The Hard Life of Harriet

It's so difficult being Harriet. Receiving love and adoration wherever you go. Being picked up for spontaneous big squeezes and kisses because you're just being so damn cute. When Nana was over for a short visit Harriet was in heaven. Not only did she get to hang out with her, show her all of her favourite things (and sing it too of course) and just generally talk her ear off, she also got to....wait for it....watch The Sound of Music with her! *shock* Seriously, I don't think life gets any better than that for this girl. She was actually pushing James nad I out of the door saying "You can go to the cinema now" (we were off to see a movie, hallelujah).

There were many tears when she left but luckily we were able to discuss how she's going to see Nana and Grandpa again at Christmas which isn't too far away (gawd, how did that happen?). Plus she's very excited about the possibility of going on a boat with all of us - she keeps asking why she doesn't have a boat of her own to go sailing on the water in...hmm...eating and living in a house or paying the cost of a berth (let alone the boat itself!). So seems like she is keeping up her interest in all things water-based, and we have to get around to re-enrolling her in swimming lessons.

The other day Harry was suddenly overcome by the slovenly nature of her kitchen. You may remember it from Christmas two years ago (what, you don't memorise this blog? Maybe check here then). Well the pots and pans were apparently in need of a clean, so she sorted out her step adn brought over all the pots, pans, cups, saucers and teapot. She then set to work with her typically industrious nature and got all of her washing up completed. Then it was back to work making a tea party.

The other day I thought I would try to remember all of the games she would play in one day. After about 10am my head hurt with the trying, so I gave up. This photos is her in her spaceship - the outfit is not a random ensemble however, oh no. It is carefully executed galactic performance clothing. The hat is the visor to protect her face from the rays of the sun on Mars (oh we also went to Saturn, so not too sure about how it performed there), the gloves protect her hands from the space rocks she needs to collect to take back to Earth, the tshirt and shorts were selected in order to maintain optimum solar reflection and space dust danger ("it keeps the dust off my body and that makes me very happy") and just in case you miss it, hidden behind the sleeping bag that constitutes her spaceship sleeping bay lies the torch. The torch is a big hit lately and has been around with us everywhere - even making an appearance at Playgroup today.

A funyn little anecdote from today as well. Tonight we were sitting around chatting before Harry went to bed and she was telling us about the game she was playing with Ruby and another boy at the park. Turns out Ruby said "Let's go and hunt a bear for dinner" to which Harriet said "I'm going to find a baby bear and take care of it". Go Harriet the animal-loving vegetarian! James and I had a big laugh at that and I had to give her a huge hug. What a sweet chicken. And while we're on the subject of her vegetarianism, today we were paying at the supermarket and the man asked if I needed a plastic bag (since my green bag was overflowing). I declined and Harry piped up with a very assured "We're kind to the Earth, we don't use plastic bags". The man smiled at her and I and then Harry continued..."We're vegetarian too, that means we're kind to the Earth". At that the guy laughed out loud and Harry was very excited to think that she'd 'converted'. I think her shy period lasted for all of about two weeks, where she would hug around my leg for the first two minutes fo meeting someone new. Now when she meets someone new, she launches straight into telling them all about her life, her loves, her pretend play. Today a man knocked on the door and she ran up to him and said clear as a bell "I'm Liesl from The Sound of Music. Really I'm Harriet but I'm just pretending, ok?". He looked a little taken aback, but hey, he knocked on *our* door.

As far as being kitchen savvy goes, this chicky babe really is pretty clued in. She really loves making banana smoothies ("moovies") and will truly make the whole thing herself, including cutting up the banana into perfectly sized pieces. Here she's helping Jimbo make what we call a 'Jamie' - a big fry up (without oil) of eggs, sausages and roasted tomatoes. A weekend special!

And speaking of tomatoes, to take an aside here, we have a bounty of tomatoes just about to ripen. Well they're all big adn green, so turning red has got to happen soon, right? Although it feels like forever waiting! The other week we had the most incredible number of broadbeans so dinner was particularly scrumptious. Mmmmmm...

And in other news, today Snippy has been really kicking. He's had a few little pokes and prods in the past week or so, but today it has been undeniably forceful! He really liked it when I was reading books to Harriet. And seeing what a huge proportion of my time is dedicated to that particular pursuit, I'm sure I'll be feeling many more. And we think we've finally decided on a boy's name. Scan is in two weeks, so we'll know whether we need it or not.