Do NOT wear a wrap top when using a ring sling.

I have a very nice top I made, the sort that wraps over and ties on one side with a fairly deep V-neck. So I checked it wasn't showing anything and set off for the shops, where I put Midget in a ring sling. Now if you haven't used one of these, it goes over one shoulder and Midget sits on the opposite hip, the ring should be in the 'corsage position.'

To get her in I put her up over my shoulder, then get her feet inside the sling and slide her down to a sitting position. I hold her there and pull on the tail of the sling to tighten it, this generally pulls the ring down a bit lower. And off we went.

It was only after we had left the shop, where I had had a long conversation with the shop assistant, that I looked down.

To see that all that sliding down didn't just include Midget and the sling, but both sides of my top as well, so I was basically just wearing a bra (and a baby!) at the front.

At least it was a clean one.

Midget is 1!

I no longer have a little baby :( But she is so much fun (the velcro has loosened a little).
She:

• Is walking quite well, it's now her preferred method of getting around except if she's in a hurry (ie I'm out of sight!).
• Has no words but has two signs, feed and finished! Given Widget's speech delay this is very exciting. She's been doing them appropriately if reminded for a few days (ie if I make the feed sign and she doesn't want one she ignores it, but if she does want one she copies it). But today she did both of them spontaneously and appropriately. We were out at the shops and she looked me in the eye and asked for a feed, and later on she let go and sat up, looked at me and signed finished :D :D :D :D :D
• Has amazing comprehension (to me, it's probably completely normal but it's a shock to realise your baby understands you IYKWIM). She was trying to climb off something forwards today and I told her to turn around, she looked at me, spun around and tried to climb off the other side. Not quite what I meant.
• Hugs and kisses. Aaaaaaaw.
• Knows exactly how things work. Give her a bottle and she tries to twist the lid. Give her a tin and she goes for the pull on top. Yesterday we played with shaving cream, today she picked up the can, held it correctly and was 'writing' on the wall with it, then rubbing her other hand over that spot to spread it out.
• Brushes my hair and feeds me.
• Insists on feeding herself, and won't drink from any of the spill proof water bottles. She only wants the ones Widget uses. Sigh.
• Thinks the red dust out the back is a wonderful food. She actually found a spoon this morning and was hoeing in with it.
• Is still a horrendous sleeper.
• Scribbles on the whiteboard and tries to draw on paper.
• Points!
• Likes using the potty, we generally get the first wee of the morning and then it depends on my timing or how busy we are. She reads on the potty.

When Widget snuggled into bed this morning she solemnly told me that Midget was only little and didn't know how to blow out candles yet, so she would have to teach her. She made and decorated a wonderful cake for her.

Well I've been told!

Midget's communication is coming on in leaps and bounds.

Today in the car she woke up after a long sleep and there was a scramble to find something to keep her in a good mood while she adjusted. After trying several things DH put a toy with a button on top on the centre console in front of her and pushed it, so it spun around. She liked this and was quite enjoying it, and the little arm started flapping up and down as if she was pushing the button.

I tried moving it to her lap and was soundly told off, she pushed and kicked it away. So I put it down on the floor and started looking for something else. All of a sudden a little arm was pushing me and pointing down, and "Aaaah aaah aaah!" I picked it up again and offered it to her, but an imperious hand pointed at the centre console.

I meekly put it back and hit the button again, and peace reigned for a few minutes.

I'm not a piece of furniture!!!!

I don't know, maybe I'm very permissive and my kids get away with murder.

Maybe I have extremely well bonded children who love me very much.

Maybe my children's love language is touch, and they want to show me how much they love me.

Maybe they are sensitive little souls and need lots of reassurance.

But I seem to have one or other of them attached to me 24/7.

Midget is at least starting to sleep on a mattress on the floor, so there are a couple of hours after she first goes to sleep at night, then she is in with us. She is having extreme separation anxiety, all perfectly understandable when she has been taken to a strange place and is meeting a lot of strange people, but she cries whenever she is out of my arms. I mean she cries if I put her down at my feet to turn on a tap. She cries if Daddy is holding her and I am out of sight. She cries if I am sitting next to her on the ground but not actually holding her! There is some playing in between, but it doesn't feel like very much.

And when she does let go to play, Widget grabs hold. I don't mind giving her cuddles because of the endless round of trips and scrapes, I don't mind the feeds and I don't mind her sitting on my lap if she asks. It is when she sits next to me but half on top of me and starts wiggling over, so I end up squashed. Or I'm in the middle of eating or doing something and she will try to climb onto my lap. And God forbid that I try to go to the toilet.

It's nothing major, just the constancy wearing me down. And the bit that worries me is that I don't feel like I've had a break. DH is understandably caught up with his father at the moment, and we are spending as much time with them as we can. And it doesn't really feel like a holiday with everything that's happening. But at the back of my mind there's a little worry that we're almost going home, then it's back into it until July.

I just hope that being back home will mean the girls are a bit more settled and I become a human again, rather than a piece of the furniture.

Little Mirrors

You learn so much about yourself with little children. Yes the big things, like your priorities and values, but also the little every day things you never noticed.

• I brush my teeth in the shower, and thanks to Widget I know I rinse the brush several times.
• When getting very frustrated I put my hands over my face and take a deep breath (Widget).
• The next step is to point with both hands, a bit like a goal umpire (Widget again).
• I drink far too many cans (Midget, she goes straight for the little ring pull on top).
• I like using a particular brand of water bottle (Midget).
• I brush my hair back from my forehead when thinking (Midget).

Sje

Muco-purulent Discharge

I have a lovely little book called "Does Anything Eat Wasps?" It is a selection of questions and answers from "The Last Word" in New Scientist magazine. This is where anyone can send in any puzzling question, and readers try to answer it. It has even sparked university research.

One of the questions was about the little yellow crusty bits in your eyes, commonly known as sleep or sand (can you see where this is going?) and whether they had a real name. It turns out that they are a very dilute mix of mucous and pus. This is the protective coating of your eye, the mucous lubricates it and the pus is lots of white blood cells to eat any bacteria or dirt. It drains down the tear duct, but if for some reason there is too much or an infection it can't all drain away and evaporates, leaving the lovely yellow bits. Up until now it hasn't had a real name, but the consensus of readers was that it was a 'muco-purulent discharge.'

We have been learning all about it. I had never actually had conjunctivitis myself, but Widget picked it up somehow. We seemed to get rid of it with eye drops, but obviously stopped too soon and it came back. Then she passed it to me, and finally Midget. So more than two weeks later we are still doing the eye drop thing, because I'm not game to stop until we've all been clear eyed for a few days.

The interesting thing is that when your eyes are all inflamed the drops aren't too bad, but when they clear up it really stings. Obviously the thick protective gunk isn't just a nuisance, it does protect your eyes. Isn't it nice that parenting gives you the opportunity for wonderful little observations like that?