Things Ella is saying…
[spilled water from sippy cup onto her chair]
‘Oh no! Oh got! Mummy… juice… chair… get daddy… cloth!!’
I don’t know quite how to take this… do you think she doesn’t think I know how to clean?!
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[singing]
‘Ponderwets punderwets… save.. day!!…. too tough….. stuff!!!! sew-i-usss…. help him!’
You really have to have Nick Jnr to appreciate that gem…
……………………..and imagine the theme tune that you then can’t stop singing for 8 hours….
And for those of you that know that tune…?
You’re welcome!!! 
It’s been a really lovely weekend.
We haven’t really done anything so much except potter about.
I’ve cleaned my bathroom from top to bottom like I usually do on a Sunday… done a coupla bits… bought mother’s day card and pressie… (unknowingly intelligently I have opted to visit my folks on Mothering Sunday, meaning I have to buy a present can take the present with me)… this is a load off my mind as you can tell…
We took the girls out for shopping yesterday and had lunch in a little cafe where utterly abnormally, they were a joy and a delight to be around. We found a little place with cheap cafe food in a slightly more faux-upmarket decor … if that makes sense..?!
The result though, was a really nice lunch and the girls were an absolute pleasure to be with.
We didn’t do much of anything else yesterday I don’t think…. (not sure why I struggle to remember yesterday…. Surely a sign of over working myself) 
We organised some wedding stuff… getting measured for the suits and stuff, I picked my bridesmaids dresses all that kind of stuff..
Typical ‘weekend stuff’ stuff
Then today – we had a pretty lazy day again. We got up late… thanks to the girls playing in their room for a while this morning… we had a late breakfast… and went to the park, fed the ducks… had a run about…
[....Is it just me or does Ella suddenly look like a child and not a baby?! She's enormous ... and... today was our first ever trip out without the pushchair... (actually it's the second but first sounds better!!)]
There has been moments today when they’ve been a little hmmm…. how to put it….? Testing? Rowan is testing the theory of bad moods and possible causes at the moment…. for example … today she was absolutely fine in the park and then was suddenly … foul.
Her explanation?
The sun got in her eyes and that made her grumpy.
But.. hey. I can see it for what it is. She’s just not sure what the rules are for this type of thing. She has no idea what constitutes a good reason for a bad mood. For all I know she listens to my reasons sometimes and thinks I’m an absolute fruitloop!
So… we came back and collapsed unconscious on the sofa for 40minutes whilst the girls went brain dead to Peppa Pig DVD (gotta love it) and then put Ella down for a nap.
Rowan and I made biscuits …
(out of a ready to bake kit from M&S – really recommend it I have to say … the biscuits were really nice and it was dead easy) and we attempted to watch a movie together… we picked Cinderella Twist in Time (Xmas present from Grampty) … 5 minutes after this photo,
she wanted it turned off because it was boring!!
Then she specifically requested this movie (5 points if you can guess it from the still) and paid attention to it for approximately 9 minutes before she wandered off. Not quite time for the cinema yet then.
She is funny.
But one thing for sure….. she is gorgeous.
So – another recipe day today!
We thought we’d have a stab at Pizza So we bought pizza base mix (we may be enthusiastic chefs but we’re not that enthusiastic 
)
So – we bought the pizza base mix and some pineapple chunks and ham etc etc and had a little go
It was a good time actually – even if BN is a bit of a control freak and wants the pizzas decorated ‘his’ way … he claims it’s so they cook evenly throughout but we know better
hi honey
The sisters worked as a team until the little one got bored and wandered off to watch Peppa Pig… Rowan was super interested in rolling them out and getting them ready for the oven… only weird thing was she didn’t quite want as much ham *on* them as she chopped up in the first place! Typical
Pouring out the mixture for the cheat’s Pizza Base
Add a little water…
Mix well….
Get a little bit of help from your baby sister..
Knead it…
Dough balls…
Roll it flat…
Pretend to roll it flat… although worth mentioning at this point.. that after watching Rowan get taught how to knead dough, we gave Ella a little ball of her own dough to play with and she rolled it exactly as Rowan was taught. Flat palm, push away etc. etc. She had the actions exact. Very impressive.
Copy and paste… BN did one first to show her the concept of pasting the tomato onto the pizza base and then she copied! Copy and paste!
Decoration…
An extra specially BIG piece of ham going on Mummy’s. I was lucky BN was there to guide her as this was nearly the only piece of ham I got. She decided that one was enough!
What do you think?
This was actually really tasty – she did a fine job
Is there a doctor in the house?, originally uploaded by Little Nut Tree.
Rowan being the doctor to me this morning. I mentioned that I had a headache and she whipped off to the playbox to get her Unicef Doctor’s set that she got from her Grampty for Christmas.
Unusually for Rowan she actually asked for a photo and stood and posed (with smile and everything) for 3 goes until she got the picture she was happy with…!
Ella meanwhile …. saw her opportunity and grabbed the stethoscope for some investigating
And yet not much to say. This blog is on my mind so much. I am really letting it slip but it’s not out of preference, only out of tiredness and the fact that work is that busy I literally have no.spare.time.
So.
I have loads to catch you up on. So I thought I would do it in installments.
Rowan.
She has entered the very terrible 3 stage and is pretty much constantly horrible with slight glints of normal personality that really don’t stick around long enough to enjoy them.
It’s generally over stupid stuff. She is still incredibly stubborn. No shock seeing as she is the child of me.. stubborn extreme and BN, stubborn extraordinaire.
She will refuse to walk to you when asked even though she can see it’s getting her into trouble. Refuse to eat tea, refuse to tidy, refuse to go to the toilet, refuse to share toys, play nicely, say please, thank you etc. etc. and the list goes on and on.
She has definitely picked up after the health scare (but is milking it somewhat). She is having a follow up paediatric appointment still but I am now happy to believe it was a virus that knocked her off her feet far more than we realised. Well, I say that.. we didn’t even know she had a virus at the time, but you know what I mean.
She and Ella have had constant coughs, colds and chest, ear and teeth problems for the last 3 months. There has literally been one thing after another since we moved them into the same room. That is somewhat wearing. I feel that I am more knackered now than I have been in a long time. A good couple of week of uninterrupted sleep would be fantastic.
A little glint of happiness …
Rowan is happy, don’t get me wrong. I sound like I’m just bitching about her but she is happy too. She’s funny and cheeky as per usual. Smart and learning so much it’s amazing. Amazing to me anyway. Every day I hear her say something and I’m stunned by how far her vocabulary has come and by how much she picks up. She sees things every day that just add to her knowledge and understanding of the world. I can’t think of a single example now of course but there has been many.
Uncle Rich with 3-4 day old Rowan…
She is growing up so much as well. I know that’s a ridiculous thing to say seeing as she’s only 3, but she is. She is almost 38 months already which has just gone so quickly. I know that you don’t really talk about kids in terms of months at this age but when you say 38 months, you realise how little she still is and how tiny and vulnerable and… well… *new * she still is. I spend so much of my time telling her not to be a baby as she’s 3 now and yet I then see her asleep, looking so tiny and ickle and I’m then totally consumed by how much she is just that. She is just my baby. My little baby that was so skinny she had no arse!! No butt cheeks. Just thigh and then…. back. My little baby that was so tiny BN could hold her in one hand when she was born.
2 day old Rowan…
Anyway… she’s changing. The stubborn, headstrong daughter we have shaped and molded and designed is emerging stronger and more headstrong than ever and really… I do have to acknowledge that we have no one to blame but ourselves…
Nature nurture and all that. There are some traits in her personality where you really would have to be very stubborn not to acknowledge they are a carbon copy of us.
So, Ella.
Ella is just such a cutie at the moment (elements of annoying-ness appearing). She is loving and gentle and kisses and cuddles you constantly. She is so tactile, just as Rowan has always been… but weirdly different in a way that I can’t put my finger on. She is loving, Rowan is loving, they are both touchy feely… they are both cheeky and funny… but I don’t know… Ella seems to feel the need to show you affection whereas when Rowan was a baby maybe it was more reciprocated rather than instigated…? I’m not sure but I’ll ponder it.
Ella is really starting to talk. New words are emerging every day. She now not only says head, but ‘ose’ (nose) eyes, hiiii, baaaa (bye) (both in conjunction with waving hand) … juice, shoes, k (OK), bup (pick me up), meeeee ( in answer to questions such as… who wants to get out of the bath first) meeee! … yes… and she is starting to talk to us….
You can ask her if she’s tired/hungry etc.. and she’ll answer yes.
She is addicted to Peppa Pig (as is Rowan) and Dora. They both love Lazy Town and Wonderpets. She instantly recognises the theme tunes and runs in excitedly when she hears them starting.
Telly Addicts…
She still has the somewhat aggressive penchant for banging Rowan on the head with her Avent Juice cup… slightly amusing but it’s a bit unfair to laugh as it really does hurt.. I have been got once!
She is running around now. Walking is generally a thing of the past if she can run. She is still hugely big although she has slowed down. She’s wearing 18-24 month clothes and is just about to turn 16 months so she’s still tall but not bizarrely so anymore. She is climbing the stairs and BN and Rowan have painstakingly taught her how to get back down them so she’s pretty much running a mock most days!
I keep finding her ransacking my underwear drawer (rather funny) … come to think of it she does seem to have a love of pants…..
Ella sporting Rowan’s pants!
She is funny and definitely has a quirky little sense of humour… she likes to make you laugh and if she’s not making you laugh, then she’s giving you a cuddle… I imagine this will change in line with the normal progression of children’s personalities as they hit 3, but hey… we’re enjoying it while it lasts!!
I am caught up I think… I have another little conference coming up. I had a fab experience in Debenhams yesterday. We put the girls in nursery for the day so we could take a trip to Nottingham and do some Christmas shopping. We had a great time but I was a bit disappointed to come away with absolutely eff all.
We went everywhere and I tried on quite a few but came away with nowt. Very annoying seeing as the conference is next week and it’s this same, managers blah blah blah in the day, followed by awards, meal and piss up, not necessarily in that order.
Anyway… thought we would try Debenhams in Lincoln when we got back and I was going to settle for the first dress I’d tried a few weeks ago. I went in and picked my size (now a 16 don’t you know)and just as we were selecting it, a girl came up and asked us if we needed any help.
I actually said no in the start.. but she seemed vaguely persistent liek she had nothing else to do… and actually turned out to be a little eccentric delight!
She was called Lyndsey and was a personal shopper. Got my name easily, but couldn’t for the life of her remember BN’s and kept calling him whatever she liked when she’d got it wrong a couple of times… was very funny to hear him being called Jason and Darryl
Anyway… she showed us to her ‘lounge’ and we were given star treatment.. she disappeared whilst I put the dress on we had selected… she whizzed back in with things under and over her arms … she busied about me while BN sat in an armchair … watching and trying not laugh I think..
I thoroughly enjoyed it!! I have come away with a great dress that I don’t think I would have found… a great little jacket to go with it and great new undies to help with everything underneath….! I look lovely and I don’t mind admitting it!!!
I am also going to have a much better time this year and hopefully not get mistaken for pregnant!!!
Had the most wonderful day today.
It’s BN’s birthday a week on Tuesday and I know that things are so busy at the moment that I planned all week to take Rowan out alone with me so that we could get everything for him.
It’s hard this year. I have no idea what to get him… it’s very hard to buy for him … he’s a stunning artist but I remember years ago he told me that he had already got a bit bored of the fact that everyone used that as a reason to give him ‘art related’ presents. Ornaments of paintbrushes in jars, pencils, paper etc. etc.
So.. thankfully being given that hint very early on in the relationship… I have never made that particular error!!
So.. that leaves man things… socks, pants, shampoo, shaving foam… all useful things to fall back on for any man in your life. Especially when you have kids and .. let’s face it… we do need pants and socks! It’s only when you get to this age that you realise the gifts of underwear you were given to hand over to parents from the other parent were probably genuinely appreciated.
I always need pants!! I love buying new pants! I especially love new socks.. because honestly… where on earth do one pair of socks know each other for more than one low temp (eco friendly) spin cycle?
It just doesn’t happen…
Obviously I have already recognised and come to terms with the fact that I am quite clearly ageing. You don’t need to point it out to me….
No really.
So then… we went out. I promised her lunch out. I took her to Starbucks.. she ate half a tuna sandwich and a chocolate marshmallow thing on a stick that she dipped into her hot chocolate (along with the tuna sandwich actually… she has the oddest eating preferences)… The girl dunks everything. It’s not even restricted to her own drink. Not out of choice anyway.
Please don’t photograph me while I dunk my tuna sandwich in my hot choccie! They’ll laugh at me!!!
She was as good as gold for 3 hours or more. When we first got into town she said she needed a wee cos she knows the nearest toilet is in the ELC just inside the shopping centre. We went in but I took half a minute to explain to her outside that she wouldn’t be playing with any toys just now as we were going to go and shop for Daddy’s birthday. I told her that if she was a good girl, then I would let her play in the toy shop on the way home.
If she was especially good… she could pick a toy… ah, the bribery…
It worked though.
She was excellently behaved for the entire time and walked by my side, no tantrums, no moaning, no shenanigans. Excellent.
She didn’t have a wee (shocking…. I was well aware it was a plot to play with toys) but we exited the shop without so much as a murmur.
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Speaking of murmurs… she seems to be picking up most days. Have had a couple of days where I’m still not convinced but on the whole, she seems to be perking up)
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Karaoke playing keyboardy thingama-jig
We got back to the house, laden with bags after spending ten minutes in the ELC so she could play with the karaoke and the oven… she was immaculately behaved and I smugged about whilst another parent coped with her yelling toddler.
glee
I obviously can’t tell you exactly what BN’s presents are cos he reads this but suffice to say she obviously knew what we had because she was there when we bought them… We got home wrapped them all … BN walked back into the room and went over to his wrapped gifts… tapped a couple and Rowan said…. “That one’s shampoo!!!”
Also have to mention minibean today. She pointed to her head and said ‘head’!!
Yay!!
Ella could be the next brain surgeon!
I have so much to blog… argh… again!
Right so… Last week was Halloween and Rowan is at Nursery on Wednesdays so we had to get her dressed up for the day. She was absolutely thrilled with the idea needless to say and got on board with the idea very quickly.
The costume preference changed a few times but she eventually settled on a witch and this was the result…
We told her to look…’witchy’
So.. what have we done since then? We had a really good weekend… went out shopping on Saturday and Sunday and on Sunday afternoon we took the girls to Starbucks for lunch…
I had the genius idea of getting Rowan some hot chocolate and when she wanted a mug… I got them to give us an espresso mug and… it was perfect!!
Giant Rowan in spotted in Starbucks!
Rowan with her cool mug …
And… another little milestone in Ella’s life… this weekend she learned how to use a fork. Bless her … she saw us all doing it and wanted to have a go on her own… and I think it took her about 4 or 5 goes till she got it… clever little girl that she is..
Forking Good Muffin!
This is Ella’s first official communication I think!!
She now waves her hand and says BUB-BAH to you … you don’t always have to be going anywhere… you could just be sitting on the sofa having a cuddle … but she is keen to practice at any opportunity
Will post video
Well… what’s new in the house of Nuts?
Well Ella is starting to venture word attempts… she is thinking about exploring the world of yes…. little whisps of yes are coming our way… she is sniffing about the tree of the affirmative I desperately desperately desperately want to be here when she says her first word.
I remember when Rowan was that age. She said yes to everything and we thought that was so cute, unti we got sick of yes to everything because obviously there were instances where it just didn’t make sense or remotely indicate the outcome of any given situation. e.g. do you want your tea? Yes. (remains uneaten, poked about, smeared on face).
What a welcome change yes would be to the incessant no’s we still get. Rowan still goes through days where it’s all we can do to get even a slightly different word out of her other than no.
Rowan’s birthday is nearly here. 3 . 13th October. It just seems ridiculous. But then it hardly seems any time since she was 2. I know this year has gone quickly cos I’m already reeling from the fact that Ella is 1 … let alone that Rowan is 3.
She was in a hysterical mood this morning. BN went to get Ella when she woke up but left Rowan in bed. I thought it was a bit mean cos she was awake. He told her it was still nighttime cos he was too asleep to have both of them in with us at once! naughty!!
Anyway – he went to get her a couple of minutes later and she was just absolutely full of the joys of spring. She went into absolute raptures over a ‘dream’ she’s had.
A birdie had come down and tickled her fingers and her feet and flown about. She’d thought it was pink but it turned out to be black. There was something to do with a butterfly that was also pink.. but actually pink instead of mistakenly pink. The butterfly tickled her and Ella.. she was giggly about it and very excited.
It was an hilarious 5 minutes whilst she rapidly recounted every single detail of the dream she could manage. And when she ran out of dream she just looked about the room and commented on things she could see.
I love it when she does that. ‘blah blah blah chatter dream story etc. and Ella lying down, daddy sitting in the chair and mummy drinking her tea’
I wish we could do this in real life.
Managers’ Meeting:- “figures – charts, sell, more, sales figures, budgets and forecasts and cup of coffee on my coaster and those are nice black trousers that you bought shopping the other day and your hair that could have done with a wash this morning…. the man’s bad hairpiece and she ate too many of the complimentary biscuits and still has some on her top lip….. “
It would be very liberating.
Ella grabbed the remote control and shortly afterwards accidentally mutes the TV. She does this ‘oooooh’ noise which is eactly the one I meant the other day.. she saw the tambourine at the doctors surgery and she did this ‘ooooh’ and it’s kind of a cross between ‘oooooh that’s amazing!’ and ‘ooooh you’re such a rebel – there’s gonna be trouble when this gets found out!!!’
It’s very cute!
But then I would say that…
BN edit * he says it’s also like – ‘oh no what have I done?!?!’
The girls are moving forward amazingly. I am constantly amazed at how fast Rowan moves on every day. The conversational ability is really astonishing. Not really how far she is but how far she comes in the space of say to day life.
Today she told me that she likes Ella’s new top with stripey sleeves and that she wants a top with stripey sleeves for her birthday. I asked her if she’d told Daddy that today and she said she didn’t. You tell him, she said. It can be a surprise.
The fact that she has obviously attributed the word surprise to a few more things than is strictly correct is adorable but what really amazes me is the level of conversation.
I’m sure BN would love the ’surprise’ that Rowan would like a stripey sleeved top for her birthday though. That is the kind of thing that generally gets him jumping for joy
But anyway.. I listen to her most days now and she’s telling me about some thing or another and I just find myself staring at her… amazed. Amazed at her language ability.. her comprehension of grammar and the complications of English… foot.. one foot.. two feet… she got the hang of that in about 2 minutes… that’s not easy guys…. I hear twenty year olds get this wrong.
Ella is moving on in the physical way. She is walking everywhere at every opportunity. She is turning on the spot, changing direction, squatting to pick things up and standing again without holding on… just amazing that two weeks ago she couldn’t even stand up without holding on to something.
She’s getting bumps and bruises. This house is small and she and Rowan keep banging into each other.. I remember Merry saying that I would notice how much smaller the house would get when we had two walking around. So right.
I feel sorry for the cheeks that keep getting bumped into the door frames!!
She has her first little words too.. I’ll video some of her so you can see but she holds up things or points to stuff and says ‘dis?’ or ‘dat?’ and you have to repeatedly tell her the name or word of the thing she is holding/pointing at.
So, so cute. Adorable and cute and delicious.
She is a gem. I get such big cuddles from her when I get home from work. Rowan just asks me where her treat is at the moment but Ella is just at that stage where it is treat enough to see *me*.
Wonder how long that will last
Dear Ella
I am writing this at just past midnight on the evening of your first birthday. I wanted to tell you about all the things we have done today and I wanted a chance to tell you how much I love you …. before you are even old enough to understand what that means really…
I can’t believe it’s gone so fast and I can’t believe that you are already at the end of your first year! This time last year, I was the happiest mummy in the world, looking down at you for the whole night.. in the hospital, just you and me. You and me against the world.
That’s what me and daddy say all the time.
I just stared at you all night. My beautiful little girl. Daddy left us about 2 in the morning I think.. parts of it seem so hazy now and some of it still so clear. We just cuddled all night and you were just at ease – totally relaxed – lying in my arms…asleep.. looking beautiful… being you already.
I knew that your big sister was going to be so excited to see you. Rowan was still too little to really know what was going on beforehand but when she got back from Granny and Grampty’s two days later and saw you on the sofa.. all bundled up and fast asleep…. you could tell she was just overjoyed.
All her Christmases come at once.
Utter love. Instantly. And so proud. I think I can remember her saying… she’s mine isn’t she mummy?…. to me over and over that afternoon.
We had a lovely day today for your birthday. Rowan went to nursery and me and Daddy spent the morning with you.. took you shopping… bought a special tea.. took you to the park
… had a little picnic… watched you practising your walking…
You opened your first presents today…..
…. and you didn’t really get it but you were visibly so excited and just thrilled really at the fact that things were being given to you. Kind of makes me think that you understand a lot of the stuff around here is Rowan’s stuff that you get to play with…
You got a Fifi doll and a musical octopus from the gang at work.. and yesterday we got you Austin from the Backyardigans… I swear to God.. I thought you were hugging a long lost friend when you got him!! You were so cute.
Rowan was so excited to help put the candles on your birthday cake and sing Happy Birthday to you… She was talking about it the whole time in the kitchen and was so desperate to make you feel special.. and you cried at the singing..!!! Very funny!
(Shame your face is weirdly blurry!!)
Daddy and I have had champagne and talked about ‘this time last year..’
Anyway… happy birthday sweetie.. Ella bum… you had a lovely day
love you very much
love mummy x
I have turned sporadic!
Not being doing daily catch ups … it’s been pretty busy and I slightly lost the will to post this week. Things have been happening though..
Ella is practically ready to walk any day now. She is getting braver and braver as the days go past. A few tentative steps every now and then throughout the day and pretty soon she’s just gonna get up and walk across the room.
End of the babydom!
I’m not sad though… I love to see them move on. I noticed with Rowan that she was especially stroppy and frustrated in the days before a big change, like crawling, walking, learning to communicate… they get pent up with ‘almost’ and I really feel that you can see their mood relax and their little bodies wind down when they finally grasp the thing they have been striving for.
I’m looking forward to seeing her take that first walk with confidence so that she can chase and annoy that big sister as she was born to do
Rowan has already grasped that this is a milestone we’re waiting for and cheers every time Ella takes a step… unfortunately, this only serves to remind Ella that cheering means clapping and she sits down to clap as well… so funny
Ella can clap and stand at the same time but I think the shock of the cheering forces her to her backside
Rowan is practising her drawing and getting better and better each day. She can (with effort) actually make an intended lady look like a lady and apparently this is a good milestone too… so it’s all good
Rowan’s drawing of a man and a lady!!
Bad parenting: got up this morning (after being up and down with Ella since 3.45am I’d like to add!!) giving in to the whinging Ella and decided that I’d dump her in Rowan’s room and let them play for a bit whilst we stayed in bed and er.. had a cuddle . I had been to the bathroom to fetch neurofen for Ella and Rowan had called out to me. I told her that it was still night time (at 6.30am this could be construed as misleading…) and that she needed to rest some more.
So eventually giving in to Ella’s whinging, I took her to Rowan’s room for them to play.. the stench of vomit was really pretty apparent as I opened the door. Rowan has clearly slept in vomit all night. It’s mostly dry but somewhat sticky… matted hair, sticky sheets… yuk yuk yuk.
Poor child.
She called me before and I told her to lie down and rest.
She slept in vomit. For goodness knows how long. I made her sleep in vomit. Not only that I asked her to lie back down in it and rest when she was trying to tell me it was there.
So here I am blogging yet another story of my pathetic parenting… surprisingly upbeat as I have had about 3 hours sleep.
A year today I am getting married and tomorrow my little baby is 1 year old.
Time is flying… but I am having fun …. flying by the seat of my pants
Edit*
Update: Ella walked into the lounge from the dining room this afternoon and just walked right across the room to the window… about 8 or 9ft, maybe more… the day before her birthday…
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The Little Nut Tree
