A picture is worth a 1,000 words...

They say a picture is worth a 1,000 words. Never mind about 1,000, the one's below left Mummy and Daddy speechless...

 Mummy

Daddy

Well you can tell who's got the looks in the family (me obviously). And it looks like nursery is coming along just fine too. In fact we've gone craft-tastic in the house with the approach of Christmas. Well actually Daddy is satisfying 2 of his loves (being frugal and Christmas) by hand making decorations with his daughter. There's some quality designs coming out - the favourite of which has to be Emily's painted footprints, named 'Mistletoes', which will hang from the ceiling near the front door.

Pleased as punch with the Christmas wreaths

Fireworks were a bit hit and miss with Emily this year. All a bit loud apparently. She liked watching them but from the safety of the indoors. Not really the point but that's toddlers for you. So after a couple of failed attempts we decided to try something a bit different. Scotland has taken to lighting up its forests at this time of year, and, coupled with some atmospheric music and other special effects (not to mention fairies), it all adds up to quite a dramatic experience. And a very excited toddler.

Emily was really into this idea, so off we trekked to a farm not far from us for a woodland light experience. It was a brilliant hit and well worth the effort. Fairies were not spotted directly but their houses certainly were and Emily loved the whole thing. So much so that we couldn't get her to slow down and savour the moment! We were supposed to be meeting friends (Leanne and Chris and kids Ruaridh and Rhys) but they were running a bit late and all tactics to slow the supreme being down failed. "Come on Mummy Daddy" came the cry...and what could we do? Nothing but jog on. Normally we can't get her to go fast enough. Sod's law - our friends eventually caught up near the end as Emily started to run out of steam. Boy can she shift when the mood takes her though.

 One very excited Emily, complete with lanterns, about to set out

 Car park, itching to be off

 

 Fuelling up for a sprint round the lights

 Jogging to the woodland light fantastic

 Dumbfounded by it all as she starts to slow down

 Just one of many stunning light displays

 Family photo at the end...Emily knackered

Devil child

A new regime...

Emily's a big girl now...she's started nursery. It dawned on me that for the vast majority of time from now till she retires she's likely to have some sort of Monday to Friday routine. Oh how we tie ourselves down from a young age. And with her new routine comes an earlier bedtime, and even more shockingly (for Mummy particularly) is a 7.00am start every morning. No more lounging around for that pair :-).

 New uniform complete with dinner stains and pasta necklace

Day one ice cream reward

Her first week at nursery went really well. Day one was rewarded with ice cream which helped, but really the supreme being has taken to the change without any bother at all. So much so that Mummy has begun to question just how essential she is when after 3 years there is barely a wave goodbye at the nursery gates. I'm well used to my daughter's indifference to her silly old father but this behaviour may have come as somewhat of a shock to Mummy. Oh well, if nothing else it shows what a secure, resilient and happy daughter we have.

At the end of week one, we took a trip to Glencoe to experience the delights of the wilderness in the middle of a big storm. Actually, the weather wasn't too bad for at least a few hours so we did make it out for a walk for a few hours. We'd been invited up to stay with our Aussie friends, Jo and Glen, whose daughter Izzy and Emily get on really well. It was their first proper sleepover together so excitement was in the air. Not only that they went to the first club and partied till the early hours...well at least they did this toddler style. Still, i've now realised there is a secret cheesy quaver inside the supreme being just waiting to be unleashed. Time to dig out the glowsticks, whistles and white gloves and bring it on!

 One cheesy quaver

Two cheesy quavers

Videoclip: Glowstick cheezy quaver heaven

What's it all about?...

Emily is currently on a massive voyage of discovery with every other word generally being "Why?". Now, I'm sure every parent has been through the "why" stage with great hilarity, alongside a severe testing of their own knowledge and ability to explain the seemingly everyday things we take for granted to an eternally questionning toddler wanting to know what it's all about.

A recent example was when Emily wanted to know why things always fell down and not up. A very pertinant question and one that definitely required the full academic prowess of Daddy to answer. So up I step to the plate, and, after a brief explanation of gravity, I conclude with the question "So why do you think Daddy is on the ground and not on the ceiling?" A brief pause before the reply from the supreme being. "Because Daddy is short". Hmpf. Not quite what I had expected.

But, undeterred, I continued to explain how we lived on a huge, huge ball about 25,000 miles round which rotates at about 1,000 miles per hour. Because its so big it pulls us towards it. Emily's reply? "Silly Daddy" she said. I gave up.

New birthday swing from Grandma and Grandad :-)

This voyage of discovery is natural for any 3 year old. And Emily hit the big 3 years old on the 2nd November. We were trying to make sure that the supreme being wasn't overloaded with presents and our main present to her was a fruit tree. I obviously delighted in planting this with her, but to my surprise and further delight she declared it was her favourite present of the day. However she loved all the presents she did get from family and friends - so thank you all very much for your generosity. She is though most definitely her mother's daughter, and there was no holding back on two birthday cakes (one is surely never enough). So, candles blown out, presents opened, birthday party with friends and a visit from cousins, meant a successful and happy time was had by all.

Next stop? Nursery...Gulp.Let's hope that's as big a success.

Planting the birthday cherry tree

 Cake 1

 Cake 2