Daisy Suzanne Allen
Born Sunday 6th March 2011
21 to 24 months old
Her life: Birth ♥ Week 1 ♥ Weeks 2-3 ♥ Weeks 4-7 ♥ Weeks 8-13 ♥ Weeks 14-22 ♥ 5-7 months ♥ 7-8 months ♥ 8-10 months ♥ 1st Christmas ♥ 10-12 months ♥ 1st birthday party ♥ 12-15 months ♥ 15-18 months ♥ 18-21 months ♥ 21-24 months ♥ 2nd birthday ♥ 2-2½ years ♥ 2½-3 years ♥ 3rd birthday ♥ 3-3¼ years ♥ 3¼-3½ years ♥ 3½-3¾ years ♥ 3¾-4 years ♥ 4th birthday
In summary: Index ♥ From birth to four years old ♥ Four years old onwards
Special features: Daisy translator ♥ Daisy cookery ♥ Daisy phrases ♥ Golden Bear
As Daisy speeds towards her second birthday, it's worth another catch up on how she is doing. She's becoming her own little person now, running round, expanding her vocabulary, responding to much of our conversation in some way (unless Peppa Pig is on; or Mr Men; or Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom; or The Gruffalo; or The Gruffalo's Child; or Room On The Broom; or... well, you get the picture). It's amazing how much she seems to understand. We can now engage in negotiation; for example: "Daisy, if you sit on the changing mat, I will read you a book". "Yeh," will be the reply, in a very positive fashion, as she plonks herself down on the mat.
Her two never-go-withouts are her Hello Kitty and Bunny toys. They MUST accompany her to bed, and are generally required any time she is happy. Lynne invested in a second Kitty (had to be identical, so was ordered from eBay) in case of something befalling the existing one (and also to enable washing rotation), but we still only have one Bunny. They are referred to as "Kee an' Dang", "Kee" bring an abbreviation of Kitty, and "Dang", we think, being the noise a rabbit makes when jumping (i.e. a bit like "boing").
She has learnt the names of all the Allens ("ma' " = Uncle Matt, "kaka" or "kata" = Aunty Katie, and "nana" = Nana Sue). One key word she learnt for Christmas was "appen", often said twice in quick succession, meaning "open". (We used this to enable her to say sounds that resembled "apple" and "happy".) A cat is an "anya", which is her attempt, we think, at "meow".
All things are now categorised as either a baby ("baba"), mummy ("mama") or daddy ("dada"). Not just animals, but even things like bananas apparently. She is acutely aware of the "baba" that is in Aunty Louise's tummy (okay, anatomy fans, I know that strictly isn't true).
(I've now summarised Daiy's vocabulary on a translation page.)
Her walking has developed into running, more or less, and she is very adept at hopping onto settees ("chairs"). In January, she started nursery, but only for an hour so far, which will build up as she feels more comfortable. Anyway, let's rewind back to early December, and a trip to the twins', where Daisy became a rock chick for the day.
A visit to the park later that day saw Daisy and Lynne try out the swings. This was Daisy's second fearless attempt (but not her second attempt overall) on the swing. Unfortunately, this was to be the scene of a fall later. Daisy was walking across the park, lost her balance and fell over, first stopping herself with her hands but then, momentum taking over, she bumped her face on the ground. It seemed fairly innocuous but later we were devastated to learn that she had chipped one of her front teeth (it was slightly lower than the other so seemingly took the brunt of the fall).
Back home, obligatory internet research showed that this was a fairly common occurrence and we had plenty of company, and the dentist said that things were about as good as can be given the circumstances. And now, nearly a month later, it still causes mild discomfort, but it has not fallen out or anything like that.
After the accident, we decided a walk with safety harness was the best option.
The next day, Waterdale Close's Peppa Pig Cinema provided some distraction.
On returning home, it was time to put up the Christmas tree, for which Daisy was a big help (I just sat back and watched). "It this ok, Daddy?". (In actual fact, I put most of the tree up with Lynne's help - that's not to say Daisy wasn't constructive with her bauble management.) Daisy's second Christmas is covered on a separate page here.
Mummy, I can't talk right now because I'm on the phone. This is an important call.
A week later, we all went over to the twins' as Lynne went out on the town with Suze and Nic. Daisy, meanwhile, had her first present opening, ate tea with the twins and also found much entertainment in the chalkboard, on which she would scribble something unintelligible, before immediately rubbing it all out again - hours of fun with infinite usage (apart from replacing the chalk sticks every so often). In other words, the perfect children's toy.
Later that day, Daisy tried out a very fetching hat.
After Christmas, back home, consuming segments of tangerine (or somesuch) while grinning wildly. Kitty, Bunny and Bear (a red panda from Chester Zoo) sleep soundly in the tent, a present from cousin once removed (it says here) Alison (and Jeff and second cousin Tommy).
This is a clear sign that the poltergeist, aka Daisy, has been in the kitchen. She has yet to completely empty cupboards and is generally quite helpful in that regard.
For the ball pool fans amongst you, it's still going strong and Daisy still spends a bit of time in there, sometimes pretending to sleep, as here.
New Year's Eve was Daisy's fifth present opening session, so the message of Christmas is perhaps a little blurred right now. Here she manages to smile without completely shutting her eyes, whilst sat on Aunty Katie's knee. Keen observers may notice that Daisy has her hair in pigtails. This is it - she is no longer a baby and is now a young girl, and she will be treated as such.
A rearrange of the living room furniture created a little space for Daisy to hang out whilst watching the TV, especially if she's in a bit of a mood.
That's all for now.
A week later and, with Lynne away at a spa for 24 hours, it was time to cook the brownies that the Giles's kindly got Daisy for Christmas. It was getting late in the day - this was the closest I could get to a smile. Daisy kept dunking her finger in to the mixture.
And this is what they turned out like, minus one that Daisy and I had for afters.
The following week and we'd adopted the pose - lying on our bellies whilst colouring in the Hello Kitty pad. Some of the handiwork is mine (in case you were wondering) but Daisy has opted for some more arty strokes to give the raindrops a splash of colour.
Here is a glimpse into Daisy's imagination - a postman on a chair and a cat on a plate. Textbook.
At lunchtime, I decided to get cooking with Daisy again. This time: cheese scones. Daisy was on hand to sift the flour (and occasionally dip her finger in to try it)...
...mix the, er mixture...
...and pose with the ready-to-cook scones.
And this is what they turned out like. They are in various shapes because I had to keep recombining the mixture. (And I had improvised by using a glass instead of a cutter.)
The weekend after, the Brungers and the Giles's came round. Daisy mimes something to Paul and Vicky with Room On The Broom on in the background.
Having had the side of the house flagged, Daisy and I checked it out on the next Saturday. Daisy gave it her official seal of approval.
Suze and Rick had kindly passed us some of the twins' toys that they had outgrown, including this trike, which Daisy has yet to propel herself on but still very much enjoyed.
We also had a (very dirty) Wendy house, which Daisy and I later gave a clean (or "keen" as Daisy described it, before dunking her arms into the soapy water up to the elbows).
And that brings you up to date.
Early February and a couple of the Allens are round, with Nana Sue delighting Daisy with the small dog from the Happy Land set.
Here she is sorting something else out for Daisy, with Lynne and Katie on the other sofa, and the classic Fraggle Rock on in the background (with me having purchased the first series on DVD - or should I say "dee dee dee").
The next weekend, the setting for Daddy & Daisy day is round at Katie and Jordan's, where Daisy clings on to her beaker.
There is a fascination here in the shape of the two kittens, Pip (pictured here) and Pablo. Daisy moves in for a delicate stroke of the right ear.
The obligatory pose although without, this time, the big, cheesy grin from Daisy.
Pip didn't quite know what to make of it all.
It's time for reading class with the teacher, although Daisy wants to take control it seems.
It's all getting too much and time for a sit down - where's my lunch?
Ah there it is. Nana Sue showed up with a chippy tea (entrance fee). Daisy didn't really do justice to what was laid out in front of her, but mine didn't last very long (bit hungover, I think).
We jump forward a couple of weeks now, and Daisy is starting to show an increasing interest in fashion, specifically jewellery. Here she finds the multi-coloured hoops to her taste as impromptu bracelets.
She is increasingly fond of playing in the back garden but there's a chill at the moment so wrapping up warm is imperative. She is happy to play in her new Wendy house, slamming the window and door shut, or popping her head out of the window like this.
The true potential (energy) of the trampoline is yet to be unleashed, mainly since Daisy is not yet able to jump, but the time will come. She also looks to remove her hat. In the background, you can see the slide which is still being used.
The view from the back window in the Wendy house, all nice and clean (with washed Hello Kitty curtains).
We then spent a bit of time in the greenhouse. Having helped me plant some lettuce seeds the previous week, I sensed Daisy was keen to get in on the compost action once more. She spent quite a lot of time simply transferring compost from one container to the next.
Sometimes this would involve the trowel for variety.
The next day, we took a trip to the Hentys'. Morgan, aged about 16 months here, shows Daisy his complicated road network.
She loves a good armchair.
And then it was lunchtime, with sausage sandwiches on the menu (for all). Daisy was more content to just sit and watch, although she did have some of the bread later (plus cheese, strawberries and blueberries - although Morgan and Evie finished first and so Daisy handed out blueberries to the two of them).
And there you go. Not long until she is two years old and we can move on to a new page.
And... we can now.