What you talkin' about Willis?

Alice has started pulling this face when we're eating at the dinner table. Not quite sure which parent she's mimicking!!! She's started pulling funny faces to try and make us laugh, rather than us pulling ridiculous faces to make her laugh. The frown can go a lot deeper than this. It did remind me of the 70s programme Diff'rent Strokes where Arnold used to shout this at his brother and pull a similar face.

She looks really angry, but she's not at all, because two seconds later she's laughing and smiling.

This is more like the Alice we know and love.

Nana and Grandpa's visit

Nana and Grandpa (Stuart's parents) came to visit Alice for a few days this week. She really enjoyed spending time with them getting to know them all over again. That's the problem with a wee person, they forget easily and relationships have to be built up with each visit. Not be long though, until she does remember who they are. We were given a wee photo album by a friend of Ian's (Stuart's dad) in which to put photos of family members she doesn't see that often. So hopefully that'll help.

We took Alice swimming for the first time this week. She wasn't too sure initially, but we put her in a wee inflatable seat where her legs could dangle out the bottom and within a few minutes she seemed to enjoy it. The pool was great because it has communal changing rooms (with cubicles obviously), but it means that when we take her swimming again we can both be dealing with her while one of has a shower etc, rather in different changing rooms. Really great idea.

We went to Bedlington Country Park, not that great, don't think we'll go back but good for a quick stroll. However, we did all get bitten (apart from Alice thankfully), just not much there. This is Daddy keeping a tight hold of Alice close to the river.

Grandpa carrying Alice over a wee bridge. Always wearing blue, I think it's Arsenal he supports, or is that Spurs? I can never remember.

We had another trip to Whitehouse Farm to see the "gags" as Alice calls pigs. Of course it's more for Daddy to see the "gags" rather than Alice. She did enjoy being on this tractor and beeping the horn.
When we got back from the farm we got the bubble machine out. Not sure Nana was overly impressed by how sticky the bubbles were.
Alice enjoying chasing and catching the bubbles.
Really great to see them and for Alice to get to know them more, see you in 5 weeks again!!

Mr Pig and Headwalking

Stuart was putting the washing out one day and Alice was being very "helpful" in trying to put them on the airer too. Well actually pull them off and hand them back to Stuart to put them back on again.
The tadpoles are now becoming froglets. Some have no tails and some have very small tails and some a bit longer like this. Pauline nearly mowed over one the other day, but she managed to avert a near disaster.




This pig does not belong to Alice it was bought for Stuart quite a few years ago. However, Alice really enjoys playing with him and today was even giving him a cuddle. Maybe she's going to be a puppeteer. Also this seems to be a progression from the headstands that she does. She bends over like this to get up from when she's sitting on the floor, but she decided to go for a "walk" like this instead.

Also it has been a lot of fun catching up with old friends this past week. If you want to see some very old photos of Pauline then go to Laura's blog. Hope you all enjoy reunion.

Remember me, Remember me.

A few of us from Belfast have been on a friend's blog remembering the great times we had as teenagers. People are coming out from the woodwork left, right and centre. It's been brilliant to remember those days. I have even found my diaries from 1984/85 and have been posting them on the blog. If you want to know what we got up to then go to Laura's blog. It might not make you laugh, but it certainly has been giving us a lot of entertainment this week. There are even some photos from those days.

Clayton Media

Our church, Jesmond Parish Church has set up an on-line Christian channel. Zoe Earnshaw has done a Masters degree in Media Studies and wanted to use it to create a media channel with Christian ethics. She is relying completely on donations to ensure the future of the channel. If you are interested in what goes on at our church the evening services are filmed every week and so you can catch some of the singing and the sermons. The website is:

http://www.clayton.tv

There are also other programmes to view, interviews and talks from around the world.

Nanny's visit

Pauline's mum came over this week for a visit to catch up with grandchild number 7. Alice enjoyed playing with the bubbles, sitting on Nanny's knee reading stories, doing "horsey horsey", playing football (Nanny was very impressed with Alice's dribbling skills, the ball that is not because she's teething) and generally being doted on.
We also took another trip to Alnwick Gardens. Pauline's mum generally comes over at Christmas when it's dark by about 3pm. So it was a treat to show Nanny some of the beauties this part of the country has to offer. We took a drive through Northumberland to keep Alice asleep and also show Nanny some of the stunning scenery.
Nanny, Pauline and Alice posing for a family portrait at Alnwick Gardens.
We also got Alice this wee kitchen. She follows Pauline around wanting up when she's trying to cook. So we thought getting this kitchen might help. However, Alice has had Nanny to entertain her this week, so we'll see how she goes with it next week. We got it through Freecycle. Don't know if you've heard of it, it's online and is all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills. It's free to join up and you join a group in your local area. I was thinking about buying Alice a wee kitchen and then this came up and snapped it up. We also got rid of her old car seat and baby bath. You can't sell car seats on, in case they've been in a crash, so this was ideal. The car seat was as good as new and so it seemed a shame to just throw it in the dump. Really glad someone can use it instead.

We bought her this wee bubble machine. It was a bit windy when we used it, but she really enjoyed chasing the bubbles around and trying to burst them. No doubt much fun will be had on warm sunny days in the garden chasing bubbles.

Alice's corner

Alice spends a lot of her day in this corner. At the end of the day if we can't find a book or one of her blocks, it's generally behind the sofa, down in the corner or under the sofa. The corner is between the sofa and the window in the back room. She also hides behind the curtains or plays hide and seek, where she crawls down the side of the sofa and then crawls out and one of us shouts "boo" or "hiya". A good hidey hole.

We went to a farm on Monday and Alice really enjoyed looking at all the animals, especially the pigs. Then on Tuesday (as Stuart had a privilege day; civil servants get two extra bank holiday days a year) we went up to Alnwick (pronounced Annick) Gardens. Just beautiful, always a favourite of ours. This was Alice's first trip up. It's about a 45 min drive north of us and we put on her music CD and it kept her quiet the whole way up. She really enjoyed walking around the gardens at the top, looking at the water features (which are fab) and doing the maze. We didn't have time for the tree house or the woodland walk. Next time. Picture of Alice and Stuart looking at the pigs at the farm.

Beach and Football

Alice has been playing with this ball for months, normally crawling around chasing after it or kicking it while we hold her hands. Today she kicked the ball around the room for the first time on her own. This will please her Papa (Pauline's dad) who used to be a professional footballer and hoping that there'll be another one in the family at some point. You never know, Alice could play for England or Northern Ireland one day (actually she could also play for Scotland, depending on how far back in the family tree you need to go to prove nationality; Pauline's mum).

We also had a constitutional on the beach today. Alice enjoys walking along the beach and getting the sand in her hands (and well everywhere). It's a good job though, given we live a 10 min walk from this beach, she'll spend a lot of her childhood here. She likes to keep a bit of sand in her hands for the pram ride home, making sure she's not too hungry for dinner.

Alice is officially a toddler!!!

Yes, Alice is now officially a toddler. Everyone keeps saying "oh now the trouble starts". I've gotta say that nothing much has changed, because she could've got a gold medal in the 100 metre crawl no problem. She still goes to the same places she's not allowed and we are still telling her not to.

Yesterday after the morning service at church, Alice was walking up the aisle and Stuart was following her and when they reached the top one of our ministers said to Stuart, "one day Stuart, you'll be walking her up the aisle for real". Even funnier, was that Peter McKelvey (who is 2 and a half) was walking her back down the aisle, holding her hand. A sign of the future? Who knows. It did make, Stuart, Nina (Peter's mum) and me all laugh, a lot. Alice McKelvey? It does have a certain ring to it.

In the garden

We actually had some sun last week in the North East. Slapped the factor 50 on Alice and we played in the garden. This was pre de-heading all the dandelions on the lawn and pre Stuart mowing it at the weekend. We had a wander round the garden looking at all the different plants and looking at Daddy's pig, or "aggie" as Alice calls them. It is quite funny because dogs, pigs and bags are all either "aggie" or "gaggie". So when we hear her calling "aggie" we look around for the dog and 9 times out of 10 there'll be one across the street or half way down the road.





On Sunday morning, the fog was as thick as champ. We drove 9 miles west into Newcastle and went to church and it was beautifully sunny. We decided we would go to the beach after Alice's nap. Drove the 9 miles east again to the coast and the fog was still as thick as champ. It brightened up a bit, so we decided to take Alice to the park at the end of our street for the first time, now that she is wearing proper shoes. By the time she had her snack, her nappy changed, got her coat and shoes on and into the pram, the fog rolled back in again. So we went to the park anyway, it was freezing, but Alice had a go on the swing, enjoyed it for all of 20 seconds and wanted back out again. So we came home to play in the warm with a hot cup of tea (that's Stuart and me not Alice!!). It has remained foggy ever since, apart from the 4 seconds we had yesterday. The clouds have actually parted as I'm writing this.

I HATE PINK!!!!!!

Here's why. Just because she doesn't wear pink doesn't mean I don't want her to be feminine or have girls' things, I think people misunderstand and think I want to turn her into some kind of tom-boy or goth. I don't at all, I just think the colour is insipid and boring and I would rather have her in a wider range of colours than one. The clothes shops are getting better at providing a variety of different colours. But when you want to buy toys for girls, it is pink all the way, equally disgusting and lazy on the manufacturers part is the only blue option for boys. If you go to the Early Learning Centre website, it is blue and green for boys and pink for girls. Most clothes shops selling babies' clothes have pale blue for boys and pink for girls. Most people want more variety than that. At least the parents of little boys I have spoken to, get fed up too with the lack of choice. This doesn't seem to be as much of a problem in the US, as the people I have asked about it tell me there is certainly more choice and not the same level of princess etc. stuff. One girl told me about logos on her daughter's bibs (for a 3 month old) saying "flirt", "hot babe" on them. They were in a pack and bought as a present. I would've sent them back to the manufacturer asking them why they think it's appropriate to sexualise a baby.

If you read this article which was in The Guardian the day before Alice's 1st birthday you will understand more why I feel so strongly about it and hopefully understand my position. This isn't an issue for me, I just don't buy pink. So I'm really hoping that the lazy designers are going to be sacked soon and they'll get people in with a bit more imagination than, to be a girl you must love fairies that are pink. So that by the time Alice wants to buy her own clothes she will love all colours and want to wear a variety and not feel hoodwinked by huge multi-million pound corporations. Also, it will be up to her what she wants to wear, within reason and decency.

http://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk/family/story/0,,2268921,00.html

Bunny, new shoes and walking

As you can see we have a wee visitor in the garden. The bunny rabbit visited for a few days a couple of weeks ago. Alice was quite excited to see it hopping around the garden. Haven't seen it for about a week or so. We had one in the garden a few years ago. There's a bowling green at the top of our street and that's where all the rabbits hang out.


Also with Alice actually choosing to walk around the place now, she has her first pair of proper shoes. She seems quite taken with them and likes the noise they make on the kitchen tiles.

The video of Alice walking was taken yesterday, pre new shoes. Her tongue hangs out of her mouth permanently. She now has 6 teeth and another one on the way any day.