurse in public that much of the current mood is pretty anti breastfeeding mothers. There is an image of these pushy wierdos who WANT to nurse in public as much as possible, who enjoy the attention and want to be in everyone's faces... Unfortunately my natural response to having that idea overlaid onto my motives is that my motives change. I now sit there thinking, "Go on, challenge me, I DARE you..."

Not that I nurse the baby more often than I would usually. Or seek out somewhere MORE visible to do it. But the moment I unselfconciously go to feed her, awareness strikes. It wasn't always like this. Now, however, I am itching for a fight. Go on, challenge me. Let's test out this crappy legal protection, let's see how it works out with someone who will fight.

Sadly, it won't be me. It will be some terrified first time mum who has never dared nurse in public before. It will be someone who will be quietly mortified and believe that they are at fault for feeding that hungry baby...

Star weaving tutorial

Just a quick one, for those who asked!

Three lolly sticks, anchored together by winding wool between opposite gaps.Take the wool behind the stick to the left, up and over, and round to go under the NEXT stick to the left.Keep going, shuffling the lines of wool to lie flat along the sticks.

To change colours, make sure you have equal numbers of lines on each stick and then cut the wool, and tie on your next wool. If you use several colours the tie-offs should all be at the same point. Tuck the last loose bit of wool in when you get close to the ends of the sticks - or tie it to the last colour you used, if it's close enough.Turn over to see your pattern!

Still tired!

Weekend bright and lovely and wet and muddy and crazy busy. One day is not enough for a proper weekend, I must spend the last few hours of Sunday dreading Monday. Wish Martin was here with us.

Amazon sent books - mostly for Christmas presents, but also Hedgerow Medicine for me and Rudolf Meyer's Wisdom of Fairytales. This means I don't even have money to put on my phone, but oh well! I'll regret that at the end of the week, not now when the cupboards are full of good things to eat and my sofa arm has a nice big pile of good things to read...

Jenna has stayed with my mum overnight so Morgan and I have done some fun stuff just on our own. Rowan seems to have anticipated my mood and is just snuggly and sleepy in my arms where I can stay in touch with her without having my attention divided! Mostly lots of stories going on today, a bit of painting and some doll play.

And we're planning to go swimming again tomorrow. That's it really. Another ordinary but magical week behind us, and another ahead. If only I could welcome it with a bit more enthusiasm.

Book Sharing Monday: Tell Me One Thing, Dad

Another one of Martin's favorites - and another that we borrowed from the library so many times we got our own copy! "Tell Me One Thing, Dad" by Tom Pow, with illustrations by Ian Andrew.Molly and Dad have a bedtime routine, telling stories about all the animals and imaginary creatures they can name...But what's the one thing, the most important thing about all these creatures?Another book with sublimely observed illustrations - I especially like the small incidental pictures of the little girl. So like my Jenna! They are laid out with a lot of white space and nice bold text, which is great for Jenna to read some of the words herself. Good pace, fun even for slightly olders but importantly not too lively for a bedtime read.

And the requisite satisfying ending!

Big Sister Little Sister

Jenna quote of the week: "Oh Rowan! You pretty baby... Your eyes are a bright sea of magic!"

I found these sweet pictures from last week and had to post them. Apart from that baby yawn (oh how I love the baby yawn) the thing I most love about these snaps is the look of total pride and adoration on Jenna's face. Both big sisters have this identical look whenever they spy the baby - every time they swoop in to kiss a little fuzzy head poking out of the top of the sling, every time they peer in consternation into a squalling car seat (I HATE the car seat, and so does Rowan!), every time they have a conversation with her, little grunts and coos responding to suddenly very adult-sounding chatter.Yet everywhere we go, adults leap in and "rescue" the baby from Jenna. Morgan hasn't tried to pick Rowan up yet, she seems to accept unquestionningly that the baby is heavy (lol) from the regular holds she gets. I try not to turn down sibling requests to hold Rows unless I'm nursing or Rowan seems really fed up. I can always gather her back into my own welcoming adult arms if I need to!

The worst displays are when Jenna actually carries Rowan in her arms. The first time she asked, I wavered too. What if she drops her? But I decided to let her see her own limits, and do whatever she was capable of. She is SO careful, so now as long as she asks first she is allowed to carry Rowan. On soft surfaces only. But any time an adult has seen this, they go crazy, "CAREFUL, don't drop her! You shouldn't be carrying the baby! Don't hurt her! You're doing it wrong! Give her here!"

Note to adults: Mama is right here. I know where the limits lie with each of my children and I want them to be allowed to be competant! Your idea of safety might be very different, and that's OK. You can even tell me you think I'm making a mistake to allow my children to do certain things - that's fine. But please don't try to overrule my parental decisions. And don't make my four year old so nervous she drops the baby. ;)

Assorted madness (with added pictures)

We started today with children jumping on a tired mummy. I sighed inwardly, got up, washed faces and cleaned teeth, found clothes from the near-constant pile of clean-waiting-to-go-away washing, and resorted to finding odd socks as usual. We breakfasted. Then things went sharply downhill. Morgan's shoes were nowhere to be found. Of course, we left them behind at Em's the other day. So we hunted for wellies. And hunted some more.

Eventually I look up from the hall storage, almost in tears because we were supposed to be out of the house ten minutes ago by now. And see two naked little free spirits cavorting across the landing.

It took nearly another half an hour to persuade them back into clothing, and confirm that the boots were nowhere to be found. Then Jenna piped up; "Mummy, I have an idea whirling around in my head, but I'm not sure it will really work..." She ran upstairs, hunted around in the bottom of her closet, and came back with some old shoes of hers in EXACTLY Morgan's size!

So we went out for a fantastic meal with Em and Ashleigh. :) Of course, Morgan carries right on crawling around being a puppy, and drops rice on the floor and laughs, and all of those little things that make me want to squish her instead of gently and playfully engaging her in a game that isn't disturbing so many people... No matter, we came out still in a good mood, except for Jenna who was crying for icecream (WHEN will I learn not to let her have a sugary drink??).

Ashleigh had made presents for all three girls, lovely outfits. We also ended up in many many charity shops, and I came home with yet more great second hand clothes. Our bargain of the day was a pair of pink crocs for Jenna for 99p. Though I admit, I am personally pretty impressed with the copy of Creative Play for your Baby, only £2.The remains of my stressed-out tired mood was removed by a good long walk in the rain with my mum's dog, who is staying for the weekend. She and the cat seem to have come to an understanding - the cat won't come down from high places and the dog will just about venture out from hiding behind the chair!

I really could sleep for a week...

Basic rights of babies

Nah this is not a post arguing the importance of Good Parenting (or Attachment Parenting or any other method that I define as Good and Important) - well except perhaps in passing and entirely coincidentally. This is primarily a musing about the benefits of benign neglect, and the wonders of nature. Those topics do have something in common I promise. ;)

Reading the Continuum Concept a few weeks ago, I was struck by something. The assertion that babies are developed with the expectation of a certain sort of upbringing. I know what she is getting, mostly that babies aren't crying because they are faulty but because our situation is faulty (I oversimplify, forgive me) but something else struck me.

Certain sorts of experience are inherant in the design of human beings. Certain realities are perfectly catered for by the actual makeup of my children! Those who are skipping way ahead, I know, I know, it took me five years and three children...

Babies are born with developed inner ears. They are MEANT to experience motion, to orient themselves in a moving, living world. They are perfectly adapted to experience an adult reality, DOING, not lying in a crib all day! Ack here I am talking about methods of parenting when I promised I wouldn't. ;)

Babies are born able to regulate their temperature in contact with another body. Therefore they are NOT ONLY best suited to being in contact, BUT they are born with the expectation of changing temperatures! They are born with SKIN, this amazing, wonderful, sensitive, WATERPROOF surface. They are born with the expectation of WEATHER!!

Too many caps and exclamations to be considered literary prose. ;)

Why has it taken so long for it to occur to me that it's OK for my babies to experience wind, rain, sun, cold and heat?

Of course it is still my job to protect their eyes from glare or move them to shelter when they are uncomfortable, of course I can provide dry towels and clothes when we come in from the rain, and wet weather gear to shield us from too MUCH cold and wet on these English Summer days... But how I deprive them when we rush in from the garden the second the weather changes! How unfair to take away from them the full experience of natural glory! How their senses must cry out for Earth's native input!

So many babies are insulated in their temperature controlled cribs, isolated from movement or any experience that might stimulate them (except perhaps the glare and noise of television). How many babies, if they leave the couple of rooms they live in, are rushed from one "safe" sensible environment to another - buggy to car to buggy to shopping centre to house!

And here I am, thinking myself all progressive and radical, running with my baby to get out of the wet, shielding her head from a few little spots of rain!

Yesterday, today, more everyday views

The baby took her sock off by accident - ah well, she thinks, when life gives you lemons...Cuddles with Chris at the swimming baths.Lots of fun toys at their house...Morgan wearing her baby.And threading beads this afternoon.Look what Jenna did!

The classic new mum complaint...

...I am SO TIRED. More tired than any parent of a baby that sleeps as much as mine does has a right to be!

Rowan is an amazingly peaceful, laid back, co-sleeper. Waking next to her is such a pleasure, and she REALLY isn't to blame for disturbing my rest. She nurses a couple of times a night. I take her to the toilet probably once every couple of nights - she's in nappies still so, you know, when I remember that latching off and grumping and breathing heavy MEANS something at 2am...

I am eating well. Everything is pretty much better than it has been in over a year. And *yawn* I can't keep my eyes open by 8pm!

Today we went swimming with Em and Chris. Rowan stayed in for about 45 minutes, even though I thought the water would be too cold for her. Then we went to grab some more fresh fruit from the wholefoods shop (and I tried my first Concious Chocolate - wow). We spent the afternoon playing over at Em's house. It was a good day, a productive day, a not-too-stressed day.

I won't list the things we *didn't* get done. Because every mama knows there are those, too. ;)

If I had a point, I lost it somewhere along the way. I'm tired. I bet most of you are too! And today has been good. But can I sleep now please?

Book Sharing Monday: One Ted

Simple pleasure as always from Julia Donaldson...Addictive, memorable rhyme, sweet open illustrations, satisfying ending. What more could we ask for in a book for tinies?

"One Ted falls out of bed - he tugs and pulls the bedclothes but, two eyes are tight shut..." Will Ted get back to his boy?Of course he does. :)