New shoes

Ok, we know they're pink, but Clarkes really don't do any other colours. We did try and get some brown velcro ones (from the boys section) but the shop assistant warned us off these as Katie would be able to pull them off easily. So pink it is.

And here are just some funny photos that were taken a few weeks ago.

Hello London

Well a lot has changed and we've all been a little busy. There is lots to tell you - so here goes...

New house
It has taken Katie a little while to settle in to her new home, but I think we are getting there. Her routine was all out of sorts and she didn't like sleeping during the day during the first week. This made unpacking a little tricky, but although we've still got a few boxes still to unpack, we're nearly there. We are pleased to say that Katie is now very settled in her new room and she likes exploring the flat.

New friends
We've been meeting lots of new people including a whole babble of little toddlers. There is Niamh (13mths), Hannah (19mths), Anya (15mths), Naomi (2yrs), Catherine (3yrs), and Angelina (2yrs). You'll notice a distinct lack of boys. Katie is already busy making friends and gives them all big smiles. She's not the youngest (by two weeks) but she is the smallest.

New nursery
This hasn't gone quite to plan. Although Katie loved nursery in Liverpool, it's not the case here. She is having a little trouble settling in. The nursery staff are doing their best to settle in all the new girls but so far, each morning one of them starts crying, and then they all join in one by one. Katie is getting particularly good at her non-verbal communication - she knows all the moves for "mummy/daddy don't abandon me here with all these strange people - all the babies are crying there must be something wrong!"

New food
On saturday we went to Bluewater and for lunch Katie had her own food plus a fair bit of mummy and daddy's too. She had beef casserole, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, cheese, egg, bread, olives (!), artichoke, strawberries, banana, marzipan, and some cake with cream. She's also discovered sweetcorn and she's impressed.
Similarly, at nursery she gets snacks during the day (something we've never done). There have already been comments on how she will not only eat her own, but also has seconds and then will eat other kid's food if they don't want it. Today she had a big bowl of rice crispies for breakfast, a round of toast for mid morning snack, salmon and broccoli tagliatelle followed by a yoghurt for lunch, a mound of mango for a mid afternoon snack, scrambled egg and spaghetti hoops for tea, a little lettuce, pepper and tomato as a snack while we had our tea, and then her usual 9oz of milk before bed - phew! Could this be a growth spurt?

New teeth
At last she has four, but we think there are more on the way. Katie has been a little upset from time to time since we arrived. We don't know how much is due to being unsettled, how much is due to missing her northern friends, and how much is due to new teeth. We're guessing it's probably a bit of all three.

New moves
As we said before, Katie is enjoying exploring the new flat, but not on her knees, on her feet. She has taken one or two steps herself and can often be seen wobbling like a weeble as she tries to stand up on her own without holding on to us or the furniture. It is tiring for us, but she is having a great time learning how to use her legs and feet, and is growing in confidence every day. All her new friends can walk and so she looks on longingly as they run around the gardens here, so is determined to join in. So we're off to buy her some shoes.

We've taken hardly any photo's recently - will try to get some in the next few days and post them for you all!

Goodbye Liverpool

It was very sad :(




But aren't Dorothy and Donald lovely :)