Chronicles of a Stay at Home Dad #4

We've all had a lovely weekend. Ellie appeared shattered after her 3 days at nursery last week. On Thursday we spent the Morning at Wacky Warehouse with Evie and Tracey. They had a great time. Ellie can now pull herself up onto almost everything and seemed to relish this new freedom. She wanted me to play with her more than usual which meant that I got to go down a big blue slide with her sat on my lap -not something we've done for ages. She also pushed me down a bendy slide when I thought she was going to sit in my lap again.... I was surprised how strong she was! She loved it when I fell backwards into the ballpool, although I made a mental note to check for small children buried in the balls before I do it again! There was a little (18 months?) boy who hadn't been before. It was quite entertaining in a "thank god he's not mine" kind of way as he refused to permit other children anywhere near him or to use the equipment he wanted to. This nearly resulted in a couple of injuries...the closest, and most dramatic, being when he pushed a small girl off a ladder 7' above the ball pool...fortunately a grown up caught her just in time!

Ellie slept nearly all of Thursday afternoon and then helped do housework until Lisa came home. Lisa worked from home on Friday and Ellie loved having her nearby. I can't remember what we did but Lisa and Baby Emma (now walking!) came over in the afternoon. It was lovely to see them and Ellie was very attentive as usual.

We all had a relaxed, restful Saturday, with Ellie having another long sleep. We read books and watched a Disney movie or two! Ellie currently loves 'Cinderella' and the 'Aristocats'. We then had a great evening at Ellie's friend Elen's house. The girls played and ate together before retiring. The grown ups, Lisa and I and Elen's parents Jason and Annette, then had a gorgeous meal, with good wine. It was a wonderful, relaxed evening of good company and good conversation. We took 'Diamant' with us and Annette and Jason appeared to enjoy this gentle introduction to Eurogaming! (They'll be playing 'Caylus' by Christmas!).

Lisa took Ellie swimming on Sunday morning which they both enjoyed. I stayed home and tidied around and cooked lunch ready for the arrival of Ellie's godfather, Steer. Ellie fell asleep before he arrived and so didn't get to have lunch with us. This gave the grown ups a good chance to catch up and chat. Steer enjoyed reading to Ellie once she did awaken.

We then headed off to Pizza Hut to round off a pleasant weekend. Afterwards, with Ellie tucked up in bed, Lisa and I snuggled up on the sofa to watch CSI:NY taped on Saturday. We agreed it had been a perfect weekend.

Lisa was concerned that I had missed out taking Ellie swimming. But I explained that I was happy to stay at home and do some housework, thus giving her the chance to spend quality time alone with her daughter; sometimes the skill of being a stay at home dad is to know when simply to stay at home!