It has been quite a busy and emotional week and a bit since the last update. The week started quite brightly with fine weather as befits the start of June. Éowyn took full advantage of this in her new paddling pool. Each morning we took her into the garden to have a splash, which is a very easy way to give her (and us) a wash! She thoroughly enjoys being in the water and it is something that we want to encourage.
Our friends Neil, Emma and Kerry met us in Chertsey for a walk along the Thames on Thursday. As with all good walks a meal at a pub was in order and we incorporated this tradition with Thames Court being the goal for the half-way stage of the stroll. We were also introduced to the hobby of geocaching by the guys. It adds an added interest to a walk and it is quite nice to be part of a secret club where muggles walk by geocaches unaware of the hidden treasures lurking in the undergrowth.
The weekend started with an invite to the evening-do of the wedding of friends of ours Stuart and Sharon Hellyer. This was Éowyn’s first wedding and she did very well considering she was in a new place, with new people and long past her bedtime. However by 10pm she was getting really grumpy and we had to say goodbye while the night was still young. We wish Stuart and Sharon all the best for their future lives together.
Monday we took full advantage of the fine weather and headed to Windsor to meet up with Lee and Caroline and their daughter Georgia. Caroline and Lucinda meet up quite regularly so the girls know each other, as well as 7 ½ month olds can. They don’t really play with each other (as yet) and Éowyn took full advantage of her advanced manoeuvrability and went in for Georgia’s dummy while she unsuspectedly sat in the sun. I suppose she has a long memory from the time that Georgia punched her in the face while they lay on our lounge floor.
Nan and Granddad took us to the Harvester in Windsor Tuesday evening where Éowyn was on her best behaviour once again, until she swallowed a large chunk of the bun that she was chewing and began to choke. Fortunately the first aid training kicked in and a swift slap to the back dislodged the offending lump but unfortunately brought up a quantity of vomit too. Not the nicest thing to happen in the middle of dinner. Éowyn was nonplussed by it all and was none the worse for her incident. This was the second time in a week that she had bitten a large chunk of food (the first was a baby ricecake last Thursday) and choked, fortunately I have been on hand both times and have not panicked but it is quite upsetting and Lucinda finds it especially so. We are being extremely careful now with the kind of foodstuffs that she is being given.
As you may recall from the last entry Éowyn’s Great-Great Auntie Iris passed away and Thursday was her funeral. So although it was nice to see the family and Éowyn got to see her Nanny Fran, it was a shame that it was under such circumstances. We were a little concerned taking Éowyn to the funeral service as she is a little young to persuade her to behave but we had needn’t fretted. She slept through the service at the crematorium, which was a little embarrassing since she takes after her dad and snores. So when the minister asked all to take a minute to reflect on Auntie Iris and pray silently, all that could be heard was the dulcet tones of Éowyn‘s snoring. I think that Auntie Iris would have found it amusing as a number of people suppressed their sniggering.
She was a good tonic for the people there and a nice distraction. During the memorial service she was as good as gold, except for continually tapping her Auntie Liz on the back causing her to turn around. Then at the wake, she crawled around the hall, trying to escape from her daddy and hoping for people to drop crumbs off their plates. She also begun to say the two words that we have longed to hear: ‘Momomomomomom’ and ‘Dadadadadadadadadadad’. Well not quite the words but definitely the sounds. She also got to meet some of the relatives that she hadn’t as yet had the opportunity to meet, including her first cousin once removed Mark and her first cousin twice removed, my first cousin once removed Ray and his wife Pat (that is if I have followed this table correctly). She also received a couple of presents a nursery rhyme book from her Great Uncle Michael and Great Auntie Yvonne and a hand-knitted doll from her first cousin twice removed Pat. She is a very lucky little girl to have such generous relatives. Thank you!
We stayed the night at Nanny Fran’s so that they could have an extended play time, which I am not sure who enjoyed the most. We also visited her Great-Grandma and for the first time took her to place some flowers on my dad’s grave, her Granddad Vic, for what would have been his 63rd birthday; not that it means anything to her at the moment but more for Lucinda and me.
To complete the triumvirate our next door neighbours, Cliff and Vicky had a baby boy in the early hours of Thursday morning. Congratulations to them and welcome to the world little one.
In this hectic week of births, deaths and marriages Éowyn has also begun to pull herself up on furniture. The first time was just before the last update on the 27th May and then nothing for a couple of days, but now she is constantly pulling herself upon and standing for quite a while. She has taken a tentative step or two but it has, so far, always thrown her off balance but nappies are great shock absorbers for little bottoms. I don’t think it will be too long before she is walking. We are not ready! Keep an eye on this space.
Peace and Love
Baggie!
