All gone a bit strange...

Strange things have appeared in George Square

Hello, Emily here...due to the fact it's all gone a bit strange in Glasgow. Mummy and Daddy have been absent for the last 10 days or so due to something called the Commonwealth Games which appears to be happening. Consequently Daddy hasn't been bothered to update the blog and has given me the computer to do it myself instead.

It all started about 10 days ago when we went to Victoria Park, only to find it full of people at something called the Queens Baton Relay. I didn't really know what it was about but by the time we headed home, Nana had appeared, and next thing I knew Mummy and Nana had headed off to the dress rehearsal of the Opening Ceremony leaving me to the mercy of Daddy's 'putting me to bed' skills.

Nothing to see here Mummy, look at the ducks!

And then it all really started. All I know about what's been going on for the last week is that everywhere we go on the bike there are thousands of people where there never used to be any; the house is full of lots of visitors talking about sports and places I haven't heard of before; there are people doing weird and wonderful things on the telly (which also seems to be constantly on - bonus); oh...and Mummy, Daddy, Grandma and Grandad seem to every now and then burst out in spontaneous shouting at the people doing the weird and wonderful things on the telly. It really has all gone a bit strange.

One bonus in all this excitement is I have managed to get myself on the BBC. What seems to have happened is that Mummy and Daddy took me to see some people hitting a ball against a wall. Seemed a bit pointless to me but everyone else seemed to be enjoying it. Anyway I took the opportunity to make my TV debut.

Not really sure what I am doing here

That's me up the top!

Grandma and Grandad have also been staying. They came to watch something called Lawn Bowls but seemed to also like sitting in the deck chairs at the make shift beach. It was here that Mummy introduced me to Team Anguilla - I wasn't too sure about that, but I did like all the boats that came along in a thing called a Flotilla.

 It's sunny in Glasgow!

Not too sure about Team Anguilla

Over 250 boats came down the Clyde

Daddy has also got particularly excited when he and Grandad got last minute tickets to the Rugby Sevens. That made me quite excited too, so I decided to take his tickets and do my own song and dance.

Videoclip: Special rugby song and dance

Videoclip: Daddy and Grandad join in the singing

Mummy and Daddy also keep getting me out of the house very early no matter what the weather is like. On Sunday we went to see some people running very fast. I tried to keep up but despite all my practice the ladies were a little bit faster than me...

Lots of running people

My favourite bit so far in all this chaos has been the appearance of a little green man with purple hair. It's a bit like Christmas when Father Christmas is everywhere. This little guy is a bit less scary though and is called Clyde.

Me and Clyde

And there we have the story so far. Not sure when business as usual will resume but this blogging malarkey is tougher than it looks. I hope Mummy and Daddy return to normality soon but in the meantime I have learnt that 'People Make Glasgow' apparently. Whether they do or not I haven't got a clue, but I do know that there are an awful lot of them in Glasgow just now. Just hope they don't all want to stay here...

Meet the Rabbits...

"Here is Edward Bear, coming downstairs now, bump, bump, bump, on the back of his head, behind Christopher Robin. It is, as far as he knows, the only way of coming downstairs, but sometimes he feels that there really is another way, if only he could stop bumping for a moment and think of it."

 A A Milne (opening lines to Winnie the Pooh)

Emily's Edward Bear is her Rabbit...well, two Rabbits to be precise...Big and Wee Rabbit (we thought quite hard about their names).

From left to right: Big Rabbit and Wee Rabbit

She drags the Rabbits round with her wherever she goes, gripping her supreme beings fingers tightly onto them whenever the going gets tough. When she’s tired, she'll need them to get to sleep. When she’s separated from Mummy, they reassure her. When she’s frightened or upset, they comfort her. When she’s in a strange place, they help her feel at home. When she's wanting to play, they get lobbed across the room. Clever things these Rabbits. And very tolerant.

Happy Rabbits

Sleepy Rabbits

Sulky Rabbits

  

These special comforts are called transitional objects, because they help toddlers make the emotional transition from dependence to independence. And if you read the last post then you'll know we need all the help we can get with this (in)dependence transition. So the Rabbits are a great help...except when they escape. Which does happen from time to time. They've got lost in shops, museums, other people's houses, and last weekend they even made a dash for it from the bike. Funny as this may sound, it's not quite so funny when you have to cycle half way round Glasgow trying to find them again. Still, Emily loves them and that's all that matters. So there they are...Meet the Rabbits.

 Off adventuring with Big Rabbit

Found: One Wee Rabbit, discarded in the street

(In)dependence Day...

The supreme being is growing fast. It seems like every day she is learning a new thing to do or word to say. It's truly wonderful to see. In tandem with this though is a bizarre yearning for both complete independence and dependence at the same time. It's like you can't do anything for her, but you have to do everything for her (particularly if you are Mummy). One minute she's away off exploring, purposefully heading in the complete opposite direction to where you want her to go and is not for turning; the next she's physically attached to Mummy, refusing to let her more than a 10cm distance away. The former means it can take us hours to go anywhere or do anything...come to think of it, the latter pretty much amounts to the same thing too.

Expressing her independence

 Discovering the world through a tube

This yo-yo behaviour can be pretty tiring, particularly for Mummy. It must be tough keeping your cool with a two and a half foot supreme being attached to you whilst you try and take a shower one minute; then the next minute that same supreme being runs for the hills as you try to get her dressed. It's no wonder I sometimes return home from work to find a slightly frazzled wife delighted to be turning our beloved daughter over to me. I'm not always much use though...Daddy might be the best thing today, but by tomorrow it can be a different story as I appear to turn into the devil incarnate. Who'd have thought that something so cute could create a complete maelstrom around her. Still, she loves her time on the bike with me. A saving grace for all of us this summer...

 Preparing to make a bolt for it

 Firmly strapped in so unable to run

Feeding the donkey ice cream