Maeve, as readers of this blog will know is a little charmer and smart. When I went to pick her up from the creche on Friday she insisted in carrying her own (and fairly heavy day bag); every time I tried to help she slapped my wrist with a curt “No Daddy”. Its nice to know she is such an independent little girl who warms my heart because everytime I collect her at the creche I hear her squeal with delight shouting “Daddy” as she runs over into my arms and wraps her arms around my neck and planting her cheek firmly against mine. Sometimes if I am really lucky she will grab my ears and pulls me close for a wet kiss on my cheeks – she has picked up this continental kissing of both cheeks from somewhere. Anyway I am content with life.

Here is a picture of Maeve at the creche in a Jacket we picked up in New York a couple of years ago and everyone seems to like – I have been stopped in the street and asked about it even.

Maeve leaving the creche

Saturday, my wife being away on business, Maeve and I met up with Will in toen. Will was one of the grooms-man at my wedding, and although we talk fairly frequently – usually via IM – we have not met face-to-face for at least a year (maybe two); Will splits his living between Fermoy and Dublin, and whilst in Dublin its at the other end of the city from from us in Donabate. Yes, I KNOW that is NO EXCUSE but life is life and matching our schedules and children is well problematical at the best of times. I digress. We arranged to meet up in the excellent Yammamori Noodles in Dublin Maeve in tow. Will and I shared various parts of our meal with Maeve – who in copying me – insisted on using chop sticks. To both Will and my amazement she managed to use them – something that took me a while to master – although I will admit she used the chopsticks to impale the chicken fragments and carrots before moving to her mouth, Maeve did however use two chopsticks to “shovel” rice from the plate to her mouth. Not bad for a two year old. Here is a picture of Maeve just after she has shovelled some food into her mouth with the chopsticks.

2010-01-30-chopsticks

It had to come. We both knew it; but we were hoping for a few more years before it manifested itself. Maeve has started singing the odd phrase from a song or two lately – words from the Corries “Skye boat song” or Petula Clarkes “Cannot live without your love”; but today we were watching “Ratatouille” the cartoon movie about a cuisine loving rat when Maeve said the ominous phrase – point to the main rat lead she said “Mickey Mouse”. Americanisation has started.

Happy new year all,

and what a xmas – its been quiet mostly because we have all suffered from one cold or another. New year was fun because her family came to visit and food and drink was shared.

After the new year snow arrived – the worst in Ireland for 30 years. I remember the one 30 years ago, but I was in England at the time – and I remember the fun of six foot snow drifts that lasted for weeks and digging snow tunnels, school being cancelled and the roads so bad you cannot drive on them. I remember fantastic snow covered vista’s. We lived in the country in a small English village miles away from most so called “civilization”.

One of the main things I remember is using sledges full of food which we teenagers pulled to out-lying houses containing old people who needed our help.

Back to the present and we see Ireland brought to a stand still by a prolonged cold spell (>14 days) and a meagre 2cm of snow – that and a lot of dangerous black ice on the roads. Funny thing is the government has run out of road salt (blames local council’s and the “rare” condition). Everyone is angry at the government’s incompetence in handling any crisis – before the snow it was the flooding, banking, housing etc. No imagination or planning with our rulers.

Its Christmas and the creche Maeve is at is very good. The day before yesterday (Wednesday) Father Christmas visited the creche and Maeve got a lovely present of a book of nursery rhymes – I know she loves it because she rarely puts it down. Anyway I digress. I started to sing in my rather poor singing voice some of rhymes to be joined in by Maeve; Not perfect, but the words and small phrases she does understand – as well as having a go at some new ones she does not know as well. I know that Maeve does know certain words because she repeats some words a number of times until she finds its closer to what I said than she originally uttered. Rarely a day goes by with Maeve learning a word or two. I noticed that she has learn’t to plan her actions somewhat because when she climbed up the kitchen steps (which have 2 steps) and she grabbed a bottle of apple-juice in one hand and some fruit in the other she placed one of them on the top step, stepped down and then moved it to the next step down.

Ok thats the good bit…. now one more “skill” thats not so nice. Maeve has learn’t to spit. I was holding my beer sitting on the sofa watching the TV when Maeve climbed onto the sofa and then lean’t over my beer glass and then started to spit into it; Fortunately she missed …. but I was shocked.

Ireland is one of those places that goes nutty over christmas – not that we get much snow here which is a pity. When I went out to lunch and I saw the following snowman on the move.


snowman

Made me laugh out loud – something good on a miserable day like today.

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