Jamie is a right little chatterbox - I wonder who he gets that from!? All of a sudden we are having proper conversations. We sat on the swing outside last week and it was squeaking as we moved backwards and forwards. 'Whats that noise?' Jamie asked. I said it had a squeak. 'Like a mouse?' he asked. Wonderful!!
He has also learnt how to ask for things; 'I want something', 'I want to go somewhere', 'Let's go in the kitchen mummy'. A lot of the time he will give us a running commentary on what he is doing 'I am putting this there', 'Zebra is coming too,' etc.
And nearly every morning when I tell him we are off to Nursery, he replies: 'I am staying here'. Although Jamie loves it when he gets there, we still have the occasional tears and Mummy still hates leaving him.
What is amazing is that he uses the correct tenses. How did he learn that?
Tuesday, 15 May 2012
Thursday, 10 May 2012
Ear for Music?
The other day, Nana brought Jamie home and had written on a piece of paper 'Somebody that I used to Know'. Nana wondered if it was a TV theme or something, as it had been on the radio and Jamie had got all excited about it. Apparently he had said something along the lines of 'the painting man' and Nana had got very confused about what he meant. The song that he was referring to was: www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cih2HRCXLA Gotye - Somebody That I Used To Know (feat. Kimbra). We have seen this video a number of times on the music channels and we all love the song and the video. Its very 80's!!
Somebody wrote about it: The symbolism in this video is relevant to the song. The covering of his body in a camouflaging paint may be a loss of innocence, but it's more obviously a loss of identity. The "somebody that he used to know" no longer acknowledges his existence. She pays him no more mind than the wall behind him. Nothing is colder than being completely shut out. Addictive song. :)
And recently we have been in Asda and Jamie noticed that this was the song being played before I did. Then he was upset when it stopped and another song started!
It amazes me that Jamie can pick out this song he likes, amongst all the other songs that are played on the radio every day. Is he showing early signs of an ear for music?
His dad is still playing in a local band http://thewarbirds.co.uk/ as well as being involved in a few other 'projects'. Could it be hereditary?
Monday, 7 May 2012
Wonderful Baby
For ages now I have had the lyrics 'where babies float by....' going around in my head and the other day I actually had 5 minutes to google them. I found Wonderful Baby was written (or at least sung) by Don McLean and I have reprinted the lyrics below as they are so lovely:
Wonderful baby livin' on love
The sandman says maybe he'll take you above,
Up where the girls fly on ribbons and bows,
Where babies float by just
Counting their toes.
Wonderful baby nothin' but new
The world has gone crazy, I'm glad I'm not you.
At the beginning or is it the end?
It goes in and comes out and starts over again.
Wonderful baby livin' on love
The sandman says maybe he'll take you above,
Up where the girls fly on ribbons and bows,
Where babies float by, just
Counting their toes.
Wonderful baby I'll watch while you grow.
If I knew the future you'd be first to know.
But I don't know nothin' of what
Life's about
Just as long as you live, you'll never find out.
Wonderful baby, nothin' to fear.
Love whom you will, but doubt what you hear.
They'll whisper sweet things to make untrue.
So be good to yourself, that's all
You can do.
Wonderful baby, livin' on love the sandman says maybe he'll
Take you above,
Up where the girls fly on ribbons and bows,
Where babies float by, just counting their toes,
Where babies float by, just counting their toes
Oh.
The sandman says maybe he'll take you above,
Up where the girls fly on ribbons and bows,
Where babies float by just
Counting their toes.
Wonderful baby nothin' but new
The world has gone crazy, I'm glad I'm not you.
At the beginning or is it the end?
It goes in and comes out and starts over again.
Wonderful baby livin' on love
The sandman says maybe he'll take you above,
Up where the girls fly on ribbons and bows,
Where babies float by, just
Counting their toes.
Wonderful baby I'll watch while you grow.
If I knew the future you'd be first to know.
But I don't know nothin' of what
Life's about
Just as long as you live, you'll never find out.
Wonderful baby, nothin' to fear.
Love whom you will, but doubt what you hear.
They'll whisper sweet things to make untrue.
So be good to yourself, that's all
You can do.
Wonderful baby, livin' on love the sandman says maybe he'll
Take you above,
Up where the girls fly on ribbons and bows,
Where babies float by, just counting their toes,
Where babies float by, just counting their toes
Oh.
Saturday, 5 May 2012
5 Ways to Stay Present and Appreciate Your Kids
Came across this via the Action for Happiness FaceBook status / page:
http://ranchobernardo.patch.com/articles/five-ways-to-stay-present-and-appreciate-your-kids
After a week of trying to become a more present mom, here are the tools that actually helped Abi Cotler O'Roarty in her quest:
Gratitude Journal: Gretchen Rubin suggests keeping a one-sentence journal in an effort to chronicle topics like lessons learned, a child’s first year, or gratitude. She likes the one-sentence-a-day way of journaling because it is manageable to keep up. I try to list at least five specific things that happened that day with my kids that I’m grateful for. I try to keep to specifics because the broad generalities, like: my kids are generally healthy and happy, are easy to come up with, but it’s the actual daily events that I’m more interested in, like: my daughter read her little sister an entire book three times over today.
Turn Off: Turning off your phone, especially if it’s 'smart,' is one of the easiest ways for most of us to significantly bump up our attention and focus on the present. I notice that even if I put the phone on vibrate, or in another room, I find myself checking it when I see my kids are otherwise occupied. When it is all the way powered down, I now get it through my skull that there’s no reason to go through turning it back on just to get distracted — what’s important is right in front of me.
Post-it Up: Jot down a few ideas about what it is you’re trying to accomplish here—set the intention. Then create little reminders on note cards or post-its and place the reminders around your house. Right now, there’s a purple post-it in our bathroom that reads, “Enjoy every little breath.”
Put Some Love Into It: One time I was making my daughter’s cumbersome bed for what felt like the fifteenth day in a row when she was having trouble with nighttime accidents. Grumpy as all get out, I suddenly found myself thinking that if I put all the love I had for her into making the bed, I would feel so much better. So when you find yourself cursing the eighth creative mess you’ve dealt with that day already, try putting all your love for your family into it and see if it doesn’t help let some light into the gloom.
Planned Neglect: I once asked an octogenarian artist how he managed to produce so much art over the years. He told me about something he called “planned neglect.” He said that he had to force himself to ignore some of the household chores that needed to get done every single day in order to prioritize his art. All these years later, nothing bad has happened to him as a result of letting laundry and dishes pile — and the work he had to show for this seemed stunningly fulfilling.
As a stay-at-home mom (the article goes onto say) I find one of the biggest challenges to staying present with my kids are of the demands of the home. But lately I’ve been trying to lower the standard of what I need to have done each day in order to feel that I’m taking care of my home. Sometimes breakfast dishes don’t get done until I am cooking dinner. Sometimes the house is not all the way picked up at the end of the day. Becoming more relaxed about domesticity has really helped me not feel like I need to constantly pull away from the present moment, whatever it holds.
Try starting with just one of these things above and then perhaps switch to another if it does not do the trick for you. The last thing we want to do is worry too much about not appreciating our kids enough, because nothing makes you feel unappreciative like stress and guilt. If you’ve already faced personal tragedy to a great degree, perhaps you don’t need these techniques. But I hope we can all start trying to live in a world where you don’t need to face down death to appreciate life — because life, after all, is the name of the game.
http://ranchobernardo.patch.com/articles/five-ways-to-stay-present-and-appreciate-your-kids
After a week of trying to become a more present mom, here are the tools that actually helped Abi Cotler O'Roarty in her quest:
Gratitude Journal: Gretchen Rubin suggests keeping a one-sentence journal in an effort to chronicle topics like lessons learned, a child’s first year, or gratitude. She likes the one-sentence-a-day way of journaling because it is manageable to keep up. I try to list at least five specific things that happened that day with my kids that I’m grateful for. I try to keep to specifics because the broad generalities, like: my kids are generally healthy and happy, are easy to come up with, but it’s the actual daily events that I’m more interested in, like: my daughter read her little sister an entire book three times over today.
Turn Off: Turning off your phone, especially if it’s 'smart,' is one of the easiest ways for most of us to significantly bump up our attention and focus on the present. I notice that even if I put the phone on vibrate, or in another room, I find myself checking it when I see my kids are otherwise occupied. When it is all the way powered down, I now get it through my skull that there’s no reason to go through turning it back on just to get distracted — what’s important is right in front of me.
Post-it Up: Jot down a few ideas about what it is you’re trying to accomplish here—set the intention. Then create little reminders on note cards or post-its and place the reminders around your house. Right now, there’s a purple post-it in our bathroom that reads, “Enjoy every little breath.”
Put Some Love Into It: One time I was making my daughter’s cumbersome bed for what felt like the fifteenth day in a row when she was having trouble with nighttime accidents. Grumpy as all get out, I suddenly found myself thinking that if I put all the love I had for her into making the bed, I would feel so much better. So when you find yourself cursing the eighth creative mess you’ve dealt with that day already, try putting all your love for your family into it and see if it doesn’t help let some light into the gloom.
Planned Neglect: I once asked an octogenarian artist how he managed to produce so much art over the years. He told me about something he called “planned neglect.” He said that he had to force himself to ignore some of the household chores that needed to get done every single day in order to prioritize his art. All these years later, nothing bad has happened to him as a result of letting laundry and dishes pile — and the work he had to show for this seemed stunningly fulfilling.
As a stay-at-home mom (the article goes onto say) I find one of the biggest challenges to staying present with my kids are of the demands of the home. But lately I’ve been trying to lower the standard of what I need to have done each day in order to feel that I’m taking care of my home. Sometimes breakfast dishes don’t get done until I am cooking dinner. Sometimes the house is not all the way picked up at the end of the day. Becoming more relaxed about domesticity has really helped me not feel like I need to constantly pull away from the present moment, whatever it holds.
Try starting with just one of these things above and then perhaps switch to another if it does not do the trick for you. The last thing we want to do is worry too much about not appreciating our kids enough, because nothing makes you feel unappreciative like stress and guilt. If you’ve already faced personal tragedy to a great degree, perhaps you don’t need these techniques. But I hope we can all start trying to live in a world where you don’t need to face down death to appreciate life — because life, after all, is the name of the game.
Wednesday, 25 April 2012
Goodbye Elephant
After the trauma of loosing 'Bear, Bear' at Christmas I have always been really careful where we have taken 'Elephant'.
Unfortunately, during the chaos that is Sainsbury's on a Saturday afternoon, Elephant went into the store but could not be located once we got home. I think he was tossed aside once Jamie had his hands on chocolate.
I have rang the store a number of times now, but he seems to have gone. I only hope he has been adopted and isn't lying in a puddle somewhere. I really hate it when I see abandoned teddy bears as I worry that a child somewhere is broken hearted. In this case it is Jamie.
Unfortunately, during the chaos that is Sainsbury's on a Saturday afternoon, Elephant went into the store but could not be located once we got home. I think he was tossed aside once Jamie had his hands on chocolate.
I have rang the store a number of times now, but he seems to have gone. I only hope he has been adopted and isn't lying in a puddle somewhere. I really hate it when I see abandoned teddy bears as I worry that a child somewhere is broken hearted. In this case it is Jamie.
Tuesday, 17 April 2012
Blog Babies 24 and 25
Congratulations to Lottie and James who had twin boys Oliver (4lbs 2.5oz) and Samuel (4lbs 6oz). Born 16th April. Baby brothers for Jamie's friend Robert from Baby/Toddler signing.
Friday, 13 April 2012
Gets Bigger!
Someone has been playing with his winkie quite a lot and when asked why, he replied; 'It gets bigger!'
I was hoping he was referring to the 'grow your own' dinosaur that Auntie Hannah and Uncle Michael bought him for his birthday, but sadly. No. He has discovered himself!!
I was hoping he was referring to the 'grow your own' dinosaur that Auntie Hannah and Uncle Michael bought him for his birthday, but sadly. No. He has discovered himself!!
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