One of the many firsts...

Well, today was mini-faithfuls first full (well 9-3!) day at nursery.  I thought I was going to be fine with this, we have spent months deciding whether we wanted her to go to a nursery or a childminders, then looked round serval possibles before making our final decision.  Last week, we went and had her settling in sessions, she loved it, I was happy with the staff, and I even left her there for an hour.  We had this week all planned, faithful-daddy had no meetings on, as works 5 minutes away, so could be on hand should she need it.  I was off work, so could collect her if needed.  Yet leaving her there, going back to an empty (well  nearly empty, still had the dog and cats) house was hard.
I had sit on my hands to stop me calling them every 2 minutes to check on her. Im amazed at my restraint, I called them once (in 6hrs I think thats impressive) and she was doing fine.
When I collected her, she was happy to see me, had managed to sleep for an hour (not bad for her first time there) and only took 20 minutes to get to sleep, which is a small miracle considering the weekends screaming arguments over sleep.  She ate reasonably well, she had fun, she wants to go again tomorrow (which is lucky as she is going for a long day tomorrow, 8.30-5.30!)
I have everything crossed that tomorrows day goes as well, and that maybe I find time to finish the cleaning, as well as going to the gym!

My top 5 toys.

This is from Kate's blog (katetakes5).  Basically, its a list of your top 5 (or your childrens top 5) toys of all time.  She is then going to compile them into the top 10 toys as voted by parent bloggers.
So this is mine (well mini faithful's list of toys)

1. Happyland

At the moment in the faithful household, these are our absolute favourite toys.  We currently like to place all the people in the caravan, drive the caravan round the room, then move them all into different parts of the windmill farm.  We also make note of the different people ("girl, mummy" "solider") their colours ("orange" - one with orange hair, "purple" - one in purple dress) and what they are doing ("walking" "dinner time") etc.  It is the first thing she plays with in the morning.

2. Books
We spend most of the day reading books, we have two bookcases full and then some usually scattered across the floor.  It has got to the stage that I know most of the words to Tabby McTat, any from a large number of Topsy and Tim, We are going on a bear hunt and Time to Rhyme.  Not that I have a problem with this, Im very happy that she is turning into a bookworm like her mum, but I wish we had more variety, particularly when it comes to bedtime books.  Having said this, they are always on our lists for christmas and birthdays.

3. Dolls and anything related to dolls.

This is a fairly new one, but boy are we now obsessed.  We see a doll's buggy, and no matter who's it is and whether they are playing with it or not we have to have it and play with it NOW.  The other day I caught her putting a dolly on a chair and ramming banana in her mouth.  We also have to 'bath' them and let them watch 'beebies' (on their own chair, usually the one I was trying to sit in).  Although it is a new obsession I have no doubt that its going to be around for a while (much to Daddy Faithful's disgust).

4. Dressing up

This is something she has been doing since she was quite small.  As soon as she could roll (yes before crawling) she would roll to a pile of washing and play with it all.  Her favourites at that time were socks and ties.  Currently its hats, bags, and scarfs.  We recently got her a cycle helmet fitted, she wouldnt take it off, the guy fitting it was amazed, apparently no other child wants to put one on let alone not take it back off.  We also have 'discussions' when we go out about the lack of hat.  We have to wear a sun hat, even when its raining.  Although she does also accept wooly hats.  We have a huge basket full of dressing up clothes (mainly funny hats, and bags, but also outfits and scarfs) also doesnt stop there, she will dress up the dog too.  

5. Bricks

We like to stack them, sort them into colours, make them into musical instruments, place them into bags etc.  We talk about their colours and shapes and count them.  They may seem boring to you and me, but to mini faithful they are great, they also are not too bad on mine and daddy faithful's wallet. So everyone is happy.

So thats what mini faithful enjoys playing with, what about you? Have a think, make a list and link it up to Kate's list and then find out what the final top ten is...

The things we say...

I got my inspiration for this post from reading a post by frugal fun for boys, which can be found here.  I thought I would start one about things we say when we have a 18mth old girl...

• No you cant take your bucket to bed
• Please dont press the buttons on the washing machine/cooker 
• Yes mummy does have a belly button, but the entire library did not need to see it
• No, no, no, NO crayons are only meant for drawing on paper, not walls, stairs, cupboards, windows or the fridge 
• The dog doesnt want to wear a hat and bag right now
• PUT the cat down, NOW please
• Dog food is for the dog, and cat food is for the cat, if you are hungry you can have a snack, but leave their food ALONE
• Although mummy is very impressed you can switch on the taps, please only do it when mummy is watching.
• How did you get up there? Please get off the table/window sill/desk

• Mummy didnt really want the xbox/playstation/tv switching on right now, but thank you anyway.
• Where have you hidden the house/car keys?
• Its lovely you want to share, but if you give the dog your teddy she will eat it
• Mummy has just had a drink, so doesnt really want to drink a cup of sand, thank you.
• Its lovely your trying to help mummy mop the floor, but that is dirty water, and mummy has just mopped the floor
• Thank you for helping weed the garden, but those are flowers not weeds.
• Please dont eat stones... OR sticks
• Please dont sit on the cat
• Where did you find that, can we put it back in the bin now please
• We dont jump on stairs

Although this possibly makes her sound like a handful (she is) she is completely worth it.  Either that or I am insane...