The End

This blog was once known as accidentallykle, and is now closed. The story continues over on The Pretty Walrus on Wordpress.

Thank you for reading.

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*)