How did it get to be the end of February already? Time is flying when you're having fun! And what fun we have had this month. BookBa...

Little Loves - February

Friday, March 02, 2018 BookBairn 5 Comments



How did it get to be the end of February already? Time is flying when you're having fun! And what fun we have had this month. BookBairn has become a much more confident swimmer and can now swim short distances with the aid of a float belt, she can count to twenty-ten (30) and she has started her transition into the preschool room in her nursery. The Wee Page Turner can crawl! And he is speedy - no rest for Mummy now! BookBairn loves that he can chase her and play with her and their growing and changing relationship is a joy to watch! Me - I have a draft of a finished picture book under my belt and am contemplating future choices and plans. Oh and most importantly - everyone in my house has slept in their own bed all night for several of the nights of February! This brings sanity back to my life as I do not cope well on lack of sleep. The blog has been a little quiet as I had ten (yes it turner into ten) days of giveaways on our social media so now I am playing catch-up with all the books we received in the post. So lots of great books to share with you over the next few weeks. And hopefully a little more blogging time.

So that's been our month and here are some of the little loves we have been enjoying.

We discovered a wonderful book at the library! So wonderful we now read it four to six times a day and the enjoyment hasn't worn off for either BookBairn or myself (The Wee Page Turner doesn't seem to mind what we are reading but he certainly enjoys the lilt of this read aloud!). 'Hickory Dickory Dog' by Alison Murray is a brilliant take on the nursery rhyme we are so familiar with. It's about a boy, Zac, and his dog, Rufus and what they get up to in a day. The illustrations are charming and capture the fun and mess that these two adorable characters get up to. But the genius of this book is that it's all told in the style of the rhyme:
"Hickory dickory dock
A dog, a boy, a clock,
The day's begun
It's time for fun,
Hickory dickory dock."
And then as you read through the words change slightly to tell an interesting story that is not at all contrived to fit they rhyme, which is always the risk with this sort of book. It's lovely and we won't be returning our copy to the library until we get our own copy. (I couldn't find it on that big online retailer so I'm going to ask my local bookshop to help!). I love it when we find a library book that we just love so much we have to buy. 

BookBairn is a huge fan of Cbeebies shows but this month we haven't been watching nearly as much TV. I've not consciously been cutting back but I have found that BookBairn is enjoying playing imaginatively a lot more and we have been playing a lot more board games so the TV has just been off. One thing she has been asking to watch is 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' TV adaptation on Netflix. We listen to the audiobook in the car a lot and usually when we return to the house it's the first thing she asks to do. It's really short and is the illustrations from the book brought to life and she loves it. Strangely she hasn't been picking up the book a lot more often - just the (very) short film.



This T-shirt is just amazing! All girls are Superheroes! Yes they are.


We have been playing a lot more board games as a family recently and BookBairn is really enjoying that time together. We tend to play whilst The Wee Page Turner is napping because he likes to steal the pieces and I'm pretty sure he would eat the dice is given the chance. The games by Orchard Toys are just brilliant and we are loving the 'Incy Wincy Spider Game' where you have to roll the dice (and BookBairn is getting pretty good at recognising the numbers without always counting the spots), move your spider up the spout and then spin a spinner to see if you get rain or sun and if you get to stay where you are or if you get 'washed out'. BookBairn really loves it and even enjoys playing it with her friends when they come round to play. So if you have any recommendations for early board games I'd love to hear them!


We made breakfast fun! I love doing sensory boxes with BookBairn but as I mentioned The Wee Page Turner keeps putting everything in his mouth so I had to think of something that would be edible and fun! So Coco Pops (and Coco Balls), diggers and shovels. They loved it! The best breakfast of the month. The Wee Page Turner loved feeling through the box, BookBairn loved scooping and pouring bowls of cereal for us all, and the house smelt of chocolate. It got me thinking about setting up a breakfast station (because breakfast can sometimes be a battle in our house) so that BookBairn can choose and serve herself.


I have heard a lot of my own singing voice this month! Quite a few of the books we love can be sung along to but top of the list is 'What a Wonderful World' bringing to life the lyrics from the Louis Armstrong song through illustrations by Tim Hopgood. This really is a beautiful song and seeing BookBairn discover it's magic through this book makes me heart soar. She can often be found trying to command our Google Home to play the song for her as she turns the pages int time and it has become a new pre-bedtime-lullaby lullaby. It's a truly beautiful book and I will definitely be getting more from the series.


We had a great day out to a local farm and heritage centre - Almond Valley - with friends. Almond Valley has a lot to offer young families with a huge variety of animals: ducks, geese, (very noisy) sheep, miniature donkeys, chickens, rabbits, goats, cows, a (huge) pig amongst others. But it also has a bouncy castle, large farm playhouse and play combine harvester climbing frame as well as play park, outdoor adventure play, indoor soft play, tearoom and cafe, craft area and museum exhibits, as well as a tractor ride! It really is a great day out. We had so much fun - and they kids were so engaged with everything that was going on I even had a conversation with my friends that wasn't interrupted every two sentences and with six kids under five between us that's pretty good! We will definitely head back when the weather is a little warmer as there is lots for us still to explore.

I hope you enjoyed reading a bit more about the things we loved this month, I've enjoyed looking back over the month to think about the things that we have enjoyed.

Hope you had a lovely February and with spring on the horizon are enjoying the little snowdrops coming into view!
Mummy and the bairns xx

Little Loves Coffee Work Sleep Repeat

5 comments:

  1. Read:- Golf Monthly and The Unlucky Lottery by HÃ¥kan Nesser.
    Watched:- Lots of recordings including Shetland, Spiral, Witnesses, Vera and the Winter Olympics.
    Wore:- Shorts and shirts for two weeks in Florida then winter woolies since.
    Played:- Lots of golf in Florida and none since returning. PS MummyBookBairn loved Incy Windy Spider when she was younger. Bet she still cheats.
    Made:- plenty mess in the kitchen.
    Heard:- BookBairn singing a lullaby to the Wee Page Turner. Made me cry.
    And lastly:- a draft picture book? Wow! Can’t wait.

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  2. Read:- Golf Monthly and The Unlucky Lottery by HÃ¥kan Nesser.
    Watched:- The Winter Olympics and recordings of Spiral, Witnesses, Vera and Strike.
    Wore:- Shorts and shirts for two weeks and winter woolies for two weeks.
    Played:- Lots of golf in Florida and none since returning. PS - MummyBookBairn loved playing Incy Wincy Spider when she was younger. Wonder if she still cheats.
    Made:- Lots of meals but nothing as exciting as a breakfast sensory box. I’ll bet the Wee Page Turner used his sense of taste.
    Heard:- BookBairn singing a lullaby to the Wee Page Turner. Made me cry.
    and Lastly:- a draft picture book!! Wow!! Exciting!!

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    Replies
    1. Love hearing your little loves! I do not cheat! (Except when I let BookBairn win - Gran taught me that!)

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  3. Read:- quite a lot but particularly Molokai which opened up a perspective on ostracism and leprosy
    Watched:- The Queen - equoo and Three billboards outside Epping Missouri
    Wore - shorts and woolies, depending on country
    Played- mmm
    Made- friends, I hope
    Heard- lots of family voices; love in vocal chords

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    Replies
    1. "love in vocal chords" Are you sure you don't have a book in you!? Maybe you should retire and write it?

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