We’ve been back in our ‘normal’ routine this week, and the sickness seems finally to have lifted. Thank heavens. I can’t believe it took us almost three weeks to shake this thing!
26/366 – Budding Babes
We sometimes have a natural parenting group meetup at our local Sure Start Children’s Centre, and I’m always shocked when we get there and see the quality of the toys they’ve put out for us every week. It’s so different to the centre we used to drop in to from time to time in London, with dirty plastic toys with generally flat batteries. This centre has toys we can’t afford – and by we I mean most of the families that attend – certainly not in the quantities they have them in. Wooden train sets, cars, cooking sets, Noah’s Ark, sensory toys… just an amazing array of stuff. The company is great, the conversations stimulating and encouraging, and the children have a wonderful time in a developmental, non-toxic environment. It’s awesome and we’re so lucky.
27/366 – Fish Tank
One of the principles of one of the homeschool systems – is it Montessori? – is that children should have a pet. We don’t have a pet, but we do have a fish tank, and while we have one very much because I want one, it’s Ameli’s fish tank and Ameli’s fish and her responsibility to feed them every day – although I have to prompt her every day – but then, she is two. We follow a beta fish care guide. So every day she feeds ‘her’ fish and from time to time, we have to clean the tank: far more frequently than I ever remember cleaning our family tank when I was growing up! But cleaning doesn’t have to be all hard work – here she is ‘cleaning’ the shells. She spent absolutely ages playing with the shells. It was actually quite fun doing it together.
28/366 – 36 Weeks Pregnant
Getting there… where ever there is, and here’s the obligatory belly shot for the week.
29/366 – Ameli Goya
An arty crafty morning at home, and Ameli is painting and stamping away. I love how ‘Goya’ – esque her pictures are here. All dark and powerful. Just my kind of art.
30/366 – Working Mama
I pretty much left childcare in my hubby’s hands today. I sat down with my to-do list of things that were computer based, and only moved off the sofa to top up my water and empty out my bladder. At one stage, this was the state of my screen. I decided to minimise everything at that point, and try to focus on one thing at a time. This is why I need a secretary. For a supposedly stay at home mother, I have three jobs and one volunteer role and seem to spend an extraordinary amount of time working!
31/366 – Cars
Both to give Martin some time off, and to make up for yesterday, Ameli and I went to the local indoor play place. It was freezing cold and we had a bit of snow on the way in, so it was nice to be somewhere warm and cozy. We had our first experience with bullying here, sadly. A little girl attacked Ameli and hit her while she called out ‘no,no,no’. I heard her distressed little voice and tried to find her in the maze, and when the girl saw me she stopped, by which time Ameli was in tears. I was devastated that I couldn’t climb up to the top of the climb frame to go and get her, but I couldn’t contort my belly into the gap in the ‘entrance’. (I regularly went up with her pre-pregnancy.) She recovered soon enough, but moments after leaving my side she came running up to me and away from the same girl’s friend, with a horrible bite mark on her finger! I was so angry, but having not seen what happened (i.e. how was her finger in the girl’s mouth?) I couldn’t do much, so we went to the pretty deserted ‘baby’ side (for under four’s) and had a nice play there instead.
32/366 – Forest Nursery
I warned you these would be a recurring theme in our pictures. But I can’t help it. She looks so puffy and warm and cute. This week they were searching for worms, and looking at them through magnifying glasses. It’s awesome that she has this opportunity.
Thank you for joining us for our week in pictures! If you’re taking part in Mamatography, remember to link up your post with the Mr Linky below!