Christmas at home

We're getting ready for a Christmas at home with no travel.  Of course we'll miss family and friends dearly,  but look forward to a quiet, cosy one,  just us.

Santa also popped by early to deliver Vera a big girl's bed!

Our Christmas tree

Momma and Moffa's Visit

I’ve been meaning to write up the last couple of weeks, but it’s been such a busy time that I hardly know where to start! I’ve been well acquainted with the M1 and the A1M as I have been steaming up and down to Cambridge, every week it feels like! My mum and dad, hereafter referred to momma and moffa (Swedish pet names for mormor and morfar, grandmother and grand father) – arrived from Sweden via Manchester on Wednesday 27th and with a big suitcase in tow! Vera got to stay up until they arrived and it was wonderful to see how well they got on immediately! On Thursday 28th, after a leisurely breakfast I took Mark to the train station, as he was going over to Dublin as his mum was having an operation the day after. Around lunch time we got the wonderful news that we had completed on Dewar Drive! Finally! What a year it’s been and so many twists and turns and tears and stress with all the house selling and buying so the news were received with a great sense of relief! Mum and I went to the estate agents to pick up the keys and popped by the house. It seems that the seller had forgotten how to clean for the last couple of months but had left a bottle of champagne and a box of chocolates. On the Friday we went for a drive in the peaks to Chatsworth House, which had been decorated for Christmas. Amazing stately home, but an enormous amount of people and queues. Vera was very good and after our walk through the house, we went to the animal farm and playground. Bitter wind, but Vera enjoyed it all the same! On Saturday it was momma’s birthday so we surprised her with some chocolate muffins that Vera had decorated and a few gifts. Vera and moffa baked traditional Swedish saffron buns and early evening Mark returned and we had a lovely and relaxed birthday dinner. On the Sunday we had a lovely fish and chips at the Cricket Inn pub in Totley and Mark and I went to buy paint. Mark started painting the house and I was cleaning. I worked Mon-Wed, as this time of the year is the time of the annual performance reviews with very strict deadlines. Momma, moffa and Vera went to the park and also on a train trip to Hathersage and mum and dad also helped with carpet and window cleaning, whilst Mark painted frantically! Thursday 5th December was the big moving day and we had booked a local company and a full packing service. So while Vera had fun at nursery, I was making endless cups of tea for the removal men, including Martin from Slovakia who was mad into Belinda Carlisle (!). Our moving day happened to be the wettest and windiest day with a big storm hitting Britain, but everything went well! At 1pm they had packed everything and loaded the van, and I dashed to get lunch and feed the “workers” (mum, dad and Mark!) before the unloading started. We managed to unpack a lot over the next couple of days and mum and I even managed a trip to IKEA for some extra storage and other bits and pieces. It was great to spend a day with mum like that, so rare these days! On Saturday afternoon we drove to the pretty village of Castleton and had another nice pub meal, before we walked up to the Peak Cavern for a Christmas Carol Concert by candle light. Everyone got mulled wine and a mince pie and all the lyrics for the carols. A brass band played and the whole audience sang along. I recognised most of the carols and it was very Christmassy in the cave! Vera was very good, helped by “medicine” (sweets) for her cough - which she faked convincingly! On Sunday morning, Momma, Moffa, Vera and I went to the Abbeydale Miniature Railway to go on the mini trains and meet Santa. We queued for a little while, but when it was Vera’s turn to go into the grotto she was too scared to meet Santa. But it didn’t matter, she got her present anyway and some fika. Once back and revived by some pancakes, Mark and I headed out to buy a Christmas tree. We never had the space for a real one, so it was extra special to buy and decorate one in our new home. Later on in the afternoon, we lit the second advent candle, had some Swedish glogg and adventsfika whilst listening to Christmas music with Vera running around and decorating the tree. A blissful moment and so precious so share with momma and moffa! On Monday, I was working again, more reviews, and momma, moffa and Vera went to Weston Park Museum, where Mark met them for lunch and they also got to see the University buildings where Mark works. On Tuesday 10th, we said a very sad farewell. It was so lovely to have them here for so long!

Apple in my munnen

Language is a wonderful thing! On our way home from nursery today Vera said: "I've got an apple in my munnen". I say mouth, you say munnen. Dada says mouth and momma and moffa says munnen. I love the fact that she is starting to grasp that they are words for the same thing and also patterns who is using what word!

Mormor and morfar visiting! )

I'll write more in a bit, but here are a few photos of mormor and morfar visiting!

Visitors

Parent's Evening

Tonight I have been to my first ever parent's evening at Vera's nursery and met her key worker Claire. She was very pleased with Vera and Vera's doing really well. Vera's got a group of friends that she spends most of her time with: Ella, Eve and Maisie. She also plays with the older children. She's very sociable and will walk into a room saying "hello! I'm here! I'm Vera!" She love's playing with play doh, dressing up and doing any kind of art work. She loves colouring in and stencils and is especially keen on felt tip pens. She eats well with her knife and fork, she knows her numbers from 1-10, but needs further work on her colours. But she's only 2,5 years old, so we're not particularily worried! She goes to the toilet at the nursery, copying the older girls, but I've not been brave enough to take her to nursery without a nappy yet! She gets stickers and stamps when she goes to the toilet and apparently Vera gets super excited to get them. Great idea for us to try at home! All in all, I'm so pleased, it's been a year of change for us and more to come with yet another house move, but Vera has taken it in her stride and is the same confident and happy girl that moved up from Cambridge!

Mark's birthday!

Reading

I am so pleased that Vera is enjoying books and reading as I have such fond memories from my old childhood of reading, raiding the local library and dreaming away! I don't make enough time for reading myself these days, but I do make a point of reading with Vera as it is such a great pastime and such a great gift. Vera's favourites at the moment are Stick Man, Room on the Broom, Gruffalo and Gruffalo's Child, all written by writer and playwright Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler. Vera is continuing to thrive at nursery, on Friday she did drama and miming (!) and over the weekend we were pretend throwing balls back and forth. They had their photos taken too and I have ordered some. She's really growing up now! And next week is our first parents evening! On Friday I went out for a wine tasting event with some women who I met through the website Meet Up. It was really nice and hosted by a really knowledgeble but unpretentious guy. Most of the women are older and heading out socialising again after divorces etc, but a nice bunch and nice to get out. Saturday was spent in the fantastic Millhouses Park, a short walk from the house. Vera played, ran around and we had coffee and a snack in the cafe before we headed home. On Sunday morning, it was another glorious day. Fresh air and sunshine is so good for the soul at this time of the year when darkness is creeping in. We drove towards Hathersage and stopped near a public walk way where we walked up a hill. We took it very slow, as Vera was busy saying hello to all the sheep and jumping of various stones and checking out a little bit of frost at the roadside. The last 100 metres were made on the promise of a small packet of raisins. We had a water and snack break, took in the view before heading back to the car. The rest of the Sunday was spent pottering, cooking and enjoying some nice music and family time.

"Me do myself"

This is one of the phrases Vera uses the most.  Part of growing up and becoming independent is learning to do things by oneself and for Vera this includes most things,  taking her nappy off, getting dressed, climbing up into her car seat you name it!
We've also started potty training slowly and so far so good! But we're not putting any pressure on her and taking it very slow.

Happy Halloween!

Visit to Edinburgh

Potty

Vera has taken an interest in the potty of late. She whips of her nappy and happily sits on the potty for "number ones". We've not pushed her at all, it's all at her own pace and she initiates it by taking her trousers and nappy off. With all the moving and change of late, and more to come, we wanted her to be ready for it. In the last couple of days, she's done the same at nursery, so we may start proper potty training. Just need to invest in a bunch of "big girl knickers" and bring in spare clothes! Any tips from you mums out there, please share! Vera continues to be obsessed by the Gruffalo and we read the Gruffalo's Child every night. She's also really into jig saws and colouring with crayons. And trying out her new balance bike of course! Last Sunday we went to Graves Park, a few kilometres from here: http://www.gravesparksheffield.info/ It's a council run park, with an animal farm, mainly chickens, rabbits, but also pigs, deer, a few llamas and some very nosy ostriches. It's the perfect place for an hour or so, and great that it is all free and council run. Vera was very taken with the rabbits and guinea pigs! This weekend we're off to our old home town Edinburgh to see uncle Joe and uncle Barry and to celebrate Joe's birthday! Vera is also excited about meeting Ellie (and Kirsten). Vera wants to bring Ellie to "her" moon! :-)

Mamma's been away...

Dad has done an amazing job!

Meeting a police man (shame they both have their eyes closed!)

Yesterday the nursery had a visit by a Police Man. He said hello to all the children and they all got to try on his Police Man's hat. Apparently Vera had been super excited when he talked into his radio. He even got his colleagues at the control centre to say hello to all the children, which had been very popular! I think it's great that they are arranging these visits and that the children get familiar with the Police, the Fire Service and so on. Now it's Friday and very blustery outside, but we are looking forward to a nice pub meal together.

Health Visitor

I've said it before, but I think the NHS (National Health Service) is brilliant. All visits to the doctor are free and all medication for children also free. A couple of weeks ago we got a letter through the post, from the local Health Visiting team. As we were new to the area, they wanted to do a home visit and welcome us as explain all the services. This morning, the health visitor Fiona came for her scheduled visit. Vera was in great form and "cooked" food and served Fiona, including sausages, pasta, olives and chocolate cake, all made from play doh and cooked up on Vera's cooker! Fiona asked what we did, explained their services and support, asked about our "life-style choices" (use of alcohol, drugs etc,) gave us information on local toddler groups and suport for parents and also gave Vera a two-year check up. She weighs 15.9 kgs, but unfortunately she couldn't measure her height (she hadn't brought her measuring stuff as it was an unplanned check up). In any case, Vera is developing as she should (not that we were particilarily worried) and Fiona was impressed by her drawing, pretend play and her language skills. So that's all good! I guess it's good for the Health Visitors to see families in their home environment, but in any case, a great service!

Concentration

Weekend

Why, What, Who?

Vera is in a questioning phase, everything is why, what or who? Last week on the bus with Mark, she was on the upper deck and asking Mark "who's that", "who's that dada" and then pointing to one beardy gentleman: "who's that dada, is that the Gruffalo"? (we've spent a lot of time reading the Gruffalo of late!) Yesterday, in a very middle class moment when Vera was eating carrots she said "mamma, where's the homous"? I explained that we don's have any, to which responded "why not?". Ehhh. Nusery is going well and she's been fine the last couple of mornings and been busy. The last couple of weeks have been busy. Last week I drove down to suprise Ana with a mini hen night, all organised by her friend Louella who was over from Dubai. I drove down on Wednesday morning and on Wednesday evening Junko and I surprised Ana with a bottle of champagne at the Varsity Hotel's hotel bar. It was a but chilly, but so lovely to have some time together in the midst of all the changes and wedding madness for Ana's sake. Afterwards we went to Las Iguanas and had Brazilian foid and a fair few cocktails! I drove back up to Sheffield on Thursday night and then on Saturday morning we set off again, back down to Cambridgeshire, but this time to the lovely Sheene Mill in Melbourn. It was a beautiful and sunny day and Ana and Mark both looked stunning and so happy! We had some beautiful food and a bit of dancing :-) and a catching up with old friends. After a huge and lovely breakfast and a catch up with Mr & Mrs Hopley, we went to the Shepreth Wildlife Park and saw some tigers, chinchillas, monkeys, crocodiles among other things, and Vera's favourite, a giant cuddly bunny rabbit which Vera stroked and fed grass. It was 20 degress and we had such a lovely time in the sunshine! For old time's sake we went to Gog Magog for lunch, before Vera and I went back to Sheffield. Mark had to go to Sanger for some work and got back last night.

So Where Were We

The days seem to go so quickly and days turn into weeks… Since our visit to the hospital Vera has also had her first ever hair cut, I had to call it going to the hair doctor, in order for her to sit still. But she was ever so good and sat in my lap! We’ve just taken 5-7 centimeters or so off the length, so that it’s easier to wash and brush. We’ve also had some wonderful visits to the Peak District and really enjoy having these places so close. The weekend before last we had a lovely visit by Fiona, Dan and the gorgeous Robbie, marred only by Vera getting stung by a wasp! On that Sunday we went to the nearby Abbeydale mini railway and enjoyed a train ride in the scorching autumn sun - £1 for the ride, what a bargain! Then we went on a big train to Hathersage (10 mins or so) where we walked around and enjoyed a coffee and juice in the sun. This weekend just gone, we took the bus into the town centre, takes 15 minutes or so. Parts of Sheffield are fairly rough and ugly and others are surprisingly nice. There’s been a lot of re-generation money spent on the city centre with parks, the Wintergarden, museums, squares and fountains. We spent some time in the Peace garden, which, as it is next to the town hall, was full of newlywed couples taking photos, so lovely in the sunshine! They also had an outdoor screen for families to watch animated films. Vera is settling in well at nursery, but some mornings she is a bit hesitant to walk into the breakfast room. Most of the children are older than her and it is still a new environment. But after that she throws herself into all the activities, including drama, dancing, messy play, playing outside and is making friends. She is always happy when I come to collect her, so that makes me happy. She is a very funny little girl! Since the IKEA incident, she has been practicing saying her full name and states that she is Vera Collins and she is “two ears” old – at this stage she points to her two ears. Mark is Daddy Collis, but I’m not allowed to be a Collins. I guess the concept of a shared surname is a lot to take in! She loves singing and we sing her favorite “Happy Birthday” a lot. We sing for Vera, Mark and then for Ana, Mark and Ariane. Ariance has made such an impression on Vera even though it was many weeks since we met her. Most days she will point out a building or a house which belongs to Ariane! If I say something like “when we get home Vera, we can have a snack” she will reply “Don’t worry mamma, don’t you worry” . Her latest thing is to pretend to whistle. We will whistle and she will mimic the sound with a high pitched tone/sound, very funny. She’s recently become a proper Peppa Pig addict and loves watching it on TV and reading books about Peppa. We’re also s lucky when it comes to bed time (I knock on woods as I write this as I don’t want to jinx it!). She’ll have a bath around seven then go downstairs in her pyjamas and drink “new lelle” (warm milk in a new cow mug). Then, around 7:30, she usually declares “I need to go to sleep” and we take her upstairs, brush teeth, read a book and then just say night night. On the odd occasion when she doesn’t declare it’s bed time, we’ll just say, time to go to bed now Vera and she’ll say, ok, gives Mark a kiss and walks upstairs shouting come on mamma, come on! We’re very lucky and hopefully it will continue!

Autumn sunshine

Friday 13th

I'm not normally superstitious, but yesterday was a day of bad luck. It started off with me pouring coffee all over my desk first thing in the morning, which was fairly minor compared to the rest.

I went to get Vera at around 4, with view to go shopping and then home to cook dinner when Mark got in. When I arrived at nursery, the nursery manager Richard was there and said "we were just about to call you, Vera's had an accident". At that stage, your heart just stops and you think "oh my God, what's happened?"

Apparently she'd been running into a room and run straighth into a small, wooden children's chair. She had bumped her head into the chair and bit through her lip. The accident had literally happened 5 minutes before I arrived.

She was sitting down on the floor, saying "I am big girl. I am brave girl" with a quivering voice. Apparently she'd only cried for two minutes and she had been very brave. As the cut in her lip (under her bottom lip, about a third down her chin), was quite deep, they recommended that we'd go to the hospital to get it checked out and maybe glued.

Now the next problem, I didnt know where the hospital was! Well I knew roughly that it was near Mark's work, but not exactly. But Richard printed out instructions and gave me the post code and I have to say that Sat Navs are brilliant, as after about ten minutes drive I was there at the Sheffield Childrens Hospital:
http://www.sheffieldchildrens.nhs.uk/

Mark arrived literally just after and we were told to go straight to A&E. We got seen initially by a nurse who gave Vera som paracetamol, got her weighed (15,7 kgs, but this is with shoes and holding a teddy bear too!) and checked out. Then we had to wait to be seen by a doctor. That took about 45 minutes-1 hr, but as it was a Children's hospital, they had a soft play area, were showing BBC Children's TV, lots of toys and funny mirrors, so for Vera it was like a day out!

Vera chilling out in the waiting room

Finally got to see the doctor and Vera was ever so good, sat absolutely still when the doctor inspected the cut. The doctor didnt think it had gone through, but that the bottom teeth and cut through the inside of the lip and the top teeth the outside of the lip. In any case, she said that they normally didn't do anything about the inside, but she recommended that they glued the outside.

When the doctor asked if Vera had any brothers and sisters, Vera declared "Sausage"  and then later "and Chips". We can only assume she was hungry! Then she declared to the doctor "I am pretty!"

After about 20 minutes we were seen by a nurse, who glued the cut, and declared that we weren't to get it wet at all for 5 days, as it could open up. If we did, we should come back to hospital or go to our GP.
Good luck with that and a two year old!

Well, once at home and while eating dinner (Vera's favourite, pasta!) we could see a bit of blood again, but decided to leave it. Too late to go back and Vera needed her sleep.

It looks ok this morning though and I'm sure nature will take care of it. Vera's not bothered at all, not in pain, just tempted to fiddle with it.

So all in all, a Friday 13th to remember...

Good Day

Today has been a good day. When I went to pick Vera up today it was pouring down with rain, but it was great to be met by all the children playing outside in the rain. I'm glad they play outside regardless of weather. The children aren't bothered at all, probably more fun with puddles to jump in!

Also, today the nursery had had a scheduled visit by a fire engine and some fire men. All the children had, understandably so, loved it and each got to take a picture with a fire man. Isn't that great! That the nursery had organised it and also that the fire men took time out to meet and be photographed with the children!

Working from home means less time stressing in traffic and more quality time for us as a family. Yesterday Vera and I even had time to bake banana muffins after dinner. A rear treat. I'll enjoy this until I know what the next job holds in store.


Vera is chatting so much these days. It's basically a monologue from the time I pick her up until she goes to bed. Bed time is never an issue and some nights, like tonight, she surprises us even further by declaring "I need to go to sleep" and "I need to brush my teeth, I need borsta tänderna". At 7:30, before her normal bed time. We're very lucky!

Teddie's Nursery

This is Vera's nursery, Teddies Nursery. Today when I picked her up, the nursery manager Richard, who was leaving with his daughter said, "Vera's had a brilliant day! She's got a lot of energy!" She was out playing and another staff member, who works in the Big Bears room, and she said "I can't believe this only Vera's first week! It's like she's been here for weeks or even months! She interacts with all the other children and staff".

Very great and reassuring for me to hear that she's enjoying herself, eating well and sleeping well.