Well that told me….

Yesterday I made the mistake of attempting to sing along to a song on the TV show that Emily was watching. She promptly turned round and told me, in a very authoratitive voice, “NO Mummy. That is not allowed.”

I’ll remember to keep my mouth shut in future……:)

I Hear Thunder….

While putting Emily to bed last week there was a storm outside, and after one particular noisy clap of thunder the following exchange took place:

Me: Don’t be scared, it’s only thunder.

Emily: No Mummy, that wasn’t thunder, that’s my tummy rumbling……

Out Of The Mouths Of Babes….

…..over the coming weeks and months I shall be presenting some of Emily’s conversational gems on this blog. Beginning with….

E (while flicking through one of her animal books) “I went to this zoo when I was a baby…..

Me: “Oh really?”

E: “Yes, a tiger bit me on the bottom and I cried……”

It’s kind of hard to know what kind of answer to give to this really…….

A Toothy Issue

Today Emily accompanied me to the dentist for a check-up (something we have been attempting to do now that she has all – or at least nearly all – of her teeth). Our last attempt to do this back in June was met with mouth clamped shut and several shift, suspicious looks, but given the young lady has grown up a great deal since then we thought we’d try our luck once again.

Inititally she told us she didn’t need to go to the dentist (as if we were going to believe that) but managed to persuade her it would be a fun thing to do as she would get a sticker. And so, having comandeered all the books in the waiting room, she trotted happily into the dentist’s room, holding her hand all the way.

And once in there, she did indeed open her mouth – for about half a second, giving absolutely no opportunity for anybody to look at her teeth, then closed it again. And immediately asked, “Can I have a sticker?”

Well, at least she is getting the hang of it…..

A Turn Of Phrase

Quite aside from her ability to charm the socks off everybody she encounters, Emily has also developed rather a way with words in recent months. Not only does this make life a lot easier in ‘terrible two’ terms – the fact she can tell us what she wants most of the time means toddler tantrums are kept to a minimum – but it also provides ample opportunity for optimum cuteness – her little phrases and exclamations (‘oh dear me’, ‘what have we got here’, ‘what’s that noise, Mummy?’) would fill a slim volume.

One of my favourites, however, is her uncanny ability to guess how old everybody is. Ask her Mummy’s age, or Daddy’s age, or anybody’s for that matter and she will tell you that they “are 2”. Ask her her old she is however and it’s almost always “I’ll be 3…..”

Does this mean I am younger than my own daughter? Now that would be something…

Now We Are Two

….we are staring impercebtibly into the face of big girl’s beds and potty training.

Which should make for interesting reading in the months to come……

Tummy trouble?

Since Emily started talking properly she has, like most toddlers, developed funny little phrases with which to surprise and amaze us. This morning, for example, we went into her room when she woke up, and when we unzipped her sleeping bag, discovered her pyjama top had ridden up overnight. She promptly pulled it back down, saying to us, “Close tummy…..”

This is, of course, the cutest thing she has ever done. Until the next cutest thing comes along, of course…

Who Are You Talking To?

When you have a child, you’re prepared for certain eventualities. The fact that as a baby, they will wake you for night feeds, nappy changes and general reassurance. That when they get a bit older they may wake you for teething and illness. This is something you learn to accept as part of being a parent.

What they don’t tell you, however, is that your child may also wake you in the small hours by talking in their sleep. Such has been the case with Emily recently. Having become a fan of CBeebies and the many delights it has to offer (favourites including In The Night Garden and Charlie And Lola) it seems that she has now also taken to dreaming about her favourite TV characters.

A few weeks ago I was woken at the less than sociable hour of 5.30am by her shouting ‘BYE BYE PIGGLE!’ (as though having a conversation with Night Garden’s cuddly blue boat-dweller Iggle Piggle) before rolling over and drifting off again, completely unaware that Mummy was now wide awake, wondering where Iggle Piggle was and why he should be chatting to Emily at this time of the morning.

Since then she has told me in her sleep that she is talking to Iggle Piggle’s buddy Makka Pakka, that Mummy is going to sleep and that Daddy is taking a shower. On a number of occasions I have found myself heading for her room convinced she has woken up, only to find her fast asleep.

This week, however, she surpassed herself, shouting ‘CHARLIE LOLA!!!!!!!!!’ about five times at around 2.30am and leaving me to wonder what on earth was going on. Yet she just slept blissfully through until the morning, and when I blearily asked my husband if he had heard her the next morning I was informed that he hadn’t.

Well, I’m sure she said something then. Or perhaps I was the one who was dreaming…

Out of sight…..

I’ve mentioned how over the past few months Emily’s talking has come on – and in recent weeks it’s become even more advanced, with her answering questions, learning more and more words and even stringing short sentences together.

One of her current observations is that grown-ups go to work – with her proudly telling me that “Daddy gone office” whenever he heads off for the day. This has been stretched to cover the full complement of relatives (“Mummy gone office, Bubbe gone office, Grandma gone office….you get the idea”) – but what I wasn’t expecting was for her to take the concept even further.

A couple of weeks back she was looking out of her bedroom window when she spotted a cat in the car park outside. After getting very excited and shouting ‘hi cat’ repeatedly, the creature then ran behind a car. I immediately said to her “oooooh, where’s the cat gone?” She thought about this for a few seconds, then triumphantly replied, “cat gone office!”

Now how can you possibly argue with that kind of logic?

Update coming soon…..

Apologies for the lack of one recently…..in the mean time enjoy the new pictures!