Daisy Suzanne Allen

Born Sunday 6th March 2011

6 to 6½ years old

Her life:  4 to 4¼ years ♥ 4¼ to 4½ years ♥ 4½ to 4¾ years ♥ 4¾ to 5 years ♥ 5th birthday ♥ 5 to 5½ years ♥ 5½ to 6 years ♥ 6th birthday ♥ 6 to 6½ years ♥ 6½ to 7 years ♥ 7th birthday ♥ 7 to 7½ years ♥ 7½ to 8 years ♥ 8th birthday ♥ 8 to 8½ years ♥ 8½ to 9 years ♥ 9th birthday

In summary:  Index ♥ From birth to four years old ♥ Four years old to nine years old ♥ Nine years old onwards

Special features:  Golden Bear (reprise) ♥ More cookery

We start this page with Daisy "Magic" Allen nailing a basket.  Do you nail baskets?  Maybe.  It's not actually guaranteed to go in from here but let's say it does.  I think this is actually Gregory's present (from Christmas maybe), but it's all about sharing.

Daisy seems pretty happy (content at least) here with her monkey and tree combination.

That moment when you go to McDonald's and you end up giving away your secret identity as a superhero.

Daisy hasn't been six years of age for long and out pops another tooth.  Happily she has managed to keep hold of it so all that remains is for the tooth fairy to visit.

This was a feature of our bathroom for a while, tormenting me for weeks with its penchant for blaring out Get Back Up Again every time you touched it.  I recall accidentally using it in darkness in the middle of the night, thus triggering the music, then, when trying to put it somewhere that it would be muffled, kicking the music off again.  Thankfully, no-one else woke but it wasn't for the lack of not trying.

Perhaps a familiar 'fed up because we're fed up with how messy her room is' look.  Or just generally a bit fed up, who knows.

So Aunty Katie got Daisy a Chocolate Lolly Maker for her birthday, and therefore...

...it was only good and proper that she came round to help Daisy make some chocolate lollies.  Gave us a bit of peace and quiet anyway, and no doubt Lynne a chance to do some jobs round the house.  Russ The Bear, property of Gregory's playschool but under Gregory's supervision for the week, looked a bit sheepish.  Bear-ish too, but mainly sheepish.

Daisy concentrated hard on getting the chocolate in the right place using the classic 'one spoonful in the mould...

...one spoonful in the mouth' rule.  Actually, to aid hygiene, she did at least wait until the end before finishing off any chocolate residue, which is definitely the done thing.

While we waited for them to chill, we engaged in a version of Frustration, a game which is a test of patience as much as anything else.  Played properly, it feels like it could take hours, but we had to skew things slightly if only to make some of the participants feel better.

Finally, the chocolate lollies were done and Daisy certainly looked happy with the results.  She is probably thinking how quickly she could eat those two lollies right now, if only she were allowed to.

It was all too emotional for Aunty Katie, as she gave a double hug to her niece and nephew.

Daisy seems to have a universal wide-eyed reaction to sugary snacks, particularly those (being) created by her own hands.  On the left, she appears to be squeezing icing onto a small cake, whilst on the right she is tucking into the chocolate lolly she made earlier.

The coolest drummer in town.  Makes it look so natural.

We appear to be having a mini-heatwave at the end of March, which is always welcome, as we have decamped to the garden for lunch.  Gregory is having sandwiches, sweetcorn, olives and onion rings (the crisps) whilst Daisy is having sandwiches and cheesy Wotsits, plus what looks like the remnants of some hummus, so she perhaps had carrot sticks.  And possibly some pastry thing obscured by the drink.  They know how to lunch.

Later in the month, it was a Sunday that was Mother's Day, and we headed over to Waterdale Close, where, it seems, the ice-cream van can detect when there are children here, parking right outside Nana Sue's house.  Faced with such a brazen sales technique, I of course succumbed and got them an ice lolly each.

 Certainly those ice lollies were impressing Daisy.  As we have established, she likes anything sweet.  As do most children, of course.

Another example of Daisy's creativity: some insect-based concoction wishing Lynne (who wasn't there) Happy Mother's Day.

You lie down on the garden at your peril, as Aunty Katie discovered.

Learning her three-times table by drawing rows of circles and an erasable surface.  She is wearing her school uniform and so has obviously...

Instead of doing Easter bonnets, Daisy had to make a vehicle for an Easter bunny for school, and she went for a hot air balloon.

Two pieces of recognition for Daisy.  Firstly, a note saying that Daisy had received the Golden Jumper this week for a "fantastic piece of writing".  Secondly, a reading certificate awarded for "improving with her inference and retell" (no, me neither), with the extra comment that she is "working so hard with her reading".

This little note from Daisy to Lynne means well, but somehow it sounds a bit sinister too.

Daisy shows some excellent doubling skills, going up to 128 and then resetting to 120 and going from there.  Very impressive.

The maths chalked on a paving stone was all part of some mass chalk action in the back garden.

Alongside the maths and congratulatory notes about Daisy's reading skills, we do get the occasional protest note from Daisy.  I had been on Paul Brunger's stag do the weekend just gone, so maybe this was to do with that.

The next day was Gregory's birthday, for which we went to Teggs Nose Country Park.  It lent itself to some stunning scenery shots, like this one.

But, better than that, was the ability to get some sort of hot chocolate overflowing with marshmallow pieces.

Daisy goes full on for Alice's birthday party, dressing as the Queen of Hearts.  Impressive commitment.

Just days later and it was Easter Sunday, for which they had a number of presents to open (since when did Easter become about lots of presents as well as Christmas and birthdays?).  Gregory has the classic full length vest sticking out of his trousers look going on.

One particularly memorable present was an array of Easter bunnies and ducks made of chocolate.

While Lynne was away in Chester for Louise's 40th birthday, I laid on a picnic in the lounge (while watching TV).  It's what I do.

As Daisy gets more skilled with gaming, I introduce her to more and more.  However, it's still Mario Kart Wii that resonates (and, to be fair, it's the easiest of the three to control).  Little Big Planet is an innovative PS3 platform game narrated by Stephen Fry which can be a bit fiddly to control, whilst "car game", which I think was maybe Motorstorm (another PS3 game) also didn't capture Daisy's imagination.  As much as anything else, it's basically the difference in skill level required for using a Wii remote compared to using a PS3 controller.

Daisy wasn't well, if I remember rightly, and so wasn't at school (she's looking a bit better, though).  We were heading to pick Gregory up from playschool at lunchtime and Daisy bagsied driving there.

That afternoon, it's evident that Daisy has made a more-or-less full recovery, as she excitedly plays in the sandpit with her young brother.

Daisy is very much the queen of the castle here.  We are having so much fun on day 2 of 4 of Lynne being away.

Still on the same day (so much fun) and it's time to have a rather large chocolatey afters from Easter, although doubtless I did not permit the entire consumption of this mega snack.

The day after Nana Sue's birthday, we went round for a little birthday get-together (not at all celebrating her birthday of course), featuring a cake with a discreet number of candles that prompted much hilarity.

This is what happens when I'm not paying attention: Nana Sue put some nail varnish on Daisy's six-year-old hands.

More to appear here soon.

Well we arrive back here for a slightly messy note (maybe I retrieved it from the bin or something, I dunno) where Daisy politely requests for her tablet back, having evidently been a bit naughty and had it confiscated.  It's a common battleground.

Daisy clearly looks ecstatic - some would say deranged - to get the golden sweatshirt from school.  Always a proud moment.  (For her.)

Over a period of a few weeks, Lynne had some trips away and here are some of my efforts with Daisy's hair.  Signs of improvement?

Lynne was a spa day so I took Daisy (and presumably Gregory) to Lucie's birthday party at Run of the Mill (for a period, a very regular location for birthday parties).

A glorious day in early May called for some dainty dancing over the sprinkler in the back garden.

After a lovely lunch at Slatterys for my birthday, it's time to let the kids loose in the sweet shop part of it.  Most unwise.

Slowly but surely, we introduced the notion of an extra mealtime to the children, and one of the best: brunch.  Here, Daisy eagerly tucks in to scrambled egg on toast, which is a classic choice of theirs.  Lately (early 2018), Gregory likes a good bacon sandwich - a chip off the old block.

My birthday fell on a Sunday, so I got the opportunity to stay at home and follow Daisy's clues to find my presents, a new feature that I haven't experienced before.

For my birthday meal in the evening, we headed to Olive and Vine (a Dimtri's restaurant) for some Greek food (which generally means way too much meze).  Daisy was gobsmacked by the size of her chocolate sundae for dessert.  She is exhibiting the look "I'm never going to eat this!".

No, I haven't completed transformed my hairstyling ability.  This is, of course, one of Lynne's finest efforts.  This can usually only be done if there is time in the morning, a relatively rare occurrence.  Pretty impressive, though.

Lynne was away for the weekend following my birthday on Vicky Ro's hen do and so, given I was off work, I had the opportunity to watch Daisy in her school assembly.  In this shot, Daisy waits for the use of the microphone to say her line...

...while here she appears to be in the middle of a vaguely-choreographed dance routine.

On the Saturday, Daisy was at Rainbows at Safari, so I drove her to the pick-up point where Daisy and her too-cool-for-school friend Maeve posed for the camera, no doubt apprehensive but excited about the day ahead.  Gregory lingered in the background.

On the same day, after putting them to the bed, I headed to the vegetable patch to carry out some much needed maintenance.  Daisy seemingly wasn't that tired as she nipped downstairs, stuck on some wellies and gloves, and joined me to help out.  I don't think she lasted long, though.

Waterdale Close is a natural destination when Lynne is away, so it was no surprise that we headed over there on the Sunday.  Daisy is always very happy to see big boxes of toys and to play with her Aunty Katie.

My temporary period of single parenting was obviously going reasonably well since I got this as a reward for my long weekend looking after them.

When it came to Whitsun weekend, we had another bout of sunshine (viewing these photos in the context of a Beastly winter seems somewhat unreal).  And when the sun comes out, it's becoming almost compulsory for the paddling pool to come out.

It seems somewhat less cloudy now (and indeed it is some five hours later) so not surprising that they are no longer in their swimming cozzies, exchanging them instead for more standard spring attire, including wellington boots, for their scootering action.

The next day, Daisy shows off her freshly planted sunflower (I think) seed.

On the bank holiday Monday, having been on a cycling training ride, I took them both to the park, where Daisy showed off her monkey bar skills (as Gregory stamped on some grass).

She is also able to flip herself upside down on these bars.  She has certainly come on a lot in recent months with her gymnastic skills.

It was all too much for me, however, as we popped into the Hinds Head on the way back for some refreshments (and partly to address Gregory's toilet need, although I think in the end we had to do something more makeshift before we got here).

We skip past our holiday in Majorca (which is in the massive backlog of holiday pages, so it may be a while before it sees the light of day), to mid-June where Daisy, wearing her Rainbows T-shirt and glamorous mask, appears to have developed the superpower of unhappiness, a ubiquitous one if ever there was.

Thankfully she has cheered up here, although we have jumped ahead to early July.  This is presumably a photo opportunity for the (grrr) Emoji Movie...

...as well as the less well know, er, Nut Job 2, which I have to admit never having heard of, or indeed the original.  I mean, get ready, get set, get nuts?  Really?

With the weather consistently nice and the lavender bushes completely out of control, we can afford the children the chance to make a mess outside, which is really where all messes should be made.  Easier to clear up then.  Usually anyway (I'm suddenly thinking back to when Matt and I covered the wall of our childhood home in paint one time).

As a present for her birthday, Daisy received a butterfly growing kit, her very own chance to play god (although I suppose it's not hugely different to, for example, growing plants).  This, as you might gather, is the caterpillar stage.  The mulch that they reside in does not look pleasant, but each to their own.

As breakfast became every more complex, Daisy decided to formalise the options in a menu.  The idea was that you could have something sugary (waffle or granola), something savoury (toast, etc) and something healthy (banana or yoghurt).  That essentially has formed the basis of Daisy's three-course breakfast for many a morning.

We move into late July for some more park action, with two monkeys hanging around.

And so it comes to pass - the end of Daisy's school year.  As is tradition, six of them get together for a photo opportunity.  Unfortunately, someone forgot to tell the weather to play ball.

We can thus see all six of them in a lovely montage that someone has put together.  I'm guessing that this is the end of subsequent years at nursery, then Reception, then Year One.  Going from left to right, we have Charlie Hughes, Connor, Lucie, Charlie Roberts (as you can see, there is more than one Charlie, hence the need for the surname), Jessica and, of course, Daisy.

Just two weeks later, we have butterflies!  We would let these out into the wild, of course, but it was fun while it lasted.

In early August, Lynne tried Daisy out at a kickboxing class.  I don't think she went for long, but it's interesting to see Daisy in boxing gloves, punching and kicking like this.  Only for self-defence, you understand.

Later that month, after a holiday in Scarborough, Lynne took the kids up to Haddington to make the most of the summer holidays.  During the Edinburgh festival, the kids were treated to some sort of kids' disco, as Daisy, Becky, Gregory and Jessica party on.

During the dancing action, Daisy plays doting big cousin to young Jessica.

The trip to Haddington was notable for the fact that Lynne and Gregory came back but Daisy stayed behind by herself.  She was happy to be back, ultimately.  She's showing off her toy Angel (a present from Nana Sue brought back from Florida) and her sticky out tooth.  Surely it's not much for this world (her tooth that is)...

And sure enough, just an hour or two later, out it pops.  The other front tooth has now gone.

Before long, it's time for Daisy to back to school, into big, bad Year Two.  She seems fairly relaxed here.  I'm sure that's what it was like.

She then poses for a loving hug with her little brother.  Maybe things were chilled!?

We finish, rather randomly, with a multi-layered jelly (four different flavours).  As you do.  It's something that Daisy and Gregory made with Lynne one day.  This close-up appears to have been done atop a kitchen chair.

And that's that, the end of another six months.  Flies by, doesn't it?  For the next six months, click here.

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