Introducing the North East Stomper

Some of you will know that Stuart's dad (Ian) plays in a jazz band and has done so for many years. The other day when Stuart was clearing out some of his stuff (I know, that alone is a miracle) he found one of his harmonicas. So he gave it to Alice and just let her play about with it. Within about a minute she sucking and blowing to play it (without us telling her). The harmonica is an amazing instrument because you make the notes by sucking and blowing. Then she started using her tongue to separate the notes too. Then started stomping (apparently this is a prerequisite for playing jazz) around the place as she was playing and then just wiggled it up and down whilst playing. I caught most of it on video. So enjoy Alice's first foray into the world of harmonica playing. She's a natural!!!!

Couple of funny Alice stories

Yesterday when I got home from Northern Ireland I was showing Alice a photo of me when I was about 5. I asked her who it was and she kept saying she didn't know. So we asked was it Daddy, no. Was it Mummy, yes. So later on we were in the chippy having Bank Holiday fish and chips (Alice's first chippy chips!!). Stuart showed her the back of a £20 note and asked her who the picture was of. "Mummy". Everyone in the chippy just burst out laughing!!!

Some of you will know that Stuart's dad (Ian) was stuck in New Orleans during the ash cloud crisis. We kept telling Alice that Grandpa was stuck in New Orleans, America because the planes weren't allowed to fly. Last night as she was going to bed I asked her who she wanted to pray for. She said Nana, Grandpa and Nanny. I was about to pray and she started praying instead. She said "thank you God for Grandpa being home from New Lions". "Thank you God for the lions". I had to try very hard not to laugh. So cute.

Budding Photographer.

As you may know Alice got a digital camera for her birthday. It's a wee lego one and looks like it's made out of lego. The quality of the pictures aren't great, but she really enjoys using it and taking pictures. She is starting to realise that you need to hold it still when taking a picture. The first photograph is of one of her stuffed toys. Kank, the Kangaroo. She did name the kangaroo and the little joey is called Kong.

A very flattering picture of Stuart eating a scone!!!

Alice's best friend Fraser Bear.

Alice took this picture of her Nanny (Pauline's mum)!!!

She took this one of herself too. The moustache is milk!!!

This is a door at the top garden at Alnwick (pronounced Annick) Gardens.

A fountain at Alnwick Gardens.

Some ducks at Washington Wetlands Centre.

I think you can see that she is getting better at taking a picture and trying to get what she wants into it.

Alice is three!!!!!

Stuart has put together a video of everything Alice has done for her third birthday. It's on You tube, because the video quality is much better. So you can find it there. It is 8 mins long.

On Sat 27th Alice had a party for 4 of her friends. They all made an Easter card of a chick and all seemed to really enjoy sticking it all together. We then had cake, ice cream and jelly. Alice said the best part about her birthday was the cake.

If only she knew how tricky it was to bake. I hired the number 3 tin, which did not have base to it. So it took me half an hour just to line the thing and it was being held together with clothes pegs in order to create a seal around the inside so no cake would leak out. Anyway, it turned out OK and Alice was really pleased with it. It was edible and in the shape of a 3, so I was happy.

Then we had a bit of a singing session, which I think they all enjoyed, I think the mums enjoyed it more though. Accompanied by Stuart on guitar. Then they all went off and emptied Alice's toy box and just played with her toys. It is really funny watching a bunch of 2/3 year olds playing. They just don't play together, but play around each other, so they were all doing their own thing and not actually interacting at all. Apparently around 4 is when that changes.

Also Alice had a special visitor for her birthday, Nanny (Pauline's mum). She was really pleased to have her Nanny visiting and when she was leaving Alice said she'd really enjoyed her visiting and that she wouldn't have a friend in the house any more!!!!

On Alice's birthday itself, much fun was had at a small farm in Newcastle. She really enjoyed seeing all the animals. Then it was off to Seven Stories. If you've been on the blog before you'll remember (or not as the case may be) that she met Maisy (the mouse) there last year. It is an interactive place about books, so there is a craft section in the basement and then they have various exhibitions on too, which change every now and again. I think there's a Walker Books exhibition on soon (Maisy, We're going on a bear hunt etc), so we may be going back for that. It really is a brilliant place and she really enjoyed it. Then it was home to open the presents. She got a digital camera from us and she has taken some quite good pictures with it. So at some point will have to upload them to the computer and then put some on here.

Hope you enjoy watching the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLAY_Jr7bgo

Chores

Alice and I made some play dough about a month ago. She sat on my "big" chair, while I had to sit on her wee chair!!! She decided that she needed to bake the play dough in her oven.


Alice frequently has tea parties, normally she has a whole host of her "best friends" in a circle on the floor.

As you will know (if you follow the blog) Fraser bear is, of course, her bestest friend.

Alice can now get into her car seat on her own (can't strap herself in, thankfully), however, she did need to stand on the back seat beside her car seat and then climb in. She did this whether her shoes were muddy or not. So it was time we gave the car a good clean. Alice really enjoyed it, particularly when it came to squeezing the water over Stuart and me.

There are websites out there to teach children how to use a mouse on the computer. You start very basically and just learn to move the mouse onto things. Then moving the mouse and clicking etc. Alice enjoyed playing this game and there were different varieties of it too. We have set up a different area of the computer for Alice. So when she clicks on things, she can't change any settings or lose photographs etc. Of course, now that she knows how to use the mouse, I watched her change user the other week!!!! So, I think the next stage is putting a password on ours, so she can't get into it. Really didn't think we would have to do that this early!!!!!!

THE engagement ring

Told you it was tacky (see previous post). It looks gold there, but was "silver", cost about £1. Honestly my friend's face was a picture when she thought this was the real one.

Also the video of Alice singing, most of you will recognise Twinkle Twinkle, but some of you may not know Mousey Brown. It's a really sweet and yet odd song about a mouse climbing to the top of a candlestick and being stuck there, he calls for his grandma to help, but she's in town (??!!!!), so he curls into a little ball and rolls right down. I now have her saying this as my mobile's ring tone!!!

10 years ago today!!!!

Ten years ago Stuart and I went on a holiday to the Lake District, our first holiday together as a couple, just the two of us. On the 28th Feb 2000 he proposed to me whilst standing at a vantage point in the Lake District overlooking Basenthwaite Lake. We then went into Keswick where we bought the ring. It was too big and so had to send it away to be re-sized. So for the first month I had a wee cheapy ring from a tacky gift shop. When we got home I was showing my housemate the ring and for a split moment she believed the ring with the red heart in the middle was the real thing!!! Her face was a picture, she was trying so hard to look pleased for us, but was actually disgusted with the tackiness of the ring. The relief on her face was also a picture when I admitted the real one had to be sent away. Also I think Stuart chose that date to propose because it was a leap year and he was worried I was going to propose the next day. He didn't know that I would never have proposed to him in a million years (the bloke's job). Ha ha my plan worked!!! The photograph was taken straight afterwards by a kind lady passing by.

At the end of January we woke up to about 6-7 inches of snow. Stuart tried to buy a sledge from the shop round the corner which a week earlier I knew had loads of them. They were sold out by lunch time!!! We now have one and it probably won't snow for about another 6 years!!!

Alice recently got her blocks back out again and now makes some very impressive towers. Of course, as you all know, the best bit about building a tower is knocking it back down again.

This a picture of Joshua T. I asked Alice to draw a picture for his new born baby brother. Alice calls him curlybap (a real Northern Irishism) and so after I drew the head, she drew the curly hair. I think the eyes are amazing, with pupils!!!

Alice also loves bovril!!! Yukkkkkk, I hate it.

Stuart, Alice and I had a very fun music afternoon a couple of weeks ago. She really enjoyed "playing" the recorder and singing along to Stuart's guitar playing. However, I was quite impressed by the fact she was using her tongue to play and make the notes rather than just her breath. We didn't tell her to do that.
Alice trying on Stuart's walking boots to go out into the snow!!!

Some video too. Stuart found an old piece of corrugated plastic and used that to go down the hill at the back of our house. Alice didn't want to try it, although did stand on it a few times and as it slipped away under her, fell back into the snow. She didn't like it too much, but we found it very funny. Then Alice and Stuart singing If you're happy and you know it. Alice thought it was time Jenny the Giraffe learned to play the recorder too.

Dancing, Baking and some delayed snowy pics

Here is our poor wonky snowman. From the previous post, he stayed like this for nearly two weeks.

We did have so much snow, then one night it got a bit warmer and the next day it was nearly all gone.

This is the bowling green at the top of our street.

Alice did enjoy the snow, lots, but it was soooo cold.


I have never walked on snow that has been compacted to create pitted ice, then it snows on top of that and you are walking on layers of ice and snow. Horrible. It was actually OK whilst there was snow to walk on, when the thaw happened, it was horrible because it was so icy. You couldn't actually walk on it at all. Snowing again today though, I doubt we've seen the last of the snow for this winter.

I have started picking Alice up in the afternoons now. I am really enjoying spending more time with her and she seems to be enjoying spending more time with me too. She is just a joy to be with (most of the time) and is very funny. She just gets funnier and funnier. She makes up wee songs about things, makes up her own language (does anyone else know what a Stebby bebby is?) is really getting into singing a lot. Recent favourites are; Twinkle, Twinkle and The Grand Old Duke of York.

The video is pretty self-explanatory. The vacuum cleaner was a Christmas present by Great-aunty Gillian. It comes out quite frequently, when she has made some mess or other. The giraffe she is dancing with is Jenny, who she sleeps with.

Welcome 2010

Happy New Year to all who reads our blog. Hope that this year brings all that you hope for.

Alice was very excited that it was Christmas time, as most children are. However, at 2 and 3/4 you are never quite sure how much they understand or are taking in. On the day that Nana and Grandpa were arriving we asked her if she could guess who was coming to visit. She initially looked a bit sheepish and then said "Father Christmas?". We said "No, Nana and Grandpa". Not sure if she was disappointed or not. She does get very overwhelmed when they visit because she's so excited to see them. Stuart's parents arrived on Tuesday 22nd Dec. We didn't tell Alice which day was Christmas Day as we wanted to get some sleep that night.

Stuart got her up as normal and gave her breakfast and we had put all the presents under the tree the night before and Alice nearly missed them all. Then was very excited to see them all as she has been asking for presents all week. Then they came up and woke me up and Father Christmas had left Alice a stocking in our bedroom. I guess he didn't want to wake Alice up in the middle of the night!!! FC brought Alice the Jungle Book DVD (wondering how long it will be before I can quote the whole film, as we are watching it rather a lot), In the Night Garden 2010 Annual (how does that work, when you are buying it when 2010 hasn't happened yet?) and The Christmas Journey by Susie Poole, a book which starts at creation and then works its way to the birth of Jesus and why He was born. A very good book. A bit too much writing in it for Alice, think she will want to read it more next year.

Then we were all downstairs washed and dressed and having a mid morning snack of Christmas morning muffins. A bit of a tradition in our house now. Stuart makes them and they are yummy, with cranberries in.
Then it was on to opening the presents. Alice had more presents than the rest of us put together. She has told us that her favourite present was the pram bought by Nana and Grandpa. She hasn't stopped playing with it.

As you know, none of my family was particularly looking forward to Christmas this year. We all seemed to get through Christmas, but I found the post Christmas lull very difficult. On Boxing Day we normally go for a walk on the beach and that is when the last photograph of my Dad was taken last year, by me. So I just couldn't face going for the walk. So everyone else went and I stayed in and watched the Strictly Christmas Day special. This is Alice on Boxing Day at the beach.

Just a sweet photo of Ian and Alice. He kept singing Twinkle Twinkle little bat, how I wonder what you're at... from Alice in Wonderland. Alice thought it was hilarious and laughed and laughed, now we're not allowed to sing it because Grandpa sings it. I had a rhinitis flare up for a few days which made me feel really wiped out, so wasn't up to much for a few days after that. Then Ian and Marion left the frozen north to go home to warmer climbs.

Stuart and I stayed in New Year's Eve, not really much else to do when most of your friends have got children and baby sitters are at a premium that night. We saw in the New Year with Jools Holland's Hootenany. I was quite surprised that I felt like I was leaving my dad in 2009 too and saying goodbye to the year was like saying goodbye to him and I didn't really want it to end. Not sure anyone else has felt like that, but it felt really strange and sad.

Woke up on 1st January to this winter scene. Three inches of snow. So what better way to spend the afternoon than build a snowman.



We could actually have built one twice the size of this as this was about a third of the snow from the garden. Alice really enjoyed throwing snow at Stuart and I, but wasn't quite so keen to have it thrown at her.


Later that afternoon the weather warmed up a bit and the snowman started to melt. As he was melting and tipping over it got really cold, snowed again and he froze in this position. The leaning snowman of North Tyneside. We then went round to good friends later in the afternoon and had a good time with them before they have number two baby (due any day really) then fly out to start new lives in Romania. You will be missed Mike, Vicky, Joshua and Chutney.

Alice seemed to enjoy putting the Christmas tree away with us and kept hugging the tree and kissing it and saying goodbye. We then asked her how old she will be next Christmas she said "3"!!! Then started saying it was her birthday next. Who teaches them that?

We cut and cooked up the apples from the tree. We had to do it in two batches as we got two massive pots full. So Alice and I made a crumble. When I say we both did it, Alice had no intention of actually making the crumble. Rather she would put her fingers in the butter "I eat some" "No Alice, it's just butter, I need to add flour to it". Add flour to butter and start to rub. Alice shoves her hands in and lifts out a huge blob of floury butter "I try it", whilst laughing lots. "No Alice, we need to rub it together" and that's kind of how it went on. Her shoving her hands in and putting it straight in her mouth and laughing lots. Then adding the sugar and coconut and Alice shoving the big spoon in and trying to fill it and get it into her mouth before I tapped everything off the spoon. It was very funny. She's absolutely no help whatsoever when baking, as her sole reason for doing it is to get as much in her mouth as possible, whilst pretending to help!!!! If you click on the photo, you get a larger version and can see more of the stuff round her chops.
Just a sweet wee picture to end on. On Christmas Eve we went to a family service at one of the local Baptist churches. The service was earlier in the afternoon and for young children. The pastor got all the children on stage to be the different characters. We asked Alice what she wanted to be an angel or a shepherd. She wanted to be an angel, so went up to the front on her own got the piece of tinsel from the box and then one of the lambs from another box (not sure she'd quite grasped that she was being one and not both characters), then went and sat on the stage. I sat on the floor with the rest of the parents. She did get a bid bored after about 10 mins and went for a wander. So this photo was taken on Stuart's mobile from a distance away, hence not great quality.

We are hoping for a better 2010 than 2009, the subsidence is obviously ongoing and no doubt will continue to miss my Dad every day and carry that grief. However, on a more positive note I am going to start picking Alice up at lunch time from next week onwards. So we'll see how that goes and we hope my energy levels will deal with it.

First visit. Subsidence and some good news for once!!!!

We made the very brave decision to drive for six hours to Stuart's parents in Essex. Alice did very well on the journey, was very bored with about an hour to go and said she wanted to go home. However, that wasn't an option. She gets very excited when she sees Nanna and Grandpa.


Aunty Catherine, Uncle Simon and one of Simon's daughters, Jasmine (Lily was at her best friend's birthday party) also came for a couple of days. They kindly bought her this fairy outfit and wings. Alice has been asking for wings ever since she saw the Red Arrows flying over for the end of the Great North Run. So was very happy to receive them.


A funny photo of Nanna wearing Alice's hat.

Alice and Fraser bear watching In the Night Garden.

Alice and Grandpa at the park.

We then drove the six and a half hours home again and again Alice did very well on the journey.
She really enjoyed seeing everyone where Nanna and Grandpa live.

Alice drew this picture. She drew the large shape on the left and said "lady", then drew the smaller shape on the right and said "man". Her drawing abilities are already better than Stuart's and mine.

Whilst I was putting the tree together, Alice and Stuart made this garland for the tree. It gave her something to do whilst I was pulling out all the branches (no we don't have a real one).

Alice was really impressed with her new large "sock" and so took hers off and put this on both feet. Not particularly effective if you want to get around. She's sulking about something or other here.
She really enjoyed helping to put the baubles and little glow in the dark angels we had made together on the tree.

Regarding the subsidence. It's all a bit sensitive, since we have had it proved that the trees in the council owned playing fields behind us are the cause of the subsidence. So can't say too much about it right now, particularly on a public forum like this. It is moving along and I need to contact the insurance company this week to find out what happens next.

I also had the most wonderful news the other day. As most of you know I go twice a year for a blood check for the thyroid cancer which I was diagnosed with 8 years ago. One of the levels has been stubbornly remaining just above the level they deem me cured at. However, it has dropped dramatically below that level and so they now deem me cured!!!!!!! We had actually resigned ourselves to this never happening and had discussed in June what would happen if it never went below 100. It had actually started to creep up a bit and they said if it rose again I would have to have a challenge scan, which means coming off thyroxine and going on a no-iodine diet (no dairy or anything with salt in it) again. So that is what we were expecting, when I rang the nurse the other day for my blood results, that they had risen again and I would be going for that scan. I have my appointment in clinic next week, so will see what they want to do next. They will probably call me back in 6 six months to make sure it is staying below 100 and then hopefully move me to yearly appointments. We could not be happier. We cracked open a bottle of bouvrage to celebrate (a sparkling Scottish raspberry drink, our favourite) and tonight we are having a celebratory take-away. After this horrible year, it was just wonderful to speak to the family with some good news for a change.