Déjà vu...

The last time I was in Banchory we were preparing for the arrival of Niomi. And as part of that preparation we made her a 'book'. The book contained lots of photos about us and what we were like, and I'll always remember the photo towards the end which was just after Emily climbed Scolty Hill for the first time (see post 'Banchory Firsts'). It was here we told Niomi that 'we like climbing hills and I'm sure you will too.' Brave words.

And so we thought it time to put that to the test. I've been to Banchory many times before, but never as a 'proper' holiday. And as Nana and Baba were away, we thought we'd take advantage of free accommodation and introduce Niomi to Banchory's delights. Well we've had a ball so far - it's brought back so many memories and created many new ones. The sun's shone nearly the whole time, apart from when I got the barbecue out. I've managed to indulge in the delight of photography, and what more beautiful subjects than my 3 lovely girls. And I think we can say that Niomi did enjoy her first hill climb/carry. She ate her way to the summit and answered positively to questioning about her enjoyment of the affair. That said, we were forced to beat a hasty exit from the top as the 'wilful one' neared her naptime.

Déjà vu...the terrible twos. We've definitely been here before

 Excited sisters

 Stylish sisters

Running sisters

 Hide and Seek I

 Hide and Seek II

Hide and Seek III

 Have I been here before? (Part I)

 Have I been here before? (Part II)

Have I been here before? (Part III)

 Summer moments I

 Summer moments II

Summer moments III

My beautiful girls I

 My beautiful girls II

 My beautiful girls III

 My beautiful girls IV

Family magic!

Bird poo...

Seeing language develop in toddlers is an amazing, and sometimes very funny, experience. Toddlers are wondrously curious and beguiling. They’re also irrational and convinced of their own omnipotence. But you can’t blame them (and you certainly can’t reason with them), it’s just the stage they’re at. In this early stage of cognitive development, toddlers just think in fundamentally different ways from older children and adults. And if you can fundamentally get your head round that – then you’re half way home and dry in understanding a 2 year-old.

And so the same must be said for their sense of humour. Early on, babies respond to things that look or feel funny - a silly face or raspberries on the belly. But in the toddler years, kids understand more language and also have a good grasp on how the world is supposed to work - the right way to wear a pair of pants, for instance. So, if you put your pants on your head, you're likely to get an uproarious response. Pure slapstick. Anything that disrupts a pattern or expectation is funny to a toddler. Like the appearance of bird poo on your swing for instance.

Now, as adults, bird poo on the swing is pretty annoying - certainly not comical. You have to go clean it and dry it before any swinging can take place. But for a toddler, like Niomi for example, bird poo on your swing can be just downright hysterical, and so it goes on…

Videoclip: Comedy bird poo

Still as Niomi starts to develop language so the understanding between the 2 sisters starts to develop as well. They’ve been having some lovely moments recently, and can both be great fun to be around. Nana and Baba have also been visiting so they've had loads of attention. All in all the sun's been shining all over.

The wonderful Nana and Baba, daughter and granddaughters

Learning to read before learning to talk

Love is...helping to put one's socks on

Leaping into Spring...

Leaping into Spring

It seems "April hath put the spirit of youth in everything" (William Shakespeare). So with the arrival of Easter and some better weather we've all been getting in the spirit of things. Grandma and Grandad arrived to enjoy themselves over the Easter break, with much tea and cake consumed. Emily and Niomi have been full of beans and are now pretty much living in the garden. And Mummy seems to be leaping about having come out of hibernation. All in all its feeling good for the soul.

 Competitive poo sticks

 Tearing about

Fairy racing

Still in love after nearly 62 years of marriage

Sometimes however everyone's soul gets tested. One of the good things about the blog is you can look back and read about all the trials and tribulations there are in bringing up kids. Obviously 99.9% (ish) of the time life is just a bundle of joy but sometimes the equilibrium gets upset. I'd forgotten just how important in a toddlers life 'Mummy' can be, and just how much a separation of more than 6 inches can cause distress. What's now amazing me is how much this can be echoed very quickly into a 4 year olds life.

Picture the scene. Lovely summers evening - patio doors open, sitting about to eat dinner al fresco. 2 year old decides she needs to sit on Mummy's lap. Parents enforce rule about no lap sitting until eating finished. This doesn't go down well and results in loud howling. Lap rule relaxed in order to ensure the neighbours can still enjoy the balmy evening air. Relaxation of lap rule causes major distress to 4 year old resulting in further howling due to the unfairness of it all. Dilemma as lap only easily seats one, and Daddy's lap is really not worthy of mention. Dilemma solved by 2 year old joining in the howling due to the fact that 4 year old is howling. Mummy and Daddy sit with head in hands - making mental notes to apologise to neighbours next time they see them. Beautiful al fresco dinner abandoned rapidly in an effort to restore calm.

Was this a new thing I thought? But then I looked back over the blog. This sort of thing happened back then apparently but my brain appears to have blacked it out in order to not put me off having more kids. I only remember the good times it seems. And besides, as I wrote back then, nothing is ever permanent.

Still these things don't last long...and 99.9% (ish) of the time we have lots of fun. The latest games are 'helping' me mow the grass...

Videoclip: Cutting the grass

Flower power...

It's spring and we're so lucky as the garden has been full of flowers for a few months already. When we moved here a couple of years ago we noticed that as spring progressed there were masses of spring bulbs that erupted as the year went on...and we've just added to that effect for a really, really colourful exit to winter and start to the gardening year. First came the snowdrops and crocuses, then the daffodils, muscari, scilla and tulips. We've a magnolia, cherry blossom, azaleas, rhododendrons, and many more, all just waiting to bring spring colours to lighten us up as we forget all about winter. I did a daffodil survey with Emily the other day, and we reckon there must be somewhere close to 1,000 daffodils with 15 different types in flower. It's quite a show...

First came the crocuses and snowdrops

Tiptoeing through the daffodils

Not to be outdone - DDU's being waiting patiently since Christmas for his floral facelift. And with the upturn in weather - his floralification is complete. Truly now he is a van of the 60's.

Flower Power 1

Flower Power 2

And with better weather comes better adventures. The Southern Rookes paid a visit (Niomi was quite taken by my brother), we've been to the seaside and the Gurney's in North Berwick, and to the farm near Stirling. More new experiences for the free spirited Niomi and more great family times for the memory banks. Now let's hope the weather just keeps getting warmer...

 New best friends

 Jumping heaven

Guinea pig spotting 

Guinea pig feeding

 Daughter spotting

 Family day out by the sea

Family Days...

With Spring ebbing and flowing its way into 2017 this year, and my adoption leave drawing to an end, we decided to invest some quality time into Family Days. The basic premise being that as we are a newly formed unit we needed to make sure that we spent some time helping the 'Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing' process before Mummy was left flying solo...

The Forming stage was thrust upon us back at the beginning of January with the arrival of Niomi, and from there we've had plenty of Storming in one shape or other from all of us. But as we've moved through March we were definitely trying to get things as Norming as possible for my return to work.

And so we took to the road in a series of day trips...Niomi LOVES the outdoors, so this was sure to be a winner.  The weather was pretty grim. Colds and tiredness were ever lurking in the shadows. But we were not for turning. And so armed with endless fruit, crisps, raisins, cheese and crackers - this family was undeterred to have to have a good time. And so we did, well...for most of it, and you can't expect perfection with a 2 and 4 year old. So despite the odd tantrum from all of us, much singing, cajoling and putting on our bravefaces to the weather - we hit the Trossachs and the Campsies, and introduced Niomi to the great Scottish outdoors.

And it must have been successful, as she still wants to spend every second she can exploring out there and beyond...which suits us fine :-). Oh....and the poor girl's also been stuck on a bike too...but she loved that as well :-). She's certainly one for an adventure bless her. Now just where exactly did I place my spare eyes in the back of my head....

 First family selfie in the Trossachs

 You can't beat trying to blow bubbles in a 'hoolie'

 A drowned fairy at Fairy's Knoll

 Learning to wade in Scotland's rivers

 Cuteness Part 1

 Cuteness Part 2

You see - she LOVED it

Sisters in Hobbitland

Every picture tells a story...

Stories are a big part of all our lives. Kids can tell amazing ones and certainly love hearing them. Emily's imagination is growing by the day and her love of fairies, dragons and castles is just fuelling her storytelling. As is her love of all things 'Frozen'. She's still writing to the fairies that moved in 9 months ago, and they're now regularly appearing in her pictures like 'one of the family' as well. 

The downside of all this is I am now having to read endless 100+ page books to her everyday. What downside? This is wonderful I hear you cry. And on one level you're right, but having recently completed the first 42 books in the Rainbow Magic series I was somewhat relieved that we moved on. Each book consisted of the same two girls helping a fairy find something that it had lost, at the same time as avoiding Jack Frost's goblins, in order that Fairyland be saved. . And guess what? Each time they miraculously managed to retrieve said item and avoid said goblins. Never a plot twist or hidden turn. 100% predictable and quite hard to stay awake to read after a long day. Still, Emily never seemed to cotton on and each story miraculously held her gripped, so they must hold some magic for a 4 year old's imagination...

"Daddy, I hope the goblins don't get the girls this time", Emily stated excitedly.

"Emily - the goblins NEVER get the girls, they also find the missing object EVERY time and Fairyland is ALWAYS saved", Daddy replied. Or at least he did in his head... 

Videoclip: A Story - by Emily Rooke

One of Jack Frost's goblins

In order to keep on integrating Niomi to full-on Rooke life, and to build on her musical introductions, we've been encouraging her to get downright dirty in her play. Her birthday treat was to somewhere called "The Messy Place" (does what it says on the tin really). We've also had the paints, crayons, glitter, glue, sticky paper and anything else you can lay your hands on, out big style. She's generally an outdoor kinda gal so can be quite vocal in her avoidance of such nonsense, but, with a little perseverance and persuasion she's coming on grand in the creativity stakes as well. So if she's not trying on men's clothes, she's now making odd art, as well. Plenty of people have made a living doing far worse in the last 50 years, so we have high hopes for her future career prospects in the 'retro' art field...

Girl's only art session

Red hand of destiny

Purple hand of freedom

Shoe Fetish Part 1

Shoe Fetish Part 2

Sisters hand in hand

A 'handbow'