Hi! Its time for another edition in the life and times of Pappa Carr, Lizzy The Face and The Fergotron - I can feel your excitement!
Now I know the last couple of posts haven't been the most positive ever - but hey, that's honest blogging for you. Today though, I'm going to lighten the mood and remember why we are all here at the blog in the first place: Lizzy Face.
Now I know the last couple of posts haven't been the most positive ever - but hey, that's honest blogging for you. Today though, I'm going to lighten the mood and remember why we are all here at the blog in the first place: Lizzy Face.
Despite the tough times and contrary to what this blog might sometimes suggest, having a baby can be a whole lot of fun. The first time your baby clocks you and you see in their eyes they know you, that's a great moment. When their eyes give away the first proper smile and not just a funny face brought on by trapped wind, which will melt your heart. Lizzy Face is a very smiley baby. She charms strangers on the street, she chatters to everyone she meets and is a lovely engaging little girl. Her favourite thing, it seems, is swimming.
I have mentioned our swimming lessons before, but today I think we will cover them in some more depth (ha-ha) as we recently finished the course and got our first ever certificate of achievement for Lizzy Face (I'm not sure a birth certificate counts, as that was really more of Fergotrons achievement than Lizzy Faces). Our swimming lessons have been great fun, and as Lizzy Face has begun to recognise the pool she gets overwhelmed with excitement, flapping her arms with the biggest of grins - its pool time!! I'm very devil may care in my approach to these kinds of things - which works to our advantage as Lizzy doesn't learn to be scared, I chuck her in the water and wait to see if she pops up - which she does with a huge smile on her little wet face. She chuckles as we swim from one side of the pool to the other chanting "kick kick kick kick kick". She kicks, but not because of the command, just because she is almost always kicking those legs - a side effect of making bouncing such a fun game from such an early age.
I have mentioned our swimming lessons before, but today I think we will cover them in some more depth (ha-ha) as we recently finished the course and got our first ever certificate of achievement for Lizzy Face (I'm not sure a birth certificate counts, as that was really more of Fergotrons achievement than Lizzy Faces). Our swimming lessons have been great fun, and as Lizzy Face has begun to recognise the pool she gets overwhelmed with excitement, flapping her arms with the biggest of grins - its pool time!! I'm very devil may care in my approach to these kinds of things - which works to our advantage as Lizzy doesn't learn to be scared, I chuck her in the water and wait to see if she pops up - which she does with a huge smile on her little wet face. She chuckles as we swim from one side of the pool to the other chanting "kick kick kick kick kick". She kicks, but not because of the command, just because she is almost always kicking those legs - a side effect of making bouncing such a fun game from such an early age.
Lizzy Face was game for anything over the course of these lessons, we sat her on the edge of the pool, I would catch her eye and a knowing smile would start to form....something fun was about to happen; then with a "ready splash!" I would pull her into the water and dunk her almost under, then "splash, splash" again before back to the kicks to the side. Of course it's only level 1, so I’m holding her throughout this and we have a great time together. She gets cuddles and kisses and many a "well done" for being such good fun. She charms the instructor throughout with her natural kick and her can do attitude, and no matter how many times I throw her under the water she kicks and comes back up desperate for more. The Fergotron watches from the side, loving the spectator sport. Lizzy Face often looks over to give mummy a big grin and show off her splashing. The Fergotron says it’s nice for her as she does all of the classes, rhyme time etc. and never gets to watch her Lizzy enjoying herself from the outside. Everyone’s a winner, it’s impossible not to enjoy these lessons.
Or so you would think. Some of the other parents in the class are a little more reserved, but they still have a nice time and that's the main thing. We were surprised how many people missed lessons though. Fergotron and I had a hard time picking a course as it meant that we had to commit to being there for the next 9 weeks - no visiting family, no cheeky weekend away. It caused a little bit of trouble at the time but I put my foot down and we have agreed that it was worth it really, if only because Lizzy Face loved it so much.
Two weeks ago it was photo week, surely the pinnacle of the baby swimmers career, but no-one else turned up!!! We had a 30 minute photo shoot, and our instructor let The Fergotron come into the water for a family photo too, it was a great time all three of us playing together and it let Fergotron have a go at some of the command words and the skills so we can all have fun next time.
Or so you would think. Some of the other parents in the class are a little more reserved, but they still have a nice time and that's the main thing. We were surprised how many people missed lessons though. Fergotron and I had a hard time picking a course as it meant that we had to commit to being there for the next 9 weeks - no visiting family, no cheeky weekend away. It caused a little bit of trouble at the time but I put my foot down and we have agreed that it was worth it really, if only because Lizzy Face loved it so much.
Two weeks ago it was photo week, surely the pinnacle of the baby swimmers career, but no-one else turned up!!! We had a 30 minute photo shoot, and our instructor let The Fergotron come into the water for a family photo too, it was a great time all three of us playing together and it let Fergotron have a go at some of the command words and the skills so we can all have fun next time.
Lizzy likes other things too, bouncing for one and she just (yesterday) started to get the hang of crawling so stay tuned for some interesting developments as we try and keep her where we want her. She likes any games with suspense, I chase her round the room with an Ernie doll left over from a fancy dress ( I was Bert & Ernie, I looked awesome) and she loves 'we're going on a bear hunt' especially the "OH NOOOOO!!!!!"'s.
Well that should be sufficient for this post I think. Perhaps not the most insightful, certainly not a particular comment on parenting as some of the others have been. But I think the lesson from today, if we must have one, is that it's very easy to get bogged down in the tough times - we were up most of the night over the weekend for example, and I’m exhausted and grumpy at work as I write this - however there are fun times too. Having a baby is good banter a lot of the time if you remember to look for or focus on it. Lizzy makes me laugh every day, she entertains me, makes my very heart and soul come alive and melt at the same instant and the more she grows the more engaging she becomes, copying and learning, trying to communicate and directing her chatter directly at the person she is interested in. Once she starts talking I suspect we will never shut her up, and I hope we don't as the wonder and magic of a little girl should be something to enjoy. I for one can't wait.
So boys and girls, if you're having a tough old day and everything seems to be too much just remember, your baby loves you and they are always pleased to see you. And I bet if you just look, even just a little, you won't be able to miss it
Well that should be sufficient for this post I think. Perhaps not the most insightful, certainly not a particular comment on parenting as some of the others have been. But I think the lesson from today, if we must have one, is that it's very easy to get bogged down in the tough times - we were up most of the night over the weekend for example, and I’m exhausted and grumpy at work as I write this - however there are fun times too. Having a baby is good banter a lot of the time if you remember to look for or focus on it. Lizzy makes me laugh every day, she entertains me, makes my very heart and soul come alive and melt at the same instant and the more she grows the more engaging she becomes, copying and learning, trying to communicate and directing her chatter directly at the person she is interested in. Once she starts talking I suspect we will never shut her up, and I hope we don't as the wonder and magic of a little girl should be something to enjoy. I for one can't wait.
So boys and girls, if you're having a tough old day and everything seems to be too much just remember, your baby loves you and they are always pleased to see you. And I bet if you just look, even just a little, you won't be able to miss it