day off!
Friday is my day off and it can be a mixed bag. Sometimes I'm just cross all day because of No Sleep and Messy House and People Visiting Us. But sometimes it's just a lovely day. Today was a lovely day.
We had a gentle start to the day, with everyone waking up around the same time -- Willow generally wakes up smiling so the mornings are usually a happy time. Before having breakfast River persuaded us to have an impromptu quartet on the piano -- me thumping out a boogie bassline in F# major, Willow bashing everything, River smashing the black keys, and Matt improvising a black-key melody on top. It wasn't what you'd call a nice sound, but I think it was a joyful one.
We had some leftover Sag Aloo in the fridge (I made too much on purpose the other day) so I had a go at making pasties with rough puff pastry. It was easy and fun to make! I don't know why I thought it'd be difficult. I took the pasties and the girls round to a friend's house. Her daughter was born a week before River and they only live a few minutes' walk away. I realised last night that I'm kind of living my ideal life, at least in this regard -- I have a friend within walking distance. Growing up, my nearest friend was 4-and-a-half miles away, and I really disliked the isolation (while at other times the isolation was exactly what I wanted, of course). These days we fantasise about removing ourselves from society: there are too many pressures to conform to things that don't seem that great when you examine them.
So, anyway, my friend had made banana cake so we had a little feast and the girls played together! without arguing or hitting! no crying! sometimes even laughing together! It's been wonderful over the last 2 years -- since we moved here -- to watch them gradually figure out how to get on with another little person. We all made collages out of glue and dried lentils, rice, pasta, etc. I did an elephant, my friend did a sparrow eating a flower, her daughter did their garden with all the flowers and the sun in the corner, and River did "a special kind of swan" which was also "a puddle that I like to splash in" which was also "the arboretum!" She had fun, anyway.
Matt worked on the attic while we were out -- another floorboard down, yay! And had a pasty all of his own for dinner. I got River to sleep for a very late nap and... what did I do then? I honestly can't remember. I think I just held Willow on my knee and stared vacantly at the internet. I woke River up just after 4 o'clock (which is why she's still not asleep now at 10.30pm) and read her a few stories, cuddled up together on her bed.
Matt brought Willow up too as she was crying. I surmised she might need a nap so while Matt and River made hot chocolate, I breastfed Willow lying down on our bed. I haven't done this for naptime before, but part of me was thinking I might have a little nap too. River came charging upstairs several times, however -- keeping me apprised of the hot chocolate progress -- so I didn't drop off.
Normally Willow's naps are spent either in the car or on my lap so today was a bit of a novelty for me -- I was able to move around and do stuff! For a few minutes I was just overwhelmed and frozen -- where to start? In the end I sorted through the bag of 12-18 months clothes to see what there was and whether we really needed it all. Matt and River played Lego -- making pirate ships, police cars, and having races with little tricycles.
Once Willow had woken from her nap (and miraculously not rolled off the bed) I got on with making tea: a chicken stew with mandarin and paprika (much nicer than it sounds) with mashed potato. Since there was some beaten egg left over from the pasties, I decided to bake a pudding: orange & walnut brownies! (I've been craving chocolate orange all week.) And since the oven was going to be on anyway, and I had to defrost a whole box of chicken legs, I also cooked four drumsticks in a mustard and marmalade sauce -- a snack for all over us to enjoy tomorrow.
While I was cooking, River developed an elaborate game where she made a donkey-horse-boat out of her little rocking horse and Willow's high-chair. She put her treasure chest underneath it ("in the boot") and withdrew treasure to pay for the Lego police car she wanted to play with ("I have 5 treasures!").
Everyone enjoyed the meal. I've noticed that little children really love eating meat on the bone. And of course we all loved the brownies!
After tea Matt took Willow upstairs for a bath while I tidied up and River played with her new dress-up toys. We have a few baskets in the living-room for small books, big pictures books, and Willow's toys. Inevitably they get stuffed with all the toys and books that River brings downstairs every day so I spent a few minutes re-stocking them. I cut a hole in a sturdy cardboard box, because Willow rather likes posting things into boxes. Then River and I worked together to fix one of her pop-up books, which morphed into a game of stuffing as many soft toys as possible into the box and then putting them on her booster seat (which was temporarily a fire engine) to go on a journey. This game got cut short by Matt calling that he was taking Willow out of the bath. River ran up, expressing crossness that the bath was nearly over without her.
I took Willow downstairs while River had her bath. Willow refused to go to sleep (the dangers of a late nap) so I let her have a play on the floor with a couple of new birthday toys. Then she got really excited about the stacking cups. I had the privilege of watching her work out the correct order to fit them inside each other. Then she tried putting them in my glass of water. Then she tried dabbling her fingers in my glass of water (this has had a fascination for her all week long). Then she had a happy time pretending to drink out of my (empty) mug.
Finally, at nearly 11pm, River fell asleep and Matt came downstairs (again, the dangers of a late nap). We had a brief chat before I took Willow upstairs to bed. Ships that pass in the night, etc. At least we had a really good, long conversation before going to bed on Thursday night.
We had a gentle start to the day, with everyone waking up around the same time -- Willow generally wakes up smiling so the mornings are usually a happy time. Before having breakfast River persuaded us to have an impromptu quartet on the piano -- me thumping out a boogie bassline in F# major, Willow bashing everything, River smashing the black keys, and Matt improvising a black-key melody on top. It wasn't what you'd call a nice sound, but I think it was a joyful one.
We had some leftover Sag Aloo in the fridge (I made too much on purpose the other day) so I had a go at making pasties with rough puff pastry. It was easy and fun to make! I don't know why I thought it'd be difficult. I took the pasties and the girls round to a friend's house. Her daughter was born a week before River and they only live a few minutes' walk away. I realised last night that I'm kind of living my ideal life, at least in this regard -- I have a friend within walking distance. Growing up, my nearest friend was 4-and-a-half miles away, and I really disliked the isolation (while at other times the isolation was exactly what I wanted, of course). These days we fantasise about removing ourselves from society: there are too many pressures to conform to things that don't seem that great when you examine them.
So, anyway, my friend had made banana cake so we had a little feast and the girls played together! without arguing or hitting! no crying! sometimes even laughing together! It's been wonderful over the last 2 years -- since we moved here -- to watch them gradually figure out how to get on with another little person. We all made collages out of glue and dried lentils, rice, pasta, etc. I did an elephant, my friend did a sparrow eating a flower, her daughter did their garden with all the flowers and the sun in the corner, and River did "a special kind of swan" which was also "a puddle that I like to splash in" which was also "the arboretum!" She had fun, anyway.
Matt worked on the attic while we were out -- another floorboard down, yay! And had a pasty all of his own for dinner. I got River to sleep for a very late nap and... what did I do then? I honestly can't remember. I think I just held Willow on my knee and stared vacantly at the internet. I woke River up just after 4 o'clock (which is why she's still not asleep now at 10.30pm) and read her a few stories, cuddled up together on her bed.
Matt brought Willow up too as she was crying. I surmised she might need a nap so while Matt and River made hot chocolate, I breastfed Willow lying down on our bed. I haven't done this for naptime before, but part of me was thinking I might have a little nap too. River came charging upstairs several times, however -- keeping me apprised of the hot chocolate progress -- so I didn't drop off.
Normally Willow's naps are spent either in the car or on my lap so today was a bit of a novelty for me -- I was able to move around and do stuff! For a few minutes I was just overwhelmed and frozen -- where to start? In the end I sorted through the bag of 12-18 months clothes to see what there was and whether we really needed it all. Matt and River played Lego -- making pirate ships, police cars, and having races with little tricycles.
Once Willow had woken from her nap (and miraculously not rolled off the bed) I got on with making tea: a chicken stew with mandarin and paprika (much nicer than it sounds) with mashed potato. Since there was some beaten egg left over from the pasties, I decided to bake a pudding: orange & walnut brownies! (I've been craving chocolate orange all week.) And since the oven was going to be on anyway, and I had to defrost a whole box of chicken legs, I also cooked four drumsticks in a mustard and marmalade sauce -- a snack for all over us to enjoy tomorrow.
While I was cooking, River developed an elaborate game where she made a donkey-horse-boat out of her little rocking horse and Willow's high-chair. She put her treasure chest underneath it ("in the boot") and withdrew treasure to pay for the Lego police car she wanted to play with ("I have 5 treasures!").
Everyone enjoyed the meal. I've noticed that little children really love eating meat on the bone. And of course we all loved the brownies!
After tea Matt took Willow upstairs for a bath while I tidied up and River played with her new dress-up toys. We have a few baskets in the living-room for small books, big pictures books, and Willow's toys. Inevitably they get stuffed with all the toys and books that River brings downstairs every day so I spent a few minutes re-stocking them. I cut a hole in a sturdy cardboard box, because Willow rather likes posting things into boxes. Then River and I worked together to fix one of her pop-up books, which morphed into a game of stuffing as many soft toys as possible into the box and then putting them on her booster seat (which was temporarily a fire engine) to go on a journey. This game got cut short by Matt calling that he was taking Willow out of the bath. River ran up, expressing crossness that the bath was nearly over without her.
I took Willow downstairs while River had her bath. Willow refused to go to sleep (the dangers of a late nap) so I let her have a play on the floor with a couple of new birthday toys. Then she got really excited about the stacking cups. I had the privilege of watching her work out the correct order to fit them inside each other. Then she tried putting them in my glass of water. Then she tried dabbling her fingers in my glass of water (this has had a fascination for her all week long). Then she had a happy time pretending to drink out of my (empty) mug.
Finally, at nearly 11pm, River fell asleep and Matt came downstairs (again, the dangers of a late nap). We had a brief chat before I took Willow upstairs to bed. Ships that pass in the night, etc. At least we had a really good, long conversation before going to bed on Thursday night.