13th October - Effects of the weekend

Davy seems to have decided to have a cold and a growth spurt at the same time so spent most of last night awake, either crying for food or crying because he was miserably snotty and windy. The busy weekend had also caught up with me so I barely registered that my husband had got up, kissed me goodbye and gone to work, and I was very surprised to find Sylvie was already up and about watching 'Sky High' downstairs as I thought she was still asleep. That must have been the first time ever I didn't notice on any level her stirring and getting up.

We had a pretty dull day thanks to a number of things. We aren't going round to my parents for a few weeks as my older nephew has come down with Shingles so his younger brother is almost guaranteed to come down with Chicken Pox which I would rather not expose Davy to at the moment. Davy was feeding almost constantly and crying when he wasn't feeding. I really, really needed a shower but heard him start screaming just as I got in. When I came out of the bathroom I asked Sylvie if he had screamed all the time. she had apparently been putting her 'Childcare' knowledge into practice, as she said "No, I managed to calm him down for a bit earlier." We were also still tired from the weekend.

I had planned to go into town as I wanted to visit the bank and some shops - Davy is threatening to outgrow his 3-6 month old clothing soon so I want to get in some 6-9 month stuff that isn't pink frilly dresses inherited from Sylvie before he does. However, when I finally got Davy settled for a sleep it was too late to head out. I may try again tommorrow after lunch. We also didn't get out to take our 'Project' photo for the same reason which was unfortunate as they are starting to embark on the more 'photographic' bits rather than concentrating on the big concrete filled hole that will be the climbing wall foundations.

Sylvie occupied herself with 'Media Studies' - Dr Who and Sky High - 'Body Art' with her children's make-up set that led to a very pink sink followed by a swift introduction of the merits of Swarfega (including a foray into 'Physics - Abrasion module, on why Swarfega is 'itchy' with granules in it) and 'Free Play' which involved an elaborate game with her Dr. Who figures and a reaquaintance with her 'Puzzles'. I recently moved her puzzles out of the spare room, where they have lived since I was clearing the living room in preparation for Davy's birth, into her new drawers in the front room. She chose today to play with them which involved getting them all out and covering every inch of floor with them. In fairness to her, she put most of them back without prompting, but needed some nudges to put the puzzle atlas away. This was due to the puzzles being a bit of a challenge for her plus her habit of emptying all the puzzles out and mixing them up together, at which point she invariably gives up as she can't separate them out again without help.

She didn't have much for breakfast - just a fromage frais - and asked specifically for 'meat on toast like a sandwich' for lunch, though only one slice of toast folded in half. She started to ask for a pudding at half past 4 but I had to tell her it was too late and needed to wait until after dinner now as I actually wanted her to eat something!

At 5pm I was getting quite stressed as I had a lot of things I wanted to do - bake cakes, start dinner, wash up, get the washing in, put clean sheets on the bed I had stripped this morning, clean the kitchen floor - that I hadn't been able to thanks to poor little Davy. Sylvie started asking me questions but I told her not to bother me as I was too stressed and I didn't want to find myself shouting at her. She kept on though, and my prediction was fullfilled when she refused to take part in 'Home Economics - Cleaning module' and tidy up her Dr. Who stuff that was in good 'accident waiting to happen' positions so my short fuse blew. A battle of will ensued, so that when daddy came home he asked me why Sylvie was sitting on the stairs looking miserable.

She had put herself there and had returned to the front room only to collect a few treasured items - her soapstone heart and her Cattys, who I could hear her reassuring that they weren't going to get sent away and bemoaning her lot to. Daddy managed to defuse the situation by trying some of the ideas we had heard about in the lecture at the weekend - making connections between Catty and every object they put away. I got a little involved with this in between sorting the dinner out (Catty and a spider - Catty eats the spider, Catty and a saucepan - boil fish for Catty in the pan.)

I found her Piratical effects from the weekend while sorting through the bag we had taken with us, so I put on her skull and crossbones headscarf and walked about saying 'Ah har, Jim lad!'. Sylvie immediately decided she wanted to play pirates and took the headscarf and the foam objects she had made (that included a cutlass) and ran about calling out for "Me Hearties!" and threatening to "tie me maties to the wreck." while using the foam skull and crossbones as the 'X' that marks the spot to dig for buried treasure. Since neither I nor her daddy had used these ideas or terms with her, we can only conclude she picked up more from her 'Pirate Fun' session that we had assumed.

She wanted to watch Sky High again over dinner and actually ate all her baked beans and sausage and delved into her potato when told it was a requirement for getting pudding. She still had one Kit Kat chunky left, and wanted to share it with us. We didn't want to eat her chocolate, especially daddy who had a last piece of birthday cake to eat, so with some 'Negotiation' it was decided daddy and I would have a 'nibble' each and the rest would be hers alone. She went to bed before the end of Sky High as she was falling asleep on the sofa. I told her she needed a shower soon as her hair needs a wash. Her response - "But I use a wet comb on it every night." 'Personal Care' also involves soap, darling!

12th October - A lot of Shopping!

Everyone was tired after yesterday, but we desperately needed to go shopping if we wanted to eat tonight, so I made sneaky plans to leave Sylvie at my parents while we went shopping in the hope she would have a nap. As always, she had her own ideas about this!

Sylvie got up at her usual time and managed to be ready to go off to gym in good order. It was daddy who was running late today - he fell asleep on the sofa after breakfast!

Gym was better than we had expected - no big strops, though we could tell she was tired as she wasn't throwing herself whole-heartedly into it, going through everything slowly and wanting daddy to dress her afterwards. She did, however, interact with another child - she told him off for getting in her face!

I had rung my mum to check it was ok for us to pop in - we are currently avoiding my nephews as there is a distinct possibility of catching chicken pox from them at the moment - and got the all-clear so we took the rest of the birthday cake and daddy's Safari Rush Hour game with us to share and show. Granny was quite happy to keep Sylvie, but she had her heart set on buying her Dr. Who magazine herself and insisted on coming shopping with us. We extracted a promise of no whining before we took her and she kept to it very well, with one short blip being quickly squelched by a swift reminder of her promise.

Sylvie commandeered daddy's Rush Hour game and showed granny how it worked - there are 10 'Junior' level cards which are about right for her to 'Puzzle', as are some of the 'Beginner' cards. Daddy had a go at the hardest card first and made a complete hash of it! It is funny, both he and I tend to try the hardest challenge first in things like this and I've seen Sylvie do the same thing with games of her own too.

Grandad invited us to his Bonfire party, which will be on the weekend after actual Bonfire night so my nephews can attend. He showed us the pot pumpkins he and granny had got earlier in the week - they are huge and hold candles. This brought on a spot of 'Family History' as he reminisced about the time before pumpkins were readily available and the Jack-O-Lanterns were carved from mangelwurzels from the farm next door (a type of beet used as cattle fodder - very hard to carve! Pumpkins caught on rapidly thanks to their relatively easy conversion into hollow heads.)

We all had a piece of cake and left the remainder behind while we went shopping in a 'Time Management' exercise, as we didn't fancy carting it off to Tescos and we had to return anyway as we were picking up a few items for my parents at the shops. We went into Borders before Tescos as daddy wanted to note down which books he might like to spend his book token on and it is usually our best bet for Sylvie's magazine. To our surprise, this week's Dr. Who mag didn't appear to be on the shelves. At my suggestion, Sylvie put her 'Social Skills' to use and asked the cashier if they had any copies, but after a search it was apparent they were out of stock. Sylvie was disapointed, but hopeful that Tesco's might have it instead.

While daddy was checking out the Science fiction and fantasy section I bought the old tractor magazine my dad had asked for and then Sylvie and I went to the children's section where we found the huge foam letter and number puzzle mat was still out for the children to play with, so we had a spot of 'Maths' as sylvie played putting the numbers back into their holes for a bit, followed by "You count and I will step on the numbers". This part also took in 'Modern Languages - Spanish' as she yelled "No, in Spanish!" as I started to count 'one, two...'. Luckily for me, I was sitting opposite some 'Learn Spanish' children's books as I only knew up to 6 in that language so I sent Sylvie to get me one and taught myself 7, 8, 9 and 10 so I could help her play her game. She then asked me to go back to "the proper words" for the numbers - don't think she has a full grasp of what another language actually is yet!

We relocated to Tesco's once daddy rejoined us, with Davy in a trolley with a baby seat instead of his sling as I had forgotten to pick it up on the way out of the house. It was a very jolty trolley that had Davy practically virbating in the seat, but going by his laughter he seemed to love it. Sylvie was overjoyed to find that her magazine was in stock and spent most of the trip cuddling it.

A need to buy a birthday present led us to the DVD section, which in turn led to all our good 'Fiscal management - Budgeting' intentions flying out the window as we discovered far too many DVD's we wanted for ourselves and ended up blowing £40 on 'Media Studies' resources.

Once home, the DVD I had laid claim to, 'Sky High', became a focus of Sylvie's interest and we all sat down to watch it together. It rapidly became a firm favourite, fuelling some 'Free Play' involving Superheroes. She was fascinated by the storyline of the main character, starting out without powers then developing them and made a number of observations and questions about it as we watched it again...and again...and....

She was pretty good over her dinner (well, better than normal!) once reminded there was the rest of the birthday cake for afters, and went from "I shan't eat any of it" to "Ohh, chocolate cake!" and eating enough of her pork, potatoes, broccoli and carrots to get a piece. Then it was 'Storytime' with me.

11th October - NAGC weekend fun.

Today was a very busy day - I don't think we stopped to take a breath! It was Daddy's birthday, Sylvie's 'Dance' day and also the day we had booked in to the NAGC Big Weekend event, where we were hoping to catch up with some friends.

We started the day with card and present opening in bed. Daddy got lots of nice cards, enough money to make his wallet quite fat, a book token, some chocolate and, from Sylvie, Davy and me, the Safari version of the 'Rush Hour' game. He was having a very nice morning, right up until it was time for Sylvie to get ready for 'Dance'.

Sylvie, on being asked to put clothes on to go, made for the fairy costume she had worn to the park yesterday. If I had been slightly less rushed/stressed, I might have spotted the danger in saying "No, you can't wear that." but that is what I said, and no amount of "You can wear it after dance" or "You know you need to wear your leotard for dance." would shift her from her immediate reaction of "Well, I won't go to dance then."

We were annoyed that she would give up the opportunity to do something she liked (and that we had spent the morning rushing round like mad things to get everything ready for as we weren't coming back to the house but going straight on to Milton Keynes after her lesson) but she was informed that her not going would only really affect her - we would be glad of the extra time that morning, and she could occupy herself with 'Home Economics - Cleaning module' by tidying up the floor she had hidden under her stuff yesterday now she was available to do so. She was not best pleased with this and defiantly yelled 'NO!' more than once so I told her if she didn't start herself, I would get daddy involved (not my favourite solution as it feels like passing the buck, but Davy was having 2nd breakfast at the time.)

Daddy's response to his assistance being called for was to get a bin bag and start putting her toys in it with the intention of taking them to the charity shop unless she started to tidy. It was a bit too much for her, as her stubborn nature combined with total paralysing shock that mummy and daddy were really doing this meant she sat frozen and silent on the floor as her stuff disappeared into the bag. She made some whining noises when her dolly went in the bag and looked very close to tears but seemed unable to do anything, so daddy sat down for 'a 5 minute rest' before he had quite cleared everything to give her a chance to recover enough to win her stuff back by putting something away.

She finally got her keyboard and literally dragged herself on all-fours over to it's 'home', after which she did complain that tidying was hard as not everything "Has a place where it is kept." She has a point - I rearranged the toys recently to make space and a few things were not put away so appeared not to have homes. This, however, does not apply to most of her toys, especially the musical instruments that were all over the floor!

While she was doing this, Davy was having a spot of 'Information Technology' with daddy. He has recently been reaching out for things and actually getting hold of them on a surprisingly regular basis. Today, as the above picture shows, what he reached for was daddy's keyboard, banging the keys while daddy tried to play a timed word game. Daddy kept finding that he hadn't typed in what he thought he had thanks to Davy's 'help'!

Sylvie, after the horrors of the great 'Nearly sent to the Charity shop' tidying saga, decided that she would like to go to 'Dance' now, so we took her in time for the 'Tap and Modern' session. We took the opportunity to sign next weeks session off as a 'Holiday day' as we will be in the Isle of Wight. Davy, with impeccable timing, presented me with a mucky nappy just as we were ready to leave for the car so we were a little later getting on the road than we wanted.

Once on the motorway, Sylvie fell asleep, giving us proof of our belief that her earlier behaviour had been fuelled partly by tiredness. she woke about 20 mins before we arrived, saw me looking at her and quickly claimed "I just thought I should have a sleep before we arrived."

We got there to find our friends were the first people we saw as we headed into the food hall for lunch. We had thought it might be hard to find on another as there were 300 families down for joining in the weekend, so it was a pleasant surprise to meet so easily. Davy was admired and cuddled and Sylvie took daddy back to the car to get the present she had for her friend - a CD of 'Under the Sea' songs and a dress she had grown out of that she thought her friend would love - the fabric is covered with pictures of kittens that look just like the Catty's she and her friend own!

Our friends were doing different activities to ourselves, so we arranged to meet in the break and headed off, Sylvie to 'Pirate Fun - build a pirate ship and treasure chest and hunt the treasure, according to the programme - and the rest of us to the keynote lecture on encouraging creative thinking in our children. Sylvie went in to her activity quite happily and sat with the other children so we had high hopes she would enjoy herself. When collected, she was clutching a picture on pink foam of an anchor she had apparently drawn and cut out herself which we were impressed by, and wearing a skull and crossbone covered head scarf.

I asked her if she had helped make a ship. She said she had for a bit but then got bored. On further questioning, it transpired, as I suspected, that she had lost interest when the other children started using their own ideas to build and decorate the ship instead of doing it the way she thought it should go. I asked her if she had got on with the other children, she said "Well, yes, but they were all boys." I was a bit surprised by this but apparently she was the only girl signed up for the Pirate Fun session.

We had half an hour with our friends before moving on to the second session. Sylvie was down for 'Astronomy and Art' in 'Starlab stars and planets, Rocket Modelling.' She didn't want to stay by herself this time though, and asked daddy to go with her so I went to the Home Education discussion while he enjoyed some quality time with our little girl.
They came out of the session having made a rocket each. They are in the photo - daddy's on the left (a lollipop wrapper taped to a base) Sylvie's on the right (a little more elaborate with the body made of rolled up purple card and pieces of white plastic tubing taped together and decorated with star stickers) This was Sylvie's favourite session, though she claimed boredom in the initial short talk about stars and planets - they went into a small dome-like structure for this apparently, and daddy stayed outside as he thought he wouldn't fit though Sylvie claims she could have sat on his lap. She was quite enamoured of the low lighting and images of stars, but was less impressed that "It was just talking then." The modelling made up for the talk, it seems!

We met up with our friends again and respective 'Art' projects were admired and views on the experience exchanged. During this, Sylvie dragged her daddy over to the table full of things for sale as she had a desire to buy something. Out of all the toys and games on offer, the object that caught her eye was this decorated soapstone heart in a pretty gold bag, and she blew £5 on it. Not what we would have chosen for her, but it was her money to spend and after a chat on 'Fiscal Management' over how much she could spend and still afford her magazine this week this was what she insisted on. Daddy I think had hoped she would go for the Giant Slinky she also considered, but it seems asthetics mean more than usefulness to our daughter at present. She was very proud of her purchase and showed it off to her friend.

We left then as we were only there for the one day, but our friends were staying for the following day. If we do it again I think we will try for the two days as it felt like we had very little time to mix properly with the other families in the time we were there, which is why they provide evening entertainment on the Saturday. It was interesting though, and nice to meet people with similar reasons for being there. I don't think Sylvie would object to going again, either.

On our way out, we touched on 'Maths' as we spotted a table containing something called a 'Numdrum' - a cylinder with numbers wrapped round it in a spiral. I commented on it, and the gentleman who was putting on his coat next to the table took the time to explain it to us - it is a teaching aid for helping children with maths. We were impressed with it, and I asked Sylvie what she thought. "Well, I can count to 15." she said. As we walkedf away, though, she expressed an interest in getting a Numdrum of her own because "it might help me as I really struggle after 15."

Once home, we had a quick meal of burgers and chips on the menu, but being later

back than we had hoped thanks to a small screamy boy who seemed to be starting a growth spurt and a cold at the same time and needed to be fed on route, Sylvie only managed a slice of chocolate birthday cake. It had been a very long day for her and she was too tired to eat really, but will do anything for chocolate!

I had decorated it last night with a doggie, as per Sylvie's instructions, and she was very pleased wit the effect. I had considered taking it with us to share with our friends, but in the end I was glad we hadn't as there had not been enough time for lesiurely cake eating between events. The picture is a little glary, but you can just make out my firt-ever attempt at a doggie face - I am usually asked for Cats!

10th October - Birthday cake day.

Having been woken in the night by Davy and realising that I might have caught his cold when I nearly fell on him, my sense of balance telling me that somewhere far over to my left was upright, I slept in a bit this morning letting daddy get Sylvie's breakfast. When I did get up, it was to a beautiful day so spent most of the morning trying to get as much washing done as possible while Sylvie had a 'Media Studies' Dr. Who marathon again. I really wanted to paint the fence but that was not going to happen today.


She came to me while I was loading the washing machine to ask me to "Unlock the Tardis" - she meant the conservatory! She had 'packed' for her trip by emptying out the bag containing her dressing up clothes all over the floor and replacing them with a few bits from her trinket boxes.



While I was getting my (late) breakfast at 11am, she asked me if I was making lunch. I told her it wasn't lunchtime yet, but I would make her some if she was hungry. She asked for corned beef on toast and ate the lot. She wanted me to read a book to her while she was eating, but I reminded her (quite forcefully!) that I was planning to have my breakfast and would read to her afterwards if she still wanted me to. In the end, the prospect of wrapping daddy's birthday present distracted her from the book.


She hadn't seen the present as I had brought it while she was spending time at her granny's and she was fascinated by it so I spent some time explaining what it was and how it worked before we wrapped it. By the end, I was fairly certain she had every intention of claiming it as her own once daddy had opened it!



While I was eating I had received a phone call from my dad informing me that my nephew had come down with shingles and that therefore his little brother had about a 100 percent chance of getting chicken pox, so it would be wise for us to avoid them for a bit with Davy being so young. This meant making phonecalls to my sister to arrange a lift to the doctors on Monday for Davy's injections as the original arrangement (go to my parents so my dad could take me) is no longer possible as the nephews would be there.

I was also called by daddy who wanted to check if his suit was washed as his boss wanted him to pop home for it if possible as there were visitors to impress. He came home while Sylvie was playing upstairs and his appearance at her bedroom door was a lovely surprise for her as I hadn't told her he was coming. He left after lots of hugs and kisses!


Sylvie by this time was getting annoyed as I had promised her some 'Home Economics - Cooking module', baking daddy's birthday cake. I had all the ingredients except margarine, which I prefer to butter in cakes, so I suggested we pop out to the local shop to get some with a stop off at the park for 'Project' photos. She chose to wear the outfit in the photo above - a fairy dress with pink sandals, no coat or cardigan "So everyone can see my pretty dress." We went through the park before going on to the shops, but Sylvie must have forgotten we were going to the shops afterwards as she started heading for home after taking her pictures and sulked when I called her back. She claimed she wanted to go back and walk along the road (which would double back on ourselves and take twice as long) though I suspect she was trying to cover for her error. She does that a lot.


At the shop, she had 'Fiscal Management' as I gave her the money so she could do the buying and told her how much change she should get. Davy was admired as usual. We walked home through the park again and got home to find the second load of washing was ready to hang out so I did that before making the cake. While I was doing this, Sylvie fished out her watering can from her Wendy house, claiming her "poor plants" were too hot and needed watering. As she can't work the outside tap herself, she kept asking me when I would be finished so I could get her some water. I finally said "When the sun goes round the moon, my darling." She responded that "You can't say that! It's a trick, isn't it?" What could I say but 'Yes.'


After the plants had been watered, the kitchen surface cleared and wiped down and Sylvie had used the toilet and tidied up some of her toys (initially under protest but eventually more than I had actually asked for), we made the cake mixture together. After I had put it in the oven and Sylvie had licked the bowl clean, I had a break playing a few games on the computer while she went upstairs to play. It went very quiet and when I stuck my head round her door, my suspicions were confirmed - she was fast asleep under her duvet (without having wiped the chocolate off her face first!)


She woke up as I was getting the ingredients out to make the filling for the cake so helped me make that. She was singularly unimpressed when she saw that the top layer of the cake had split in two - it had cooked to perfection and had simply dropped out of the tin when I turned it out without needing any encouragement, breaking in half as it hit the plate. I was more careful with the bottom layer! After the filling, I started on the icing which involved melting chocolate. Davy, having slept for the rest of the cake-making, chose this inopportune moment to wake for his food. Luckily Grandad arrived with a prescription he had picked up for me and a card for daddy, and he cuddled little screamy while I finished making the icing before it set in the bowl. Sylvie had decided the cake should be decorated with a doggie for daddy, and throughout this process I had to keep repeating that I couldn't do the doggie until after the icing was on and set.


Dinner went better than I expected, since Sylvie had eaten far more cake mixture and chocolate icing than could possibly be good for her. She greeted daddy when he came home with a chocolate beard and sticky fingers so daddy helped her with 'Personal Care' to get it all off before she hugged him. We were having baked potato, but Sylvie announced that she wanted mashed potato. Daddy took the skin off, mashed up the inside with butter and served it with cheese, and she actually ate about half, not bad going considering the earlier pig-out!


After dinner, and a spot of 'Free Play' involving her Dr. Who figures, she wanted to play with me so we played 'Old Maid' with a sleeping Davy standing in as a third player to make the game worth playing. She wanted to play it a third time, but as it was nearly 9pm and she has a looonnnggg day tomorrow, I insisted she headed to bed. She went, but only after a sudden attack of 'tired and wobbly legs', something she always insists she has when being made to do something she doesn't want to! It was my turn for 'Storytime' and found her bed covered in books. I was impressed she could sleep in it. She had found out some books she hadn't looked at for ages and I read two short ones to her. She tried some 'Negotiation', initially wanting to play after her stories, but after being told she would be horrible in the morning if she didn't sleep soon, requested 'Reading' one of the stories I had just read to herself which I agreed to.


I had hoped she would go to bed earlier as I wanted to get the lunch for tomorrow's day out made tonight ready to just pack and go. I managed it, but I think I will be the one who is horrible in the morning as it is now after midnight!

9th October - a Grumpy Morning

Today I really wanted a shower before we headed out to the breastfeeding cafe for 'Childcare' thanks to baby sick and leaky nipples. Sylvie had other plans though, wanting to do the competitions in her Dr. Who magazines so after breakfast we had 'Comprehension' and 'Writing' as she answered the questions and went over the dots I made for her to fill in the answers. I was rapidly running out of time for my shower so I left her to put them in the envelopes and stick the stamps on. We were late leaving but I let her run round the corner to the post box while I waited opposite the park for her - she has been delighted with the new positioning of the postbox since she can put letters in the slot without being lifted up now.

We took a few pictures for our 'Project' as we went past the playground site. Sylvie wanted to take more but we were already half an hour late thanks to my shower being put back so I told her we could take more on the way back. She took umbrage with this and showed me how she felt by getting a long way ahead of me and pretending she wasn't mine. She was across the car park and in the building before I had got to the end of the path, then turned and left her conversation with the receptionist to head for the cafe room when she saw me come in. The lady on reception told me Sylvie had said she was grumpy with me!

Sylvie throughly enjoyed the breastfeeding cafe today - she was the only non-baby there so had all the bigger toys to herself and there were chocolate biscuits in the biscuit tin. She had two. In fact, her first words once inside were "Are there any buscuits today?" which made the health visitors laugh. We got Davy measured as well as weighed - he is following the 91st percentile for height, which always amazes me considering I am only 5 foot 3.

Sylvie didn't want to leave so when I insisted as the session was ending ready for another activity, she got grumpy again and took off as before. A gentleman on the path referred to her as a "little devil" as she scooted as far ahead of me as she could. Happily, she caught up with a friend who happened to be out with her mum and the two girls ran on together while I chatted to the other mother. I mentioned that Sylvie would probably try to cross the road alone in the mood she was in but her friend's mum said her daughter would probably stop her. Sure enough, Sylvie tried to cross but the other little girl told her off!

Sylvie was not happy when we had to part company, wondering why her friend was heading off in a different direction however many times I told her they were going to their own home for lunch. She wanted to walk round the pond - I think she was hoping her friend would join her - and didn't want to take any more pictures.

At home over lunch, Sylvie had 'Media Studies', watching the 'Go'Diego, Go!' DVD she had got from the library. This also took in 'Modern Languages - French' as she decided to see what would happen if she clicked on the button under the usual 'English' one. It was a very strange experience as the bits that are usually in Spanish in the English version are in English in the French one.

She has been very interested in the days of the week this week as she has been trying to work out when her daddy's birthday will occur, something uppermost in her mind with cards coming for him in the post nearly every day. She seems to have a good grasp on which day is Saturday now and was talking about it. I explained we would be going out on Saturday to the NAGC event (it hadn't registered it would be my husband's birthday when I booked it, terrible wife that I am!) and told her what she would be doing while mummy and daddy listened to some people talking - Pirate fun and Rocket modelling. I also told her one of her friends was also going to be there and that hopefully we would meet up. She has a dress with cats on and a CD of fish songs to give her friend and was hoping to see her on the way back from our trip to the Isle of Wight next week, but they are also away that weekend so she was very excited to hear this and immediately decided she was taking both her Catty's with her so they could meet up with her friend's Catty.

In the afternoon, she sat at the table in the conservatory, claiming it was the Tardis about to leave on an adventure and that I should hurry up and get in, so I humoured her by feeding Davy there though it wasn't terribly comfortable. I set her up with some paints in the Tardis after he had finished so she could paint the Stone Circle she had made weeks ago out of cardboard, newspaper and 'Modrock' (plaster of paris infused hessian) at an event run at the local college to promote the local museums.

Not long after, my dad arrived to sort out the garden gate which has refused to shut properly since he repaired it last time - it doesn't hang right and needed a little 'bodging' to level it up. Sylvie helped a little but mainly watched Dr. Who or ran around the garden like a mad thing.

He also took the boxing off the boiler pipes for me. Some of the screws were damaged and needed brute force to shift them. This needed to be done as last time the boiler man had come he couldn't do a proper service as the boxing was in the way of some screws he needed to remove. I rang up to say it was done and now have an appointment for Wednesday. I'm hoping he will come in the morning as I don't want Sylvie to miss the library and Play Rangers. Sylvie took it in good part when I told her, as she always seems to when things appear outside of her control.

Dinner was not only untouched but touched off such a strop she was taken to bed immediately without a story.

8th October - Pond-dipping.

The morning began with another viewing of the first Dr. Who series for 'Media Studies' while I made breakfast. After a few episodes, I set up the lap top to show her another website I signed up for a trial of, Readingeggs, for combined lessons in 'Information Technology' and 'Reading'. It had a longer introduction than we were expecting - Sylvie just wanted to jump in and play - but once she started she quite liked the different games available, especially the dot-to-dot. She lost some enthusiasm however when she found she couldn't skip a game she had little interest in, having done it once and got the point but needing to complete the repititions before it would let her onto the next game. She went through the first lesson then asked for the CBeebies website instead.

I heard her shouting at the Bob the Builder game she just isn't quick enough to complete yet then got called in to see a 'food face' she had created in another game. When I complemented her on the tomato slice ears I was informed they were not ears, the ears were apparently in the scambled egg hairline while the tomato slices were nostrils!

Later on, she used her Dr. Who postcards, the ones she had said she was going to use to post her competition answers on, for some 'Art', creating a 'framed picture' by sticking them onto the sheet of cardboard out of the new calendar with sellotape. I put it on her windowledge for her so she can see it in bed.

At lunchtime, Sylvie insisted I have one of her Kit Kats, pressing it on me very generously after I had initially refused it because she had bought them with her own money. she claimed to be keeping the last one for her daddy. I guiltily accepted the gift.

After eating, we had a bit of a rush on to get ready for the library, which involved a quick foray into 'Fashion'. A parcel had arrived this morning containing some shorts I had got for her which pleased her no end as she loves getting post, and she left the house wearing a long sleeved T-shirt, a pair of shorts and her pink boots - she had wanted sandals but I reminded her we were heading to the park afterwards to meet the Play Rangers and boots might be better. It was a beautiful day, so Davy wore his sun hat for the first time.

For once we had no books that needed to go back as 3 weeks ago she had only hired a DVD which had already been returned. She was a little disappointed that her favourite librarian was away today, but rapidly made friends with the lady who was working instead. She made a beeline for a 'Go, Diego, Go!' DVD, which I had to lend her the money to hire as she had left her purse behind.

After making her selection and having them put on her library card, Sylvie suggested we get a book for Davy, so she picked a book for him and after a quick discussion over which card we should put it on we decided the best thing would be to get him his own card (putting it on hers would give her one less book to take out next week while on mine, being an adult card, it would incur a fine if I forgot to take it back on time which it wouldn't on a child's cared.) we went to the desk to register him. While the new librarian cuddled Davy, the other one told us we were slow off the mark at 12 weeks old - his grandson had his card issued at 20 hours old!

While I was filling out the form, Sylvie started to inform me that the books behind me were 'Ladies books' but I couldn't take out the ones on the other side of the shelf as they were 'Boy's books'. She had somehow diserned a difference between the Romance section and the General Fiction and identified the Romance as 'Ladies' books. Since my personal taste runs to Sci Fi, fantasy, crime, etc, she must have picked this distinction up from the all-pervasive 'pink and love for girls, blue and fights for boys' culture. How she recognised the Romance section as separate from the General Fiction I am less sure of when I think about it, since she can't read yet.

I tried to give her a quick lesson in types of books in the library after this conversation, made easier by the picture stickers quite a few of the books had been given (handcuffs for crime, a rocket for Sci Fi, etc), to show her how varied the General Fiction was and how it was laid out on the shelves by the first letter of the author's surname. She still insisted I couldn't have any though, but refused top give me a reason. Instead, she had her attention caught by a small graphic novel half-hidden in the 'new children's books' display - it was a child's X-men comic strip and she was very taken with it, especially after I told her her daddy would like it. She took it out and later at bedtime apparently refused to let daddy look at it but teased him with it instead.

We headed out to the park with Sylvie very excited about the prospect of today's 'Outdoor Activities' as at the end of last weeks Play Ranger session, they had promised to try and bring nets so if the weather was nice they could take in some 'Nature Studies' and go pond-dipping for water beasties. Sylvie had been desperate to try this and it was at the root of a few questions about the days of the week over the intervening days as she tried to work out how long she had to wait. We spotted them in thew car park as we walked to the park and they happily told her they had remembered the nets.

They had also brought hula-hoops, which everyone played with before heading down to the pond. Sylvie had a great time dipping the net in the water and emptying it out, but apparently had a bit of trouble making out the tiny creatures she had caught ("My eyes can't see those tiny things.")

After such a good time at the park, where we also took our 'Project' photos, I was less than happy to hear her announce "I'm bored. Can't we go somewhere?" the momentr we stepped through the door. I explained that it was too late to go anywhere, being time to start the dinner and get the washing in. After she repeated it a few times, I had had enough and snapped at her.

Dinner, not being chicken nuggets and chips, was mainly untouched though she ate her sausage. She asked to go to bed afterwards, which surprised us as it was only just 7pm. Enquiry discovered that she thought she should be in bed because it was so dark! We explained that it was darker earlier and for longer now it was winter and she didn't need to go to bed yet if she wasn't tired. It is a conversation we had with her last year, and the year before that too!

She took out her coloured letter blocks instead and, using the box to make a slide, had the blocks go down it in shifts with the green blocks having their goes first, then the blue, then orange and so on. then she played with patterns for a bit, arranging them in various groups and lines according to colour before finally deciding it really was bedtime at around 8pm and going up for 'Storytime' with daddy.

7th October - A Surprise Party!

We woke up to horrible weather this morning, but the damp proved to be excellent for our 'Maths' game of 'Counting slugs' on the way to Play and Stay. Sylvie decided to group the slugs, so we counted 'Live Slugs' - ones that were visibly moving - versus 'Dead Slugs' - not moving or squashed. When the path is dry we don't see any moving ones. She decided that some of the intact, but still, ones might be asleep rather than dead, but for counting purposes were grouped with the squashed ones anyway.

We took our 'Project' photos on the way out - the work is moving on very well with the old path having been dug up and the foundations of a new one laid. Luckily the weather had taken to just threatening rain rather than tipping it down at this point so we were able to take the pictures. Sylvie took this rather good one of a tree trunk while looking at the playground site over the camera instead of on the camera screen - she is still getting the hang of using that.

When we got to the Centre, I handed over the library leaflets I had made up. They were very pleased to have them as they tied in very nicely with it being National Book Week this week. There is a pirate theme, and I had forgotten they were giving prizes for the best pirate costume to the children so hadn't searched out a relevant outfit for Sylvie as I had planned to.

The centre had set up a 'Pirate Island' area which was absolutely wonderful - a cardboard 'hull' of a pirate ship surrounded by lots of goodies like dressing up clothes, dolls, treasure chests and bags and books all with a pirate theme and a huge drum to bang in an area decorated to look like a seashore. There was a limit to the number of children who could use it at one time, but when Sylvie got a turn she had such fun exploring the area she didn't want to leave, throwing herself into a game of 'sailing off to bury treasure' with a will.

They had the outside area open too initally since it wasn't too cold despite the rain. It is a lovely undercover deck filled with stuff like a sandpit, windchimes and windmills, a bin of soil with plant pots and artificial flowers, big blocks and white boards. Sylvie spent a long time here before going to the pirate island, making sand birthday cakes, drawing on the whiteboard and doing a block puzzle while I sat with Davy in the baby bit - a big mat with mirrors and windchimes.

We had a surprise at juice and toast time - one of the children was 3 today and her mum had brought party food and table cloths so she could have her party at the play and stay with her friends. She had also booked the room for an extra hour so the children got to enjoy the toys for longer. I thanked her and she explained she hadn't wanted to put any pressure on the parents to buy presents so had not done invitations or announced it beforehand. It was a really nice party, and Sylvie eventually left the pirate area for long enough to eat some of the food - the chocolate rolls went down well, but she also ate a cheese sandwich to my amazement! Parties are usually an excuse for her to avoid such mundane items.

On the way out, Sylvie got a party bag which contained a piece of cake and a toy - in Sylvie's case a small football rattle which she enjoyed playing with but bemoaned the lack of anything else in the bag. I told her she should be pleased that she had what she had been given as there wasn't any obligation for her to get anything at all after the party.

She had taken her money with her at my request - the Play and Stay costs 50p and I only had a £20 note so I got her to pay for herself today with the promise I would pay her back once I had some change. The money was burning a hole in her purse and she declared her intention to 'Buy something' though she didn't know what. She eventually settled on something to eat, so we went to the cafe at the community health centre by the park for her to engage in 'Fiscal Management' where she bought a sausage sandwich and a bottle of lemonade.

Last time she had been given her pocket money, she had counted her money, and I had gone through what each coin was with her so "£2.20 is 2 gold coins and one small funny-shaped silver one" enabled her to find the right money as "50p is a large funny-shaped silver one" had led her straight to the right coin at the Play and Stay. I did help finding the 20p though, as it had hidden itself and she needed to take out a lot of her money to see it. She ordered her food herself after we had studied the menu together, answering all of the questions about type of bread and drink container without help.

Our neighbours were there too, at their over-50's luncheon club, and were keen to see the children so we had a chat to them and their friends, and a man we know from the library was on the reception desk and also came over to us for a chat and a cuddle with Davy, so today was full of 'Social Skills'!

I needed to leave before 2pm as I needed to call the doctors to cancel Davy's injections again - he has been full of snotty cold for a few days and while he is nearly over it, one look at his runny nose and any nurse would refuse to inject him today. I had left it to the last minute hoping he would be well enough, but I had not had time before we left the house at just after 9am to ring this morning. Sylvie, not the fastest eater in the world, responded to me wanting her not to linger over her food by eating one full quarter sandwich then eating the sausage and leaving the bread of the rest rather than accept the offer of having it bagged up to take home. Since she had already eaten loads today I wasn't too fussed. It was, after all, her money she had spent, not mine!

We slipped into the Community office on the way as I wanted to check in with the lady dealing with the tree planting about the cherry tree runners. They do want them, but appear to have a slightly odd idea of what they are, despite my discription. Oh, well! I got her number so I can liase between her and my dad now.

Once home, after such a long day, Sylvie only wanted to do 'Media Studies' and spent the rest of the afternoon on a marathon Dr. Who watching session, getting through the whole first series before bedtime. I only wanted to sleep, but had to ring up about Davy's injections and his Tax credits, which I realised I had forgotten to do when I sorted out things like child benefit and registering his birth. I had to do it this week as they only back date it 3 months and he is 12 weeks old on Friday. It has gone so fast!

Sylvie wanted to do the competitions in her Dr. Who magazine too, so after unsuccessfully trying to persuade her that the one for the Nintendo Sonic the Hedgehog game wasn't really a good idea (no Nintendo to play it on!) and failing (well, they are her stamps!) I read it to her - the answers to the questions are supposed to be in the text of the magazine but someone had messed up this week and put in a question on a subject completely untouched on anywhere. It was also relating to an episode she hasn't seen yet too, so I don't think my 'helping' with this is too much of a fraud!

She had cut the Dr. Who postcards she had got in a previous magazine to use for the answer - a bit redundant as the sheet of 4 were actually perforated, but she hadn't realised this. In fairness, they were quite stiff perforations so she thought it was a 'cut here' line. I thought this was a good idea - the stamps are hers but the stationary is usually mine! In the end we didn't do it today thanks to spending a long time trying to hunt down the page with the answer on. It will wait until tomorrow.

The weather had taken a real turn for the worse so we didn't get out to take any more 'Project' photos as we had intended. Niether of us fancied taking pictures in torrential rain so we gave 'Tuesday' a miss.

Dinner was completely ignored, though she sat in her chair without fuss. Chicken, bacon and sweetcorn pasta salad is a new dish for her so naturally she decided she didn't like it without tasting it. It's hard to believe two years ago she would try anything put in front of her.

It was my turn to take her to bed, but she was keen to watch the last episodes of Dr. Who so I and her daddy read graphic novels peacefully while she continued her 'Media Studies'. It was 9pm when it finished, and I took her to bed. Daddy chased her upstairs for his goodnight kiss and she brushed her teeth properly as I had found her holiday toothpaste out, which tastes like daddy's but is non-foamy. Storytime was a book called 'Dear Father Christmas' full of letters in envelopes to pull out and read. It's a lovely book but I have to admit to not enjoying reading it - the letters are so fiddly and make it twice as long. Plus I always have to check they are in the right envelopes beforehand as she likes to look at it on her own and doesn't always put them back correctly (or, on some occasions, at all) Her bed is covered in books, i'm amazed she can get in it. I really need to do some tidying!

6th October - Geocaching!

I got up this morning without a bouncy, cuddly little girl getting in bed with me having left her at my parents the night before, so I had quite a leisurely morning, only having one small child to get ready to leave the house. We still managed to be late setting off, however! When we got to my parents, I went in search of Sylvie, as her daddy wanted to kiss her goodbye before going on to work. My dad and brother declared no knowledge of her, so I went upstairs to see if she was still in bed. She wasn't. She was hidden under my brother's big coat on the sofa, playing a practical joke on mummy, and leapt out yelling 'boo!' and laughing when I went back to the front room. If we hadn't been late, I would have found it very funny, but today I was concerned about her daddy getting to work on time with him waiting in the kitchen for her so she didn't achieve quite the effect she was aiming for. Hopefully it hasn't put her off trying to make me laugh!

Yesterday, her daddy and I had gone over to Borders bookshop in Coventry after leaving her at my parents - I had spotted the item I wanted for his birthday present last time we were there and it would be my last opportunity to get it. While He sat with his nose in a maths book, I found it and also picked up a couple of other items - a calendar/day planner, Dr, Who brand, which pleased Sylvie no end when she saw it this evening once we were home, and a 'little Wizard' English book that I thought she might like due to her current interest in letters. I brought the workbook with me to my parents and eagle-eyed Sylvie spotted it immediately, grabbed it and insisted on starting 'Reading' and 'Writing' there and then.

It turned out to be perfect for her level of understanding with a nice variety of things to do, including writing a few letters freehand, which she had never done before having always followed dots, but made a good fist at (though she didn't use standard letter formation technique! Plenty of time to get that.) and stickers. She stormed through the exercises until half-way through the workbook, when she hit one that asked her to actually say the letter, rather than visually recognising or writing it. She insisted that it was too hard, refused to try and lay on the floor with her head in her hands, ending the session.

I got her her breakfast then, and after eating her Nutella on toast (bye-bye, no-chocolate-at-breakfast rule, I shall miss you! On the plus, she has started asking for fromage frais for afters again.) she engaged in 'Free Play' while I fed Davy.

My dad and brother, dedicated Geocachers, had decided to take advantage of the reasonable weather - it wasn't raining - to do a few nearby caches so they could drop off some Travel bugs they had picked up while on holiday. (Geocaching involves using satellite navigation to locate hidden caches, usually containing 'treasure' - small items for swapping - though sometimes just a log book to note down you found them. They usually involve some very nice walks and often a 'puzzle' to work out the coordinates to put into the satnav.)

I remembered how much Sylvie had enjoyed geocaching with granny and grandad when she went on holiday with them and told her they were going if she wanted to go with them. She was enthusiastic and they were happy to take her, so she got her boots and gloves on while I hunted out her 'caching jacket' - a waistcoat-type camoflage print jacket with huge numbers of small pockets that contain all her swaps granny bought her for their holiday together. Then I waved goodbye to them as they set off for a few hours of 'Outdoor Activities' while I stayed behind for 'Childcare' with Davy and my nephew.

Back for lunch, she showed me her new 'treasures' she had swapped some of her old ones for - a keyring with a minature handcuff on it stamped 'West Midlands police' she took in exchange for a fishing fly, a small combination padlock for a bracelet (the padlock was locked, but it took very little time to figure out the combination - 000!)

and a green whistle for a clappy feet rattle. The whistle she is extemely fond of and announced her return by blowing it repeatedly until we had to ask her to stop for the sake of sanity.

She asked a little about the days of the week - she is starting to try and get these in order as now she does quite a few regular activities in the week she wants to know how long she has to wait between each one. Using today as a starting point, she asked what tommorow would be and what yesterday was.

After a little more 'Free Play' and some 'Childcare', she went outside with granny to meet her cousin off the bus and then disappeared with him into the conservatory for more 'Free Play' and 'Social Skills' that involved the toy farm and apparently 'Doctors', the latter leading to granny banging on the window and telling them to stop as she spotted them stripping off. The banging made Sylvie cry - she dislikes sudden loud noises and shouting always upsets her.

After we got home, taking with us a lovely 'Thank you' note from her cousin for his birthday present, and she had studied the new Dr. Who calendar, she got thoroughly impatient over dinner -the fact that it has to be cooked and this takes time despite us always choosing something fairly quick on Mondays she strongly objects to when she is hungry, and she tried to persuade us to take 'Home Economics - When take out is a good idea module' but we held firm, explaining that we are still 'Meal Planning' as part of our new 'Fiscal Management' regime thanks to our drastic overspend last month. Fortunately for hungry Sylvie, tonight was a favoured meal - kievs and chips - so it was eaten all up for once!

To fill in the time before dinner, she got on with a 'School report' -her term for the 'Writing' she was doing. Part way through, her 'sonic screwdriver' pen broke (the tip disappeared inside the shaft and was irretreivable thanks to the shaft being fully molded) and she had us hunting for a pen that 'writes just like it'. She rejected all the other biros offered, including her own collection of Dr. who pens, in favour of something that was actually nothing like the original, being a fabric tip not roller ball. Interesting 'Decision-making'! I think she just liked the look of the pen.

With the night's drawing in, it was too dark for us to get our 'Project' pictures this evening. We hadn't managed to get them at the weekend either, but since last weekend showed us that they don't work on the playground Saturdays and Sundays, this wasn't too much of a problem and we decided to try and take two lots tomorrow, one on the way to 'Play and Stay' as we would be passing just as they started work so would do as today's, and one set on the way back for Tuesday's. It is looking so different already! We can't wait to see the finished site.

4th and 5th October - Animals and a Sleepover

Saturday began with Sylvie getting up with daddy while I tried to get an extra half hour of sleep, Davy having decided that nighttime is 8pm to 3am only and was wide awake bar a 10 minute nap until 7am, Sylvie's normal wake up time. I eventually crawled out of bed ready to go dancing with Sylvie to find her lounging in her underwear on the sofa while watching cartoons.

Her daddy told me she had refused any breakfast and was claiming not to want to go to 'Dance'. The root of this was easily traced to the breaking of the 'no chocolate for breakfast' rule last weekend - she had decided she wanted a Kit Kat for breakfast this time too and was not impressed by the argument that last time was because we had run out of bread for toast whereas this week we had made sure there was some available. In the end she did go without breakfast - she can be very obstinate - but decided she did want to go dancing when I mentioned (deliberately, I confess!) that it was a pity as I was going to hand in the entry form for her to take her very first dance exam this week.

We got there with Sylvie wearing one of her usually unusual outfits - a long denim shirt over her leotard and sandals - and checked to see if her ballet shoes had arrived yet. They hadn't, but another mother had some pairs of shoes her daughter had outgrown and one pair fit Sylvie so she was able to wear them for her class.

After 'Dance' we went home for a spot of lunch before leaving again for the supermarket. The town's Sainsbury's is only a few yards away from the town museum where the wildlife sanctuary were holding an event that I wanted to take Sylvie to so we headed there while daddy went to the shoe shop to buy a new pair of slippers.

I found our foray into studying 'The Natural World' a delightful experience - they had brought along a whole range of rescued animals from owls to tarantulas. Some were in cages (like the tarantula and kestrel) wile others were 'safe' enough to be handled. I stroked a ferret, a barn owl, a young boa constrictor and a vixen (whose fur was a lot softer than I had expected) while Sylvie looked very wary, refused to get too close to any of the cages let alone touch an animal and showed more interest in the lucky dip (ashe got a puzzle key ring) and the craft activity (colouring animal masks - she picked a cat and then asked for a giraffe but had to settle for disguising a horse as one due to a lack of any such item being available). When daddy came to meet us, though, she did take him by the hand and showed him round the animals she had been too wary of to approach on her own behalf. If we hadn't had shopping to do and could stay longer, she might have eventually plucked up the courage to touch one.

On the way out, we looked at the corresponding display in the art gallery - the winners of a wildlife photography competition that were fankly stunning. My personal favourite, that even Sylvie showed some interest in, was actually a runner up, a fantastic picture of a leopard seal with a penguin in it's mouth. (The info from the photographer said he had been studying the seals and every day this one would bring him a penguin, get agitated when he didn't eat it and go off to fetch another. It reminded me strongly of the behaviour of domestic cats!) Sylvie was not as interested as her daddy and I and tried to drag us away physically so she could get to the shops and her Dr. Who magazine.

After the shopping was done, there was not much day left! We had asked Sylvie to pick a meal for the week and, to no ones surprise, she asked for chicken nuggets and chips so we decided to have that meal on Saturday so she and I played with the free gift from her magazine while daddy put the dinner on. It was a 'Psychic paper' note pad and pens, so after Sylvie did some 'Writing', trying it out (write with the 'invisible' pen then go over it with the 'psychic' pen to reveal the hidden words) and then playing the game suggested in the magazine of writing down a 'creature' from Dr. Who with the invisible pen and having the other person ask you yes/no questions to find out what you had written before revealing the answer with the psychic pen. This was fun and kept us occupied with 'Discription' skills until dinner was ready. Which Sylvie ate all up with 'Media Studies', watching a tape of Dr. Who.

Sunday was 'Gym' in the morning and the day Sylvie got her Gold badge and certificate at last. She was very pleased with herself and threw herself into things wholeheartedly, even making a good attempt at the run up to the vault (usually more of a 'walk up then stop in front of the spring board' for her) though she did insist on doing a forward somersault over the bar rather than the backwards one the coach had wanted her to try. I put her name down for the gym competition the coach is running with two other clubs in the area while we were there. I don't have high expectations of her coming first in the vault in her age group, but she might do alright on the floor exercises - apparently they have to do a little routine and one thing she is very good at is remembering routines as her dance show proved(when she knew it so well she was doing each move ahead of the cues!)

Once 'Gym' finished, we went round to my parents so Sylvie could show off her new award. After getting lots of praise (and chocolate) from granny over the badge and Davy had been cuddled, we made to leave but Sylvie asked to stay the night as she wanted to engage in some 'Media Studies' unavailable at home (cartoons of 'The Snowman' and 'The Lost Toys') so we left her there eating her lunch of cheese and biscuits while we headed home for a spot of 'daddy and mummy time' before daddy went off for his usual Sunday night role-playing game. I shan't see her again until Monday morning.

3rd October - Waiting for the Boiler man

Today was a pretty slow day as we were waiting on the man who was coming to service our boiler. It was one of those 'could be there any time between 8am and 5pm so don't make any plans to go anywhere' appointments and of course Sylvie chose this day to decide that what she really, really wanted to do was go to the park. In all fairness I couldn't blame her, it was the nicest day we had had all week with actual sunshine and warmth. I felt quite confined myself.

She was pretty good about it - not too much whining or moaning - and spent some time continuing yesterday's chair experiments, right up until the point that she decided to test the chair's ballistic properties when I abruptly called a halt to the proceedings before she broke something and told her that if she wanted to throw things she could get her ball and do so in the garden. She didn't and moved on to 'Maths' with her Geomag set, grouping and regrouping the pieces into different sets.

She also indulged in 'Free Play' with her toy garage, 'Media studies' with Smallville (the same disc again. We have 2 series each with at least 4 DVDs, yet she insists on playing the same four episodes every single time. ) and 'Information Technology' with her child's laptop toy. At one point, I also set up the proper laptop for her to have a go at the free trial on the 'Headsprout' website, a phonics reading programme. I had had a look at the sample lessons after hearing it was quite good and thought it might interest her. She did enjoy the first 'lesson' of the three free ones - the fact that it started with the letter 'S', the first one of her name and one she always recognises, did help here, as did the funny graphics - but after asking to do the next one she gave up and asked for the first one again as "it's easier". She also expressed frustration that it was very similar to the first lesson. I also discovered that the child is expected to do one lesson a day one after the other, not jump back and forth the way Sylvie likes to which is a pity as I think she would really like it if it didn't keep her locked in step. As it is, she lost interest very quickly once the novelty of the first lesson wore off. I filled out the survey on how we liked it and got a nice personal reply back, but I don't think we will be investing hard earned cash on the full programme.

While she was busy, I was back on the phone to the bank as they hadn't got back to me about the mysterious money in my account. This time they told me it would be Monday before they could confirm if it was actually ours.

The boiler man arrived in the afternoon, while I and Sylvie were studying 'Fashion' - going through her wardrobe to find out what doesn't fit her any longer. A few dresses I left in at her request because even though they are short they still have room around the body and will do as 'long tops' over leggings. Others went on the 'discard' pile despite her loving them as just looking too obviously outgrown or uncomfortable despite her 'loving' them.

Daddy came home to an empty house because after 'Fashion' we intended to head out to the park but needed to download the photos from the camera onto the computer to make room for more 'Project' pictures and this took longer than expected. We had also considered taking in some 'Citizenship' by walking up to the Early Years Centre with the library leaflets, but when I checked found they shut early on Fridays, much to Sylvie's disappointment. We got some good pictures, but the wind had got up again and we came home after only a short runabout for Sylvie to find daddy had come home while we were out and had taken the opportunity to nip upstairs for a sneaky nap.

When daddy got up, however, Sylvie was delighted to hear that he had got the days off he had put in for so we would be heading to the Isle of Wight in a fortnight's time. Since she has been planning a trip there since I was pregnant with her brother so she can show him off to relatives, she has had this uppermost in her mind for some time. She has even taken it as read that we are going to stop off to see one of her friends on the way back - she has a small present for her friend and said casually that we could give it to her "when we go to the Isle of Wight!"

Dinner was once again a case of 'eat the meat ignore the veggies' while claiming lack of hunger. So far our 'put it in front of her and say nothing no matter what' policy is not working too well, I suspect mainly because it is so incredibly hard not to say anything! On the plus side we have had fewer tantrums so at least meals are generally a little pleasanter when we are able ignore the heavy sighs and fake sobs coming from our sweet little girl!

2nd October - Experiments with forces and friction!

It being a Thursday, we trundled off to the breastfeeding cafe again with yet another dolly in tow, this one a much smaller 'baby' Sylvie has named Lily (she loves this name and wanted us to use it for her sibling had it been a girl instead of the definitely male Davy we got!). She wanted to repeat the experience of last week and have her 'baby' weighed. All that 'Childcare' is creating a strong foundation of understanding of handling babies it seems - on our way there Sylvie popped Lily on her shoulder saying that was the only way she could carry her as she "has terrible wind. It's giving her really bad tummy ache." and even when I was given the doll while Sylvie buttoned up her coat I was under orders to hold her the same way.

She seems to have a slightly vaguer grasp of the physical development of small children though, as a discussion that took in a spot of 'Maths' as well proved. She told me Lily was a very naughty baby and when I asked why, she started counting off the poor dolly's misdeeds on her fingers. She got up to 5 different things Lily had done wrong that included 'Breaking a tree branch' because she had run off and climbed the tree apparently. There was also throwing things and running off in the list.

Once there, Sylvie expressed surprise at the lack of biscuits - we get a drink and biscuits at the 'cafe' but no one had been to the kitchen to fetch them yet when we arrived. Sylvie has shown an interest in the biscuit barrel since discovering that sometimes there are chocolate ones hidden under the plain ones. I was complemented on her behaviour as she sat nicely on a chair drinking her juice once it arrived, though knowing her a little better I was aware she was only sat there because the little boy who comes sometimes was already playing with the toys when we arrived and she has no intention of ever playing with him despite his obvious interest in playing with her. We were all offered a 'managing money with children' folder thing that the centre had just received and Sylvie was quite delighted to find it contained postcards and stickers at the back, but she was increasingly annoyed that instead of going over to the scales to get Davy and Lily weighed I was having a pleasant chat.

The chat centred around the fact that no one bar myself and the health visitor had known there was a library in this part of town. I have come across this before, that people we meet don't know that a new library was included in the community centre that was built last year which is a shame because the main library is quite far away and the new one, while small, is really lovely. I have occasionally had the passing thought that I should make up some leaflets and stick them through people's doors but that has always seemed like too much work with 2 small children and should really be the library's job. However, it occurred to me that the Early Years Centre would be good place to leave a pile for interested people to pick up - they already have quite a few information leaflets on the front desk and they actually said they would be willing to publicise the library bounce and rhyme session, so I decided to knock up something up on the computer once we got home to bring with us next time.

Sylvie's desire to have her dolly weighed was heard by the health visitor, who went along happily again and Lily was put on the scales while I undressed Davy. She is a whole 10 ounces, which is about the same as what Davy's weight went up by over the last week! While fishing around in my bag for his Red book, I remembered a leaflet I had in there that might interest some of the other mothers about an event at the town museum - the local wildlfe sanctuary were going to be bringing along some of their animals including a fox and possibly a badger, so in the spirit of 'Sharing', I handed it around and a few took down the details.

I was asked when Sylvie would be going to nursery again - this question crops up every time I tell people how old she is now, so much that I don't think I have ever recorded it here because it has gained a similar status to being asked "How are you?" now. I always freely respond that she isn't going, we are home educating. In this case, I got the usual interested 'Oh, really?' followed by a question on the social side of things. As usual with this one I point out Sylvie's participation in 'Dance', 'Gym' and the Play and Stay and as usual it was accepted without argument. I did go further this time, mentioning that I didn't think it would suit her to be in a school environment anyway as her personality is always subdued in groups as I had already told the person asking about her sensitivity to noise and groups earlier. Her language ability came up in the conversation too and they agreed with me that it is very good - unfortunately her skill in this area is another reason she doesn't try to engage children of her own size as she has found that they usually have trouble understanding her unless they are a bit older.

The walk home was very windy again and Davy really hated it - it seems to catch his breath and make him panic and cry no matter how much I try to shield him, though if he is asleep he doesn't have any problem with it. Because of this I hurried Sylvie home, though we did stop quickly to take our usual playground 'Project' photos. We also popped into the Community Office on the way home for a spot of 'Citizenship' - my dad has been digging up some runners shooting off his cherry tree which will grow into new trees if replanted, and I wanted to enquire if they wanted them for the tree-planting happening in November in the park. The lady concerned wasn't there, but I left my details for her to get back to me.

Once home, we had lunch then I made up a set of 'Did you know we have a library?' leaflets while Sylvie indulged in some 'Media Studies' - Ivor the Engine and Robin Hood - followed by some 'Free Play' that centred around her chair. It all began when she leaned against the chair while sitting on the sofa during 'Media Studies', which led directly to a swift lesson in 'Physics - Forces and Friction modules' as the chair shot out from under her and she slid onto the floor. Far from being hurt, she thought this was a wonderful new game and she investigated further by repeating the 'experiment' a number of times then trying other variations that didn't include the sofa. She discovered by accident that it was also a great way to tidy the floor as anything in the chair's path was pushed out of the way.

She also used the chair as a kind of barrow in an imaginary game and later, after throwing a strop over being asked to tidy her games up before the pieces were lost, she sat under her table and (once she had stopped sulking) used the chair as a desk for a spot of 'Art'.

When daddy came home, she was indulging in a spot more 'Physics', banging two balloons together and marvelling at the way the bounced off one another, a delight she invited daddy to share. Her dinner was yet again left untouched - she insisted she wasn't hungry though her facial expression told us that the real reason was the lack of chips or chicken nuggets on the plate. She also got out of 'Personal Care' by telling her daddy she was too tired to brush her teeth, though daddy felt thoroughly conned when she perked up considerably once 'Storytime' started and made sure I knew she needs to brush them in the morning!

1st October - Lazy morning, busy afternoon.

The morning was pretty lazy today. Sylvie asked for melted cheese on toast for breakfast and ate it leisurely while watching her 'Ivor the Engine' video for 'Media Studies' then indulged in some 'Free Play' that included getting me to blow up and release her whistling balloon a few times. I dealt with Davy, did a spot of computer stuff and rang the bank to find out if some mysterious money that has appeared in our account is, in fact, ours before I spend it.

It was lunchtime before we knew it and then time to head out to the library. She exercised her 'Fashion' skills, choosing to leave the house in a floaty purple-chiffon-with-flower-print party dress and a navy blue wooly jumper with a red robot on the front. And an opalescent plastic purple head band which she insisted had to be put in by scraping it through her hair causing her fringe to stick up behind it. She completed the outfit with her shiny pink boots and a backpack-style 'baby seat' with one of her dolls in it.

We returned Finley the Fire engine (unwatched since yesterday - I am now convinced that she only picked it because I said I didn't like it, her interest in watching it has been so tepid) and a Dr. Who Fact File. Bounce and Rhyme was not on again thanks to no one else turning up so we had 'Storytime' as she asked me to read her the 3 books she had chosen to borrow. She wanted to take out another DVD, but she didn't have her money with her. She asked to borrow some from me, but I realised I had left my purse by the phone after the bank call.

She tried repeating "But I really want a DVD!" over and over, but found this did not make money appear out of thin air unfortunately, and after I refused to put the books in the bag for her she had a good sulk. Her 'helpless little me' attitude towards this task was undoubtedly brought on by the disappointment over the DVD's, but it got under my skin and I really didn't handle it well, turning it into a power struggle. I really ought to know not to let this type of behaviour get to me by now, I've known her long enough to understand how her mind works, but I can't seem to stop myself getting thoroughly annoyed when she refuses to try something or does it deliberately badly so someone will help her. In this case, dropping the books on top of the bag and saying "See, it's too hard for me!" was the trigger.

I read a book to Davy while she lay on the floor with her head in her arms, which attracted her attention, and she stood up next to me, grinning for the last few pages, only to engage in 'Survival Skills - Lying module' when she realised I had noticed her interest, claimed it was a terrible story and went back to sulking while I picked some books for myself.

She responded to my reminder that we were going to the park to meet the Play Rangers by perking up again, so I took a happy little girl out of the library with me to the park where things were really moving with the new playground construction and we got some nice photos for our 'Project' She is getting much better at 'Photography, though she still doesn't always use the viewing window, as the photo she took of her fingers today testified!

It was incredibly windy, so much so that it blew down the metal fence around the work site while we were there, and Sylvie was glad I had brought her jacket with us (though she refused the trousers I also had in my bag). The 'Outdoor Activities' managed to be fun for everyone despite the weather - it seems that having the ball you are throwing around blow in a totally different direction to the one you were trying for is very amusing! They incorporated 'Maths' too as one of the Play Rangers and Sylvie played counting games with the coloured plastic hands they were throwing at targets.

At home once more, after a drink and a warm, Sylvie had some more 'Free Play' during which I happened to spot her sitting on the floor intently pushing one of her stampers with her finger over and over again. Being shaped a bit like an axle with only one wheel, the effect was that it invariably rolled round in a circle no matter how hard you tried to make it go in a straight line. She was fascinated, and I made a couple of comments, desperately (and quite successfully I think!) restraining myself from giving a lecture on 'Physics - pivots, forces and energy transfer/conservation'. I contented myself with 'That's interesting! What makes it do that? Maybe the thin end acts as a pivot.' which was pretty good for me and got the desired response - she announced that she was going to keep playing with it. There was a slight challenge in that statement, as if she thought I wanted her to stop, but since one of my 'more info than she wanted' speeches usually results in her eyes glazing over and looking for something else to do, I was happy. (I have been rereading John Holt as I have felt myself slipping into 'teaching' habits lately which always end poorly with Sylvie and I needed a reminder of the benefits of restraint!)

I got a phonecall a little later from the Guider responsible for the local Rainbow packs - I had been making enquiries about putting Sylvie's name down for next year, and she confirmed my suspicions that there aren't many packs around locally (2 at the moment, possibly 3 in the new year) and also offered to put her name down for the nearest Brownie pack too as they are so over-subscribed that unless her name goes down now she may well not get in until a year or two past the usual starting age of 7 even with 2 years of Rainbows under her belt. I am very glad I enquired when I did! With any luck, she will get a place in the nearest Rainbows around her 5th birthday and hopefully it will act as a good substitute for the Play and Stay she will be too old for then but is inexplicably insistant on attending even though she acts so shy and clingy once there.

When daddy got home, I reminded him she hadn't had this weeks pocket money yet (thanks to a lack of available small change on Saturday) - I had only remembered at the library myself - and he had just enough to give her her £4 plus 10p he had borrowed from her to make up the car park money when we had gone shopping at the weekend. Her reaction was highly amusing, and led to the photo posted here -'Sylvie Worshiping at the Feet of the God of Finance'. She knelt at his feet moving her arms in a manner distinctly reminisent of someone repeatedly bowing in prayer.

Earlier, she had broached athe matter of livestock with me - it seems her announcing that she would like a cat the day we met the lady with 4 dogs was not idle talk, she really wants one. I told her she needed to speak to daddy as he is not a cat person and may not relish sharing his home with purr and claw. She did so in her best 'wrap daddy round finger' manner, asking politely while giving him a huge hug after aining his attention with "Daddy, I have to tell you something." She got an 'I'll think it over.' out of him and we both made it clear that if we did say yes she should be prepared for a cat to be part of her life for a good 10 years and the responsibilities that went with it. I don't think she intends to let this one go though!

Daddy drew my attention to her 'Vocabulary', expressing interest in her use of the word 'hoist' - "I'll just hoist myself up on this chair" which reminded me that in the library she had told me she was "racing like the wind", an expression that caught my attention because I haven't heard her use it before and I can't place where she has picked it up. Maybe all that 'Media Studies' is responsible.

Dinner went uneaten, again despite chocolate being available for afters, and Sylvie obviously hungry. My menu of healthy rice and veggies is way down her list of acceptable foodstuffs. I think I might ask her to give me one meal idea a week while the 'buying to a menu' continues as she does deserve some say in what she eats and actually eats better when given some control over her diet, though I shan't take it further than this yet as her idea of a 'perfect' diet is currently chicken nuggets and chips every night.

I took her to bed and had another annoyed moment at her during 'Personal Care' - in my defence I was tired and her own choices had led to the situation. The toothpaste is apparently too foamy for her and she spent 10 seconds brushing her teeth and 10 minutes trying to spit out all the foam. Since the toothpaste in question is her daddy's which she insists on using over the 'First toothpaste' (non-foamy) we bought for her I had very little sympathy but could have handled it better than saying "Either I brush your teeth and read you a story or I get daddy to come and do your teeth and you don't get a story." In hindsight I should have just given her a drink!

'Storytime' was 2 stories which Sylvie insisted were short and I was equally certain were not. She went to sleep listening to the 'Music' of Avril Lavigne and 'Reading' her Jolly Phonics songbook to her Catty. Catty had also been central to a spot of 'Modern Languages - Spanish' prior to the story as I made him 'say' "Meiow! El gato!" when I saw him and Sylvie responded by showing him the pictures of Davy on her headboard and making him say "Esta el bebe!" I hadn't realised that had sunk in!