Ode to a Sofa

We bought a new sofa this month. We'd been thinking about doing so since December, and the reason it took us so long to make our minds up was simply that our old sofas were perfectly fine. Sure, they'd been mauled by the cats (remember them?) but they had years and years of life left in them realistically.

However, we didn't find them comfortable. The cushions were, in our opinion, too narrow and due to them being leather, they were also slippery. This was never a problem until the living room turned into the place where our social life basically happens. We spend most of our evenings there, me alone, David alone, or both of us together, and sometimes with friends. We wanted something that made us want to be there. Something that was comfortable.

So we finally went ahead and bought this sofa.

(dfs image)

The model is called Lush. Now, as much as I absolutely abhor that word, I can't deny that it's quite a good description of it. Which is why I am writing this post. An entire post dedicated to our new, beautiful, sofa.

I can stretch my legs out on this sofa.
I can curl up on it.
It's comfortable.
I can move cushions around and sit as I please.
Its smooth, smooth fabric.
Emily can climb up on her own. No need for moaning until I help her up.
She loves snuggling on it too. (Who can hate that?!)
I can hide the remote controls behind the cushions. Yay.
It's so comfortable.
I now love spending an evening watching a good movie.
Did I mention it's very comfortable?

Good move, I think. I don't miss our old sofas one little bit.

And speaking of movies, I watched Burlesque tonight. Loved it.

And Cam Gigandet? Yes please.

That is all. Good night! ;)

Emily's New Room: Complete

I can't believe she's been in there for almost two months already, but that's how long we've been waiting for her curtains to arrive from Malta! I wanted to wait until her room was complete to take photos and show the room off.

Our house is a typical townhouse: three narrow floors. The top floor hosted the study/junk room and guest/junk room and was relatively unused - save for all the junk. Emily's old room was on the first floor, so we decided to move Emily up to the top floor, and bring the study & guest room down into her old room, thus merging them. Needless to say this last bit hasn't yet happened and both rooms look like they've been hit by a hurricane and honestly speaking, I just don't know where to start with merging the rooms as furniture needs to go or be bought and we're still not sure which pieces of furniture those are. So check back with me in a year - if we're lucky, we may have completely the project by then!

But at least Emily's room is finished and she is very happy to be in there. She still (phew) loves birds and makes "cheep cheep" sounds and the bird sign whenever she looks at her curtains.

So without further ado, I give you... Emily's new room x


















I was very pleased that we were able to re-use some of the things we'd picked out for Emily's original room. As much as I prefer the new room, things for her old room were chosen with great care and excitement for the "new baby" that was to join us soon.

The set of three bear pictures had been over her cot in the old room. The elephant and butterflies that are now over her changing unit had been in various places around her old room, along with several other jungle animals that had to be left behind. The wooden letter E on her little mirrors had been stuck to her door, but she now has a new one that her grandmother bought for her, so this E is now here.



There is also a set of four framed pictures that had hung on my sister's and my bedroom wall when we were little. It's not "Why God Made Little Girls" (although a reproduction of that poem is in Emily's room too), but these are just as special. I adored them as a child and am thrilled that they have a place in Emily's room.




Little details:
- Paint is "Sorbet" by Dulux
- Bird stickers are from Amazing Sticker
- Curtain fabric is Robert Kaufman Urban Zoologie by Ann Kelle ("Spring" AAK-11507-192)
- The bookcase is the Tidy Box

The Pied Piper

There are some people whom children are naturally drawn to. It's not something you can work on, you're either born with it or you're not. Some people absolutely don't have it. Others are average (I'm one of those). But some people are kiddy magnets.

My dad is one of the latter. We have started to call him the Pied Piper. Emily and Gabriella follow him wherever he goes (or they would if they were allowed to, but his sanity needs to be considered too).







Everything they do, he must be around. If he isn't around, Gabriella will go after him, poke him and instruct him to follow her. Emily hasn't quite gotten there yet... she'll just wander around, looking for him and calling Nannu.







In the few days my parents were visiting, he was made to sit through endless games of Row, Row, Row Your Boat (and often made to participate too). He was made to sit through mind-numbing hours of noisy toys (and squabbles over said toys). His water bottle was stolen from him by those two sneaky little girls - who then went on to fight over it because they both wanted to drink out of it. Gabriella would then try to force-feed Emily her own water bottle. Emily would hit Gabriella. And Nannu had to be present at all times.

Nanna, too, could never be too far away. Showering was disapproved of by Emily as it meant she couldn't have access to her. They learnt how to fly like a butterfly and there were many, many hugs and sloppy kisses. Lucky Nanna!

Everyone was sad to see Nanna and Nannu go. And although they may very well be secretly relieved to have a break from Toddlerdom, they were also very sad to have to leave this morning.

Emily is now surgically attached to me and has a melt-down if I so much as walk three steps away from her. She has had tantrums about the smallest things and is generally grumpy. I know the poor thing is sad, but she doesn't. So there will be many cuddles until she is herself again.

Week in Pictures

Lots of fun with the grandparents


My favourite - orange and cranberry muffin


Someone turned 8!


Swans and cygnets at Bluewater


Two sleeping babies


New sofa *love*


The obligatory sky picture

Pyjama Day

Today, Emily and I had a Pyjama Day. We both have colds and are feeling a little bit miserable, the weather wasn't too great (welcome to summer), so it seemed fitting.

I love days like today. They always involve lots of snuggling. We watched Emily's favourite nursery rhymes DVD. Twice. And we spent most of our morning colouring. Emily has her own little space in the living room now. (Let's ignore the fact that she'd already taken over the entire living room.) She has a little table and two adorable little chairs - one for her and one for a friend whenever she has a playdate.

The moment she laid eyes on these chairs when I assembled them last week, she fell in love. When she's not pushing a chair around the whole ground floor, she's - well - sitting on it. She absolutely loves them.

It's become her official colouring space.





Mummy, stop taking photos and help me colour!







We dressed up eventually and then it was back on to the chair. At which point she discovered it was a comfy spot to watch TV from (multitasking already), and she also discovered she could colour on her chair.



I am now working on teaching her that she should only use crayons on her colouring books and papers. I see a long road ahead of me...!

Week in Pictures

Here are a few pictures that sum up our week (well, weekend mostly).

But before that I want to say thank you for the lovely messages so many of you have written about my last two posts. They've really touched my heart and made me glad to have opened up! Love to you all x



Mmm... strawberries!


Fun in the park


Blue skies




Out in the garden in our slippers


More blue skies



Happy Father's Day Daddies! <3

Becoming

It would appear that I am having a blogging mid-life crisis. I know I keep harping on about my muse being gone and all that, but I'm not sure it's that at all really. Part of me thinks I've become that horrible sort of person who is only capable of talking about her child. But I also know that's not the case. I believe I've changed.

Life has changed meaning to me over the last few months. It's not about writing about seemingly useless things, preaching to others, expressing my opinion any longer. I am a person in my own right and I don't need to blog about my thoughts to make them valid. I have become more private too.

Life, lately, is about the precious moments I witness every day, the beauty of the character I see unfolding before my eyes. Life is not about my favourite nail polish colour or the clothes I like wearing or even my thoughts about the world around me. Everything fades in comparison. It's not worth the bother and the effort. Life is the amazing little girl I am a mother to, the family I'm building with my best friend, the memories we're creating for the years to come.

So I apologise if I bore you, dear reader. I apologise (mostly to myself) if my blog has become what I always swore it wouldn't: the dreaded "mummy blog". My life is what it is and right now, I cannot ignore the shining light that is this little girl I spend my day with. I simply cannot close my eyes to it. Maybe I've become uninteresting. Maybe I'll resent myself for shifting my focus off what I no longer consider important. I'll deal with it when it happens. Until then, and until I am no longer spellbound by my miniature companion, my blog will continue to be a Mummy Blog.

(For the record, my favourite nail polish colour at the moment is Essie's Eternal Optimist *wink*)

Jack in the Box

She is my own personal jack in the box. 

Unfortunately, she doesn't entirely approve.

Weaning: Mission Accomplished?

When babies are 4-6 months, you hear a lot about weaning. In fact, it's almost all you hear about. And so the process begins. But when does it end? When can you - or do you - say your child is officially weaned?

Emily's food day goes something like this.

Breakfast
Bowl of porridge/Cheerios/Oats bar
Cup of milk
A biscuit

Snack (only if it looks like lunch will be late, for eg if we are out)
Fruit/Breadstick

Lunch
Could be any of the following, amongst others:
Fried/scrambled egg on toast with beans
Peanut butter sandwich
Froga tat-Tarja
Mini Pizza
Fish Fingers and Potatoes
Jacket Potato with tuna or chicken filling
Followed by fruit as dessert

Snack
Breadstick/Fruit/Biscuit

Dinner
Whatever we're eating!
Followed by a yoghurt as dessert and/or some fruit

Throughout the day she'll drink approximately two bottles of water, and has 8oz of milk at bedtime.*

She will sit through a meal, eat with a fork off a plate or bowl, and drink out of an open cup. I know she is capable of eating with a spoon too but I am not yet brave enough to let her eat a whole meal with one, therefore she'll usually happily eat with her hands.

Save for that bedtime bottle, which I'm happy for her to keep having for as long as she pleases (she's given clear enough signals when it was time to drop her other daytime bottles), I consider her weaned. But I wondered, is there actually an end to the process? When is the point a child is considered "weaned"?



* Three days later, Emily dropped her bedtime bottle too. I think I can safely say she's now weaned. (I'm a bit sad!)