What a great idea, Lizzie. Like you I don't usually have the time to post properly so here goes:
Abby has grown into a beautiful, friendly little girl. My Oh and I are constantly discussing how much we're enjoying watching her grow up. She has definitely turned from a "textbook" baby to a "spirited" boddler. She is constantly into one thing or another and has a tendency to find the most dangerous thing in any room. Put her in a room filled full of toys, books and balloons and she will open the cupboards until she finds a pair of scissors or a handful of screws. We haven't actually childproofed anything in the house except for a stair gate at the top of the stairs. We find that we need to watch her reasonabley carefully anyway and like to teach her that "No" means no rather than let her assume everything is for her.
She is a very tolerant baby and will fall off the sofa, get knocked down by older children/ the dog, bang her head etc without flinching. However she does not like having toys etc taken off her and is starting to hit other babies/children if they try to do so. This is definitely something I am watching as I don't want this to continue.
Her new "tricks" include giving kisses to all her relatives, picking up the phone and saying "aahh" down it, selecting various farm animals on command and calling all walking birds "duck". She started saying "Mum" last week but her main words are "Dada", "Dog", "Duck" and "book". She absolutely loves books and will sit on the floor "reading" a book for up to 20mins. She points at her bookshelf and shouts "book" until I get one for her and throws a temper-tantrum most evenings when I refuse to read a 2nd one.
Abby isn't walking yet but can make a couple fo steps if needed. Generally she assesses the situation and realises that crawling is 10x faster so gives up on the walking business. She just isn't patient enough to try it out.
We have been completely run down by her illnesses though. She hasn't slept through the night since August and her poos have been so bad that we often have to give her a bath in the middle of the day to wash off her back, chest, hair etc. :\(
On the work front I have been very busy. We have started a new A-Level syllabus so I have had to write new schemes of work, plan new practical exams, mark 100+ exams etc. It has been exceptionally stressful as OCR have totally mucked up the practicals and I have had to try and get the best for my students in difficult circumstances. However my subject has become one of the best performing in the school - a result of hard-working and dedicated teachers. I am really chuffed that the subject has improved year on year since I became Head of Dept. On top of that I am starting to run whole staff training sessions, which is a good step towards becoming an Assistant Head. I don't want that position yet until my child(ren) are older but it's good to have stuff on your CV.
My OH's business has done really well this year despite the economic crisis - fingerscrossed xx. He now looks after Abby on Fridays and is loving it despite his initial reservations. I think it's an excellent way for them to bond as I am definietly the primary caregiver the rest of the time.
Our big news at the moment is that we have put our house on the market at last. We need a bigger place in a nicer area. This is our present place:
http://www.haart.co.uk/buying-house/Mapsearch/search-results/Property-details_120622_1.aspxAny offers gratefully received.
We are hoping to move closer to my work in Marlow but may end up in High Wycombe (with IZ and Skye :\) ) as the housing prices are much lower there but the schools are still good.
Anyway my dinner is now ready - cooked by my OH :lol:
H xx