Life Lessons

I know, the frequency of logs has lowered. Jut remember folks, it's Quality not Quantity! :-)

Anyhoe, as promised it the previous blog (written when dinosaurs still roamed the world....) I shall tell you about the Trip to the Petting Zoo (FUN!) and the Tumble Out The Back Door (NOT SO FUN....)

About a 15 Minute drive from our house there is a Mansion that has a lovely playground and traditional animal farm on it's grounds. We had taken Little Miss there before when she was only 9 Months old but, as with Easter, this was the first time she really grasped the concept.
The stroller came with but was soon used only as a carrier device for bags and camera's as Little Miss had found freedom and was not giving it up! No way Sir! She was literally running with it!
Amazed at HUGE pigs (Who knew Babe could mutate in to that kind of savage size??? City-Girl Me?) and in awe of equally impressive sized sheep (I swear, the "Baaaa" out of one of 'em made me jump a mile!). Also, insane amounts of cuteness in the form of baby goats (kids?) and chicks. She would sit down on her hunkers and have a good close look at the birds and ducks. It's a cliché but you really DO see the world in a new way when you see your child discover it.
The freedom of running around and being able to see whatever she wanted, twice or even THREE times if she felt like it, was agreeing with her! It was absolutely wonderful to see her having so much fun! It will definitely be repeated!

Having a closer look at the birdies



Howdy Chickens!






On her hunkers, EADIBLE!



Walkies with the best Da in the world!



We have a Back-Garden (as apposed to the parking spot we had in our previous accommodation!) whose grass was in dire need of a good trim! Darren decided to tackle it one weekend. The smell of freshly cut grass was abundant, the sun was shining, Little Miss was pushing her brand new baby-stroller and doll around the garden and all was well with the world.



Until IT happened. Little Miss's First Tumble and Facial Scrape! :-(
There are sliding doors and a bit of a step down to the garden. Caíthlyn is usually SO careful stepping down things. She will hold on to the door frame and then very carefully venture out one foot until she finds a secure hold and then proceed. But this time, she tumbled out the door, face first onto the unforgiving cement..... The Poor Little Mite was trembling with the shock, and truth be told so was I. She was swepped up in her Daddy's arms and sobbed.
I know, compared to all the things that happen in the world, a tumble and scrape is not a big deal but in the Little Universe that is our family unit it was quite the unpleasant experience! The scrape has healed however and the lesson has been learned.

Little Miss has developed a penchant for screaming and hitting. When she wants something, she cranks up the auld decibels and let's rip. Also, she has decided that slapping goes with screaming. Which is disturbing as we do neither to/with her. ( And never WOULD either!) It with shatter your eardrums! My way to (attempt to) handle it, is to ignore it. I feel that getting in to a screaming match with a 17 month old is in no way shape or form productive.
When she slaps, I will grab her hands and put them in her lap and that's it.
One particularly bad attack of the screams and slaps happened when I was trying to change her nappy. I had her on her changing mat and she was giving it socks! Kicking and slapping. She laid in to my elbow. I just looked at her and kept on going (I am convinced that this is a phase and will pass. She doesn't do it to kids and other people and should be over this soon). All of a sudden she must have realized she was taking things WAAAAAY to far because out of the blue, she pulled my arm to her and gave me a kiss on the elbow and "rubbed it better". Bless her.



EVERYTHING we do has some kind of educational twist to it. Singing songs, reading books, at this age: playing is learning. And she loves it. She points at various body parts when prompted to. (You have never heard the words "Toes" or "Shoes" spoken with such extreme cuteness!) and will tell you exactly what this or that animal says. We also incorporate the Alphabet in daily activities. Darren will say "A" and then Caíthlyn will say "A" but the combo of Animal Sounds and the Alphabet lead to the following exchange between father and daughter:

Daddy: "A"
Caíthlyn "A"
Daddy: "B"
Caíthlyn "Bzzzzzzzzzz" Yup, that's what the Bee says......

You gotta love the way that little brain works!