Little Loves - January
January felt like a really long month didn't it? It just seemed to drag on. And having been poorly with a tooth infection followed by a throat infection for most of it I just wanted to get back on an even keel. I find it really hard to concentrate on reading or blogging when I'm poorly so I didn't get nearly as many blog posts written as I had planned in my planner although I did still manage to read quite a lot and I did enjoy watching lots of TV. The kids have been good at settling back into their nursery routines and I find things much easier when we have more of a routine. They have also been great at looking after me when I was unwell. The Wee Page Turner has come on in leaps and bounds this month with being able to match colours, and complete puzzles as well as use his shape sorter easily and has added a few more words too. It's lovely starting to get to know him better as we have spent so long guessing but now it's great to be able to see what he enjoys (and doesn't enjoy). It's also far easier to keep him entertained. And he can really tell us what books he likes...
BookBairn borrowed Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam: The Diamond Chase by Tracey Corderoy & Steven Lenton from the library this month and we have read it daily (and renewed it!) ever since. Why does she love this series so much? Well, firstly Shifty McGifty has to perhaps be one of the best names in children’s literature. Genius! The series is about a duo of dogs who are not-so master criminals and change their ways to solving crimes instead. Written in rhyme they flow off the tongue as you read but they also tell a mighty good story. Not rhyme just for the sake of rhyming but because it makes the story better. And the illustrations and just spot on. The characters are so appealing, the scenes are packed full of fun details and there’s a spider hidden on every page! Which BookBairn adores. And this one features a penguin (another penguin book!) who runs off with a tiara - will Shifty and Sam catch him before he gets away?
One of the TV shows that I enjoyed watching was the Marie Kondo one on Netflix. And fascinated by her method, I picked up a copy of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying by Marie Kondo. It's a quick and easy read and sums up her methodology alongside anecdotes in a very readable way. I love tidying, sorting and throwing things away (just don't ask me to clean!) so I think Marie Kondo and I would be a good fit. But I did find that much of her strategies don't really help me all that much as I'm generally pretty cutthroat anyway about what I/we keep. She's also been given a lot of criticism about her claim to keep only 30 books but I feel the need to defend her by saying that she doesn't impose this number on anyone else. That's just what works for her and the key to her methodology is finding out what works for you. It's really fascinating. And the way she folds and stores clothes is an absolute game-changer.
For her Christmas, BookBairn was given tickets to see The Scottish Ballet's mini ballet version of Cinderella. Before we went into the theatre BookBairn got to meet some of the ballerinas and she was enchanted - though the ballerina was wonderful with BookBairn - coming right down to her level so that BookBairn could show off her fancy shoes and Cinderella dress. The show itself was also magical as it was shortened to an hour and in the interval they taught the children some ballet moves as well as introduced them to the orchestra. After the ballet you could queue up to meet the ballerinas who danced Cinderella and the Prince but BookBairn was a little tired and quite happy to head to the Lego shop with her grandma! We will definitely be looking to go to more of the wee ballet in future.
GG's hats! BookBairn had great fun trying on all of my Grandma's hats - her GG! We had quite a giggle and she now likes to wear her favourite blue one out and about too.
You never really grow out of top trumps do you? Well, I haven't! So I had lots of fun playing a top trumps style game that is centred around classic writers. The Writer's Game made us giggle to think of some writers as good ones and some as bad ones depending on whether they had won or lost the hand. This would be a great gift for book lovers.
As I mentioned, BookBairn had her first ever trip to the Lego shop and she picked a Cinderella mini castle kit after our day at the ballet. She also has a couple of small Disney Princess kits that she has really enjoyed building and I've been surprised by her ability to follow the instructions as well as her fine motor skills to click some of the small pieces together. She does still need help at this stage but she also loves playing with them afterwards so if we build together she plays independently too. I'm very excited to be entering the "lego phase" because I loved it so much myself and I have fond family memories of building together. BookBairn has asked for more lego for her birthday so I'm sure there will be lots more building happening soon!
We have discovered a new TV show - Sofia the First. You'll not be surprised that it is princess themed given BookBairn's particular interest in that at the moment! But we have listened to the one minute long theme tune over and over and over. I'm hoping she will get over it soon as I'm starting to hear it in my sleep!
I've introduced a new feature on our social media, primarily on Instagram, sharing our Book of the Week on a Monday in my Instagram stories so that you can see inside the book and here a bit of detail about why I picked it and then again in our main feed on a Friday. So if you want a weekly favourite book and not just a monthly little love, you might want to check that out!
Hope you all have had a lovely start to the new year!
Mummy and the bairns xx
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Read
ReplyDeleteThe Manhattan Project by Al Cimino. A very factual account of the making of the first atomic bomb.
Birdsong by Sebastian Faulk. Really enjoying this one about WW1.
Watched
A lot of football on TV. Still not much success for my team but they are hanging in there. They have a new manager so hopefully there might be an improvement.
Wore
lots of warm clothing. Boy, am I looking forward to some holiday sunshine. First holiday with Grandchildren on board. Exciting!!!
Played
with BookBairn and The Wee Page Turner on Thursdays. Great fun with happy kids.
Made
Lego with BookBairn and towers with the Wee Page Turner.
Heard
more words from the Wee Page Turner. He’s a quiet boy but understands most things that are said to him.
and Lastly
one of my New Year resolutions is being kept. Not saying what, though.