Quickie

I am almost scared to say it, but Little Miss has had a good night's sleep for two nights in a row now! Happy Days! Or: Nights, rather! Being woken up by the alarm is just strange!
Her Nutrition has always been important to me, as has the need for the intake of enough fluids. She will drink from her beaker but I always thought she still wasn't getting enough liquids in somehow. But since I bought her a Barbie Beaker with a straw last week, she can't get enough of it! She would drink water and milk all day long if given half a chance. And she looks so darn cute clutching the beaker in her little hand and manouvering her way around the straw!

I have to keep in very short today boys and girls, Mamma is a busy bee today! I have half a day in work today, then to the docs, then to the shops to pick up dinner for tomorrow (I have friends coming over tomorrow, a family of 5! From Wales) Then to pick up Little Miss. And I don't even want to THINK about the pile of dishes that is to be done tonight! Oh, the joy of being a domstic Goddess. You're tired just thinking of it? Me too....... me too.

Love and light!

Pictures Again! Finally!

Thank (the) God(dess) I was still able to get the photo's from the camera to the laptop. So, instead of writing a post today, I am going to cheat and just leave some pics. (Too Busy in work!)

Being a Dolly Mamma is hard work! It's amazing how she copies what we do with her!





Checking out the duckies at Dublin Zoo.



There were Rhino's too!



I LOVE her surprised face!



Caíthlyn artistic interpretations:



I really wished she would lose the dodi, how pretty would this have been without the dod:



Have to go work for my money now!

Great day to all!!

Poor little Miss

Last Friday, For the second time in 20 months, Darren and I went out on an honest-to-goodness DATE. Little Miss spent the night at Nannie's house and Mammie and Daddy got some Boy-Friend and Girl-Friend time. It was lovely. A meal at a Chinese restaurant and a few drinks in the pub have never been appreciated as much as they were last Friday night. I mean, there were COCKTAILS people! We have decided that it was disgraceful that this was our first "all-nighter" date this year and will do our very best to get another one in there before the end of 2005!

As much as we enjoyed our evening, night and morning, I couldn't wait to go get our Honey. The enthusiasm wasn't reciprocated though. If you hadn't noticed before: Little Miss ADORES her Nannie. A-DOR-ES her! She worships at the Nannie Shrine. Nannie is the best thing since Liga Milk Breaks.
Sure, our entrance was noted but there was no sign whatsoever of having missed us. More of "Oh, there you are" and she just went about her business again.
Of course, we should be proud that we have given our daughter the confidence in life to be able to spend the night away from Mam and Dad but at the end of the day I don't think we can really take the credit for it. Nannie is just THAT fantastic. I guess I could be hurt, but to be honest, I wasn't.
If I was 20 months old, and she was MY nannie, I'm pretty sure I would feel the same way. So this is the best of both worlds: Caíthlyn gets to spend the night at Nannie's house and Mammie and Daddy get a night out! Guilt Free!!

For the rest, Little Miss has not been feeling the Mae West (best). She is very tired during the day the last few days and has taken to napping again. Which results in her not going to sleep in the evening. Our total **&$%#^&&%%$ of a neighbor decided to have a party on Saturday night. Not just any party mind you. But a "I-WONDER-HOW-MANY-DECIBELS-MY-GLASSWARE-CAN TAKE" party. She had her sliding doors open and was having a BBQ in the garden. (Right under Little Miss' window. The f-ing Wagon didn't even have the courtesy to drop a note in the letter box saying she was having a party.
When I finally had her asleep in our bed, at the front of the house, the ditzy cow's mates were leaving through the front door. **sigh** I hope she get's lot's of itch and very short arms......
There are at least 5 Family's with kids on our row of houses (us included) and I can only imagine what their nights were like.

Of course Little Miss was knackered on Sunday and fell asleep in the car on the way home from the shopping centre. She was SO tired that we had no choice but to put her down in her cot. Her grandfather and his significant other came by for a visit. At around 15.15 hours I went to get Little Miss from her room because we were going for Sunday Dinner at Nannie's.
When I stepped in to her room she was wide-eyed and looking around as if she had just gotten a fright. She get's that sometimes so it didn't worry me too much. When I got her downstairs however, she just started bawling her eyes out. This intensely sad sob that just broke my heart. Her Grandfather and his significant other (don't know if I can name names) left and Caíthlyn clung to Darren like she was holding on for dear life.
She was trying to push something out, or at least that was the impression we got. Flashbacks to the time she was baby and she had problems with her bowels. The tears and the screams. That feeling of helplessness. It was so hard not to be able to do anything for her, she just wanted her Daddy. Darren is fantastic in situations like that. He will try everything until he finds something that works. He will run the tap and let her look at the water. Look out the window at the trains coming by, go upstairs and play on the bed. By the time they came back down the stairs she was chanting "Nannniiieeee, where ARE YOUOUOUOU??" and she ran in to me, grabbed me by the hand and led me to the front door. "Time to go to Nannie's house"

She had a very bad night again last night. I hope that whatever it is, goes away soon. I want my Sweetheart to be Happy and Healthy again soon!

Growing Up

Little Miss no longer sits in her highchair. One day she just made it clear that she was going to sit at the table like a big girl or she wasn't going to have dinner at all. So, now we have our bowl of cheerios at the bistro table in our kitchen.
I will be sitting across from her, watching her maneuver a spoonful of the "Cheery O's" in to her mouth and drinking from her "Cuppa Tea" (which is actually a beaker of Milk which she insists on calling her "Cuppa Tea") She gets a normal cup at breakfast, which she attempts to drink like she sees her Mammie and Daddy drink theirs. She's trying to look ever so nonchalant. This nonchalance has been responsible for a spillage or two but she has to learn somewhere. And this is why (the) God(dess) invented kitchen towels!
When we are sitting there like that I just swell up with pride at my gorgeous little girl. (Beware of oncoming cliché) She is getting so big, so fast! She will be 2 years old in December and that thought just boggles my mind!

Personally, I found the first 7/8 months rather tough. People kept telling me to enjoy, because "they are only so little for a such a short time" And you know what? They were right! When I look at my gorgeous daughter it's so hard to believe that that is the same psychic baby that KNEW when your head hit your pillow, even when she couldn't see you from her bed. That used to sleep on Darren's chest, with himself propped up with a pillow at his back just so we all could get some kip.
I remember waking up and seeing them next to me, sleeping like that. I will never forget that image. Just bursting with love right there!

And getting to know her, and seeing her grow and develop is nothing short of amazing. I am seeing her personality develop and recognizing parts of myself in there. She has my temper (not so great, I have a temper that would make a grown man cry....... I try to work on it.....). She also LOVES to sing. When she is playing by herself, you can hear her singing the "A-B-C Song" (I never shut the hell up! Everything from "Tonic" to "Dora the Explorer" gets belted out!)
I am hoping she will also get some of Darren's Saint like patience and musical talent. Also, if she could be as level-headed as her Daddy that would be great. I already know she is as loving as he is.

I feel we might be entering a bit of a shy stage as well though. A very good friend of mine came to visit with a mate. (I hope they come back soon, I had a lively time with them. Love Debby to bits and think Carolien is dead-cool too) When Little Miss saw them, she turned all shy! I was well surprised! But, this is another phase that they apparently are all meant to go through. Then again, it also may have been a "once off"
My parents are due a visit one of these months (they won't have seen her for a year at that stage, they won't know what hit them when they see her. :-) ) I am very curious to see how she reacts to them.



Love always.

PS: Oh, please don't mind the spelling/grammar mistakes in yesterday's and today's posts. Am SO tired I can hardly see straight.

Our holidays (Sans pictures... :-( )

My Holiers. ( Holiday's for all ye Non-Oirish)

Initially Darren was meant to have holidays for a week during my two week holiday. He has started a new job however and so it was just Little Miss and I.
I had been looking forward to some quality time as a family and was disappointed when those plans fell through. But, no use dwelling on what can not be. Darren would SO have been with us if he could!

I decided that these 2.5 weeks would be the ideal opportunity to introduce a few new things in Little Miss' life. The list consisted of the following:

Potty Training
Cutting out the soother
No more non-spill cup

Ambitious or what? I figured that this way at least it was just ME that had to deal with the consequences/side-effects.

The soother had been doing my head in for a while. The idea of having my daughter doing a Maggie Simpson at 2 or 3 years old was making my skin crawl!
I figured that "Cold Turkey" would be the best approach. So, from one day to the next, the soother was "gone"
Little Miss has The Cutest phrase. When she is looking for something, she will tilt her head to the side, raise her hands next to her head and ask:
(for instance) " Mammmiiieeee, where aaaaarrreee youououou?? : It's just toooo sweet!
When she started looking for her soother however, it nearly broke my heart! She was walking from the kitchen to the sitting room all the while calling
out:" Doooooodi (soother) where aaaaarrreee youououou??
At this stage, she could be distracted however. We went to the beach and had our lunch at the seaside. It was lovely. Right up to the walk home...... She was tired, she was cranky and she WANTED HER DODI! It was so hot, and she was SO LOUD and still I didn't give in.
When we got home, she tripped and fell. Normally this would not phase her at all, she is well used to falling over, but for some reason this one brought on the sobs!
The tear streaked face and the little arms around my neck. The shuddering breaths...... Those big blue eyes, shiny with tears, she tilts her head to the side and asks "Dodi?"
People, I am THIS close to crying just thinking about it........
To cut a long story short, we managed to keep the dodi at bay for a week (except at bed-time) but had to give in.
It had some fabulous benefits to be dodi-less. For instance, her speech has come on leaps and bounds! She articulates much better and has discovered that this talking thing is a great way of conveying your wishes! I am simply amazed at her progress. The flipside however was that I think she is cutting her incisors too (ze krijgt haar hoektandjes) and the combination of that and not having her dodi was just too much for her. She was a completely different child. She got these really bad cranky moods and would shout "I don't wannnnaaaaaa" at everything! Even things she would jump at normally!
So, the executive decision was made to phase the dodi out. She will only get it when she is really tired and at bedtime. So no more just walking around for hours with the thing in her mouth. I am sorry that Cold Turkey didn't work but am delighted to have my happy and cheery daughter back. (Even though the "I don't wannnnaaaaaa" seems to be sticking around a bit)

The second week was a lot easier, what with the dodi being available again and all.
However, we decided to put the potty training on the back burner for a bit.
When you become a parent, all privacy is out the window. Even the most shy person will start going to the toilet in under 15 seconds with the door wide open to keep an eye/ear on the Little Munchkin. Caíthlyn finds this extremely interesting! So much so that she took her dolly and sat her down on the lid of the toilet, flushed the toilet, pretended to wash the dolly's hands and then dry them on the towel! I couldn't believe my eyes! She also indicates when she has a dirty nappy (diaper) and so we though the time had arrived for Potty Training. Even went to the big toy store and got her a potty that's called " A Throne of their Own" ( I know.......) which makes a music when they sit down and there's a little fanfare when they "do the business".
However, after the whole dodi debacle, I decided I wanted to have my second week of holidays' stress free and fund. Also, I feel she might just be a little bit to young still. Maybe in a about two months. Meanwhile, the potty stays in the downstairs toilet where it can greet me with a royal tune (it's only right) every time I step passed it!

Right, will leave ye for now. Have lots more to tell but will ease you all back in to it!

Love always!

She's Baaaahhaacckk!!

Yes, I know, unbelievable, she's back!

Let me explain myself. For the past 2.5 weeks I have been enjoying domestic Goddess bliss. I was off work and had a lovely holiday spending oodles of quality time with Little Miss.
The only "snag" was that our lap-top has taken ill again, as has the camera. Therefore, Nynke Home = No Blog Updates! :-(

My missions for today are as follows:

*Get up to date in work ( I know, I am sickeningly responsible! At the mo I am just waiting for a system to be updated, hence the quickie update)
* Write a proper blog entry on my holiday and the Adventures of Little Miss
* Trick the person in Germany who sold me our camera into giving me a lock of his hair so I can make a voodoo doll and curse his ass properly! (Only kidding......just.....)

So, hang in there boys and girls. I will be back wih a proper little something something soon!

Love,

Nynke