Daisy Suzanne Allen
Born Sunday 6th March 2011
3 to 3¼ years 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
We start Daisy's fourth year with a night photo from her bedroom, illuminated by her pink/red flower sleeping lamp. I had returned from a night out watching Mark Morriss play live at the Ruby Lounge with James Giles and, checking in on Daisy, I could not resist taking an opportune photo. This is not quite the position I expected her to be in.
Mind you, it's positively normal compared to this, taken five or six weeks later. Do not try this at home, kids. It's no surprise we have pillows lining the floor by the bed. Inevitably the times when we forget to put them out are the times she falls down; though, she normally remains half-asleep despite crying. On the one or two occasions when they have cushioned her blow, she has remained asleep on the floor. All very impressive stuff - she can sleep through anything, basically.
OK, here's one more as a treat. How on earth do you stay asleep like this? It kinda seems like she is doing a chicken impression when you look more closely.
In anticipation of Gregory being born, we set the baby seat up in the car. Daisy wanted to drive, though.
Here's an alternative form of hopscotch, which Daisy is in the process of formulating the rules for, predicting that it will be a worldwide smash.
After a few months of the bum shuffle, Daisy has become more and more comfortable with making her way down the stairs in a more grown-up manner. Steady as you go. (Or not always - she likes to jump off the last step for a final flourish.)
Daniel's third birthday party saw a trip to the Chill Factore. We weren't skiing, but we did have access to the kids' play area in the snow. Daisy was a bit grumpy about it all, as this picture of her at the top of the slide shows.
She did quite like "driving" the "snow plough", though.
The scrum that was the birthday meal. Not that they weren't well behaved. But after a while they all just ran around quite a lot.
Another day, another party. This was Harry's and Gracie's party and we were at a big soft play area called Wild Things in Bramhall. It was such a big area that the adults could go in it, although the main purpose of this was to make sure the children were ok, you understand. Daisy looks down from one of the upper levels.
Slightly crazily, the meal was held on the first level, meaning that you had to climb up the soft play steps to get there. It actually worked quite well, though. Both Daisy and Eva (near left) are getting distracted during the sandwich course. Blythe is just to the other side of Daisy.
The big play area got too much after a while so the girls (Daisy, Eva and Blythe) moved to the smaller play area. Here, Eva and Daisy coordinate their slide technique.
As the due date of Gregory passed, and Lynne suffered some twinges, Nana Sue sped round the M60 as support. In the end, it was mostly moral (or perhaps morale) support, since nothing further of note happened. Nana Sue certainly had a solid idea for entertaining Daisy - get the tablet out.
The arrival of spring saw the chitted potatoes (to think there was a time that I would have had no idea what that meant) planted in the vegetable patch, with Daisy on chief watering duty. (Looking back now, at the end of May, it's striking how bare it all looks just two months earlier.)
On the day before Mother's Day, Daisy and I hopped aboard a bus (not this one) to head to Stockport shopping centre to purchase some presents. Daisy, of course, could not resist a go on one of the rides. (One can never win with these, you are damned if you do and damned if you don't, since she usually kicks up the most fuss when she can't have a second go. Children, eh.)
Whilst on the trip there we had no trouble finding a forward-facing seat, the only one available on the way back was backward-facing, which made for some interesting moments when the bus braked. Daisy wasn't entirely comfortable with this state of affairs, as her look betrays. Keen-eyed viewers will notice the presence of a huge strawberry lollipop, a reward for (generally) being a good girl round the shops (she still had her moments).
On Mother's Day itself, having given Lynne her presents and cooked her the obligatory savoury French toast (or "eggy bread") with bacon for breakfast, we headed over to Waterdale Close to look after the other mother. I cooked an absolute mound of Welsh rarebit, utilising Matt's homemade bread and salad garnish, whilst Katie supplied batches of homemade cakes and biscuits. Matt could not decide between the two and thus had one of each.
I had yet to master the photo button the iPhone 5S - I was used to something happening so would tend to hold my finger down - this simply resulted in a multitude of shots being taken. Here are two amusing extremes from one such "burst" (as it's known on the phone). What I like about these is that in the first photo Matt is looking at his desserts whilst Daisy is looking right at him, then as Matt looks up and points, Daisy's eyes cannot help but be drawn to the plate.
A chocolate dessert was only every going to result in one thing - a chocolate-y mouth.
During later ball games there was a suspicion of foul play.
What is this meant to be? Answers on a postcard please, because I have no idea. Abstract craftwork meets performance art, perhaps.
Daisy's skills know no bounds - here she turns a jammy dodger into the letter 'c' (that's what she was actually doing).
As Gregory's inevitable induction day approached, what was probably not needed for Lynne to remain relaxed and stress-free was for Daisy to pull down one of the long curtains in the living room. This all happened while I was at work (well actually it happened before 9am so I might not even have got there, unnecessary technicality fans). Daisy profusely apologised at the time, tried to do no further wrong (which didn't last for too long) and told everyone she spoke to about it, referring to it as the "daddy hole". (For the next month or so, the long curtain lay draped over Gregory's unused cot as we tended to other priorities.)
I occasionally have to remind myself that I have a drum kit in the garage (I also have to remind myself that it's not mine - it's on semi-permanent loan from Lynne's friend Nic's dad). Daisy is now old enough (and brave enough - it's very loud) to have a go herself. She basically has a routine of hitting each drum or cymbal once, but here I have encouraged her to play a slow roll on the snare drum.
Pretending to text on a fake phone whilst eating an apple - what's your problem?
So, there we were, coasting along in Daisy's life, when suddenly there was a new arrival in her life. This was her first time seeing Gregory.
She got bored after a little while, though. There's only so much you can do with a few hours old baby. So we headed downstairs to the play area.
It was perhaps all a bit too much for Daisy, as the slightly flushed cheeks and withering look attest.
One last Daisy and Gregory picture before we move on.
It had all been far too exciting - Daisy could not quite last the distance on a rare trip to McDonald's for lunch on the way home.
The day after, Daisy posed as a proud big sister.
Did I say that Daisy is cool? Well, here's the proof.
As we approached Easter, Suze popped round to exchange some presents. Daisy rustled up an impressive, quick Easter bunny picture for Evie and Ellie. Unfortunately, however, having offered the drawing up, she hadn't quite understood the connotations of that, i.e. that she would not also get to keep it, and she was distraught as Suze took it away. But, y'know, she has to learn.
And, with one of life's many lessons learned, it's time to draw this page to a temporary close.
Aaaand we're back, just in time to see Daisy destroy her toy car. Not really, the wheel just comes off and isn't actually attached to the steering column.
Welly-booted up, she is ready for some action in the sunshine, on what is a glorious first day proper of paternity leave (this is the Monday after Gregory was born).
Daisy's confidence with the trampoline has grown and she is not comfortable with holding on and jumping up and down quite vigorously. With the utmost concentration.
The (old) car was a bit mucky so we decided to give it a clean. Well, I did, and Daisy was insistent on helping. Both in lathering...
...and in rinsing. I should really have put my feet up and let her get on with it, but she couldn't reach those high up places. Like most of it. Also, she would insist on re-soaping the parts she had just rinsed. She's just thorough.
Of course, the desire to wash the family Ford Focus translated into a need to wash her own vehicle. It actually needed it more (as well as an MOT).
The next day, Daisy and I gave Lynne and days-old Gregory some peace, heading down to Reddish Vale Country Park for a mallard-staring contest.
Whoever won the staring competition got to feed the other one some seeds...
...and themselves some crisps, as she looks perhaps wistfully at the famous Stockport viaduct. Again, a glorious day.
That afternoon, Daisy stalked the garden in her new hat. Hang on, where did she get that hat?
Ah yes, there is one of those unique designs, only ten in existence. Starting from a bare hat, Daisy scattered sticky felt bits on the hat with reckless and haphazard abandon.
Skip forward to Good Friday and Daisy is happy to be gambolling across the lawn in her dress-and-leggings combo, wearing a hair band to complete the look.
As we have already established, Daisy is a keen drawer, demonstrated here by her attempt to replicate the apple and the caterpillar. Not at all bad.
Aunty Katie and Nana Sue popped round later, and we gladly let them entertain Daisy for a while (there's only so much hide and seek I can play when the protagonist insists on hiding in the same position repeatedly, often in plain sight (such as squatting in the flower bed, not behind a bush). This must have been a game of scary statues or something, although Nana Sue seems to be getting particularly into it.
Keeping the entertainment and activity going, we headed round to Matt and Nic's on the Saturday, at which a treat (or five) awaited Daisy in the form of scavenge-able choccie eggs. Here she locates one in the middle of the lawn...
...and one in the apple tree pot.
Daisy later makes herself useful by pulling off the wallpaper - as long as Matt provides the Air Chair (TM) that is.
And as the sun goes in and the wind picks up, why not engage in a game of football on the slanted pitch (enabling some interesting curved shots).
On Easter Sunday, we set up our own Easter Egg hunt for Daisy, as I put the small plastic eggs in a myriad of not-too-hard-to-find places, getting a little grumpy when Daisy repeatedly tried to watch where I was putting them despite me repeatedly asking her not to.
In each plastic egg was a Squinky, one of her new favourite toys (they are small characters made of rubber)
With all twelve eggs found, we headed over the Waterdale Close for Nana Sue's birthday meal (her birthday was actually the next day but this was the best available day for everyone - in particular, Matt was heading down to London in advance of his new IT helpdesk job). Fresh from a moral victory over the mallards of Reddish, Daisy engaged in yet another staring contest. Which isn't nice on someone's birthday.
Daisy happily handed over the birthday card that we had got for her.
Tapas was devoured by Daisy, as Aunty Katie looked on.
Time for the birthday cake, a huge monster of a dessert bought by Katie, and Daisy was allowed to join in with the candle blowing.
After the meal, we headed outside for some obligatory football action. Daisy was keen that Kitty participated - she has a mean left foot.
The next day, Daisy tried out her rabbit ears proudly. I've no idea where these came from.
In the afternoon, Daisy was keen for next door neighbours Alex and Tabby to come round, which they did. Daisy showed them how to play Minnie Bow Bingo, which Alex (on the right) soon picked up, winning the three games they played. Daisy forlornly asked me if she was going to win the next game (we normally have to engineer her victories for a bit of peace!).
Sometimes, days were just too exhausting.
The next weekend was another nice one and we lunched outside, eating a variety of items.
And we finish on Daisy seemingly being amused by the sandpit. I know not why.
That's it for now.
During my second (split) week of paternity leave, Jo came round with Eva, who was a little shy to begin with, despite Daisy's encouragement.
Curiosity meant that she couldn't resist having a look at the camera during a particularly intense drawing session.
Later that day I took a secret aerial shot from one of the bedrooms as Daisy busied herself with the sandpit. Again, it was another lovely day.
Early May and I decided to go crazy with the parsley seeds, Daisy sprinkling them liberally into this large pot.
Charlotte's 3rd birthday party, which was superficially animal fancy dress themed (superficially, because not everyone seemed to have got, or obeyed, the memo), was held at the Evangelical Church on Green Lane in Heaton Moor. Daisy dressed as a bee, utilising some of the costume which Lynne wore at Nic's 30th birthday party.
It was a pretty good set up, featuring tables on which you could make your own biscuit toppings. Daisy didn't seem too impressed with her first go, although she probably had feelings of regret that she couldn't eat it right this moment.
There were games to play yet, including pass the parcel and 'duck and goose', a game I hadn't heard of but one with which Daisy became obsessed. There were several rounds of 'duck and goose' played. Daisy kept requesting to be the goose (involving chasing round the circle of people) but, when she was, she immediately didn't want to be. She later tried to organise another game of it but people just weren't listening.
The good weather continued (although I probably take more photos when there the sun's out and so there's bias creeping in), and Daisy's delicate diplomacy with next door prompted an invite and a few goes on the fun water slide.
Whilst the sun made it reasonably warm, the air temperature was far from scorching. Daisy has no problem with the cold, regularly turning the cold tap on when in the bath, but eventually she became so cold that she couldn't feed herself crisps properly with the shivering, which is a sad state of affairs in every sense. She was thus wrapped up warm, as we played a number of games at the table.
As Gregory and Lynne tackled their first joint Tesco trip (see here), Daisy graduated to Chief Trolley Pusher.
During the May Day bank holiday weekend, we had a visit from the Brunger-Roes and the Gileseses, with Daisy seemingly fleeing the great big Giles monster.
Ah yes, it is in fact a game of hide and seek. Mr Brunger selects "behind the tarpaulin/blackcurrant bush" as his hiding position of choice here. Look at the concentration on his face.
"Oh you found me!"
Katy and James try to help Daisy locate the hiders.
This time it's James' turn to hide and - somehow - he has managed to get himself into the Wendy house, an impressive stunt for a six-foot-plenty frame.
A sweet shot of Daisy and Paul walking away, either forlornly or in a patient scouring of the garden for rogue hiders.
Enough of the fun games, it's time for the serious stuff - Minnie Bow Bingo. Vicky was on Gregory holding duty, which is not the hardest pastime since he tends to sleep the entire time.
After some part-fun, part-traumatic games of Minnie Bow Bingo, Daisy and Paul retired to the blanket for some nursery rhyme jigsaw action, which has Paul repeatedly surprised.
Daisy rocks the Bjorn Borg look, although she may be trying to be a superhero. I am never completely sure.
As is obligatory these days, I took my birthday off work. Instead of going to Chester Zoo, which we have done the last two years, the weather forecast prompted me to choose something indoors. In the end, the heavy rain forecast cleared away and it was a glorious day, but we persisted with the inside action anyway. We headed to Parrswood for some ten-pin bowling, of which Daisy seemed to approve.
With the aid of a ramp and the lane cushions, she got quite into it. I'm sure we will go back, although perhaps on a day on which we can get a special offer (Wednesday seemed to be one of the few for which there wasn't) - the games weren't cheap and that's before factoring in the drinks and the lunchtime platter.
We look on expectantly, patiently, as the bowling ball rolls inexorably towards its targets.
After the bowling, and lunch, we transferred to the arcade game area, where Daisy enjoyed playing Mario Kart 2 (with me on the pedals and, as and when necessary, steering). I was tempted to put Mario Kart on the Wii on when I got home, but I have yet to open the computer gaming console floodgates as far as Daisy is concerned.
We also had a go on the Pirates shooting game.
At the weekend, there was more good weather so Daisy and I put some flowers in a hanging basket, dutifully watered by Daisy.
In the face of a strong sun, I got the tent out that Nana Sue got her. Daisy was very happy to play with her toys in there, including some xylophone improvisation.
And, finally, time for the first barbecue of the year! Despite having numerous nice days on which we could have had one already, it just seemed too much effort with Gregory on the scene too. However, today was so nice, and with Gregory settling down into a routine and behaving well generally, I absolutely could not resist.
Here she is getting into her semi-3D jigsaw (she's still at the stage where she needs help from me, but she can do put in all the vertical pieces herself).
The next weekend, we had a number of visitors, so Daisy wore strawberry-infested dress, dutifully putting the pencils away in this scene. You can also see her calendar, a great present from Aunty Louise, which is set to the correct date.
And that brings you pretty much up-to-date.
Although it had been raining (in late May), we still managed to nip outside to harvest the first of the pea pods.
A week or so later and the weather is altogether nicer, so Daisy can enjoy fresh peas sat outside on the garden bench.
Later that day, we had a visit from Aunty Janet and Uncle Graham, who were very game in joining with whatever Daisy asked of them (including pretending to be asleep upstairs). Here, AJ seems to be struggling with a particularly difficult children's book, whilst UG bears the scars of someone who has been stickered by Daisy.
We can move on to Daisy's next stage.