Nine months in one post

It’s now been 9 months since I updated this. I am determined to keep it live but I think that in the interests of reality, it may need to be more about putting up photos and brief comments, than general updates – I must accept that life with two little ones and work just doesn’t allow for updates as regularly as I’d like.

Luckily I had made some notes last time I planned on updating the blog, so here follows an update from April 2012 – just five months late!

Months since the last update - but, they've been pretty busy - started a new job, had a 1st birthday, bought a house and moved. But here I am and there's a lot of catching up to do. I make notes along the way of things I want to write about - milestones (Chloë saying 'nyum nyum' when she eats, at 10 month; at 10 and a half months, doing make nice; at 11 months, absolutely loving doing the actions to 'wind the bobbin', waving goodbye, cuddling soft toys along with affectionate sound effects, and cruising everywhere) but these are the things that really, I should (and do) write in a baby book - here, I want to capture photos and anecdotes about who the kids are.

Chloë really seems to have come into her own personality in the last few months. I suspect I may end up saying this every few months though! She's very adventurous, fearless, wild and headstrong - in terms of physical preferences and capabilities, she's a very different baby to the one Benjy was. When we go to soft play Chloë's off like a shot on her own, climbing the ladder to the slide, sitting there watching how the other (and much older) children come down, and then going for it. She turns her little self around and slides down backwards on her tummy! In our new house we have some stairs dividing the landing, so she's had to get very competent at managing going up and down a few steps on her own, very quickly, and she had it mastered in no time at all. Her sense of humour is really developing and it's so lovely to hear her discover what makes her laugh and then seeing her doing it over again - such as kicking her legs in the bath so she splashes her face, and opening her arms as wide as they'll go to do a really loud clap. Of course, the thing she laughs hardest and longest at is Benjy, and he'll work tirelessly to keep her amused, and often has her laughing so hard that she, literally, falls over. And of course, our little baby is 1 now! It was her birthday a few days after we moved so we had parties for her at our parents' instead of at home - all I did was make a cake - should do it that way every year! She had a great day on her actual birthday but wasn't in the best of spirits for her party. Here's the obligatory list of what she's doing, at 1 year old - the actions to 'If you're happy and you know it' and 'twinkle twinkle', blows kisses, loves to cuddle, wants to walk everywhere holding on to our fingers, waving hello and goodbye by opening and closing her fist. I feel silly 'reporting' these milestones but I know I'll look back and be glad they're there. The other thing worth mentioning is that now that I am back at work, Chloë has started nursery, and she is absolutely thriving. The staff adore her, and she is so happy there - it didn't take long before she was jumping out of our arms at drop-off to go to Kim and Brenda. They are so delighted with her, seem really excited at her progress and development, and we are equally delighted with the care she gets and how happy she is there - we're lucky it's working out so well.

[Adding as a footnote later that she started walking at 14 months, very confident, running not long after. Onto Benjy - I had only noted down a few bullet points about Benjy so am turning them into text now – September 2012 – and hoping I remember everything].

Benjy still comes out with some absolute corkers – the funniest anecdote of all, which will no doubt become one of those family stories told across the years, has to be from Seder night. Benjy had been learning about Seder at nursery and was really excited for it. We were midway through and then Benjy stood up on his chair and said ‘I’ve got a story’, so we all listened, and then he said ‘But I don’t know the words’, and looked over to Jakey and handed him a Hagadah and said ‘Here, this might help you’. I then realised he’d been told at nursery that we tell the story of Pesach at Seder and that is all he was expecting it to be! So we asked him his story and he told us something typically imaginative and wacky which involved Pharaoh and a giant marshmallow. Not as funny in the retelling, of course, but it was just brilliant, and Benjy at his typically funny best.

Otherwise, what is he up to – amazing at drawing – creative, meticulous . Almost speaking absolutely perfectly but still getting the occasional thing wrong, my favourite being ‘turtoise’  - he doesn’t seem to realise that a turtle and tortoise are two separate animals – but most likely that’s because when he points at one and asks me what it is, I am never quite sure either.

He continues to be a brilliant negotiator – coming back at a ‘no’ with ‘But I’ve got a different idea’, or using someone else to voice his wishes e.g. when told we wouldn’t get an ice cream from an ice cream van during Pesach, and asking why other people were queuing there and I said it’s because they’re not Jewish, he replied ‘But Haman said I’m not Jewish’. Hmm…

And Benjy and Chloë together. These two LOVE each other. When they see each other at the end of a day apart, they are literally pushing me out of the way to jump into each other's arms. Benjy looks out for her ('shhh, Chloë's sleeeping), reaches out to hold her hand in the back of the car, pats her back to comfort her if she's crying, and just wants her to be  happy. Most of the time, that is - he is her big brother, after all, and being a little mean is part of the job. And she just wants his attention all the time - if we tell her to go and get Benjy, she'll crawl over and pat and prod him, or lie on top of him, until he responds. I think a defining Benjy/Chlo relationship characteristic is playing on the landing before bathtime - they chase each other, he pretends to come after her, she pretends to - rather coyly - come to me for safety, they play together on his bed - it's everyone's best time of the day.

                                  

And so back to now – September 2012. Benjy started big school last week. Strangely, it didn’t seem weird – didn’t seem as though he was too young, too little, not ready – it just seemed right. And he has loved it, settled straight in, ran right over to the drawing table – still his favourite pastime and he gets better and better at it – and got stuck in. He is also, gradually and slowly, becoming more interested in the physical, like kicking a football, bouncing a ball – he was always much less interested in this than other kids his age but he is now getting there. We tried him with a swimming lesson at the weekend and he hated it – he has never loved swimming, or getting wet generally  - on holiday in May it took until day 4 to get in the pool – so we will take it slowly and hold off on the lessons for a while. Besides that, no specific stories (that’s what happens without regular updates) to illustrate what I want to say about him which is that he is smart, funny, wild, certainly a handful, but also very loving (and he LOVES his sister – his ‘sweetie pie) and opening up worlds of discovery for us all the time.

Chloë is 18 months now and she is a little madam! She says a few words – says ‘Mummy’ now (‘Mameeee’) and quite a few other things too although still a lot less than Benjy was (I know – I shouldn’t compare) – however, having said that, she has no problem at all making herself very clearly understood, so there is little need for her to speak! She knows what she wants, and is very determined to make sure she gets it, along with having to throw whatever tantrums she feels necessary along the way. Physically, she is totally fearless, which is lovely but occasionally terrifying, and she thrives on speed and recklessness – a lot of what she does is accompanied by a delighted ‘wheeeee!’. She is loads of fun – at such a lovely age, she knows what she does and doesn’t like, knows how to attract attention and draw us all in, and is so cuddly and delicious with a smile that turns her whole face into a ball of utter delight. And she utterly adores Benjy – however nicely or otherwise they have been playing, when he is upset she drops whatever she is doing to comfort him, and if he ever gets sent out of the room, she has to go right after him to make sure he is OK, and holding her back makes her so upset that it’s almost easier (almost…) not to ever give Benjy any time out!

Photos to follow when I get chance  - hopefully in less than 9 months.