Today is the first day of nursery for my precious first born.

I have been so nervous that I slept really fitfully all last night. However I also had the pram loaded up in the hall, school bag packed (I was up till 10pm sticking photos in her school introduction book) last night so less to do this morning.

In the morning, I took a couple of photos of Babychair in her new uniform outside but it was a bit windy, so we settled for a couple of inside pictures (for grandparents to see later)

When we got to the school there were loads of other parents milling around, some children had two or more adults with them !!! I left Highchair sleeping in his pram in the cloakroom and found Babychair's peg and drawer, aptly her picture was a pink flower

Babychair asked me to stay with her and held my hand briefly and I said I would stay. I went to fetch Highchair from the pram and sat down, Babychair was running around playing with colour pencils, little plastic animals etc. I tried to pick her up to talk to her, as it was so crowded and noisy with all the adults in the classroom and I struggle so much to hear in situations like that. She wriggled out of my arms saying 'Mummy. let me down I am playing'

I gathered up Highchair who was chewing the head of a dinosaur on a green carpet display and followed my little girl. She had got to the sticking table with piles of blank paper, brightly coloured paper circles, cups of runny glue and brushes. Heaven on earth for Babychair. She was a whirlwind of glue and paper, she was concentrating so hard she didn't look up from the paper when I explained that she didn't need us, so her baby brother and I were going home, we loved her and would be back later to pick her up. She just raised a hand to wave goodbye with out even a glance in our direction. I popped my head around the corner of the room, just before I left the building and she had moved onto a floor mat full of cars and little buildings to drive around.

It was really weird being home without her and very very quiet. Highchair and me stayed in the house just in case the nursery rang for us to come and collect Babychair but noone rang. I had originally planned on collecting her at lunch time on her first day but when I mentioned this to her teacher she said to come back at 3.20pm (gulp) and they would ring if she got too tired or upset in the mean time.

I held out until lunch time and had to ring the school to check how things were going and the reception lady returned from checking and told me.

"ALL the teachers said how confident your daughter is and how she is into everything."

What does that mean ? Can I take this at face value or is it a code for. She hugged Jeffery within an inch of his life, buried Sandra in the sandpit and carefully painted the classroom door shut !!!

It was just the way she said it made me wonder ?

When I arrived at 3.20pm to pick her up, so was buzzing around the classroom with a smile wearing an upside down pink dressing up crown and so mucky with glue paint and food all over her pinafore and face. I smiled to see her so happy, I called her name and she ran to me laughing and calling 'mummy'. She jumped into my arms and we had a lovely 'big hug' and 'big kiss'

Aww, I am so pleased today went so well. Only another 13 years of education to negotiate, LOL.

Highchair is just one year old and climbs everything.

Leave him in the living room for a minute and I return to find him, standing on the coffee table or stood on a dining room chair or sat on the toy cabinet shouting 'off' (one of his favourite words)

At the park he can climb to over 4 foot in height using the large ladder, he can also climb up the steep slide using the rubber tips of his shoes and holding onto the sides and he scamps up like a little spider. He also tries to follow his big sister over the harder bits, so I have to watch him like a hawk. He really has a natural talent for climbing, which is great in the park and not so great when I need to do things around the house.

The last time I left him and his toddler sister in her room for ten minutes whilst I was in the spare room hanging out laundry, a shout from Babychair and I ran into their room to find him stood on the windowsill !!! My heart stopped. Luckily her window is always locked, we only open the top window for airing, so he couldn't fall out but still, I can't leave him for a moment.

Live will never be boring with Highchair around

Babychair is growing up so quickly.

Now she tells you little stories about her day, her dreams or completely made up stuff.

When she plays in her room for her afternoon 'quiet time' whilst I iron in the spare room, the ajoining doors open, baby brother asleep in our room. We sing and chat as she plays and I iron. Recently she has been sitting on her bed feet on the bed, legs clasped to her chest. "Mummy, the crocodile getting me, oh no, dear me " I say "Mr crocodile, don't get Babychair I love her to much to be eaten up" Strangely she loves this game, wants me to repeat it again & again and corrects me if I try and say anything different.

Deckchair was repeating an conversation he had with Babychair when he took her to bed, after her story. She told him about her afternoon with Mama and DaDa (grandparents) complete with a special voice for when she said something in the story, she is so cute.

She is also alongside Highchair climbing more, but in her case she is using items to climb onto. Dragging chairs and stools and boxs to a relevent area and using them to climb higher. Everything needs to go up another foot in height and we are teaching her not to do this with limited success. Interestingly until she climbed onto a wooden chair at church last week to be christened it never occured to her to use items around the house to climb on...sigh. That said she was bound to do it some day.

Still gets mixed up with 'me', 'I' or 'mine' often using 'mees' as a word instead Leading to very interesting sentences, very cute mind.

As Babychair said to her daddy today "That is strange"

Highchair has discovered how to climb !!!

We now have to rescue him from under the Deckchair's computer desk. He pulled the crate from the toybox in front of the television, crawled through it and stood on the other side tapping the television (I had only nipped into the kitchen to load dishwasher.) So I can't leave him alone for a moment. As I was writing this blog he managed to climb onto the sofa, onto the arm and drop down to the floor (safely feet first), he is also experiementing with climbing on and off the potty with his nappy/pants on. Still very hit and miss with actually using it mind.

So he is running and climbing all around the house and oh my, is he steady !?! Babychair was wobbly for months after she started walking but he is steady as a rock. Highchair can be walking along decide to crouch to pick something up off the floor and stand up again perfectly balanced and controlled and walk off. It really is amazing to watch.

Even when eating he shows the same laid back perfectly controlled attitude. Looking over the food on offer, making a decision and then delibrately picking up the item of interest. No flinging of unwanted food over the edge of the table. He is content to eat the bits he wants and leave the rest be, very refreshing after Babychairs food throwing competitions, when she use to try and break her own record for distance every mealtime.

In general Highchair is a very content and quiet baby, lately he is making more sounds alongside his standard hissing (happy sound) Dada, Mmmm (me) and Ahah (Babychair), we have also had Yes, No and some very tunefull attempting at singing...bless him

Babychair opened the living room door and wandered into the kitchen, after a few moments Highchair noticed 'Aa...Aa' had gone and crawled after her.

Cue me following the pair maybe half a minute later. No one in the kitchen, I turn to the stairs...no baby there either ??? I call out for Babychair and she answers me from our upstairs bathroom. Fair enough, but where is the baby.

"Up here with me, Mummy" comes the answer !!!

My heart just dropped like a stone, I ran up the 15 stairs and rush into the bathroom to see my 11 month old baby boy, giggling whilst he lent across the toilet seat trying to fish out the toilet freshener from the bowl. The main point being up the 15 steps.

When I had stopped hugging him and my heart rate had slowed to something resembling normal, I carefully carried Highchair to the bottom of the stairs...put him down and watched as he scaled the stairs with incredible speed. Bearing in mind the last time I had seen him near stairs he managed to climb one with great effort and then tried to sit over the stair he had just climbed. No fear that time I was right behind him to catch him.

When I rung Deckchair to tell him what had happened, surprisely he laughed so hard, which made me feel much better about my laspe in concentration. So I suppose all is well that ends well and I need to double check both stair gates every time I use them.

So we have a stair climbing baby in the house!!!

Highchair is now standing up independantly at 10 months, clapping his hands and managing a couple of wobbly steps.

He looks so pleased with himself and he laughs so much when Deckchair and I clap and cheer. He is a bit bewildered with all the attention but likes it all the same.

What I find interesting is that he always starts to walk from the middle of the room after standing up with nothing to pull himself up with. It is like a puppet on strings being stood up by an invisible third party hands....very weird to watch. Babychair use to start off by pulling herself to standing on a sofa and then set oiff, it looks look my boy is going to do things his own way

Yeah, for our walking baby

Highchair has said the odd phrase to date 'hello' and this morning we had a cheery 'downstairs', in repsonse to me asking if he wished to come downstairs or stay upstairs. I don't remember Babychair talking this early, that said she signed a great deal more than he does. He also sings to nearly every tune he hears and he does have a good ear...no idea where he got it from it certainly isn't from Deckchair or me

As for walking, he is determined not to. He can and does stand up in the middle of the room with nothing to use as support and will hold the stand for several seconds before gracefully (for his size) sit down and crawling off. When he cruises around the furniture he is so steady and fast. Yet any attempt to get his to take a step unaided is rejected, he just lauches himself at the nearest person keeping his feet still and together. LOL My little boy will do things in his own sweet time and no interference how ever well meaning for me is going to change anything.

This is something I will do best to remember in the future, my children walk to their own rhythms.

At last Highchair has decided that he will sit on his potty for a minute or two, if given a good book, toy or TV to watch

We have caught half a poo and a couple of wee's today...hurrah. Plus he is actually coming up to me when he needs to go another newish development. I doubt he will be clean at 10 months like his older sister was, but it is nice to see him taking an interest.

Watch this space.

Sigh, Babychair IS a pony mad toddler.

It has been ages since my sister and I have seen each other, I was so pleased to be invited down to Leeds and I was looking forward to seeing her and her DH .

Our family went down to see their newly decorated house in Yorkshire and I have seen the starter wardrobe for their new child...Oooo newborn baby girl clothes how scrummy. We had a lovely day in their garden and the new parents to be discussed with good humour how their new baby was going to fit into the cream carpeted lounge (I am guessing pretty well as baby sick is the same shade)

However nothing prepared me for how emotional I felt when I saw my pregnant sister with her very neat baby bump, I literally had tears in my eyes.

In a few short weeks my baby sister will be a mother in her own right and what a wonderful mother she will make.


So roll on August, I wish my sister the very best easy labour and a beautiful wonderful baby (next to mine of course)

I know, how sad am I blogging about Poo

This time the cause of delight is two wee's and a properly formed poo in the potty from Master Highchair (now 10 months old).

He has been in a pretty long potty pause, so it is nice to see we are getting back on track again abet slowly. For ages every potty offer resulted in giggles and him crawling off the potty. Pausing only to lift his hips and therefore his tattle up a bit to avoid hitting the front lip of the potty. He would sit a short distance away and smile.

Potty pause is when the baby/child for reasons of their own decide to stop using a potty or only use one for certain things or at certain times. It is natural for a child to take more and more control over what, when and where they toilet and eventually they are graduated and totally independant. Of course this is miles off for baby Highchair.

It is very common to have 'pauses' around the time of developmental advances and I reckon that he is on the verge of walking. He has been crusing around furniture for ages but now he can stand up in the middle of the room and hold the stand for several seconds. If you try to encourage him to walk, he gives you a funny look and slowly he drops to a sitting position and crawls off. I think true walking is a few months off yet

Babychair handed me a foam letter 'c' in the bath and said 'cat, mummy'.

It is the first time she has shown any interest in recognising letters

Highchair has started pointing at everything and anything, especially our cats ...Awwww, so cute

Babychair speech has improved so much recently.

So much so that I am actually asking her to be quiet at times (so her baby brother has a chance to go to sleep)

She has also started copying a great deal, so now we have little conversations, the latest one this evening went like this.

Babychair : Love you, Mummy
Me: Love you too, Babychair
Babychair : Love you ten

awwww, she is so cute, I wish I could bottle her sweetness. Sometimes I think my heart will overflow with my love for her. Sad but very very true.

She still calls herself 'Me-girl' and still denys that she is pretty or clever. , I don't think she understand's what pretty or clever or polite means and so when well meaning strangers stop us and say to Babychair aren't you pretty , she stamping her foot and shouts 'Not pretty. Me-girl' LOL.

Deckchair took Babychair out to the local shop and Highchair had crawled into the hall after them.

I can't pick him up easily with my crutches so I followed him and tried to entice him back into the living room. Highchair was having nothing of it and headed for the bottom stair. Bemused I stood next to him and watched. He climbed up onto the first step, waited a moment and climbed down again !!! Oh my goodness we have a climbing, sound making boy...I am very proud and very wary of this new skill.

Note. To all, baby gate must be super glued shut at all times.