Bird Girl of Hackney

Aimee loves the outdoors so much, so when finally a bit of Sun came out this weekend, we couldn;t resist the opportunity to have some fun. But Aimee was on her own mission. She tried to chase down every pigeon she could find. 'BIRDIES' she screams at full voice, scattering flocks of feeding pigeons.

The picture here is of Aimee in mid-air as Daddy tries a dangerous and stupid throw-baby-in-the-air trick. But she loves the feeling of flying and begs for me to do more...but my energy can only last so long so I stop after one or two throws.

A place to sit and work

This might surprise some folks, but Cat and I don't buy loads of things for Aimee on a whim. Each purchase is discussed in depth and deliberated in detail over the pros and cons. We pour over the research, we imagine if it has a use or long term value and then...we go and buy it anyway.

The latest example is the table and chair as pictured above. On paper, a needless purchase as she could easily and quite happily do her 'creative' expression sitting on the floor. She also seems to be perfectly happy eating from her normal high chair. But the sheer joy and happiness that Aimee shows when she uses her new table set confirms that this was a wise purchase.

Speaking of purchases. Seems like our Mothercare panic buying early days have actually bee put to good use, as Aimee has used at some point all the baby things we have bought, but also Cat has passed on these various items to her friends with new babies, who in turn will pass them back to us when our new little critter arrives.

My next purchase, which I will have to wait until we move in to our new house, is to get Aimee a mini-truck or car that she can wheel around in. She absoltely adores these things, even if reverse gear is her only direction!

A moment alone

Aimee spent her first weekend apart from us as we decided we needed a break and spent 2 days in Old Amersham. We departed Cat's parents, who kindly offered babysitting duties, I would love to say Aimee threw a tantrum and begged for us to return, but NO, she was quite happy tottering around the house, playing on her new motor truck and generally unaware that Mummy and Daddy were absent. Pah! So much for clingyness.
But it wasn't too hard on us either as during our weekend break, we only talked about Aimee, ooh, about 50 percent of the time, no, make that 60 percent..honest.
And we only called to check on her about 5 times, maybe 6...
Towards the end, we almost forgot what having Aimee around 24/7 was like.
Upon our return, one look at my in-laws tired faces quickly reminded us of how exhausting she can be.

But we had a great time alone, our first for 18 months, and maybe our last - before the newborn comes along.

Animal Farm

Aimee has recently taken to making animal noises. At first it just sounded like a random series of whines and caws, but when I read a book to her, I realised she was 'mooing' like a cow, followed by 'meoooowing'like a cat. Other noises she is getting to grips with include the oink of the pig, cackle of the cockatoo and quack of a duck. Aimee doesn't bother with the Baa of a sheep or neigh of a horse, but several thousand renditions of Old MacDonald may eventually change that!

Back teeth are coming through with a veangence. Poor Aimee, it must be awful.

Aimee self portrait

Justice - Aimee style

Aimee dismembers the croc. Gulp!

Aimee vids

Some recent vids of Aimee antics to raise a smile:

The devil wears a pin striped suit

We found a house. We made an offer. Offer accepted. Bribe money, sorry, er deposit money paid. Got gazumped (Grrrrrrr!), New offer accepted, who knows what next. A shifty profession estate agencing. Anyway, here are some pics of the place. Cross fingers, we may move in come August...

Bumbo

The only cure for bad nappy rash is a bare bottom. But having to run around chasing her in case she did a wee or poo (she did both) with a bunch of tissues is hard work!
Still, I think it seems a natural and liberating experience for Aimee, I guess in most parts of the world, a semi or totally naked toddler running around the home is quite normal.

Any old iron...

Wowee Zowee what a day! My head is still spinning with all the events of today.
First off, I have to prepare for my BJJ seminar but get everyone out the flat by 10am since the agent is showing 11 people around one after another. Then after my BJJ seminar we all have to shoot off to Borehamwood to view 6 properties. In the midst of all this, my agent calls me to say I've had three offers, the best one being a good deal higher than asking price. Then we have Aimee, who has been brilliant all day, destroy the last place we visit. She took a fancy to all this chap's remote controls on the coffee table and starts using them as hammers, to her amusement and his thinly disguised horror.
So anyway, we finally end up home with the strange dual emotions of feeling elated that we have a buyer for our flat, but huge despondence that the 6 houses we visit are not really inspiring - a couple bordering on delapidation. My mind races to a worst case scenario of me Cat and Aimee, standing by a roadside with suitcases stuffed with the proceeds of our flat sale, but no home to go to!
But then, I came across this: http://www.bryant.co.uk/grandunionvillage/index.htm
Northolt is kind of like the west-side version of Hackney. Maybe less bohemian. But the Grand Union Canal goes from east to west, we could take a barge and float to our old home if we moved to GUV. I originally did not like the idea of a new-build. But having seen a lot of rubbish 'old-build', it is very quickly becoming an attractive proposition. We shall see tomorrow.
For now...sleep.

Baby No.2 - 12 week scan

Bambino No2 not so shy today. He/she is lying on their back, enjoying the fine weather obviously. The scan shows that nuchal fold appears normal and everything else they test for at this stage seems AOK. Say hello.

Well, the our flat hit the market today and already we have shown 4 people around. The agents say there are a dozen waiting so this week could be quite manic. Here is the property as listed on the estate agent.
Let's hope everything goes to plan!

Aimee in the park

Nice summer weather in April, time to unleash the Aimee in the park. She loves to approach all the sunbathers and smile at them. Purely of course to get an Ahhhh reaction.

Uh-oh

The pending new arrival and a time to think things over the Easter break has given Cat and I a new drive to sell up and move to a bigger home. We like Borehamwood, but of course it is very pricey, as is a lot of NW London-M25 borders. The estate agent estimate on our humble Hackney flat has given us hope that our family house is within reach so we’ve decided to go for it. If we can’t find a buyer or a new home by summer, we’ll put the plans on hold until after the birth. I hate moving, but our flat is now just too small.
Easter was also a great time for Aimee. We went to visit my Mum’s old pal Esther and her family – daughter Audrey and granddaughters Alyssa (7) and Emily (3). It was almost like looking at an imagined future for us – seeing how much fun (and hard work still) It is to be with slightly older children. Aimee loved it. She followed the older children around the house and garden like a hyperactive duckling. I of course played at being children’s entertainer and nearly broke my back whizzing the two older kids around in the air playing ‘flying’ games. One thing I noticed with older kids – you need earplugs, because they are VERY VERY loud.
This morning I half sleepily offered Aimee her rice crispies and I dropped the entire bowl and milk on the kitchen floor. Aimee stood there staring at the mess. Then, with perfect timing, exclaimed: uh-oh!
It made me smile and stopped me getting into a strop over spilt milk.

Looke-Likey Part2

Aimee and Mummy both taking 40 winks at the same time.

Aimee likes Marmite. She took a piece from Cat and tried it. I hate Marmite, but
Aimee has obviously inherited her Mum's fondness for the black stuff. Yuk!

Driving miss Aimee

There is something wrong in this picture. Can you spot it? Yes, Aimee is not wearing her seatbelt, thereby breaking the law. Honestly, kids these days.

Speaking of which, a news report out today claims that toddlers who spend 35 hours or more in nurseries end up aggressive and poorly behaved.

Immediately my mind confjures up a future where my hoodie daughter stands around on street corners, gobbing spit and menacing passers by. Well, it is a sad fact of life that for parents like me and Cat, we can’t afford to not work. So Aimee ends up four days a week (35 hours exactly) in the nursery. But the headlines don’t mention the little reported add-on – that a well run nursery that has a structured day and enough room for the kids will generally have far less behavioural problems, regardless of the hours. And we think that our nursery satisfies these criteria. Nursery kids are also more sociable and learn new skills faster than stay-at-homes.
Sure, there have been incidents. The cheek biting thing obviously stands out. But 99 percent of the time, Aimee is a happy, energetic, curious and playful. I think that is pretty good for a 15 month-old.

A new thing, Aimee has been voluntarily hugging me and cuddling me cheek to cheek as I lift her up. It's very cute. Maybe I can capture it on photo. She is also addicted to In the Night Garden, the new TV show from the makers of Tellytubbies. She will go up to the TV and demand very vocally that we put on the DVD. IT's a bit disconcerting and I wonder if Aimee's brains are turning to mush from excess TV exposure.