Gremlin’s Fireside Chat

I noticed yesterday and today how tall Maeve is growing … I am not too sure exactly how tall Maeve is, but she can now open doors (just), peek over the bed matress, and peek over the fire-guard. What really brought it home was changing Maeves nappy this morning.

The first nappy change of the day is usually undertaken on the changing board that sits on the top of the cot Maeve sleeps in. When we first got the cot 17 months ago Maeve was barely bigger than my hand and was barely an “island” in the “ocean” that was the changing board. Now Maeve fills the board and her legs pops over the end of the board.

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Got a bit of a fright yesterday when at 14:30 my daughters creche telephoned my and asked me to pick Maeve up because she is ill – repeated Diarrhea and the creche has a “three loose craps and your out” policy. I got the call because my wife (who works by the creche) is away in Germany for a course. I was surprised when I turned up at 15:30 (I work a fair bit away from the creche) Maeve was all happy and smiley – did not look sick at all. But sick she is.

Its been a tiring afternoon and evening: The development group I am a member of has a software drop this evening – which usually involves staying to 8 or 9 in the evening depending on the issues. But I had to combine remote working (thanks guys) with changing nappies every 30 minutes since whatever Maeve easts passes straight though her, and keep an eye on my impish daughters exploits. Fortunately my wife comes home tonight.

Obviously Maeve has appreciated my stress and my help because I looked up late in the evening and saw my my daughter walking over from the door to the kitchen carrying a nice cold beer of the brand (as apposed to her moms) I like in her out-streched arms. Clever and strong girl for 16 months.

Now to get a lock for the fridge….

Maeve’s mental progress has proceeded a pace these last few weeks and she is definitely pushing the boundaries to find out what is right and gets a good response and what gets her scolded. For a while now she has developed this knack of saying the appropriate “yes” or “no” answer to simple questions we ask; You know the kind of question “are you hungry”, “do you want to go to bed”, “Was George Bush a good president” (no was her answer). But we never really knew if she understood the question – or understand the English language at all!!!

This weekend she did a couple of things that prove that her mind is associating words with concepts and actions and also being proactive in show us slow parents what she needs. The first illustration is from my wife who said on Saturday “did you know I was sitting on the sofa when Maeve came into the room with a nappy bag in one hand (to contain soiled nappies) and a nappy in the other!! I said ‘do you want your nappy changed’ and Maeve said ‘yes’ and went and lied down on the changing mat” – Maeve has never carried shown us before she needs her nappy changing other than by crying or becoming grumpy before. But she has often seen us get a nappy and a nappy bag from the changing kit before undertaking a nappy change.

The other story is my own. I was getting some food for breakfast for Maeve consisting of a pot of Yogurt after she had polished off half my bowl of Rice-Crispies. I gave her the spoon and off we went to the sofa. Along the way Maeve got distracted and started playing with some of her toys. Five minutes latter she comes up to me a says “mmmmmmm” by which she means “feed me”; But by this point she has lost the spoon. Showing Maeve the pot I said “Maeve get me the spoon” – upon which she promptly turned around and went over to the area where she was playing and retrieved the discarded spoon.

They say a babies mind is a sponge for new knowledge – that I think is an understatement.

Went food shopping in the local supermarket in Donabate and I took along my 16 month old daughter Maeve. When we arrived at the carpark I took Maeve out of her baby saftey seat grabbed the shopping bag (a heavy canvas looking plastic bag); At this point Maeve grabbed the bag wanting to carry it – dispite the fact the bag is almost as tall as she is. So there we were walking around the supermarket – me a step in front, Maeve trailing a couple of steps behing dragging tge shopping bag garning “isn’t she cute” comments from people as we went around.

When we got to the tills at the end, unprompted she handed my the bag and then put out her arms which her way of saying “pick me up”. I picked her up and placed her sitting on the area when the good collect after they have been scanned along with the plastic bag. You can imaging my surprise to see Maeve get up and drop (rather than put) the various food items in the bag; Good girl, and she is obviously a quick learner.
The funny thing was once I paid and put the bag and the baby on the ground Maeve would not allow me to pick up the bag (which was quite heavy); Instead, trying to drag it along  herself. I was amazed that she managed to drag the heavy bag some 6 feet before finally allowing me to carry it for her.

Good girl likes helping daddy.

My Daughter of 16 months is a Robbie Williams fan … nothing wrong with that. But to keep her amused I try to find music from various artists, periods and styles to keep her amused and this is where youtube is daned useful. I like swing/jazz stuff like Frank Senatra and the other Rat-Pack members and was playing this tribute piece from Robbie Williams  where Robbie was asking fans to “click your fingers” along with the tune and showed them how it was to be done…. only to be followed by my 16 month old daughter trying (to no avail) to mimic her idol