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

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.

I hope.

I have had nothing but bad luck recently.

We have had D&V bug from hell in the house recently, going through all members of the family, twice !!! Thank goodness for the quanity and location of potties in our house. I have seen and cleared up enough poo to last me a very long lifetime.

I have had several clinic and hospital appointments for my bad ear, concluding in a horrible squash me into a smartie (CAT Scanner) tube with a box on my head and I do not like small spaces. I spent the time trying to breath and not think about my current location. So I planned a birthday card I need to make for this weekend in my head. I was ever so relieved to get out after five minutes, though it felt like several hours to me.

Then I fell off a piece of soft play equipment and did an impressive amount of damage to my ankle. The A&E doctor exclaimed that he had never seen someone who had done so much damage to there foot without breaking it. Lucky me. He went on to say that as broken bones have no nerves, the damage I had done would properly give me more pain than if I had broken it and it might take as long to heal !!! (Actually a couple of weeks on and I think I am getting much better, through it is still very painful. Thank goodness for the little pink pills) So I have been hoping around on crutches, Deckchair had to take a week off work to help me with the children. Now I am hoping with one crutch and child caring with the other and crawling a lot !?!

Lastly last week an old filling got infected and I have had in the last 7 days, 4 dental appointments, including one emergency one, loads of drilling. I am awaiting an root canal treatment in 7 days time, which at the moment feels like an age away. I have spend several hours weeping in the bathroom in the middle of the night, trying not to wake my family up and waiting until I can take some more pain relief. Infected tooth really hurts, more that I can explain.
(Another vote of confidence for the little pink pills)

So I am hoping for less pain (ankle and teeth) this weekend, I just need a break.

On the bright side I must be due some good luck around now, I should buy a lottery ticket or something I jest a painfree night would be all the good luck I want or desire.

Deckchair and I were having a cuddle on the sofa, I turned to Highchair crawling around the floor and in a happy voice told him 'Don't you have a stupid daddy ?' He stood up, turned around and clear as a bell said 'Stupid Daddy'

We both burst into laughter, what a start.

I could not belive it, his first proper word(s), oh my hardly one for the baby book. Deckchair was unsure whether to be pleased or not.

At nine months old our Highchair uses some sounds. Dada for Daddy, Mmmmm for me and Ahah for Babychair (despite the physical nature of her affection, he totally dotes on her) He also does a couple of signs, pick me up, finish and milk and understands a couple more.

Dottie's World Website has been running for a year !!! To celebrate there is going to be a new look to the website and a week long party with party games and loads of give aways. Look at this blog candy !!!

Click pictures for a bigger photo.


Above is a finished A5 card for my sister's upcoming wedding anniversary. My first card with an text bit printed on the computer on tracing paper and added to a card. I finally got an useable embossing from my bigshot & Friskar plates, thanks to Petra's advice using cardboard shims.


I have figured out how to make square scalled cards using my bigz xl rectangle card die. Not finished but I love the shinyness


Square embossed scalloped card with frame using nestabilities.

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Layering using scalloped template. Unfinished card. Needs some writing and is a bit too bright.


This one has a brown foam flower and brown large nestibilities frame. My Bigshot will cut paper, card, felt and funky foam...need to try chipboard at some point.


Lastly trying a sideways embossing using Cuttlebug folders and a normal sized pre-bought card. I like the effect of flat and embossed card with ribbon and I will do this again. Unfinished card.

I am having fun.

Where to start with my beautiful Babychair....to quote the Abba song....

"Mother says I was a dancer before I could walk. She says I began to sing long before I could talk"

Babychair sings and dances the whole day long and to my tone deaf ears seems pretty good at it. Yesterday at our local garden centre she treated all the visitors to the coffee shop to a dance and singing display !!!

She really has so much confidence and I hope she grows up from being a friendly outgoing confidence child to being a friendly outgoing friendly adult

She warms my heart, I am so proud of her

Highchair has finally got the hang of it !!!

After several weeks of comando crawling, rolling and dragging himself around the floor, he has finally got his knees underneath him and he is bummy hopping around the living room...so cute.

He can move fast enough especially if a toilet toll is on the floor, he loves eating paper !!!