2013: Week 52

Saturday 21 December

Daisy's new favourite game on the 'Pad' is Endless Alphabet, which is a great spelling game, although some of the words are maybe a bit advanced for a three-year-old - ruckus, gargantuan, hilarious... :)

Sunday 22 December

For the last four Mondays I've been going to choir practices at church to learn a couple of songs to be performed at the carol service tonight. We decided that as the service was 18:30 - 19:30, Daisy could stay up a bit late and come to watch, and she was brilliant! Jessica came as well, and the two of them were so well behaved. Daisy even stood up with her book and joined in with the choir when we were performing our pieces!

Monday 23 December

Each year since Daisy was born, Grandpa has arranged for Father Christmas to send her a letter. This year was the first year she really started to understand about Father Christmas and she loved reading through his letter to her with Grandpa!

Tuesday 24 December

Jen arrived yesterday and we made a gingerbread house with her in the afternoon. Today it was time to decorate it, and we all had lots of fun doing it :).

Wednesday 25 December

Merry Christmas! So many nice photos from today that I couldn't choose just one. We had a fantastic day, with Nanna, Grandpa and Jen first thing, then we were joined at lunchtime by Nanny and Grandad, then by Katherine, Mark, Jess, Finn, David, Lou and Eloise at around 16:00, whereafter we had Christmas dinner for fifteen. Father Christmas bought Daisy a little piano with a microphone attached, which didn't become at all annoying when three kids all wanted to play it/sing into it at once... :).

Thursday 26 December

My first foray into the Next sale today… I'd never understood people who get up at 05:00 on Boxing Day to abandon their family and go and spend money on things they don't need, but I'd had my eye on a few things in Next for a while, plus I had been given vouchers for Christmas and my birthday, and we've just spent all our money on a house so we're broke and can't afford to shop full-price now, so when Jon went on his annual clothes shopping trip this morning, I went with him. It really wasn't all that bad - I found the things I'd been wanting to buy, and they were all half price, plus I got a load of stuff for Daisy in a range of sizes, plus we were home before anyone got out of bed so we weren't missed :). I bought Daisy this bobble hat, which she insisted on wearing when she came in the bedroom at 07:30. Pyjamas, bobble hat and iPad - a good look, I think…

Friday 27 December

Today we went to Snape Maltings, home to the eponymous Concert Hall founded by Benjamin Britten and also a lovely array of independent shops and restaurants. We spent some time looking at driftwood sculptures, which were beautiful, if a bit expensive. This was Daisy's favourite one.

2013: Week 51

Saturday 14 December

Today was the annual pre-Christmas Fish Pie night for Jon and his university friends and their families. We hosted this year, and with five kids under six it was quite hectic. This was a rare moment of quiet before bedtime…

Sunday 15 December

Daisy and Dee made bread dough today, and Mummy plaited it. If I ate bread, I would have been looking forward to trying it. Apparently it tasted nice, if a bit scone-like. Different recipe next time.

Monday 16 December

Jon snapped this while Daisy and I were using her torch to find something she'd slid under the sofa. Thanks for that, Jon…

Tuesday 17 December

Matching coats!

Wednesday 18 December

An example of photos not necessarily being assigned to the date they were taken: Dad did this amazing job on the under-stairs cupboard (next week!). I didn't like the way it looked before - to the extent that I realised after Dad had made it look amazing that I hadn't actually taken a photo of it in its original state, so I don't have a 'before' picture. But take my word for it: it looks fantastic!

Thursday 19 December

At least when Daisy comes into our room in the middle of the night, she falls asleep again. And although we don't sleep as well as we would have without her there, she sleeps longer than usual.

Friday 20 December

With her favourite uncle. We quite often have conversations like 'That's a lovely colour. Is that your favourite colour?' 'Yes. And Uncle David'.

2013: Week 50

Saturday 7 December

While we were playing Hide and Seek today, Daisy announced that she needed the toilet, but didn't want to stop playing. So we compromised on this…

Sunday 8 December

The usual morning routine - wake up, check social media, get out of bed...

Monday 9 December

Beautiful girl!

Tuesday 10 December

It was the Christmas party at the toddler group this afternoon. Daisy insisted on wearing her summer dress, despite my attempts to persuade her into the snow fairy or elf outfits (I think I'll just have to come to terms with the fact that she's never going to warm to the elf outfit). She had a great time, and wasn't even frightened by Father Christmas, which surprised me. Her personality seems to have developed immensely over the last six months or so, and she's much less shy than she used to be. Finally!

Wednesday 11 December

Another game of hide and seek, this time in the kitchen. Daisy definitely seems to work to the principle that 'If I can't see you, you can't see me'…

Thursday 12 December

Found you!

Friday 13 December

This is the front of our house at the moment. In real life it isn't quite so obvious that the lights at the top and the lights at the bottom are different colours :).

2013: Week 49

Saturday 30 November

Helping Dee make pizza dough for our visitors tomorrow.

Sunday 1 December

We had a dozen visitors today for a housewarming, and Daisy was happy to see her friend Teddy again after three months. They and Matilda made for a very cute picture while sitting down for a rare snack break.

Monday 2 December

Positions in which to watch TV, number 629: as close as possible without actually sitting on the TV table.

Tuesday 3 December

If Daisy comes into the bedroom before I've had a shower, she's happy to watch Bad Piggies on her iPad while I get ready to go downstairs.

Wednesday 4 December

Look Mummy, I got play dough!

Thursday 5 December

A lovely shot of the back of our house, which really does feel like home now.

Friday 6 December

Daisy insisted on walking to playschool with her bag on her back today, 'like Barney does'. When I quizzed her as to who Barney was, she said 'from Toy Story'. It was a while before I realised she was talking about Bonnie... :)

2013: Week 48

Oh boy, am I in trouble... I've taken so few photos over the past few weeks that I've even run out of back-up photos...

Saturday 23 November

Apparently this is the 'best' way to eat cereal...

Sunday 24 November

It may not look like much, but this housing for our outside tap was crafted by my own fair hands. I'm very proud of it :).

Monday 25 November

Three months after they were taken, here are the rest of the photos from Daisy's third birthday shoot. Sorry...

Tuesday 26 November

On the printed version of this picture, the studio inserted a little fairy into the top right-hand corner, so it looks like Daisy's looking at Tinker Bell. This picture is hanging on the wall in her bedroom, and she loves it :).

Wednesday 27 November

This is what we spent today making. Mum sent me the instructions for how to do it over a year ago but Daisy wasn't in the leat bit interested last year. Which means we're making progress!

Thursday 28 November

Two more from the photo shoot.

Friday 29 November

This is my favourite one. Peekaboo!

2013: Week 47

Saturday 16 November

The McPowseys came round for a belated birthday party. Daisy, who had had a late night last night, and Finn both bowed out of the party early - lightweights :). Finn had a little nap on the bed upstairs until it was time to go home...

Sunday 17 November

Today was the day we attempted to get Daisy to pose in a Christmas-themed outfit for this year's Christmas card. Jon suggested possibly not putting her through the ordeal of dressing up this year, but I soon vetoed that idea. However, without actually making her cry, I couldn't manage to persuade her to put on the elf outfit I'd bought for her. I tried the old reverse psychology and told her it was the elf outfit or the Sleeping Beauty dress, which she refused to wear when she went to Disneyland, and she chose Sleeping Beauty. Serves me right, I suppose. I took a few photos but resolved to try again another day and get her into something more Christmassy. Maybe I need to work on my bribery techniques...

Monday 18 November

This was taken yesterday, post-photo shoot. Note that having spent four months persuading her to put the Sleeping Beauty dress on, she then wouldn't take it off again :).

Tuesday 19 November

Momentous day today - first real haircut! She had a fringe cut in, in January, by a mobile hairdresser who cut it (badly) while Daisy was watching TV, but this was a proper trip to the hairdresser. She just had an inch taken off the ends and some layers through the back to encourage it to stay curly. Daisy wasn't entirely sure about it and I had to sit in front of her almost the whole time and give her cuddles, but she made it through the experience in one piece and she got a First Haircut certificate and a toy for being good, so she was happy :).

Wednesday 20 November

Result! We were skyping with Mum & Dad this lunchtime and I mentioned that I didn't know when I would get a chance to persuade Daisy that she loved the idea of posing for a Christmas card in an elf outfit. Mum asked Daisy if she would put the outfit on and she refused, but then said 'But I'll wear the Snow Fairy outfit', so I immediately ran upstairs and got the outfit before she changed her mind. Mum & Dad stayed on Skype while I dressed Daisy, moved furniture round and draped a duvet cover as a backdrop, and while we didn't take hundreds of photos, I did get this lovely one.

Thursday 21 November

Of course, as with the Sleeping Beauty dress, once she'd put the Snow Fairy outfit on, she didn't want to take it off, and spent a long time admiring herself in her mirror :).

Friday 22 November

Favourite positions from which to watch TV, number 438: lying in the laundry basket with Mummy's new scarf as a blanket.

2013: Week 46

Saturday 9 November

We finally have a driveway! No more parking in the alley and entering the house via the patio doors at the back!

Sunday 10 November

Mum, Dad and Jen have been here this weekend, and we all went to see A Midsummer Night's Dream in London yesterday. Today Jon did pizza for lunch - here are Mum, Dad and Jen being given a lesson on how to construct the perfect pizza :).

Monday 11 November

Mummy! Put the camera away!

Tuesday 12 November

We have a house number! Of course, we always had a house number, but the number brick was put into the gate pillar today, and the house is finished!

Wednesday 13 November

Possibly one of my favourite ever pictures of Daisy. Wearing my hat, which is why she looks like a train driver.

Thursday 14 November

Curtains at the window and everything! 

Friday 15 November

Daisy hosted her first sleepover this evening. She and Sophie were still awake at 21:30, and up again at 06:00, which made for a tantrum-filled next day, but she had a great time!

2013: Week 45

Saturday 2 November

Grinding up the spices for Mummy's curry.

Sunday 3 November

Our office, which currently houses all the leftover furniture we can't fit in any of the other rooms in the house. I'd love to buy some matching bookcases but we really have run out of money now, so it will have to wait until next year. And in the meantime, at least everything's not still in boxes.

Monday 4 November

The groundworkers levelled off the driveway today, ready for the tar and chip to be laid tomorrow. I've never got through tea bags as quickly as I have this past month, with anywhere from two to six people working on our landscaping :).

Tuesday 5 November

Daisy fashioned herself a place in which to watch cartoons on her iPad :).

Wednesday 6 November

Trying on Mummy's hat. Teamed with pyjamas and comforters, I think it's a really good look...

Thursday 7 November

Our front room, which in time will become the piano room, but in the meantime is somewhere to keep all our pictures, which haven't yet made their way to our new walls.

Friday 8 November

Cheeky chops :). She looks really grown up in this picture. Where did my baby go???