It's a Toy Story
I am starting this blog post with great news! We are now Auntie, Uncle and cousin because my sister had her baby last week and I'm so pleased! Our little ones are 12 weeks apart- Christmas is going to be so magical! It's been wonderful spending time getting to know our new niece so far!
During one of the many baby-related conversations, my husband said this week- I quote- “Why do babies look so cute when they've got awful hair and no teeth?!?”
I guess he's got a point!?
(Pic not our baby; just a fellow cute example)
Anyway, we're now entering a new phase. Baby is now over 3 months old and she appears to require much more in terms of entertainment. Don't get me wrong, she still loves staring at things and glaring at faces, but she has now started to show an avid interest in baby toys. Mainly licking them.
She doesn't have a huge amount of these toys yet, but the ones she does have all seem a bit strange when I spend a vast majority of my day looking at them. One thing I find really strange is how all of the animal toys 'smile.' I've seen happy animals, yes- dogs wagging tails; bunnies bouncing; ducks swimming; that sort of thing- but never have I witnessed a real life duck with a grin. As my husband has additionally pointed out, the grins are so exaggerated it looks like the toys have been up to something- like they secretly stole biscuits in the night (we grew up in the Toy Story era; we've clearly been affected...)
Also, I find the animals toys can be hard to distinguish. It was only the other day that my husband and I realised one of her play gym toys is actually a cat and not a zebra. We're not idiots- the stripes were misleading. Only on closer inspection did we realise that Zebra-Cat (as it's now known) has whiskers!
These poor toys are attached to pulleys and strings in the most uncomfortable of places, too. I feel a bit sorry for them at times. We have Mr Octopus who has a music box dangling from his goolies; we have Miss Bear beheaded; and we have Mr Giraffe who, poor thing, has been impaled by a rainbow!! They're all still smiling about it though...
Aside from toys, as baby's growing we're having to learn the art of being silent ninja parents, which is something I know I need to master for the future. Baby, very fortunately, sleeps really well throughout the night and isn't bothered by noises. However, she avoids napping in the day time and I'm only just starting to figure out a proper 'day time nap' for her. During this nap she starts to rouse again with any given noise and I am learning to open squeaky doors with precision: sometimes I find myself shh-ing the furniture. Flushing the loo is the tricky: I find myself pressing the flush delicately as if that will make some sort of difference to the volume?!
And as for my Husband...well...he doesn't do whispering! His version of whispering is him just straining his normal voice.
I whisper to him, “Whisper!”
He strains, “I am whispering!”
I hiss, “That's not whispering...”
At which point baby rolls towards us and starts wriggling...
We become stationary- not even breathing-
Until I hiss more emphatically (I can't help myself!!) "SHHH!"
To which he replies in his husky bark, "You shhhhh!"
At which point the debacle transforms into some sort of Chaplin mime episode!
So no huge successes there.
I haven't been out and about so much lately, as you can see, but my husband and I did venture on our first evening out without baby! We hadn't left baby for an evening before, as like most babies, she enjoys spending evenings having a little whine and wanting comfort. Fair enough, really- I often want to spend my evenings with a little wine and comfort.
Well, it turns out baby's social life is already nearly better than ours! Whilst we went for dinner at the pub, literally two minutes up the road (wimps,) baby ended up at a beetle drive in the Chapel with her Grandparents. She witnessed the outstanding event of her Grandad winning the drive with a monumental score, validating him to make a photocopy for keepsake. She had a really lovely time!
We, on the other hand, were also having a lovely time with a pint of Kronenburg each. After half a pint I thought I was having a wild night out and after the whole pint I was ready to hit the pillow! After we'd eaten we were so full and tired it was like we'd pulled an all-inclusive-Magaluf-weekender.
“What is the time?” we wondered, to discover it was in fact only 8.30pm and we'd merely been out an hour!! Mortified by our own 'patheticness,' we committed to stay out until 9.00pm...And then we ordered fizzy orange juices 'to keep us going!' Seriously, what's happened to us?!
I guess it's under that umbrella term called 'parenting.' That said, we still don't 'feel like parents.' We absolutely adore looking after our baby and we 'do' parenting, but I'm still not sure when we'll 'feel like parents.'
...Which leads me back to the topic of toys. This year, it seems that childhood feeling has returned where Christmas will be a little bit more 'magical.' We can acceptably go into all the toy shops so my husband can assess which ride-on tractor 'baby' might 'need.' I can spend time getting glittery fingers deciding which Ana or Elsa doll 'baby wants.'
('Baby' loves Elsa's dress, you see!)
'Baby' will love spending Christmas day opening all these fun things! I'm sure it'll be all for her benefit when we play with each toy for five minutes then build a big cardboard box fort for the afternoon...
Oooh...I can't wait!!
