Is this a legal manoeuvre at 8 weeks?

On Friday, Arthur was having some tummy time when he surprised Mark and me by doing this:

He did it once and we were surprised, and we thought it was a fluke. Then he did it again. And then we got out the video camera and he did it one more time for posterity.

Daily Arthur: 24 September 2014

Two milestones for Ada, of a sort

Ada has been asserting her independence a lot lately and we generally let her, especially when we're at home. On Saturday, she was buzzing around, playing here and there while Mark and I were in the living room. I heard her go into the kitchen, then the tell tale sound of her scooting one of the chairs to the counter so she could reach something. Then some rustling and a new sound - the toaster! I ran in to find that she had got a bagel out of the package (which had been in the bread bin), pulled the two halves apart (they are pre-split), and put it into the toaster. She was adjusting the dial and just pushing the lever down as I entered. I was the normal parental mix of fright (in case she burned herself) and pride, and a little bit impressed. I gave her a little speech about not reaching down into the toaster and letting an adult get the bagel out of the toaster. We'll see if any of that sunk in.

Later that evening, we all went to the park around the corner from our house before dinner. Ada was playing as usual when all of a sudden she grabbed herself and declared, "I'm peeing." Although this makes it sound like it's too late, usually we have about a 30 second countdown from this point to get her to a toilet. There aren't any at this park, but it is a little bit 'wild' around the edges, so we ran to the side where no one would walk and Ada had her first outdoor pee. She was delighted and has been talking about "peeing on the grass" for the past few days. John and Christopher would be proud.

She's definitely growing up!

Nanny's roof - update for Pa

For those of you who don't know, Mark's mum Kate needs a new roof and she's taking the opportunity to extend and change the top floor of her house. The plans have been in the works for some time and a couple of weekends ago it finally all started.

Our next door neighbor also has scaffolding up at the moment, so Ada has been very interested in construction projects. She and Mark paid a visit last weekend to Nanny's house to check out progress (and help with some wallpaper stripping).

(Apparently all the demolition part is done, and this week they start on building things up again. The whole project is supposed to take six weeks.)

You can never start too early

The daddy-daughter trip in pictures!

As mentioned in my previous post, Mark and Ada went on their first daddy-daughter overnight trip to the south coast around Plymouth. They had a fantastic time, primarily at Woodlands Family Theme Park, the beach nearby and the big aquarium in Plymouth itself.

Mark has pulled together some pictures and captions from their trip below.

It all went really well until the trip back. There was an accident that closed the entire road that they were taking home and it took them about six or seven hours to do a trip that should have taken two. Very stressful! But it was all OK in the end as they got back for bedtime and Mark mostly recovered the next day (as much as you can with a new baby in the house as well...). There are already plans for another trip - this time to Wales - in October for Mark's birthday.

The Wild Wild South-West of England...

 Ada's first grown-up water slide. Very wet pants!

Pedal boats

 Trying on her new bucket for size

Watching the sea tractor crossing to Bigbury Island

Squishing the sand castle - the best bit

Speed paddling

Ice cream at the seaside - how British!

Milk at the pub

Early rising the next day. One pint of milk too many last night?

Plymouth Harbor

Don't look behind you!

Lunch with a view

Meanwhile...

...back at home, Arthur practices smiling!

The daddy-daughter trip begins

One of the things Ada talks about all the time, and which forms part of her pretend play a lot is "going on holiday. " So as part of our plans to let Ada know she's still important even with a new baby in the house, we decided she and Mark should go on an overnight trip.

Mark planned a trip to the south coast, about two hours away. There is a family "adventure" park and a big aquarium.

They set off this morning - here are a couple of photos; we'll get the full report when they return!

Daily Ada: 30 August 2014

No job too small. Reasonable rates apply.

(Still working on the plumber's crack, though)