Saturday, January 31, 2009
NEW MILESTONE!
The challenge is now trying to keep doors shut where I want to control Pud's movements - luckily Alice is capable of understanding why, but she does need lots of reminders, to keep the doors shut.
CANINE INTELLIGENCE
Pud's the 3rd Labrador we've had - having previously had Daisy (yellow) and her half-sister Blossom (black). Both the others were pretty clever. I met Pud's Mum Sadie - she seemed very much in the same league for intelligence (though a completely different and much more typical Labrador in build).
For many years we've had a soft bone toy - it's blue and there are several rings that fit on it. It's supposed to be a toy to challenge dogs, the rings are supposed to be removable but no dog has ever risen to the challenge. One of the rings has been off it for years but 2 yellow and 2 red are still on it, or were, today I realised that several others were loose too.
Yesterday Alice opened the study door (which was purposely shut to keep Pud out!) Pud settled on the bed under my desk and made it clear that she was too comfy to move without pursuasion (brut force), until I moved a dog bed into the playroom for her! Not daft that dog, not so sure about her owner!
DISAPPOINTING AFTERNOON
About 8 miles later we hit a traffic jam, complete gridlock and nearly 3 miles from the next junction, it took us nearly 60 minutes to get to the junction - by which time we'd missed so much of the party that it wasn't worth completing our journey, so I drove right around the roundabout and drove home. Luckily it was nap time so Alice missed the whole journey (apart from the first 2 miles or so) and equally luckily I hadn't said too much about the party so she wasn't too disappointed but she was very grumpy from waking when the engine stopped (she's always grumpy if she's woken before she's ready).
I love this jacket and I think Alice looks lovely in it, she agrees but only because I said that it's a Chinese Princess' jacket!!
Meanwhile having missed the party I'm left with loads of sausages. Sausage anyone?
THIS WEEK
The photo is Alice flying around the playroom as a fairy princess! (Yes, the costume is huge, but it needs to be to fit over her winter clothes and she doesn't seem to mind.)
Thursday, January 29, 2009
BOOKS UPDATED!
For those of you who don't read the comments, here are her recommendations:
Brown Bear Brown Bear What do you see? by Bill Martin Jr.
Polar Bear Polar Bear What do you hear? by Bill Martin Jr.
Panda Bear Panda Bear, What do you see? by Bill Martin Jr.
Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman
Ask Mister Bear by Majorie Flack
Bears by Ruth Krauss
Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain by Bill Martin Jr.
Brown Bear by Bill Martin Jr.
Chicken Soup with Maurice Sendak
A Dark, Dark Tale by Ruth Brown
Do You Want to Be My Friend? by Eric Carle
The Doorbell Rang by Pat Hutchins
Fortunately by Remy Charlip
The Gingerbread Boy by Paul Galdone
Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
Hattie and the Fox by Mem Fox
Henny Penny by Paul Galdone
The House That Jack Built by Rodney Peppe
If It Weren't for You by Charlotte Zolotow
I Was Walking Down the Road by Sarah Barchas
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff
I Will Not Go to Market Today by Harry Allard
The Important Book by Margaret Wise Brown
Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear? by Nancy Carlsrom
Jump, Frog, Jump by Robert Kalan
King Bidgood's in the Bathtub by Audrey Wood
The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams
Old Mother Hubbard by Colin and Jacqui Hawkins
One Monday Morning by Uri Schulevitz
Over in The Meadow by Olive Wadsworth
The Napping House by Audrey Wood
Rain Makes Applesauce by Julian Scheer
The Rose in My Garden by Arnold Lobel
Round as a Pancake by Joan Sullivan
Someday by Charlotte Zolotow
The Teeny Tiny Woman by Barbara Seuling
Three Blind Mice by John Ivimey
The Three Little Pigs by Paul Galdone
This Old Man: The Counting Song by Robin Koontz
Tikki Tikki Tembo by Arlene Mosel
The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle
What Do You Do, Dear by Sesyle Joslin
The Wheels on the Bus by Mary Ann Kovalski
When I Was Young in the Mountains by Cynthia Rylant
Where's Spot? by Eric Hill
Who Sank the Boat? by Pamela Allen
Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears by Verna Aardema
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
OBSESSED AND GETTING TOUGHER!
Alice's favourite phrase from her favourite book. The book (Dirty Bertie) lives by Mummy's bed for morning wake-up and bedtime stories. Alice loves to finish each page with the key phrase, 'No Bertie, that's Dirty Bertie!' It's very sweet to hear her say it - she consistently misses out that in the phrase.
Unfortunately Alice didn't get DB tonight as she wouldn't co-operate. Alice is rarely naughty but she is very often slow to do as she is asked, so I've resolved to tell her the sanctions and be stricter. Consistency isn't a problem (teaching experience helps) but seeing the need for change is what I find more difficult. She wasn't happy at not having DB read at bedtime, she kept looking at me and saying, 'Good girl!' so I kept reiterating that if she continued to be a good girl then she could have DB read in the morning. Eventually she understood but not before she tried out hysterics - you'd think that I'd never said no before!
The other books (which she didn't lose this evening) that she loves are Elmer and (my favourite) Owl Babies. OB and DB are both successful for Alice as they have a repetitive phrase that she can join in with - and I'd love more suggestions for other books like this please.
Monday, January 26, 2009
SLEEPING ARRANGEMENTS
Sunday - started in the cot, hysterics within minutes (but hadn't bothered to even ask for the BGB, moved into bed, fell off (ended standing up with arms still resting on the bed but hysterical) at 2.30am and then sleep with me while I suffered kicks and hits and hardly slept from that point on.
Monday - resolved to buy a bed rail (to stop her falling out). I'd researched these before but hoped that we wouldn't need yet more kit as the cotbed was supplied with a guard for the bed mode - but I want to keep it in cot form for now as a backup! Bought guard, tried to fit it but the bed is slated so it won't take it - T and I will swap the beds around the house on Wednesday to try and rectify this, until then Alice has been told that she'll have to sleep in the cot again and she went to bed (in her cot) without a peep tonight!
Naps - still happening in the cot!!
Me - hoping for a full night's sleep alone (sort of!)
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
I started the day by phoning WAG (Welsh Assembly Government) I spoke to the lady who I dealt with when they checked Alice's dossier in 2005. She has a new No1 fan, me! She was so helpful, friendly, informative, relaxed, positive and best of all I DON'T HAVE TO DEAL WITH THE DCSF!! She talked me through a lot of the mysteries of the Thai process (I can't 'say' often enough how different this process is and most of the difference isn't due to a different country but paperwork for the local bits!) She clarified many of my doubts over different bits of paperwork and forwarded a new fact sheet that is more constructive than most of the others that I've read. The other HUGE advantage of WAG checking my dossier is that it's quicker, significantly quicker and much less stressful as I can ring DJ whenever I need help or guidance or want to check progress. It's a huge relief to me!
Shortly after the phone call we got in the car to go to A'g. The first track playing was 'One Elephant Went Out To Play' - as Pandas are Alice's symbolic animal, Elephants are for Little Sis, this track was all I needed to confirm all the good news of the morning, my eyes leaked a little at the thought of the reassurance and support coming through at a time when I was beginning to feel overwhelmed and lost.
Then we went to soft play (where we were meeting D and A), we got there just after it opened so it was a little chilly, 5 minutes later I realised that one of my feet was cold, then I realised my sock was wet and finally I realised that I was standing in a puddle of u*rine - I could have stayed at home with Pud and managed that! So for the rest of the morning I had bare, cold feet but Alice had a super time - she's more independent and is even coming down the wavy slide on her tummy (or 'tummin' as she would say), she really is an adrenaline junky!
Having clarified some point with Deb (lovely lady at WAG - who also said that adoption dossiers were a priority, hurray!!) I was able to complete some more paperwork for my LA - another set of photos (as they've mislaid the first set!) and pay the final installment of the home study bill, I delivered all that and dashed round A'g while the Magnificent T was at home with Alice.
Small steps towards my final goal, but very significant ones, in 24 hours this journey has taken a major change, one that I'm exceedingly appreciative of and one that I was in need of, a very positive day and I feel so much better for it.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
2008 A REVIEW IN PHOTOS, JULY
2008 A REVIEW IN PHOTOS, AUGUST
POTENTIALLY GOOD NEWS AND BAD NEWS!
I spoke to the head of the adoption team on Thursday (Thursday is now my Doing Day whilst Alice is at nursery!) He said that my Homestudy was now at the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) for checking. My dossier for Alice went to WAG and they were great - quick, efficient, friendly and informative, they also saved me several months at the Dfes. But this time round I'd been led to believe that they wouldn't be involved in my paperchasing. Today I was informed by a fellow Thai AP from Wales (I think that there are only a handful) that WAG do do the dossier check all the way through to sending it to Thailand.
This is BIG news! It could cut months off the next stage of paperwork and relieve a lot of stress (though if it is correct it will create some stress initially as I'll have to chase paperwork faster than planned!)
The bad news? WAG informed my LA that there were 21 missing or incomplete elements of the dossier - more paperwork.
The amount of paperwork for this adoption is incredible, so much more than for Alice's. Every step has been so different but I hope that the outcome is just as precious!
Saturday, January 24, 2009
ALICE TAKES CONTROL
Sleep has been an issue for the last week or so - ever since the beginning of the week when this cold started showing. She's been slow to go to sleep in the evenings - demanding 'Mummy's bed!' and unsettled through the night, she's spent a significant amount of nearly every night in my bed and my sleep's suffered a lot because of her presence.
When sleep gets bad like this I establish my expectations before bedtime and talk Alice through what is going to happen (optimistically at the moment!)
Today she's been OK during the waking hours, but as soon as I started to leave her (in the usual way at bedtime) she started to cry. Despite reassurance and repeat visits to her the crying ramped up until she's hiccuping and snotty, still demanding 'Mummy's bed!' I wasn't giving in - whilst I don't mind her coming in with me occassionally it's happened too often this week and I'm really tired, I don't want to establish a bad habit and whilst it's painful for both of us if I refuse tonight it will only get harder the longer this goes on.
So I comprimised! Alice is now sleeping in the single 'big girl's bed' in her bedroom. Her cotbed is still a cot but I suspect that Alice won't accept it as a bed when there's a proper bed in the room, but because of the cot bed converts into a bed with protection rails I haven't bought guard rails for the other bed - thinking she'd graduate slowly, but (as is becoming usual) Alice knew better! It took her another 30 minutes or so to settle but for now she's asleep - I hope that I haven't lost my civilised morning starts in the process (I have a backup plan using yet another baby-gate if necessary!)
Friday, January 23, 2009
IT GETS WORSE!
Pud's now been released from her spell 'doing bird' (isn't that another phrase for prison - I'd love to know the origin!), whenever she's fresh from the den or the dog room she has to go straight outside to 'perform', she's very good about going out and went straight out tonight but not to the usual p*ddle spot but to the bird cafe and she SEARCHED for her late night snack, ugh. She had a good rootle round and was only eventually distracted by small dogs barking - probably at the shadow of a figment of a cat!
ELLEN I TRUMP YOUR DEAD RABBIT WALKS!
Ugh.
Ugh.
D'yuh get it yet? Ugh!
I just let the dogs in from the garden after supper, the little ones arrived but Pudding didn't - not so unusual now as she's beginning to love exploring and snuffling and as a chocolate dog she's tricky to spot in the darkness against the flower beds.
Tonight finding her wasn't difficult - I could hear her crunching, that's never good news.
What was she crunching? Dead, whole bird. By the time I'd retreated to the kitchen, thankful Alice was in bed (even if it is mine not hers), swearing loudly in search of kitchen and shuddering at the thought of Pudding's pudding and the memory of the crunch. I thought I was too late but then part of the body, some feathers and evidence of guts was retrieved. Pudding is now confined to her den in the dog room and I'm grimacing at the mere thought of what's just happened.
(For those confused by the title of this post - go here!)
Thursday, January 22, 2009
2008 A REVIEW IN PHOTOS, SEPTEMBER
2008 A REVIEW IN PHOTOS, OCTOBER
2008 A REVIEW IN PHOTOS, NOVEMBER
2008 A REVIEW IN PHOTOS, DECEMBER
STICKYI
Sunday, January 18, 2009
CATCHING UP, AGAIN!
But yesterday I took a trip down memory lane. Alice and I met up with GMJ and her daughter P in Calne (where GMJ and I met at school). It's the first time I've taken Alice there, the first time I've been there as the mum and not the daughter. The town was just beginning a major redevelopment when we left school, parts of it have now been 'made-over' but basically it's still the same small town with several empty shops reflecting the state of the economy. While we were there we decided to get the girls' feet measured and for the first time in her shoe-wearing history Alice's feet hadn't grown, hurray, £35 saved and they don't need to be checked for another 4-6 weeks! We had a super day and as always it was great to see them.
(I had to smile when my gorgeous God-daughter P told her Mum that she was worried that I wouldn't know where Grandma's house was!! I've been visiting GMJ (J in those days!) and her family in the same farmhouse for over 20 years!!)
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Sunday, January 11, 2009
LOVELY DAY
Saturday, January 10, 2009
PUDDING'S FIRST CASUALTY!
Friday, January 09, 2009
WHAT A TRIBUTE!
I talked about being worried about possible sleep deprivation when Alice came home and said that I worried about it while Alice was screaming at 2am that morning, but I couldn't think of a negative about being Alice's Mum - I think that's the biggest complement that I could give Alice! (Yes - there are drawbacks to motherhood, but they're general, predictable ones - restricted freedom, longer to go places, more expenses, etc!)
LABRADORS
Pudding is fun, hard work but fun. I love her, I love her intelligence.
Thursday, January 08, 2009
ALICE'S DREAM COMES TRUE PART 2!
PUD!
When she arrived (9 days ago) she was smaller than Fusspot, now they're the same size, it won't be long before she's towering over her, she's growing so fast that you can almost see her grow in front of you.
ALICE'S BUSY DAY!
She started at the beginning of December. The first week she spent the morning and I collected her at 12:30pm, it was such a successful start that she stayed for lunch in the second and third weeks. Then she had a 2 week gap for the Christmas holidays.
So today she hadn't been there for 3 weeks. Knowing that my Panel hearing was this afternoon I'd asked if she could stay for the whole day, they had space so I booked her in for the full day (just once a week) starting from today. Then my Panel time was changed to this morning - so the whole day at nursery wasn't necessary after all, but given how well she'd gone in I decided not to change the plan.
I warned them that she may not sleep and asked them to be firm and persevere with her. I had a phonecall at around 3pm to say that she was fine but hadn't slept! I'd offered to collect her early if necessary as I didn't want to spoil the positive experiences that she's had so far but they said that she was fine and so she stayed until the end of the day.
She came home tired, thirsty, hungry and extremely grumpy! She was so grumpy that most of the usual supper suggestions were rejected immediately and she ended up wolfing a dam samidge (jam sandwich) and a pot of jelly before demanding a second pot!
ALICE'S DREAM COMES TRUE PART 1!
Yesterday she finally got her wish - she used a preschool CDRom on my old laptop. I was glad I'd restricted her to the old laptop when she pulled the F8 key off! The CDRom was a bit too hard for her but luckily the earlier stage arrived in the post today. She hasn't had a chance to use it yet as she had a very busy day.
DELIGHTED, RELIEVED AND A BIT EMOTIONAL!
To celebrate I went shopping! I bought Alice a 'pincess' outfit and Little Sis a photo album that can have a voice recording with it - hopefully to send in a care package after referral. It's the beginning of the next paperchase - extra documents for Thailand, but we're a huge step closer and I'm very relieved!
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
TOMORROW
Panel for approval for Little Sis's adoption. The paperwork's been punched, check, filed, checked and sorted. I'm trying to get organised, I'm hoping that by tomorrow evening I'll be feeling mightly relieved rather than wanting to turn the clock back by 24 hours.
Nursery - Alice returns to Nursery, she'd only been 3 times and it's 3 weeks since her last visit, because I was anticipating an afternoon appointment with Panel Alice is staying all day tomorrow for the first time.
Tonight during our review today and then think about tomorrow chat (that we have as often as Mummy remembers!) Alice said 'Yes' for the first time when I asked her if she wanted a Little Sister!
Monday, January 05, 2009
THE OBSESSION BEGINS . . .
SHE MAY STILL BE SMALL
Pudding looks round in disgust . . . if she's awake, but if she's asleep . . . she sleeps through it! I can't even freshen up with air-freshener as I'm allergic to it - the final irony!
HAHA, I'M BAAAAAA-ACKKKKKKKKK!!
In case you didn't go to the other blog - you didn't miss much, only 1 real post which I will try and import!!
Hoorah.
Sunday, January 04, 2009
NEW BLOG!
I still can’t access blogger or the dashboard, which means I’m restricted to emailing posts to the blog and I can’t read private blogs of friends. It’s very irritating.
Thanks for the emails with suggestions, I’ve tried every avenue and still can’t find a resolution.
So I’ve set up a new blog: http://kes44p.wordpress.com/ There’s nothing much on it yet but at least I’ve got full access somewhere!
OWNER'S GUILT
Saturday, January 03, 2009
BLOGGING HELP NEEDED!
OK, so remote blogging is working!
But I still need blogger help. I can log into Google but I can’t display my blog dashboard – I get the same message every time
bX-fqmd4l
I don’t know what it means, I’ve tried searching Blogger Help and the only answer seems to be to contact them directly, but when I try I get the same error message! I’ve tried emailing them (I made up a likely address) but I haven’t heard from them (so I was probably wrong!) Also I receive comments for moderation by email – but I can’t log into publish them. I really am in a pickle!!
If anyone can help please let me know by email or comment (I can read comments but can’t publish them!) – even the correct email address for Blogger help would be fab! Thanks.
BLOGGING PROBLEMS AGAIN
I can’t access the blog, so I’m trying remote blogging again!
Murphy’s at it again – the moment I work out how to get around the problem I forget all the excellent topics that I was prevented from posting about again!
So, if in doubt I’ll blog about family life:
- Alice isn’t quite right at the moment, she’s on stronger antibiotics and they’ve made her vomit today, joy!
- My hands are still mouldy and sore despite being very conscientious with the cream.
- Panel is in 5 days and I’m avoiding thinking about the consequences but I am worrying about the interview part of it and even more about being told the outcome. I was told my appointment would be in the afternoon so I booked Alice to stay at Nursery all day (for the first time) and then I found out this week that my afternoon appointment is before 10am (so it’ll be a mad dash from Nursery to Panel – just like last time)!
- Little Sis - I’m asking for a child at least 3 years younger than Alice and today I finally realised that this means that she won’t have been conceived yet but maybe very soon. It’s strange as a parent to discussing your own child’s conception at the same time being aware that I won’t be involved in it or even aware that it’s definitely occurred for over another 12 months!
- Pudding’s still wonderful – messy and time-consuming but wonderful! She’s beginning to know her name, she loves food, sleep, toys and affection and she aspires to be able to climb into the ‘big girls’’ bed and be their friends. She and Boo played chase games several times today, every time Fuss tried to join in the game was stopped! Both older dogs (can’t really refer to them as bigger as they won’t be in a week or two!) are getting used to her, Boo more than Fuss, but there’s still the odd growl – not helped by Pud’s lack of tack or subtlety!! She seems to understand what’s expected when she’s outside but doesn’t understand that it’s not expected inside!! Alice is getting better with her too (not that she wasn’t but now she understands more – especially the need to pick up her toys!)
- We’ve had a super time over the Christmas holidays and just enjoyed having less timetabled activities and more time to just be, I’m beginning to get that ‘beginning of term’ sinking feeling – probably more about Panel on Thursday than School on Friday.
Friday, January 02, 2009
THE TIME HAS COME . . .
To say sleep tight, 'til the morning light,
The time has come to say Goodnight
It's the end of a lovely day!
We've had so much fun today,
Tomorrow's just a dream away,
And now it's time to say Goodnight
At the end of a lovely day!
Goodnight!
This is the song that is sung at the end of CBeeb*ies every night.
The presenter Chris sings it, I sing it too and at the end Alice joins in with 'Goodnight' and then says 'Nigh-night Beebies' when the screen goes green with their end of transmission message. It's part of our bedtime routine. Tonight Alice surprised me and sang nearly every word, so special, tuneless but wonderful to hear.
JUST FOR SNICKERDOODLE
Thursday, January 01, 2009
IRRITATING START TO 09
Then an enforced change of plans which b*****ed the plans for the rest of the day, really irritating as I would have planned the whole day differently if I'd known in time.
MORE ABOUT PUDDING
She cries if I put her into her pen when she's awake. She loves chewing EVERYTHING. She cries when she can't get to the water bowl (the dishwasher lid was down and blocking it).
She likes to sleep touching me or Alice (if I'm too far away). When it's time to sleep you can't stop her or wake her. She sleeps more and more through the day. She can fall asleep (on my feet) in the time that it takes to stir anything on the stove! She's soft and soppy - she'll have a cuddle anytime and particularly loves having her tummy tickled.
We're very happy!
18 MONTHS WITH ALICE
Alice continues to be wonderful but as a 2 year old she's challenging the boundaries more everyday. Today she realised that Mummy isn't just saying things to make life boring, complicated or 'just because' - she learnt that Pudding WILL chew the toys left on the floor!!! Haha, Mummy enjoyed that, no doubt I'll get my comeuppance very soon (if you can find me under the piles of kitchen roll)!