Thumbs Up

Having been regularly photographed from birth, G has now developed some classy poses for the camera. Here she is yesterday, demonstrating 'thumbs up'. She can do either one thumb or two, on command. Hopefully I'll have her doing a full range of catalogue looks before long.

We went for a walk along the canal and ended up at the garden centre for a cup of coffee and a vanilla slice (me) and some chocolate cake (her). G managed half of her generous portion, and as you can see, she was left with a very amusing chocolate moustache:

I'm not sure which kind of catalogue that look features in. But it's not one I've ever seen.

The Weekend

With Mrs J busy this weekend, I took G to London for a bit of a road trip and to catch up with some friends. To break the journey on the way down we stopped off for a swim at the Hathersage outdoor pool. Despite G's slightly apprehensive look before going in, the water was pleasantly warm. Or at least much warmer than the last time we went.

G didn't much fancy going to sleep in a strange room on the Saturday night, so ended up clambering into bed with me. This was fine for her, but I soon realised she was taking up the majority of the single bed, forcing me right up against the wall. It was like being a student again. Only, you know, with a toddler.

The following morning, she did her best to look completely blameless in our friends' kitchen:

We went to a nearby playground. G enjoyed running around the various equipment, but the dress Mrs J had given me to put her in was proving problematic. So, as you can see from this picture taken on the slide, I had to tuck the front of her dress into her nappy so she wouldn't trip over it going up steps. Classy.

We moved on to a barbecue being hosted by some other friends, which was doubling up as a joint birthday party. After a nap in the car on the way, G was on very good form by this point, and ate lots of the food. This was her attempt at eating a burger, although in typical style she showed more interest in the bun rather than the actual meat.

She didn't sleep much on the drive home, but thankfully for both of us I had a portable in-car DVD player with us, and a stack of Charlie and Lola episodes. I can now confirm that the portable in-car DVD player is one of the all-time great inventions. She was very tired but happy enough when we finally got home at about 10:30pm, and celebrated by sleeping for a good 12 hours.

"Don't want to get up" she said drowsily when I tried to rouse her at 10:30am this morning. Like I said, just like being a student again.

At The Hairdresser

I took G along to a salon in Uppermill to get her hair cut today. Mrs J is determined that G should grow her hair out, so I was under strict instructions to ensure this was just a little tidy-up. Walking in I counted three hairdressers and three customers, all women, so with G there too I was outnumbered seven to one. Not quite the worst ratio I've ever experienced, but enough to take me out of my comfort zone. I haven't had my hair cut in a salon since I was about 12, so I really have no idea what to do in these places.

As the hairdresser got started, I noticed little bits of something in the top of G's hair. "Oh, that's probably left over from her breakfast," I said, truthfully. G's hair often gets in her way (she usually refuses hair clips point blank), so I think nothing of picking tiny bits of own-brand Shreddies out of it during the morning. But I can't imagine the women were particularly impressed that I'd led my daughter's hair get into such a state.

At least G was well-behaved throughout, helped by the In The Night Garden magazine I'd got for the occasion. And her hair's immaculate now too, at least until breakfast time tomorrow.

Dressing Gown

Here's G just out of the bath one evening, showing off her new dressing gown. It's actually a hand-me-down from someone we know, and as you can see she looks very pleased with it.

I stopped her for the picture just as she was about to go through the nightly ritual of picking out her bedtime story. She very much likes to do this herself now, and as you can see, uses a stool to help her reach. She often carries the same stool around downstairs with her, and also tries to drag one of the dining chairs into the kitchen if there's something she wants from one of the worktops. Sometimes, as she perches unsteadily, it seems a little bit dangerous. But until she grows a bit more, I can see that I'm going to have to get used to it.

Early Bedtime

I missed G altogether today. Mrs J has been under the weather for the past few days with a throat infection and accompanying headaches. G was restless during the night, which is very unusual, so we assumed she was coming down with something too.

I went off to work and Mrs J took G to nursery after they'd both caught up on a bit of sleep. Although she doesn't have a temperature, the nursery staff said G hadn't been herself and had been very quiet. Then, when Mrs J got her back home later, she didn't have any tea and lay down like this on the sofa. Clearly, someone was very tired. I got back at 7 o'clock and G was already in bed, well over an hour earlier than normal.

Hopefully she'll be feeling a bit better tomorrow.

Monday Morning

Another wake-up call for G. This one is subtitled: 'if you even try to get me out of bed, I will break you'.

The picture was Monday, but today she was in much better form. The door to our bedroom opened at about 6:30am, and G toddled in. Mrs J whispered at me to pretend to still be asleep (this being a valuable 15 minutes before our alarms were due to go off). But she gave up when she caught a look at G out of the corner of her eye. She had come in to wake us up, but not before she'd put a paper crown on her head, left over from the Jubilee. I suppose girls always have to look their best.