Where does she get it?
As if you had to ask. We kept her busy today - pouring water and soil over herself while planting a range of things in the garden, some of which I hope will sprout despite us emptying the seeds haphazardly into pots for germination - and then with the sand pit in a park after lunch.

19 mths+

Baby's first sentence!
It is: 'Hi, Nana.' By which she meant 'Hi, Dad', Nana being what she is currently calling him - no idea why.

This morning, Alex actually got up earlier than we did because he was on some team-building, community-aiding project that the big corporation he works for sponsors once a year to make up for ripping other people off all the time.

Izzy was deep asleep when he left as we were out till quite late last night at the work football club annual grudge match and post-match party. The party was fun for baby I think as she was one of only two little girls there and so got lots of doting attention by all the lovely (and probably quite bored) women there. Even the little boys, most of whom we see at our weekly game, tend to be very sweet to her.

Anyways so when she woke up, she toddled to the side of our bed, half asleep still, and then clocked that Alex wasn't lying there asleep, as he usually is.

Turns to me with surprised, quizzical expression: 'Nana?'
'Mm, Nana's not there, baby.'
Looks at bedroom door and beyond searchingly: 'Nana?'
'No sweetie, Daddy's already left the house. He kissed you bye-bye, but you were asleep.'
Dismay: 'Nanaaaa?'

What else are free videophone minutes for if not this? I cannnot say enough how having a baby justifies a 3G phone.

Fortunately Alex was on the platform waiting for a train so he answered the phone. Aah how her chubby little face lit up when she heard and saw Nana.

'Nana!'
'Eh? Why are you calling me?'

Two minutes and one satisfied baby later, we ended the call as Alex's train arrived. She picked up the phone after I put it down.

'Hi, hi... bye... Hi... Nana. Hi, Nana!'

Whoo-hoo! Sentence!

Nennow video
Hurray I forgot all about some free webspace we have so here is the 'nennow' (yellow) video I mentioned earlier. Have confirmed that Izzy knows it means yellow because she calls the yellow marker pen (and the blue one, and the red one) the same thing.

We've have a good Easter break so far. Spent all Friday eating with Weif, Lucy and Elaine in Canary Wharf, and then all of today getting to London Zoo and walking around there. The silverback gorilla is quite something to see. Especially since he kept going over and thumping on the glass, right in the faces of the gawping visitors. Don't blame the poor fellow.

The animals were in fine form. We saw ducks, the lions, African hunting dogs and a strange nocturnal rainforest animal called a potoo or something like that, all mating.

Click on the picture below and then you can either view the video, or save it and then view it. The latter option will probably give you a better result unless you have great broadband connection. Will upload more videos later!

Promised pictures

Feats of daredevil grace - as performed by the Ng-Ong girlies
























Now that it's spring
The clocks have gone forward again so it's usually light when we go home, which is really nice. Although this often prompts Boo to want to wander round my office grounds or mess about in the car before going home. She loves sitting in the front seat, putting on my gloves and then pretending to drive the car before she'll agree to sit in the back seat.

Fortunately my latest ploy - the five-minute countdown is working. After a frustrating week of forcing her to sit in the seat, disregarding her stiff, protesting body and wails of outrage and dismay, this Friday, as I said 'OK, get into your seat now' she actually did. Dropped jaw, could have knocked me over with a feather etc etc etc. But I think I hid my amazement well. And I only rewarded her with several kisses, masses of praise and an orange biscuit. Fingers crossed she'll do it again!

All those time-wasting ploys





















On weekends
Scarcely a weekend goes by now where we don't visit one playground or another. If Boo doesn't leave the house, pretty much all three of us will be going spare by 5pm. So we make sure we go out for a walk at least, even if it's only to the supermarket to buy some more milk.

We've always loved the parks but now I love them even more because they are an endless source of activity with which to tire out the daughter and ensure she falls asleep by 10pm - oh alright 11pm really - at night.
We went cycling in Battersea Park recently and this week we visited the animals in Golder's Park, which was quite sweet.

Boo went off the swings for quite a few months but all of a sudden these last two weeks it's all she wants to do. About a month ago, she refused to get out of the one at the playground near home even though the sun was sinking and it was getting really cold. This week at Ravenscourt Park she refused to get out of the swing for about an hour and when she finally did all she wanted to do was push the other swings around a bit. It took quite a while before she would allow us to pack her into her pram and push her off to see the ducks.

She's starting to interact more with things as well now. Simona, my colleague, gave her a little doll for Christmas and until recently she's only ever put it in the pushchair and wheeled it round the room. Now though, she'll feed it with a spoon and the bottle that came with it, and give it baths. Most of all though, she insists on taking the doll's clothes off. She does enjoy being a nudie rudie. Several times a weekend I have to convince her to put her pants on otherwise she will be cold.

'What's baby's name?'
'Mong.'
'Very nice. Hello, Mong.'

And she keeps insisting on doing things I do now, like sweep up with the small brush and dustpan, and washing things with a sponge. Most of all though she likes playing with our mop. Contrary to the impression this picture gives - that I am making the most of the child labour available to me - she will actually take the mop out of the closet herself and start mopping the floor. Where it all goes wrong is when she tries to mop the carpet. Because the mop won't move smoothly over it. And then it's all 'Waaah!'

But I like this development. Simona allows Sam to hoover the stairs when he's good. I think that is a model of reward behaviour to strive for.

18 mths+

So busy...
It's getting annoying. Both Alex and I have been so busy at work that I'm seriously starting to think about cutting back my working days to four. Or switching jobs. But I'll rant more on that later. Just wanted to post the funny things babe has been doing this week before I forget.

Babe channels Linda Blair
'Baby, are you sleepy? Shall we go upstairs?' (I start putting away her book)
'No, no, no, NOOOO, NOOOO.'
The two loud burps in the middle of her nos elongated and deepened them to quite startling effect. And then I just fell about laughing for five minutes.

Nennow is the colour...
Am cutting a green pepper to put in our quinoa for dinner (yep, that's right, the super-high-protein organic health food chosen by top mums everywhere. Especially ones impressed by its ability to be cooked in 15 minutes simply by boiling). Give baby the red and yellow peppers to hold in hopes they will amuse her for a while.

Whaddyaknow, they do. She takes up the yellow pepper excitedly.
'Nennow! Nennow!'
'Waah baby you know the colours? Yellow? Yes, yellow! So clever, Izzy! What colour's this then?' (Hold up red pepper.)
'Nennow!'
'No, it's red.'
'Nennow!'
'Red.'
'Nennow!'
'OK what about this one?' (Hold up green pepper.)
'Nennow!'
'No, green!'
'Nennow!'
'Green!'
'Nennow!'
I have a video of this conversation. When I get round to looking up how to do it I'll definitely post it.

So anyway we have had quite a lovely weekend as it was sunshiney and warm and baby has been doing less coughing and subsequent voiding of her stomach contents. Most agreeable.

Latest achievement
Yesterday, in Ravenscourt Park, babe managed to cling onto the sides of a slide - quite a big one too, taller than I am, and walk all the way up it. She was so delighted at the top. I knew she was because she has always tried to climb the slides in the playground near us and they are shorter than this one was but she's never managed because they're quite wide. This slide was narrow and so she managed to jam her heels in and move steadily upwards. Today she also managed to climb into the bouncy chair in the playground all by herself. Go, baby, go!