The Adventures of Little Miss Daredevil and the Slide of Doom

We've been really lucky so far with the health of Miss B. She's been ill a few times and required a trip to the local minor injuries unit to get a bump patched up, but until now we've avoided hospital. In fact, we're still very lucky as this first hospitalisation was a relatively minor injury and some very straightforward treatment. Anyway, to the story...

In our garden we have a slide. It's one of those little plastic ones with three steps and is all of two feet tall at its highest point. Miss B loves it, even though she is now rather too big for it. She slides down it happily, even though her feet nearly reach the bottom when she is sitting at the top, and she jumps from the top of the steps for dramatic effect (3-year-olds seem to like jumping).

So on Sunday afternoon, Miss B was playing in the garden and <3 and I had gone inside for a while, when we heard a scream that sounded a bit more serious than one which accompanies "I have wet socks" so we got outside PDQ to find the little monkey lying on the ground, holding her arm.

Now, my medical training amounts to a couple of half day first aid courses, so I'm no expert, but I was pretty sure that arms bend at the elbow and wrist, but not usually anywhere in between, so the diagnosis was pretty obvious. We figured it would be best to splint the arm, so with a large wooden spoon tied on by a couple of muslin squares, we got into the car for the drive to the John Radcliffe hospital. After some tears, B fell asleep for most of the journey.

At the hospital we went through a series of reception, triage (where we had the "oh, so you're the girl with the wooden spoon!"), X-ray, minor injuries, kiddies minor injuries (where they put on a temporary plaster splint), back to X-ray, and then finally up to a ward. During this we learned that B had a clean break of both ulna and radius, and that the plan was to put her under general anaesthetic in the morning in order to straighten the arm properly and put on a proper cast. B was a proper little star through all of this, going through the whole process without complaint — other than some frustration that putting Lego blocks together was much harder with only one functional arm.

So we did a bit of parent juggling with me going home to get some changes of clothing and have something to eat while <3 put B to bed, then <3 going home for the night while I got what sleep I could on the couch in B's bay on the ward. At least B managed to get a reasonable amount of sleep despite her arm being strapped up in an elevated position, which made her usual night time wriggling slightly comical.

<3 was back with us nice and early and a couple of hours we all trooped down to the trauma theatres (with B looking like the Queen of Sheba as she was wheeled along on her bed). The only tears we had during our time at hospital was when Miss B decided she didn't want to wear the hospital gown that she had been given. Anyway, the little'un was put under (with one of the ward's "play specialists" blowing bubbles to distract her and <3 and I were at last able to get off for a cuppa (no hot drinks allowed on the kids' wards).

We collected B from theatre a little over an hour later and found her in the recovery room looking dazed and groggy but generally OK. Back on the ward, her recovery was impressive: it wasn't long before she was eating toast and drinking squash like it was going out of fashion.

The rest of the day was a bit boring as we waited for the OK to take B home, but this was livened up a little by a trip to the trauma unit to get the plaster cast reinforced with a nice pink covering. This trip took a little longer than planned as our guide got lost on the way — it turns out that the children's wards don't often have much to do with the trauma unit, so some of the staff had never been there before!

Miss B was discharged at about 3pm, so home we went (via a shop where we had promised to buy her a new cuddly toy — she chose a Tigger) and she has been fine since. She's not even requiring pain relief now. There'll be a few more check-up appointments to come over the next few minutes, and we still have some sleep to catch up on, but all is well now.

Frog Racing

So Miss B. has now had what is, to the best of my knowledge, her first boardgame experience. I had a few coloured plastic frogs salvaged from some random game many years ago, so I drew a simple trail of lilypads leading to a win space (I was uninspired, so it was a star). Her Monkeyship coloured this in, while I stuck coloured stickers onto a spare die.

Game rules? Well, they had to be simple enough to explain to someone less than 3 years old, so it was a case of roll the die and whatever colour comes up, that frog jumps on one lilypad and says "ribbit!" The first frog to the star wins.

It didn't take long for this to really catch Miss B.'s imagination and we ended up playing this for well over an hour. Win!

Hissssss... POP!

So Miss B and I went to the "Antiques, Collectables and Crafts" market in town on Sunday and had a lovely time thanks to the swans ride, the music played by some friends of ours, the hog roast, and the presence of the all-but-ubiquitous (in these parts) Professor Crump. The Prof. was doing his usual cycling around, doing bad jokes and making balloon animals which, of course, got Miss B's attention. So while we waited our turn, we had a chat about what to ask for.

"You'll need to ask for an animal," I say. "Ask for a dog or a rabbit."

"Rabbit," she decides.

So our time came and Miss B was asked what she wanted.

"Snake."

At least it was an easy one for the Prof. to make and soon Miss B was strutting around with her balloon snake ("Hissing Sid Rumpo," as the Prof. dubbed him). It was all we could to to prevent her from taking the snake to bed with her later.

One Sheet to the Wind

Another good weekend, including a friend's 40th birthday barbecue on Saturday, and then a trip to Swindon Kite Festival today.

<3 and I used to go to a few kite festivals, partly to fly kites, partly (mostly for me) to buy kites and things to make them out of, partly to meet up with friends, and partly to just look at the pretty things in the sky. Since the arrival of the Youngling, however, we just don't seem to have got around to it.

Well, a couple of weeks back, <3 spotted that Swindon Kite Festival was coming up and as we had a day more-or-less free, we decided to take a trip. The venue was a little way the wrong side of Swindon for us, so it took up the better part of an hour to get there, and when we did, we found that the wind was a bit feeble and not much was flying.

Still, we had a cuppa with a couple of friends who arrived at about the same time, the Youngling had a ride on a bus on a kiddies' roundabout, and I took the Youngling along to buy her first kite, a "Super Flyer", a wide-tailed delta kite which I knew from experience was great for kids. With this in hand, we wandered over to a spare area of field, assembled the kite and I launched it. The Youngling wasn't too keen on anything other than watching at first, but a couple of minutes later I heard, "My hold it now!", so I dutifully handed over the handle and relaunched. It flew for a few seconds before the wind died and it fell to the ground. My flying companion was, by this point, jumping up and down and shrieking with laughter. So we had another go. Or ten.

After a picnic lunch, we got the kite out again and there was little to stop our little kite nut. She spent more time flying there (with some good flights when the wind allowed) than I could possibly imagined. We are certainly going to go flying again, and soon. The problem is that she now wants a fish kite. And a butterfly kite. And a...

Back in the Garden

I have a good feeling about the garden this year. 2007 was a dead loss (horticulturally speaking), with a new baby plus an OU course leaving me with precious little time or energy to do anything much outside. 2008 was not much better, having fallen off the wagon the year before what little effort I did put in was in trying to prevent the garden from reverting to Ancient Forest. This year we are off to a decent start though.

We've been discovering that the Youngling, now past her 2nd birthday, is interested in helping out with things outside. Of course, this sort of help tends to slow things down somewhat, but them's the breaks. So a couple of weeks back we took a few bits of 6"x1" and built a raised bed (my assistant happily dropping nails around the place and occasionally passing them to me at useful times), which is still only half filled with soil, sand, compost and the like. The plan is to add another raised section or two and pave around them (for non-muddy access) using the slabs that came off our patio when the conservatory was being built.

Last week we planted some broad beans, with me poking holes in the ground and the youngling dropping beans into the holes. She loved that — it's just a pity she will have to wait some time for seedlings to start to appear.

Then over this weekend we planted some basil to grow indoors (I pledge this year to start a fresh pot of basil every few weeks to feed my herb habit!) and sowed some seed trays with broccoli and parsley to plant out when the weather gets warmer.

This is turning out to be a very equitable arrangement: the Youngling gets to help out, spend time outside, and hopefully learn some stuff, and I get to do some gardening while still spending time with my daughter. Hopefully we'll be able to continue this for years to come.

In the meantime, the rhubarb is just starting to show its head. Give it a month or so and we'll be able to take a crop. I'm looking forward to that.

Dickin Hox?

So it's our last day at work before a full fortnight off, during which we were looking forward to a nice trip over to Ireland for Xmas, followed by other fun back in the UK when what happens? The Youngling gets sent home from nursery with chickenpox.

While this isn't the worst thing that could happen, it means we're due some extra grumpiness in the lead up to her 2nd birthday, and also that we are unlikely to be travelling anywhere. All of a sudden we are looking at having to get in provisions, etc, that we weren't expecting to do, and the whole shape of the holiday changing completely. Hopefully we'll get to see at least some family over the holiday.

Oh well. All we can do is hope that the Youngling doesn't suffer too much.

Cafe Culture

I've had something stewing in my head for months about taking a small child to cafes and restaurants for food or snacks. This happens quite regularly for both myself and <3 so we seem to be building up a fair bit of experience.

Very often we grab a snack or a meal at a supermarket cafe, generally being convenient, decent value, and having the "right" facilities (primarily good baby changing spaces). Our experience is mostly with Tesco and Sainsbury's, and some thoughts come to mind...

• In one of the Sainsbury's stores we go to, the till service is usually slow due to a poorly thought out workflow (one person takes money and makes coffee, making for huge queues at busy times).
• Our other usual Sainsbury's has self-service drinks, which speeds things up, but usually has a very limited selection of "kiddie meals" available, even though the full range is still displayed on the menu boards. This can lead to frustration, but at least the Youngling isn't old enough to choose her own meals.
• Most Tesco cafes used to have a fantastic system where most adult meals were available in mini-portions, so we weren't limited to the usual fish fingers or chicken nugget child options. Unfortunately, over the last year or so, Tesco have been replacing their in-house cafes with Costa Coffee franchises, which means nice but pricey coffee and far less child-friendly.

It must be said that most motorway service stations are pretty darn good for dealing with kids (even if they are not that good for adults!) but that's no good when out shopping. We're also impressed with Ikea (though the nearest is over an hour away), but there is little they do that isn't well thought out from a family point of view. Then, of course, there are the independent cafes and smaller chains, but I could probably write a book on them, so I won't bother.

No real point to this, just some musings.

Enter the Babbit

Yesterday a couple of friends threw a party in honour of the fact that they are about to naff off around the world for a year, partly travelling, site-seeing and visiting overseas friends, and partly to put in a few months of volunteer work around the place. So the Youngling and I went along (<3 is away at the moment) and had a great time for a couple of hours, mostly due to the fact that the Youngling was fascinated by our friends' three chickens.

Part of the deal of the party was that everyone had to take away some of the "free stuff" that our friends were trying to unload before they left. The Youngling had a root about and chose an orange plastic bowl (clearly the most exciting thing there judging by her reaction: "Bowl! Bowl!"), a set of rubber stamps with Xmas designs (they came in a nice case with a nice little handle, which is a bonus) and a small, blue, cuddly rabbit, quickly dubbed "Babbit" for fairly obvious reasons.

Anyway, fast forward a few hours until we have had tea, Youngling has had a bath and I am off in the kitchen fixing a cup of milk for her bedtime. Then I notice things have gone rather quiet. I look into the living room and there is the Youngling spoonfeeding her leftover dinner (which I had neglected to clear away/out of reach) to a now red-with-gloop Babbit.

I took the food and rabbit away and ran the latter under the tap but failed to get him clean, so figured I should stick him in the wash. By this point the Youngling was calling a plaintive "Babbit?... Babbit?..." which looked like it would develop into a tantrum if things didn't go just right.

So in one of my clearer thinking moments, I got Youngling to put the slightly wet Babbit to bed a cardboard box and say "night night" to him. Bizarrely this worked fabulously and after I'd got Youngling to bed, Babbit was put into the washing machine with a load of other stuff and was clean and dry by the morning. Win!

Wimbledon, here we come...

I got myself a new camera the other day, the excuse being so that I can send pictures of the Youngling to <3 while she is away (as now). It's only a bog standard snappy camera, but it's nice and easy to use. I'm really pleased with this pic of the Youngling getting in preparation to compete for a Wimbledon singles title some time around 2022 or so.

Chilli Child

So there we were at the noodle bar, the Youngling in her highchair and munching through spring rolls, noodles and prawn crackers, when she noticed that <3 and I were dipping prawn crackers into a dish of chilli sauce. Next thing I have a cracker thrust at me with some waving and looks that left me in no doubt that the Youngling wanted it dipped too. Okay, I thought, so I dipped for her and handed it back. She sucked the sauce off and gave me the cracker again.

After a couple of iterations, we let the Youngling dip for herself, which she did in a very ladylike manner and continued to do so until eventually she stopped, pulled a face looking like she was chewing a wasp (or, perhaps a heap of chilli sauce) and expressed displeasure quite loudly.

A drink of water and some rice later and all was well again, though I don't think she trusts prawn crackers any more.

I get the feeling we are bad parents...

Not so new any more, but...

So, before January is out, a brief review of 2007...

The year was, unsurprisingly, mostly about learning to be a parent. It isn't easy sometimes, but I think we haven't had it badly overall and the youngling is a complete star. Latest cute story: having fed the littlun, I left her playing while I sat next to her having my own lunch (which wasn't ready early enough). Next thing I know, she had rummaged through the bib bag (kept hanging on the back of her highchair), and was standing next to me proffering a bib and indicating that she expected to have it put onto her and then be put into the highchair. What could I do but oblige and give her some of my lunch? That's me told!

Next most important was finally completing my degree. That's 7 years of study all paying off. I'm now booked in for a graduation ceremony in May, which should be a laugh. Incidentally, last week I actually received a sales call from the OU, who had noticed that I wasn't signed up for a course and wondered if I had continued my options for further study. I said that I was taking some time off from study.

Musically, I have kept playing harmonica with slowly increasing confidence and repertoire. And furthermore, I have spent some time with my ukulele, learning a few basic chords, so at least I can accompany a few songs. The youngling likes musical instruments too, and apart from shaking her maracas, she can also make good noises by twanging uke strings and by banging on our electronic keyboard (it's amazing what functions and effects she can set off sometimes).

The other big thing which I haven't written about yet is that I have started learning morris dancing. This is turning out to be a great way to get some exercise, get out of the house, meet some other people, and an excellent excuse to drink beer. :o) I don't have any of the outfit yet, but will have soon...

So, all in all, apart from some rocky patches 2007 wasn't a bad year, and it ended with a great new year's eve bash with some very good friends in South Wales.

2008? Well, more of the same, I guess. We'll see how the morris and the music goes, but the top priority remains the youngling, who is already developing into a real little person who is a lot of fun to be with. It's all good...

C'mon and shake it on baby

On Sunday afternoon we had a nice family outing to a folk music session at a local pub. Yep, that's the whole family, including the Youngling. This wasn't actually the first session for the Youngling, but the last one was a few months back and she has grown so much since then. <3 and I were a little on the nervous side abonut how long it would be before we had to get into lots of baby cuddling, feeding and so on.

We needn't have worried. The Youngling sat in a highchair for ages, just listening and watching with a rapt expression on her face, occasionally shaking her maracas, banging her tambourine or yodeling along happily. Nobody seemed to mind that she couldn't tell the difference between a jig and a reel, and several folk added to the fun by pulling faces at the little monkey. After an hour or so, <3 fed the Youngling and she was OK again for a while longer, though eventually tiredness set in a bit and it was time to take her home (though I was able to stay on a little longer and play some more thanks to <3 volunteering to be on baby duty).

We're now wondering what instrument we should be providing our wee little prodigy. It would be nice to have a fiddler in the family, but perhaps we're getting a bit ahead of ourselves...

Autorotation

I got up this morning to find <3 acting all excited and telling me to watch the youngling, who was wriggling happily on the floor. Right on cue she rolled over onto her tummy (the youngling, that is, not <3, who has been able to do this for some time) and proceeded to lie there looking pleased with herself. So, another little milestone: 20 weeks and 3 days, rolls onto tummy. This is both very exciting and a worrying step towards mobility...

Better Than The Usual Medicine

Over the weekend I gave the Youngling a bath and, inevitably, we soon had the situation where her butt slipped and I frantically lunged to get a better grip before her head got a lot wetter than intended. What was her reaction? She laughed.

I'd heard her laugh a few times before, but that was just a bit of a chuckle, a smile with emphasis. This was a genuine peel of delighted laughter. What could I do but laugh back? This made her laugh all the more, and soon enough we were both in hysterical giggles, splashing each other with bath water. It was a tough weekend in some ways, but that bathtime erased all other concerns. The laughter of a 12 week old baby is just magical.

Small, Cute and Smiling

I guess it's about time to post a couple of pictures. These were taken a month ago, when the Youngling was 7 weeks old...