Toddlers and Waddlers

At the weekend I took Ellie and Ben to Edinburgh Zoo. The king penguins were all gathered near the edge of their enclosure, taking a look at Exhibit 1, Homo sapiens.

Trip to Edinburgh

We went to Edinburgh last weekend. It was a lovely warm day (last of this summer?)

Ellie insisted on drinking Jana's hot chocolate. Ben insisted on chewing the lid of my coffee.

Landmarks

It's been a busy time recently. Kids' illnesses and plenty of visitors are guaranteed to throw any routine out of line.

But it's settled down a bit now and given me a chance to reflect on a couple of important milestones.

On 22 August it was Ben's first birthday. His grandparents were up for the occasion. Ben himself was a little overwhelmed by all the attention and the new toys. Like most one year olds he was more interested in exploring the wrapping paper and boxes that things came in.

But that's him firmly set on the path from babyhood to toddlerhood. It can't be long now until he starts walking.

The other recent milestone was that Ellie has started at nursery. She attends the nursery attached to the local primary school and goes every afternoon. She loves it. I was quite prepared for tantrums and/or clinginess when we first took her there but quite the opposite - she didn't want to leave! It did feel a little odd leaving her in the care of other adults but we're getting used to it now too.

A Thought for Thursday: Maggie

Britain's ex-prime minister Margaret Thatcher died on 8 April.

David Cameron described her as our "greatest peacetime Prime Minister” and said that she "saved Britain." Tony Blair said she was a "towering political figure." Everyone said she was (and remains) "divisive."

In the UK, parliament was recalled to debate her legacy. Street parties were organised by some to celebrate her passing.

In India, they created a sand sculpture:

Margaret Thatcher Sand Sculpture
[Source: Telegraph, April 2013]

Her death was covered at length by media across the world.

What surprised me was the strength of feeling expressed by people and the extent of the shadow she still casts over this and other countries' political life.

It's not often a person comes along that has this sort of impact. Reflecting on this week, it seems to me that the Thatcher era is destined to become a major section of history textbooks in years to come.

Getting ready to Crawl

Ben is starting to lift his body onto his knees. He wants to crawl - now he just needs to figure out how!

Ben Pushing Himself up onto All Fours
[9 April 2013]

Teething

Ben now has his first tooth! It's one of his bottom front teeth and it's clearly showing. The tooth next to it is starting to poke through as well.

It's almost impossible to get a picture but I'll post one if I do.

The teething pains are bothering him constantly and I can see this going on for some time. It wakes him up several times most nights.

We've tried a few things, like Calpol obviously and teething gel. But the product I'd have to recommend is Teetha Teething Powder. It's basically a small sachet of powder that you just pour into your baby's mouth and he grimaces a little bit but it seems to give him almost instant relief. The only problem as with everything is you can't use this constantly.

Edit 12th April:

Finally got a (slightly blurry) picture of Ben's teeth. So tiny!

Ben's First Teeth
[April 2013]

Kitchen Project: Day One

We are making some major changes to our house. Our project to move the kitchen downstairs and create a large open-plan kitchen and living space has begun.

Jana, Ellie and Ben have flown out to see their Czech family for three and a half weeks. I'm left here alone to keep an eye on things. We've got builders in to do the work.

Nothing can go wrong, surely?

Today was the first day of the work. This was the downstairs at the start of the day:

Our House Downstairs
[24 February 2013]

And this is how it looks now, after a full day's work on it:

Our House Downstairs
[25 February 2013]

We're also getting the stairs boxed off and a doorway put in:

Our House Stairway
[25 February 2013]