Light Lunch

We went along the Leas until we got to the Leas Club where we sat outside under the umbrellas and had a sandwich and a cup of tea.



Nigel doesn't eat salad but Sean was surprised to see Wendy enjoying it so much. Mind you, there was no dressing on it so it wouldn't have tasted odd to her. She ate lettuce, cucumber, carrot and sweetcorn, and she ate it with gusto.


When we got back we found that Kate had had a really good driving lesson.

Sean left at about 3pm because he wanted to call in to the Outlet Centre snd pick up some suit trousers he had ordered. Kate and Nigel left shortly thereafter and I went to bed. I still feel quite under the weather.

Sean and Woo

Sean had a great time with Woo.


He was building blocks and she was throwing them back at him and chortling very delightedly too.

Weekend

Sean came early so we could go to Holy Mass together and Fr Nesbitt's homily on the Lord's Prayer was brilliant. I have known the Lord's Prayer since I was knee high to a grasshopper but he brought out some things that had never entered my head. It was such a blessing.

I was feeling quite unwell and although I went to bed early, I didn't sleep, so of course today hasn't been great either. Kate went for a driving lesson and Nigel, Sean, Wendy and I went to the Leas Club for a light lunch. Walking on the Leas, we were happy to see that the old bandstand was being used by a band playing music. I have lived here for 10 years and that is the first time I have known a band play there. It was unsafe and derelict for years but a local newspaper started a campaign to get it restored. I saw work in progress for what seemed like ages but I didn't know it was finished.

Two of my friends were sad last week. Ellie because she had found her partner who she loved very much being unfaithful yet again. She is heartbroken. And Kinzy whose close friend Pat succumbed to breast cancer and was buried on Friday. I am sad to know how upset and grief-stricken these dear friends are. I wish I could make it all better for them, and am sorry I can't. My Mum's friend, Auntie Essie, is back in hospital again and she is in her 80s and her health has been deteriorating quite quickly. May the Lord comfort all these people in their different sufferings.

The restored Leas Bandstand in use again.

More Milestones

Tonight, Wendy did two new things.

She saw the cat go out of the window, so she went to the window, pulled it down and closed it, then looked around at us and said "shut".

She got hold of my Vicks inhaler, which is about the same shape and size as a lipstick. We all saw her repeatedly removing the inner tube, smelling it and putting the inner tube back into the outer tube and screw it closed. This fine motor skill would be expected in a child of two and a half or three. She is only 16 months old.

Her co-ordination is excellent. Mine wasn't and neither were my daughters. Wendy is a very bright little button. She can watch something once and then do it herself.
Several of our family members are intellectually gifted and we suspect that Wendy is too. That is a bit worrying because the family she mixes with are all of average intelligence and we do not know how to meet the developmental needs of a gifted child. The school system is not equipped to deal with them although they have "Special Needs" too. Children with lower IQs, or dyslexia or autism or some such have provision in the education system. But there aren't many resources for children who are very bright.

Caelyn is dyslexic and had concentration problems after a head injury and needed a small quiet class and she flourished in a wonderful school in Margate, Laleham. They were astoundingly wonderful there and Caelyn was very happy there. She had suffered in mainstream and instead of looking for what was "wrong" with her, Laleham looked for what was "right" with her. She passed mainstream exams well there, which would not have happened in a mainstream school but the greatest thing about Laleham was that they made her KNOW that she was OK and to enjoy being herself. She went in feeling worthless and came out feeling whole. What an extraordinary gift. They gave me my daughter back and if I ever come into money, Laleham will be the first on the list for a big donation.

Wendy is exhausting to look after because she is very active, very inquisitive and into everything. She needs constant supervision. She is also a very happy little soul who is gentle and who likes making people laugh. She is such a sweetie and she is very caring of our pets too. She likes taking the dog his toys and feeding the cats. she strokes them, buries her face in their fur and kisses them.

She has a blythe and beautiful spirit.

Off on their Way

Here they are, ready to go out.


Wendy doing a last minute bag inspection.


They went out and had a wonderful time.

Michelle and Richard know that young parents rarely have spare cash so they very kindly and thoughtfully gave them each some money with the threat not to DARE spend it on anything sensible. That was so sweet of them because, heaven knows, Caelyn and Nigel have needed a bit of fun. They have been through some difficult times so a bit of money to blow on something that isn't "essential", just to enjoy, was a great thing indeed.

It was a lovely evening.

Michelle foolishly

After Michelle finished bathing, she went off to dry herself and forgot to pull the plug out.



The next thing we hear is splashing. Caelyn knew Michelle was out of the bath so she thought she had better investigate. Look what she found! Madam Woo in the bath, clothes, shoes and all.


Thoroughly enjoying herself, I might add. As you can see.

Then we had Dinner together

After dinner, Michelle and Richard decided that Caelyn and Nigel had not been out for fun for years and they intended to kidnap them and drag them out against their will if necessary. Caelyn was keen but was worried about Wendy. My Mum and I promised that if she didn't settle, we would phone them on the mobile phone.

That being agreed, they began to get ready. I haven't had my girls flapping and screeching around getting ready to go out since before Caelyn was married.

The first part of the process involved Michelle having a bath.

Before Dinner

Wendy was determined to climb on her Great Grandmother's head and brush her hair.



I was a bit uneasy as she is 72 and has heart troubles.


I'm glad I didn't intervene though because as you can see, they were having a whale of a time.


Great hilarity all round.

Tonight was Extraordinary!

We always enjoy Friday Night In, but tonight was even more fun than usual.

Despite the flooding England is going through and even though it is still raining every day, the weather is quite warm. So we decided to take Wendy off to the wonderful Italian ice-cream shop where they make all their own ice-creams and they have to be tasted to be believed. Wendy is sensitive to cows milk but she had a delicious Melon sorbet. We got a tub of four flavours for the rest of us - black cherry ripple (with chunks of fruit) vanilla, mandarin sorbet and strawberry sorbet.

Tonight

Tonight, being Friday, is the Family Night In. It used to be Girls Night In, but Kate brings her husband and Michelle brings her boyfriend, so it has changed to Family Night In instead.

We make a special point of meeting every week because unless a specific regular date is made, weeks fly by in the daily rush in the rat race and we end up not seeing each other for weeks, without realising it. This is an important point because good and supportive family bonds help us all to cope with the daily rat race.

In today's world, people don't often really talk to each other. Parents come home from work, have children to supervise, food and housework to see to and then are so tired they veg out in front of the TV. Or the computer, or in a book or in hobbies like gym or jogging.

This lack of communication brings about loneliness, alienation and isolation. People who have no time to listen to each other are attracted to people who will listen to them. Families are so important for courage, strength and balance that the nurturing of those bonds has to be a prime priority.

My sister is married to a very busy man who has a stressful job. She wants to nurture her marriage so she has insisted that Wednesday night is their night. They might go for a walk, have coffee, go to a pub or whatever takes their fancy, but she insists it must be out of the home where the telephone is a tyrant competing with the TV and computer and where the teenagers, cats and garden need attention. Those things will always need attention but if the marriage is to be strong enough to deal with all that it can only be in the context of communication.

Many folk haven't worked out that the TV has an OFF switch.

Hilarious!

I hope you will be able to read this. I could just 'picture' it in my mind and it gave me the best laugh I've had all week.

A Puzzlement

Here are some of her with Brakkie. He is remarkably tolerant of her.


He really likes being around her and is very protective of her. I wouldn't recommend anyone display behaviour he perceives as threatening towards her. I have absolutely no doubt that he would attack anyone or anything to defend her. He isn't shy about using his teeth.


It is heartwarming to see but at the same time he has to be protected from her innocent over-enthusiasm.

She loves Tea

She is always on the scrounge for dregs of tea.


And she isn't fussy either. She loves tea from my mum, who has it very weak, black and without sugar. She likes Michelle's herbal stuff and ordinary tea with milk and sugar. I think she likes going for tea because it is 'forbidden fruit'. Her favourite tipple is plain water. She loves water and drinks copious amounts of it.


And she has a very charming smile.

Seriously Scary!

I have said before, Wendy is a clever child. I have had to keep my oven turned off at the mains since she has become mobile. For some ridiculous and mad reason, oven manufacturers insist on putting control knobs on the front of the oven, within easy reach of children. She set a timer on my oven - a function I didn't even know it had.


She is very observant and she realised that when you worked with hot things in the kitchen, you needed oven gloves. We hardly ever cook with her around as it is nerve-wrecking. We haven't done it, come to think of it, since before she was walking. Yet she remembered. I am putting these photos up as a Cautionary Tale to other people who have young children who either live with them or visit them.
She is kept out of her kitchen at home by a special Baby Gate. There is nothing for it - I have to get one for my kitchen, and very soon. These pictures should scream "BIG RISK!!!" to you.


She was annoyed when removed from the kitchen, but it really has to be out of bounds for safety sake. She is a strong willed and determined child though and she gives piercing shrieks when she can't get her own way. She can't be allowed to think that screaming is an effective tool for getting her own way though, so we do what has to be done and remove her from danger, ignoring her screams. She gets over it soon enough though.

Brakkie Boy

 

Anyway

People are unreasonable, illogical and self-centered.
Love them anyway!

If you are kind, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.
Be kind anyway!

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and real enemies.
Succeed anyway!

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway!

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway!

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway!

People really need help but may attack you if you try to help them.
Help them anyway!

Give the world your best and it will hurt you.
Give your best anyway!

In the final analysis, it is between you and God.
It was never between you and them anyway.

- Mother Teresa

WaterBabe

She is the first baby I have ever come across who loves plain water to drink.
She is actually greedy for it!

 

Michelle

My Michelle has been working hard. She loves the job itself, but is having a few problems.

She is phoned on her day off to come in and work - and she does.
She does several 24hr shifts a week and is, unsurprisingly, very tired and demoralised.
She has worked 6 weekends in a row.

She could put up with that if she felt that Management was playing the game with her. Before she started, she said that she was a Christian and wanted to go to church on Sundays. They promised to send a Relief a bit earlier so she could leave at 10am (after a nightshift that started at 12pm the previous day) and it has never happened. Not only that, but Management is now denying that they made any such undertaking.

They have now called a meeting on Michelle's day off, which is this Friday. She has been told to attend. She is worried because she is still on Probation and they can fire her. She loves the work and does not want to be fired. She just wants to be treated with some consideration in view of the fact that she goes the extra mile and comes in on her day off when asked and works grotty hours and does a lot of the donkey-work. Fair's fair, after all.

She doesn't want "special" treatment.
She simply wants FAIR treatment.

Back on Internet

Today I got my new Internet connection after being without one for a couple of months. I really missed it because I couldn't read my emails, blog or participate in my health and cat message boards. Friends kindly allowed me to use their Internet computers from time to time but I had so much to catch up with that it took hours and it seemed rude to be clicking away at a computer for such a long time in somebody else's home.

I have a lot to catch up with and it will take a while, but this is a good beginning.

By the way - I ended up having to reinstall Windows so I have lost a lot of my photos and documents. Not as many as I might have done because I back up my work regularly. But enough to be worrying.

Fascinated by Computer

She likes watching the computer react to her fingering on the keyboard.


A while ago, we gave her an old keyboard to play with but she soon sussed that it didn't work and she would have nothing to do with it. It is very difficult to use a computer with her around because she clamours to be allowed to use it. We are scraping up old computer parts for her dad to build her her own computer in the hope that she will let us work on ours while she works on hers. I doubt it will work, but it is probably worth a try.

Got hold of a Camera

She is no fool. She knows that this is a real camera but that it doesn't work. She is fascinated by technology.

See the mischief on her face

Progress and Development

Wendy at 16 months

I'm going to list some of what Wendy can do at 16 months because, developmentally, she has reached a very interesting stage and it will be useful to look back on in years to come.

Vocabulary
Wendy loves communicating, and here are some of the things she says:

Shut the door
Eat it up
Get in the bath

dog, cat, juice, Brak, hot, mamma, dad, yum yum, gate, door, no, yes, good, dirty, Michelle, ta, bye, baba, up.

Eating
Wendy is not a fussy eater and she eats what the rest of the family eats, bearing in mind that they eat a low salt low fat diet. She climbs up into her high chair and feeds herself. She eats quite well at formal mealtimes but like other toddlers, she is easily distracted so once her immediate hunger is satisfied she wants to get down and play. Her parents give her snacks in between formal meals to make up for that. She enjoys snacks of fruit, veggies like carrots, rice cakes, toast and bovril and yoghurt. She is flourishing on this regime and is the perfect weight for her height. Unusually for a baby, she loves water and carries a bottle of it around with her.

She still swigs at her mum's breast during the day but it is mostly when she is tired, teething or needing comfort. She needs a proper feed before settling down at night though.

Health
Overall, she is a happy and healthy baby but as her diet has increased in scope we have noticed that she reacts badly to certain foods. We know that she reacts badly to cows milk especially if it uncooked, cheese, bananas, orange squash, possibly wheat and/or yeast. She has seen the paediatrician and is having tests to find out exactly what the problem is. She goes very blotchy then has soreness in her nappy area when she has had something that she is sensitive to.

Fun and Games
She loves Peek-a-Boo
Making a 'boat' in a laundry basket
Playing with her brick trolley
Loves being read to and often fetches a book and asks someone to read it with her. She tears up newspapers and magazines, but has never damaged a book.
Playing with a ball. She is learning how to catch a ball at present.
She dances whenever she hears music
Tickling games
Rough games like wrestling and being thrown between her parents.
She loves being upside down.
She is crazy about nursery rhymes, especially The Grand Old Duke of York, Twinkle, Twinkle little Star, Ride a Cock Horse and Baa Baa Black sheep. She loves all of them though. If she is unhappy, she can be distracted with a song or nursery rhyme.
She loves music, playing with dolls, unpacking cupboards, and playing with velcro.
Water play
Slides, but not swings.
She puts her doll to bed wrapped in a blanket in the laundry basket. Then she gets in and cuddles the doll and says 'aaahh, aaahh, aaahh in a very soothing voice, which is how she gets put to bed herself.
She is gentle with other babies and kisses them softly on the cheek.
Friendly and sociable provided someone she knows well is with her. She is cautious of strangers and stays around her parents until she is sure the stranger is OK.
She loves walking and running around outdoors and she gets very moody if she isn’t taken out, even in bad weather..
She didn't go through the stumbling and falling stage when she was learning to walk. She walked well right from the start.
Blows kisses
Loves blowing raspberries on her mum or gran’s tums.
Likes playing messy games but comes and asks to be cleaned up when she is tired of the game. She stretches out her hands, saying ‘dirty’.


Attitudes and Abilities
Gentle with animals
Scared of noisy appliances like the vacuum cleaner and the hairdryer.
She can power up the computer and unlock the keypad on Nokia mobile phones.
Excellent co-ordination.
Not fooled by old computer keyboards or mobile phones. She works out in seconds that they don’t work and she leaves them to look for ones that do work.
No interest in television whatsoever.
Very quick to learn things.
Loves to make people laugh.
Stubborn and determined which makes her difficult sometimes but these attributes will stand her in good stead in adult life.
Uses pull-up nappies now and is beginning to get the idea of potty training and washing hands afterwards.
Excellent problem solving, for example, if she wants to climb up somewhere, she will push her toy box or some other sturdy article to where she wants to reach, then climb up using it as a step.
Comforts people when she thinks they are sad. She does this by putting her arms around them and patting them while making soothing noises.
She can play ‘put in, take out’, eg putting a pen into a bag and taking it out again.
Friendly and sociable.
Interested in everything.

Sad News for Nigel

Nigel's grandmother, with whom he lived after his mother died, left Folkestone on Saturday. She had lived in the same house for 50 years, bringing up her family there. Her husband, Ron, died there. Nanna is in her 80s and needing more help around the house, so her daughter Valerie found her a place in a nice old age home very near where she lives in Hertfordshire. Kate and Nigel helped pack up the house and had to persuade her that it was safe to bin receipts and bank statements from 1961! It was sad to see her go but it is for the best. All the history with its sorrows and joys associated with that house - well, a door has closed on it forever. Very sad in many ways.


Everyone wishes you well, Nanna dear.


Sean had taken Wendy out in her pram because she was overtired and she fell into a sound sleep very quickly.


Kate and Nigel have had letters confirming that their college applications have been successful and they start in September. Nigel's academic year has just finished but Kate is still going to her Child Health and Parenting course on Monday night, and Michelle is coming to help me look after Wendy while she does it.

Michelle has had some fabulous time with Wendy recently. Wendy is a very active child, she is bright, curious and inquisitive with no sense of risk or danger yet so she needs a lot of looking after. Kate gets tired sometimes (she is a human being, not superwoman)so it helps that Wendy is happy spending time with family members who are happy spending time with her. My Mum says she expects everyone to delight in her and love her because that is all she has ever known. All mothers get tired so Family was a brilliant idea.

Last weekend, Sean and I visited Sylvia and George in Bedfordshire. Brakkie found something to roll in. It looked liked mud but smelled of rotten fish so he was bathed before he was allowed in the car but there was still a lingering smell and had to have another one the following day. It was disgusting! He obviously enjoyed it more than we did.

Internet Access
Our new Internet connection 'goes live' on 1 August, hooray!! We will then be able to keep up with email correspondance and the blog, my health groups, my cats groups.
Also, I will be able to crack on with my online course and create a website about Melanie's wedding.

Melanie and Peter had a New Zealand wedding celebration for all their friends this weekend. She has not taken the job in the interior design shop because the pay is so poor that it wasn't worth the hassle.

Talking of work, Michelle is loving her actual job and wants to study further in that field but they are taking advantage of her again and phoning her on her days off to come in and work. And there is one person who is making her life miserable. We all know this woman - there is one in every workplace. Newly promoted, and hasn't worked out yet that leading the workforce is more productive than driving it.

I have a dental abcess under a crowned molar and have an emergency dental appointment later this afternoon.

Birthday Celebration

Pappa Nigel distracting Woozle from demolishing the cake.


A story with Great Grandma


Isn't a sleeping baby the most beautiful thing?

Blowing out the candles


Enjoying a good giggle

Woozle discovered that candles aren't good to eat.

Josie's Birthday Celebration

Singing together

Prezzie time!

Relaxing

My Mum's actual birthday is on this Tuesday but we had a family celebration yesterday at my house. Everyone was in a good mood and we all enjoyed ourselves. She is going out with her Church friends on Tuesday. Kate, Sean and I put money together to get her a new mobile phone - a pink Nokia 6085. I had charged it up beforehand because I knew she would want to play with it. It also has Sudoku on it and she loves that puzzle. I can't make head or tail of it.



Michelle got her a box with hooks - like to hand keys on - but this one had a photo frame in front and it looks great. Such a brilliant idea - why don't I dream up useful stuff like that?