Still here! (and some snow pics)

Long time no blogging, eh? Have you missed us? We've still been reading our favourite blogs, and Twittering and Facebooking- although I must confess that my Twitter addiction and my absence from blogging are probably connected. I've been having a very fallow period in terms of creativity, and so far this winter there hasn't been a single stitch knitted or a novel read. A good magazine is about as much as I can manage (and I'm really enjoying 'Red' magazine and 'Olive' at the moment).

Life by the seaside is going very well. After a busy first couple of weeks in the new house we have settled in and established new routines. Dave is commuting into London each day, so Monkey and I are on our own for much of the week. I work on Tuesday mornings and the babe goes to a good childminder we have found locally, and on Wednesdays I go to work near our old house and my Mum looks after her. It works out well and I enjoy having a day away from home. I don't find it easy going from 'mama' to 'therapist' at the moment, being a mama is such an all-encompassing job and I seldom feel there is much of me left for my clients.

We are going though another difficult patch with the Monkey's eating. She had been doing fairly well with the new food supplements prescribed by the dietician but this last week has been dreadful and very stressful. I *think* it's another tooth coming through, but it's always a worry when she stops eating. We are also continuing to have frequent breath-holding spells with full-on passing-out, I think this is just something we will have to live with as we progress through toddlerhood.

So that was just a little update from us, and some photos we took of the Monkey enjoying her first snow today. I will try to pop back in soon but if I don't, Merry Christmas or season's greetings to you!

Calm

I was going to come on here and rant about the Monkey's weight and food problems, and about the upsetting appointment we had at the paediatrician the other week. I *might* still do the ranting but right now, for the first time in a couple of days, I feel the beginnings of a sense of peace and acceptance, there is calm in the storm that has been raging around here. A couple of things have helped: reading this piece from India Knight about her daughter's open-heart surgery (it's an old article but I follow India on Twitter and like her writing, I was just randomly flicking through some things she'd written). Also, thinking about friends of ours whose 6-week old baby died last year. So here's the thing, yes, our little girl is tiny, petite, she may even be unhealthily underweight (I don't know) and she has these breath-holding spells which are currently a huge challenge... but... she is here, she is not chronically ill, she is strong and characterful and she has shiny hair and eyes. Those who know her say she is thriving, and she is doing the right things at the right time. There may be some underlying reason for her smallness, or this might just be how she is. This evening it just struck me that we have a lot to be grateful for.

Spooky Day!

What a strange weather experience we've had today! This morning, up at our house, the sky was clear and the sun was out. We walked ten minutes down the road to the sea-front and this is what we found:

Thick sea fog rolling in

Monkey had a little wander on the sand and a dig with her bucket and spade, there were lots of little girls and boys enjoying climbing up the sand banks. We walked back home and sat in the garden in the sun until the mist made its way up to us, at first I thought it was someone lighting a bonfire as it wafted across like thick smoke. Very apt for impending Halloween!

Beach Fun

We've had lots of beach fun this past week. Monkey is still getting used to her wellies (they fall off CONSTANTLY despite being padded out with socks and mama's handknitted babylegs!)but she loves her wet weather suit. We've been on the beach at Viking Bay and Botany Bay, the weather has been fantastic and we've been playing in the sand and having a paddle. We have an intrepid little explorer on our hands who loves to clamber over the rocks, it's a shame she is so light though, the wind almost blows her over.

Finding a new groove

Monkey models her new wet weather suit!

Wow, I am seriously tired this evening. I'm sitting at my kitchen table, a cat skulking around my feet, and my belly full with warming chicken casserole (sadly a ready-meal though, it's been one of those days). Although we are more-or-less unpacked there are still some random boxes sitting around, and in the den all of our books, CDs and LPs are waiting patiently for the delivery of some shelves from Ikea. Today I must have emptied about a dozen large boxes and stacked the contents up neatly. I finally found a GP who would register us as new patients (don't get me started on that one), and I had a stroke of good fortune at the florist, who gave us 5 extra beautiful yellow roses for free because they had opened up a bit too much for her to keep them on display. I just love having flowers around the house.

This has been my first week at home alone with the Monkey while DH goes to work. It's been much better than I had imagined, and we seem to be finding a new 'groove' here beside the seaside. The days, however, feel really long. DH has been getting up shortly after 5am to get the 6am fast train service, and the babe has been waking up early also. I am NOT a morning person and I really struggle with being up before 7.30am. Because her waking has been so unpredictable I have found it hard to get back off to sleep when DH leaves. There has been no Squirreling for me (that's how DH refers to my late-evening blogging/ Twittering activities), and we've been heading up to bed after catching up on the evening's Masterchef episode. Our bed (the same bed we had at the old house) has somehow been transformed into the most wonderfully sleep-inducing bed ever. As soon as our heads hit the pillow we are out. Perhaps it's the Feng Shui, or the sea air, or just the fact that we are both exhausted!

I've taken Monkey to a new toddler group this week and it was fantastic, far, far nicer than the one we went to last week. This one just felt right, I chatted with other mums, there were babies being breast-fed, and at least one toddler (mine!). Monkey settled in after a short while and even sat at the table with the other children at snack time. They looked so sweet! It's on a Wednesday which isn't the best day for me as I will be heading out to work in the afternoon, but we will definitely be going again.

This weekend we are busy with visitors so there will be lots of cooking, I hope. I've almost run out of chilli jam and have a new preserving pan now so there will be a new batch coming soon. I also want to get back into breadmaking and don't even ask me where my knitting needles are! Hope you all have a lovely weekend, I'm sure we will.

Cancel that Ark

Yesterday I was convinced that we would be building an ark after three days of near-constant rain. This morning dawned fair and sunny, and the Monkey and I went for an early morning stroll down to the seafront:

It was the perfect morning to appreciate our new surroundings, with the sun glinting off the sea and the beach empty except for a few dog-walkers:

Oops, posted the same photo twice!

Monkey gave us a little lie-in (well, 7am but that's a marked improvement on the last few days). She is showing off her new haircut, courtesy of Grandad, a professional barber whose skill and fearlessness with a pair of scissors and a wriggly toddler far surpassed any of my previous doomed attempts!

Our new home

I love Autumn, and I hope that wherever you are today you are enjoying this beautiful season.

We're here!

Just a very quick update to say that we are now the proud owners of our lovely new house by the sea (well, ten minutes walk from the sea!). The move on Wednesday went very well, considering we were all suffering with the 'flu. We picked up the keys at 4pm and the removal men finally finished unloading at 11pm... oh my goodness how tired were we? Yesterday was spent getting my kitchen unpacked and in order, I felt very happy when I popped out this morning to our local florist to get some flowers for my kitchen table. Monkey has been pretty unsettled and not the happiest, but I arranged her room today and she must have liked it because she has gone to sleep in her cot in her bedroom this evening, yay! We collected our cats and they are sniffing around the lounge, where they will be confined for the next week or two. And we are waiting for our dinner, Indian takeaway, mmmmmmmmm.

More soon, and photos....