Snap: Newsflash

See that sweet little open mouth? It's somewhere in the middle of listing people Tara wants to marry. The conversation went like this:
Tara: I'm gonna marry Daddy!
Me: ARE you?!
Tara: Yeah. I'm gonna marry Papi. And Mami. And Tante Claudia. And Kajina, and Maja, and Onkel Derek. And Daddy, and the tree (!), and Papi. Like Cinderella and the prince.

A strong contender for statement of the week, I think.

Big Z

I've got a major crush on my sleeping beauty at the moment (aside from the regular major crush on the child awake). To the point where I'ver started collecting picture of her sleep.
*Sigh* too cute.

Sleep starts of with story time (obligatory).

Bed too small for rotating child.

Baby Isobel for cuddly company. Company helps.

Parental company is better and she falls out of bed for it. "Daddy, help me a little bit!" (This is a direct order.)

Mind you, she falls out of bed with or without company.

Fell asleep with mummy on little mattress. "Mummy, help me a little bit, ok? Lie down on my baby mattress!" (This is a direct order.)

Transfer to mummy's bed after some 3 hours. Obligatory.

A fake! Giggling child, not sleeping child.

Bedtime starts at 7pm, right after dinner. We follow the order of face & hands, teeth (fight), pyjama, and varying numbers of stories by varying readers while sitting in bed. If mumy is last, two songs follow. Then comes the inevitable. "Help me a little bit, ok?" Read: Stay with me until I'm asleep and don't you dare take off before, ok? Ok. If you're lucky you get away with holding her hand. If you're less lucky she grabs hold of your nipple (damn uncomfortable and only affects mummy), or asks you (i.e. demands) that you lie down with her in her bed (no way) or alternatively on the floor (way).
(This, of course, must change back to the no-fuss process we used to follow until a number of months ago, and we've started at working towards independent sleep again. "I need to go and do some work downstairs but I'll come back in five minutes to check on you, ok?")
Sleep arrives, parent steals out of the room (if we haven't fallen asleep on teh floor), and Tara sleeps for 2-4 hours until she wakes up and can't go back to to sleep unless she gets promoted to a place in mummy's bed.
Truth is, I can't fall asleep if she's not there. Truth is also, I love looking at her at night, and even having a small heavy leg flung across my throat has its charms. Ah, my cuddly wuddly girl.

Snap: Nasty Casty Came Off Today

Phew, the awful cast came off today and we've recovered one sweet arm that's only slightly less tanned than it's twin. I'm glad to have it back not only cause it means I'll no longer get whacked with it in the middle of the night. Tara was scared and worried at first but equally happy at the latest when her mum gave her her promised hospital present - bribery for bravery ;) - of a new handbag with one pound of spending money. To buy what with? Ice cream, of course. "Hmmm... deLIcious!"

Mad Monster (Self Portraits)

Have we got anyone fooled into thinking that Tara likes having her picture taken? Hah! That would be because I take gadzillions of pictures and then select the best, i.e. the ones where she's actually, accidentally, looking rather than patiently studying the floor until the offensive camera has been removed. Occasionally, however, she remembers that she can have some input on what kind of pictures I get to take, and that's when she loves to pose for me. In poses she chooses. Like this.




Mad monster. Grrrr... And then she looks up and laughs about the fun we've just had, and forgets I still have that camera. Ha!

Sunburn

The rain is back (what else...) but I've still got that sunburn on my foot to proove that a sunny weekend on a windy beach really did happen! (And, of course, a few photos - well, actually 138 edited down to 23. What a tough job!)
Ok. We are not exactly the most naked lot on the beach this weekend, and certainly not among the lunatics in the water, but with a windbreaker or two it's nice and sunny. (And let it be said that those windbreakers were quite a job to buy. Sold out all over town, with a total of one left to go after we'd snatched up those two.)

English Beaches. Windy.

In England you dress to please yourself, not anyone else. That includes beachwear.

But then, of course, what matters most is the picnic anyway... although others may think that there's nothing like a nap with their head stuck under a specialised war magazine. Well.

"I like my egg... Can I have ice cream now?"

Safe and snug behind the windbreaker (and burning my feet like an utter idiot), I'm making sure that every member of the family gets their fair share of sun.

Getting bigger and bigger and bigger (as Tara says)

Tara makes sure that all get a fair share of attention and kisses (though for now she definately gets the most).

*smooch*