Life with a toddler 2 - Old Macdonald

There is a popular children's song in England about what Old Macdonald has on his farm. I have no idea if it has any equivalent in any other country, but it goes something like this...

Old Macdonald has a farm
E-I-E-I-O
And on that farm he has a (something e.g. horse)
E-I-E-I-O
With a neigh neigh here
And a neigh there
Here a neigh, there a neigh,
Everywhere a neigh neigh.
Old Macdonald has a farm,
E-I-E-I-O.

So why the lyrics?
BECAUSE I HAVE BEEN SINGING THEM AND HEARING THEM CONSTANTLY FOR THE LAST TWO MONTHS!

As anyone with a toddler will know, they tend to get obsessive about things sometimes. The experts tell us that toddlers like the same things repeated as it gives them a sense of control and understanding. Here is something familiar that I know about and understand as opposed to all the other stuff that I haven't yet got a clue about.

With Angus this has been singing Old Macdonald. And asking to have it sung, sometimes at really inappropriate times. And then asking again. And again.

The funny thing is that we have realised that he often asks when he wants OM to have something really weird on his farm - and then you are left inventing some sound effect for whatever it is that he now has on his extremely wide and varied homestead! OM is clearly into diversification!

Some of the things Old Macdonald now has on his farm:
Cow
Sheep
Horse
Chicken
Hen
Duck
Cat
Dog (quite normal so far!)
Giraffe
Elephant
Camel
Crocodile (more wild life park than farm)
Red
Blue (the colour, not the dog, although he has been requested too!)
Green
Yellow (somewhat abstract)
Love (cute)
Hug (just as cute)
Water (in England after all this rain, more like flood water)
Knees
Toes
Nose
Mouth
Ears
a Sneeze
Tractor
Lorry
Car
Motorbike
An axe
Chainsaw (those were during Scout camp)
Trousers
Oboe
Trumpet
Flute
Violin
Guitar (this was after listening to the radio and Angus asking what they all were)

and my favourite - poo (yes, probably lots of it...on a normal farm)

Now, what sound effects would you come up with for some of those?

Oh, chocolate has appeared several times too. Yum, yum.

The Birthday Train Stopped by on Saturday...

Yes, Angus is now two!

On Saturday we celebrated his two-ness with a breakfast (to keep the Granny happy), opened presents, lit the birthday train and Angus singed his eyelashes getting too keen about blowing them out! We then spent the day with friends who have a boy a few weeks older than Angus. We visited the fishes and they surprised us all by presenting Angus with a birthday cake made by their older daughter. On Sunday we had a little party and remembered with affection our house in Theuern, which lent itself much better to parties than this one does.

All in all, we had a lovely weekend and Angus thoroughly enjoyed himself. He keeps talking about the sharks, the waterfall you could sit under, and asking for more wine and beer. He also seems to have decided that now he is two, he is equal to his Dad. After his party on the Sunday, his Dad was running his bath and Angus was running around upstairs shouting "Ken! Ken!" HHhhhmmm. Maybe when he is 18.

Life With a Toddler 1

I was going to the loo yesterday morning, when Angus opened the bathroom door and walked in carrying a toy cow. He gave it to me and insisted that I hold it.

He came back a few seconds later carrying a toy mouse. I had to hold that too.

Then he came back with a large teddy bear; then a smaller teddy bear; then a soft dog; then a polar bear; then a green frog and finally a soft monkey called Baba.

I asked him what I was meant to do with all these toys whilst sitting on the loo. He just pushed them closer in to me - I was meant to hug them.

I have never sat on the loo, that I can remember, hugging a plethora of soft toys:
but then, I have never had a toddler before.

A short problem

When we were away on holiday, Jo, Ken's sister, was discussing her short hair-do. When I first met her, her hair was past her shoulders and it is now short. Her husband is not too happy but tolerates it as he loves her. Just as well.

I had my hair short (really short) when Ken and I started going out and he didn't like it at all. We made an agreement that he would keep his hair short if I grew mine long. Ken, like many men, prefers long hair on women. That is okay, except that he doesn't have to put up with washing it, drying it, remembering to tie it up when going out as I hate it blowing around my face. It's not practical on rescues. It looks dull when just tied in a pony. I don't have time to do anything interesting with it. It gets in the way when I sleep. It is hot in the summer.

Answer - cut it off. Don't tell the hubby until after it is done and hope that he can cope.

See below.

Back to reality...

We are back from our hols. Since June we haven't really stopped and it is so nice to know that all the Scouts camped, the guests are returned, the family stayed with and we can start to resume some semblance of normality.

Angus has certainly had a super time as he really enjoyed having his cousins Callum and Evan staying with us and seeing them again when we had a clan gathering in Scotland. He keeps asking where Evan and Gumgum are - I think he misses them. Both Ken and I have also noticed a big improvement in his speaking over the last month. His vocabulary is widening, his pronunciation is so much clearer and he is now using two and three word sentences.

Last week we were in Mallaig in Scotland. It is a small seaside town that was built on fishing and acting as a port for sailing to the near by western islands. Skye is just over the water and there is usually a clear view of the Cuillins. Eigg and Rhum are also easily visible. The beaches there are wonderful and full of fine, white sand more reminiscent of the Caribbean than a typical Scottish beach. We spent several days on the beach and although it wasn't warm, it was beautiful and Angus built and destroyed lots of castles! We also took a boat to Eigg and walked to the top of the fin. Enjoy the pictures. We certainly enjoyed ourselves, and it only rained once.