Issue Of The Week: Trying To Cope With A Clingy Baby

E.M is 17 months old now, and although she's developed many new skills which allow her to be independent of me, there's still one niggling issue, she's so clingy.

When Daddy is at work she is never satisfied, I can't put her on the floor to play, let alone down for a nap! She will whinge, whine and more often than not, go into crocodile tears until I pick her up again. I'm getting really frustrated with it now because when Daddy isn't here, it makes the days drag on and on...having to be stern with her all the time is wearing me out. I can't always carry her, I have things to do. Now, i've done some research on some parenting sites, searching clingy baby. And they all seem to say the same thing, put baby down next to you to play, then a bit further in the same room, then leave the room completely etc. I've tried this but she wont progress on from the first stage, even if I am right next to her doing something, she will still climb all over me asking to be picked up. Hopefully by this time next week I will have found a new technique to try...

Things Little Ones Do

J.R has found a new use for her step stool. A front row seat and replacement for the sofas in the living room. She wasn't too keen on sitting on the sofa anyway and most of the time would rather stand up to watch tv. And to think I was going to buy her one of those expensive kiddy beanbags! Problem solved.

Potty Progress!

Yesterday Daddy bought J.R a 2nd potty and matching step stool. I'm working to what i've read when it comes to potty training, "you should have 1 potty upstairs and 1 downstairs" and the step stool is for the bathroom to encourage her to wash her hands herself. Does it work? Yes it does! (Well so far anyway.) She seems to have taken to the idea straight away and loves the independence of turning on the bathroom light herself, turning the tap on etc. Plus she's christened the new potty 3 times already, and it's only 10.30am!

Sign Of A Good Day Out...

Shopping + Burger King = Peace & Quiet

(At the end of the day anyway!)

Stepping It Up

J.R needed some new shoes, and since Baby E.M is walking quite well now we thought she could use some first walker shoes too. So they've both got new trainers! Can't believe J.R is now a size 7 when her old shoes (the ones she was wearing today) are a size 5...They grow so quick! Money-Saving Tip: Don't buy lots of cute little baby shoes, no matter how much you think they would match that new outfit! If baby can't walk yet he or she only really needs one pair of 'going out' shoes and some bootees for at home. They grow out of them too quick!

Living In The Dark Ages

Didn't get to post anything yesterday (thursday), no internet - courtesy of Virgin Media. I'm not happy.

Pancake Day Pics

Yesterday, tuesday 24th was Pancake Day and no i'm not claiming to be head chef here, but these from-scratch pancakes turned out pretty good! We ate ours with golden syrup, strawberries, condensed milk and bananas. Not all at the same time of course.

Things Little Ones Do

8.42am: J.R is in the bathroom brushing her teeth, whilst singing at the top of her voice "Michael Essien, Essien, Michael Essien!"... Blame Daddy.

He really is The B.F.G

Nanny and Grandad (my boyfriend's side) have come to visit.

Nanny came dancing in singing "We're going out for lunch!" That was news to me...

J.R dove, (no seriously) dove behind the sofa when she saw Grandad. She burst into tears and set Baby E.M off too who came waddling over to me, arms outstretched. *sigh* Now J.R hasn't seen Grandad for quite a long time now, i'm pretty sure it was in september actually, and he's a great tall bloke with a very deep voice. I swear every time he talks she thinks he's telling her off! We got our coats on - eventually - and squeezed into the BMW... Baby E.M is quiet and although she wont say a word, is taking it all in. J.R on the other hand, is trying to say things to Nanny, quietly so as not to spark a response from Grandad, whilst crossing her arms over her face because obviously this makes her invisible. Now everytime Grandad talks to her, or so much as looks at her she breaks into a cry. Is it the sound of his voice, or the fact that he towers over her at a whopping 6ft something? I'm not quite sure, but one thing's for certain...it's going to be a long day!

A Little Bribe Once In A While...

Holy cow!

The girls are asleep, and it's only 8.15pm, normally it takes a hell of a lot longer than that.

I wonder if it had anything to do with the fact that I sat them down in their pj's and explained that if they went to sleep nicely for me tonight, we can all eat pancakes for breakfast tomorrow?

Things Little Ones Do

Oh, thanks E.M hunny...

The Toys Are Alive

"And what colour is that?" I ask J.R as I pour conditioner into the washing machine drawer. "I don't know" came the reply, "Say Duck, what colour's that!" She exclaims holding her toy duck up high. "Um...Duck, what colour is that?" "Yellow" J.R says in a squeaky little duck voice. "Nooo..." I turn my head to ask her again. "What colour is that? You know don't you." "It's purple!" J.R says triumphantly. "Yes it's purple!" She sets Duck straight as she dances proudly out of the kitchen. "No is NOT yellow, is purple!" Gosh, don't you just love young imaginations?

I Hate Potty Training

I've been on about this for days now... J.R is in size 5 nappies and really needs to be potty trained. She does go for a wee in the potty and can also tell me when she needs to go. But, only when she's in the mood. And for some unknown reason, she refuses to poop in the potty. She would rather walk round with a dirty heavy nappy, than sit on the potty. And what she's been doing recently is taking her nappy off to poop. On the floor. Then try to clean it up - with her hands. All the while she never says a word, just quietly carries out the disgusting deed and smears it all over my carpet, her toys and sometimes even onto her sister. She's done this 3 times in the last month now and i've lost my patience with it. When I complain to Daddy (and almost in tears for the frustration) he sniggers, smiles and shakes his head. Wtf?! Well that helps, thanks a lot! He has never ever had to clean it up, nor has he even seen the extent of the mess she makes. He gets to go to work all day, chat to his work mates while i'm on my hands and knees scrubbing some stinkin' mess out the carpet.

Now thats teamwork.

Mothers Day is the 22nd of March this year, so why are we seeing Easter eggs on shelves right now when Easter is the 12th of April?

Strange.

Oh Cucumber!

Ok, someone help me out here. J.R has taken a very strong liking to vegetables and fruits that contain mostly water.

Lord knows how this strange preference has come about, but one thing's for sure, she's refusing to eat much else! Some examples of what she will eat: banana, cucumber, lettuce, peas...

She's been a picky eater for a long time now, but this is driving me crazy. When the health visitor saw us on christmas eve 2008, she weighed her and J.R has put on NO WEIGHT in 6 months. In fact she'd LOST a few ounces.

I'm not sure about that result, to me that just says "Mummy doesn't feed me." And that's not good. I've tried everything to get her to eat more variety, but she's not having it! Tried the whole chopping-up-small-and-mixing-together trick but to no avail. If there is some sort of green, mostly-water vegetable on her plate, that's all she'll eat. You can forget the meat, can't risk putting on a bit of weight now can we!

"Bake Day" Sunday Rolls Around Again

And this time it's Coconut Cakes! This uses up the open packets in my ingredients cupboard. Now i've had a peek in there i've found I need some more equipment too. I have a mental shopping list.

Anyway, this recipe is from a wonderful selection of Cooking With Kids recipes in the food section of Netmums, which can be found below: http://www.netmums.com/food//westsussex/

As you can see from the picture, it became apparent that J.R could actually do most of this herself, (which she was very pleased about, loves independence) so I just stood aside with the camera, snapping and supervising.

As the cakes needed a while to set, I used them as incentive for her to eat all her lunch - and it worked!

Morning!

It's 9am, I feel as if i've just woken up and it feels awful. I'm not hungry but feel like I need a lucozade or something glucose-injected. Either that or to go back to sleep. I have to be honest and say that for the last couple of weeks, since I caught a cold i've been pretty much living on lucozade. It's something that keeps me going when I don't have the time to cook for myself 'cos the girls are so demanding. Thank god it's not an addiction, yet.

Decisions, Decisions

Having completely blitzed the house, hung the laundry, done all the washing up...I've somehow found myself in my bedroom and staring at a whole drawer full of barely used nail polish.

And i'm thinking, I really need to sort out a manicure.

I know, I know, that doesn't seem very important right?

I'VE BENT A NAIL BACK 5 TIMES IN THE LAST 3 DAYS.

How bout now?

I'm feeling red...or punky pink.

Silence Can Be So Loud...

And right now it's killing my ears! It's 9.55pm and both girls have finally crashed after a day of noise, tears and unnecessary tantrums... It's been a really long half term week. This is the most peace i've had for so long, I don't know what to do with myself :S