Lily at One

A new house, a walking baby, and a child soon starting school, are the big news items of the moment. The house move went well, all things considered. Thank God I was on summer holidays because it was a lot of work, especially with Lily who was learning to walk and thus refusing to let go of my hand for any length of time. Not to mention the fact that she had the chicken pox. Needless to say we still have plenty to do to get the house in proper order but we are functional at the moment and very glad Ikea has just opened last week in Dublin.

Poor Lily with the Chicken Pox a couple of days before we left Brighton Rd.

Lily did start walking about a week and a half before her 1st birthday. It's a big relief all around as she is much more content and independent. Also her first eye tooth and moler arrived last week. She hasn't eaten much at all since the tooth cut but I am hoping that will change soon.

Lily, at one year old, is dying to communicate but only has a few words so far which are Dada, Nana (banana), Yeah and Moo! She is able to communicate much more by sign language including waging her finger at things she doesn't like for example the vacuum cleaner. Her favorite past time is trying to put on clothes, hats, shoes or sunglasses. She also loves pressing buttons on remotes and phones and trying to get keys into keyholes. Dogs, birds and other babies get the most attention from Lily. She is very charming, smiley and cuddly but don't be fooled she is also fierce when she doesn't get her way. She already knows how to bite, pinch, scratch, pull hair, hit and throw mighty kicking and screaming tantrums. The benifits of being a second child.



James starts school (Junior Infants) in one month. He attended three days of summer camp at his new school to help him get to know some of the other kids. He dragged his heals going in on the first day but ran in on the other two days. He loved the camp much more than I expected him to and he is now looking forward to school. He has asked for all army/camouflage gear for school, thankfully an easy request to meet. I must admit I am enjoying shopping for school stuff for him.

James definitely found the move difficult. It was all fun and games for the first week and then boredom set in and major parent pestering started and well as general misbehavior. He misses his old friends from Brighton Road and from his creche. We have been here for about six weeks and it seems to be subsiding a bit now.

We just came back from a weeks visit to Co Clare where James discovered the sea in a big way! He has always been a bit wary of the sea and only ever played with the sand when we were at the beach. However this time for some reason he just ran straight into the sea and played in the waves the whole time. At one point he exclaimed "I am taking all my clothes off and that's final!" as he striped down and lay down in the water. We were shocked at the big change in him but delighted all the same. He seems to be taking a turn away from being cautious and towards being adventurous in general lately.