2012: Week 2

Saturday 7 January


We spent the morning at a soft play area in Bowness with Sarah, Chris and Fin before heading home.


Sunday 8 January


This picture was taken yesterday on the way home, but I don't have a picture for today and liked this one so much that I had to post it. This is a kids' ride at the service station on the M6. I honestly didn't think Daisy would want to sit in it as she's the world's biggest scaredy cat, but she really enjoyed driving the car - in fact, about 30 seconds after this photo was taken, we had tantrums when we had to leave...


Monday 9 January


I love this outfit :).


Tuesday 10 January


You'd look a bit cheesed off too if someone had put your pyjamas on back to front last night...


Wednesday 11 January


Leaning in to give the baby kisses.


Thursday 12 January


"What? You mean next to the kitchen bin isn't the best place to sit and play?"


Friday 13 January


No, she's not dead - although she's lying in a classic chalk-around-the-body pose. Nope, just having a rest.

2012: Week 1

Sunday 1 January


Happy New Year! I didn't take any photos today (great start to the year, I know), so here's one from a year ago, when Daisy was 4 months old. What a difference!


Monday 2 January


We left our New Year place today, which was this lovely farmhouse in Bishop Auckland, County Durham. We had a great time and are looking forward to next year already :).


Tuesday 3 January


"I'm just looking to see what's in the bag..."


Wednesday 4 January


I don't have all that many photos of me and Daisy, and while it's not a great picture of me, it's a lovely one of her.


Thursday 5 January


Mum and I spent the evening doing this. That's right, we're living the dream :).


Friday 6 January


We left Mum & Dad's today to go to the Lakes to see Sarah, Chris and Fin, but there was just time before we left to take this photo. I only let her play with her tea set on the toilet seat long enough to take the picture. Don't call social services just yet.

A Year in Pictures: Week 52

Saturday 24 December


One more sleep!


Sunday 25 December


Merry Christmas! I'm not sure I understand what's going on, but I like all these presents I'm getting... ;)


Monday 26 December


I'm not sure why Daisy felt the need to show off her tummy...


Tuesday 27 December


We drove to Mum and Dad's today for our second (and Daisy's third) Christmas. It took us almost 5 hours to get there, as opposed to the usual 3, due to a combination of accidents, diversions and vomiting, but we got to open more presents when we eventually did arrive ;). This picture is indicative of Daisy's favourite bit about Christmas this year - playing with the ribbon and wrapping paper...


Wednesday 28 December


Dad's collection of Father Christmases is growing every year.


Thursday 29 December


Daisy got 45 books for Christmas, which is great as she loves them and we're getting bored of the ones she currently has ;). This is her favourite; she picks it up (no mean feat for her as it's the biggest book she received), walks over to her chosen adult, hands the book over, flaps her hands and shouts 'Up, up!' until she's lifted onto the adult's knee, then they read the book together.


Friday 30 December


I took about a dozen shots of Jen and Daisy, including one where they're both smiling, but I prefer this one as it tells a funnier story: 'She's laughing at me. Why's she laughing at me?'


And just to round off the year:

Saturday 31 December


We drove up to Bishop Auckland yesterday afternoon to spend New Year with friends. One of these friends is the gorgeous Teddy - Daisy learned to say his name quite quickly and spent much time giving him kisses, whether he liked it or not ;). Dinner time today wasn't going very well, until Teddy's Dad played an episode of Waybuloo on his iPad, and this was the result ;).

Happy New Year!

A Year in Pictures: Week 46

Saturday 12 November


Happy Birthday Jon! As ever, Daisy wasn't interested in posing for the camera...


Sunday 13 November


... Not even my birthday could persuade her to smile :).


Monday 14 November


I took photos of her today in a reindeer outfit for this year's Christmas card. I don't want to spoil the surprise, but here's a teaser...


Tuesday 15 November


Until she was about a year old, Daisy didn't have a bedtime blanket or similar teddy, but over the past few months 'Blankie' has emerged as the go-to toy for an easy bedtime routine, to such an extent that when we forgot to take it with us to Manchester in early October, it made for quite a stressful bedtime. We bought another one from the same store, but apparently it just wasn't the same (think Huggsy, Joey's bedtime penguin pal from Friends). These days when we say 'Is it time to go to bed?' she says 'Aggie, Aggie, Aggie!' In fact, if we say 'Shall we go and find Aggie?' she knows it's bedtime.


Wednesday 16 November


Mum made this beautiful cardigan for Daisy before she was born, and I tried it on her today. It's still a bit big round the shoulders, but I love it!


Thursday 17 November


Nanna and Grandpa (also known as Nanna and Apa) arrived yesterday and Mum took this lovely shot of Daisy. She often sits in her chair and contemplates life.


Friday 18 November


Jen, Sandra, Robert and Laraine all arrived today, and Jen babysat this evening while the rest of us went to watch the Classical Spectacular at the Albert Hall. I love this sign at the train station - only in Britain would you find a revised timetable to account for leaves falling on the track...

A Year in Pictures: Week 45

Saturday 5 November


We went into London today to see Keri, Carla and Juliet who were visiting for the weekend. Jen also came down from York so it was lovely to see her too. Juliet was so well behaved and so beautiful!


Sunday 6 November


Having had such a long and exciting day yesterday, Daisy spent much of today asleep :).


Monday 7 November


Keri, Carla and Juliet came to stay overnight before going back to Heathrow in the morning. Typically, I couldn't get a good photo of the two of them looking in the same direction, but I love the expression on Juliet's face on this one :).


Tuesday 8 November


Daisy weighs 19.5 lbs so is half a pound away from a forward-facing car seat, but we borrowed this one from next-door so we could put Juliet in Daisy's seat for the trip to the airport. Daisy loved facing forwards, but I had a moment when I realised she's no longer a baby :(.


Wednesday 9 November


As ever, I took as many photos as I could and the best one has Daisy behind a milk bottle...


Thursday 10 November


Busy week. Just having a rest :).


Friday 11 November


No caption necessary.

A Year in Pictures: Week 41

Saturday 8 October


We went into Cambridge today, and saw these on special offer in Marks & Spencer. I'd like to think that they were on offer purely because they've got a fairly serious spelling mistake on the box and M&S were so mortified that they just want rid of them as soon as possible, but that's probably not the reason...


Sunday 9 October


Mum bought this rocking cow for Daisy in the January sale. It's age 12 months and up, so we got it out after her birthday. She's pretty scared of it - she's never liked being put on anything like that - so we're just slowly working up to putting her on it. So far she knows it's a cow, knows it says moo, and knows it moves when she touches it. And that's fine. She'll even kiss it to let it know she likes it. But she won't get on it just yet. Give it time.


Monday 10 October


Daisy had a fairly horrendous night, culminating in both of us falling asleep in the chair in her room at about 05:45. I took her to the doctor this morning and was told she has a viral infection, so we got some antibiotics to bring home. She didn't feel up to having her picture taken, but Jen took this lovely shot while we were taking the scenic route into town this morning along the river.


Tuesday 11 October


Daisy walked with the walker for the first time on Saturday! Literally as soon as she'd taken two steps, I made everyone stop while I got the video camera, so I at least have her third step and onwards on video. Here she is today showing how she's now a pro.


Wednesday 12 October


Still feeling rough today, but I managed to get this 'who, me?' shot.


Thursday 13 October


Camera shy...


Friday 14 October


Daisy fell asleep with her foot on the 'on' button of her musical entertainment thingy in the car. So we got to listen to it the whole journey. The towel round her neck is not because I want her to be a boxer - it's so that when she falls asleep her neck is supported and she doesn't wake up with a crick, as has happened on many occasions...

A Year in Pictures: Week 40

Saturday 1 October


We're experiencing an Indian Summer at the moment (although it's not projected to last more than a few more days), and the temperature today was 28 degrees (82F for you Yanks), which is at least 10 degrees warmer than the average for this time of year. Daisy made the most of it by playing outside in the only clothes she needed. Here she is squishing Jon's face.


Sunday 2 October


We went up to Manchester this afternoon for a couple of days - Jon's work has sent him to the Conservative Party Conference so Daisy and I came along too. Daisy's really into her animals now, and she loves reading this book that Nanna and Grandpa bought her.


Monday 3 October


Jon was busy with work all day, so Daisy and I visited our friends in Manchester - Nikki, Evie, Oliver, Clare and Matilda in the morning, and Catherine and James in the afternoon. Here are James and Daisy taking a break from checking each other out to look at the camera.


Tuesday 4 October


We set off from Manchester later than planned and I hadn't brought any lunch for Daisy, so when we had to make a stop for a 'comfort break' (apparently that's what they call a loo break these days) she stocked up on breadsticks until we got home.



Wednesday 5 October


Lately Daisy has been spending a lot of time lying on the floor. I don't think it's tiredness, because she doesn't show any other signs of being tired, but every so often she just stops what she's doing and has a little rest for a few seconds...


Thursday 6 October


Pasta bolognese for tea today :).


Friday 7 October


I was making Daisy's lunch today and I heard the bars of the stair gate (which is between the lounge and dining room) rattling. I thought she must be standing up and holding on to them, as they make the same noise when she does that, but when I went to look she was having another rest. While keeping an eye on the TV, of course :).

A Year in Pictures: Week 37

Wow, I've taken no pictures at all this week! After her MMR jab on Monday 5th, Daisy started feeling unwell on Monday 12th and didn't stop feeling unwell until Monday 19th, so I didn't get the camera out this week. Instead, I'll put pictures up that have been my second choice on a few occasions over the past few weeks. Sorry!


Saturday 10 September


Woohoo, got another one! A lady I know from church in Winchester moved to Singapore earlier this year and she very kindly sent this back with her son who went out to visit recently. That's another one down, and 18 I've got now. There are another 23 on the list of places I've been to, and therefore mugs I could have (assuming they do them for all those cities), plus hundreds more mugs to collect from places I haven't been yet, so it will keep me busy for a while :).


Sunday 11 September


How beautiful is this child???


Monday 12 September


When Auntie Clare was here, we wondered what Daisy would look like with long hair. Daisy wasn't all that impressed... :).


Tuesday 13 September


First meal on a proper plate!


Wednesday 14 September


This is a slightly over-exposed yet lovely picture that Mum took a few weeks ago when we visited. I've tried to enhance it but this is the best I could do.


Thursday 15 September


This is a screen shot of the card I put together to celebrate Daisy's first birthday.


Friday 16 September


Daisy and I went up to Mum & Dad's for a few days today. She was still feeling cranky from the MMR, but enjoyed crawling round the extra floor space and putting fingermarks over all the glass she could find...