Well, you know what they say right… 4 hands are better than 2? 🙂 When you were smaller and even now sometimes, you liked to climb all over us. You really looked and acted like a little monkey in our arms. We also love to watch how you use your feet, reaching to grab things and pass them to your hands.

You’re very flexible, I guess all babies are at your age. Not being able to touch my toes without bending my knees makes it hard to imagine that I was able to do this as well 😀 You’re so flexible you also love to eat your feet….

Daddy

I was thinking about my earlier post and how I might have been hindering you a little with learning to crawl 🙁 So I looked up what exercises we can do together to help you a little more. These were rocking in the crawling position and baby push ups 🙂

From this day forward we’ll be doing these every night together… preferably not straight after food… you’ve probably seen the video where I made you vomit by mistake 😀

I’m still perfecting the routine but it’ll go something like this, except the face plant at the end 😀

Daddy

I’ve watched this video a few times and I’m now wondering if I was helping or hindering you 🙂 Either way you’re making huge leaps in your goal to crawl. You’re now beginning to push with both your arms and legs… just not at the same time 😀 Mummy wants to buy you a ‘baby walker’ however we’re still not sure yet… better let you crawl first. She can’t wait for you to walk so she can chase you around the house 🙂

Daddy

Our little crazy, you love your food… especially your 10 AM rice pudding! Yesterday I took plenty of pictures however this morning I wanted to get a more interactive encounter 🙂 You didn’t fail to deliver!

Daddy

You’ll never guess what you had for breakfast this morning… well… brunch…

OK OK… I’m kidding, I know you’re half English but you’re still a little young for this. We have to wait until you’re at least 1 right? 😀 No, today you had Rijstebloem, a sort of rice pudding for infants, you loved it! As you can see 🙂

And do you remember back in June I posted about your love for Pufuleti? (Hungry Hippo). Look what Mummy bought you! They’re massive!!!!!!

Daddy

For the 4 or 5 hours I looked after you this morning we played quite a bit 🙂 You didn’t really want to sleep much, 30 minutes here, 20 minutes there. This meant some playtime with Daddy and cartoons…. I need a break every now and then right? 🙂 Anyway, here is what a typical 15 minute playtime looks like… in 1 minute! 😀

Daddy

So today we’re heading back to Holland, leaving the Costa Brava behind 🙁 We left rain to come back to rain 🙂 However I heard it’ll be 34 here next week… you’ll be back in the pool again soon little one!

Here’s a quick breakdown of your day:

You were such a good girl today! Sleeping and eating when you should’ve. While you were awake you’d always be laughing and smiling, never a dull moment! Let’s hope our next travel day goes just like this one.

Daddy

Last night we had trouble putting you down and this morning you weren’t your normal cheery self 🙁 All the drool… the trouble sleeping… and trying to eat random objects only means one thing, the second tooth is here! I managed to get a few pictures of it while you were crying, you seem to be very protective of your tooth… I mean teeth 😀

Daddy

Is it Blanes, as in Planes or Blanes as in Blan-es, that was a topic of discussion when entering Blanes. Your opinion was ‘Huh’ and ‘Urgh’, which didn’t really help much 🙂 Anyway, we settles on Blan-es as it’s Spanish.

I mentioned to you that Mummy & Daddy are logistically challenged right? We’re also organizationally challenged as we turned up in the middle of the siesta and in blazing 31 degree heat 🙂 What was our choice? Cafe! Ice Cream!

While walking around we found a nice cafe for a bite to eat. I carried you around the place and you tried to grab anything that didn’t look screwed down. You especially liked the owl whose head spun around 😀 You also managed to make a new friend, a small Russian (I think) boy. Don’t worry we didn’t do baby boxing or anything for money, the last picture kind of looks that way 😀

Out shopping Mummy couldn’t resist a -50% sign, especially since it was a kids clothes store 😀 She’s like a kid in a candy store! We got you a few things to take back to Holland.

After all this we headed back to Calella to put our princess to bed. However Mummy & Daddy had one last thing to do….

Good night ‘little one’ 🙂

Daddy

Why do all good things have to end? 🙁 Only a few more days to go. Mummy was just saying she’d like to stay another week and do just nothing 🙂 This afternoon we had no plans so window shopping it was on the way back to the apartment. We did however buy you another gift… just like your personalized top we got you a bag to go with it!

You can use it to take your things to Creche next year 🙂

For our evening meal we headed back to a local bar where we enjoyed the Tapas, you did your usual brilliant job of helping Mummy decide what to have 🙂 Not only do you twist your feet while concentrating, you also stick out your tongue!

Mummy gave you some Mozzarella to try and believe me, it was much harder than it sounds! Slippery cheese going into a slobbery mouth, what could go wrong? 😀

In the end you pretty much told Mummy what you thought about being given Mozzarella… the look says it all!

And we broke another record tonight, the amount of tissues used throughout one meal. Your second tooth is nearly here so you can imagine the amount of drool coming out your mouth! It’s like a torrent at times!

Daddy

No, I’m not singing Wonderwall by Oasis… and yes Emily… I can hear you saying ‘Who are Oasis Daddy?’… I asked the same thing when my Dad mentioned ‘Dire Straits’ once. Today was a rather relaxing day, something I’ve said many times this holiday 😀

We stopped off at a local cafe to get out of the midday sun, a quick bite to eat. You took a liking to the water wall they had going next to us, so much so that when I took you away you screamed and flapped around in my arms 😀

So cute! And if you didn’t know, the dress you were in was Italian 🙂 Mummy reminded me of that a few times 🙂

After the cafe we once again put the sun shade on to tempt you to sleep… you did your usual Alien impression 🙂 A movie reference which when you’re 18+ will be known as an all time classic? 😀

Daddy

For his continued dedicated in the pursuit of comforting I’m hereby announcing the promotion of Bunny to ‘Sleeping Companion’. Since being given to Emily by Grandad at Easter he has shown all the qualities expected of a great companion. He has never given up through think and thin… i.e. nearly having his arm ripped off.

To help with his existing duties (Travel Companion) and due to the fact Emily sleeps in 3 locations, I’m creating ‘Team Hopscotch’. Led by Bunny this team will be responsible for ensuring that Emily feels safe and warm inside.

Good luck Bunny & Bunnies!
Daddy

OK, we didn’t quite make it to the lighthouse today 🙁 One thing you’ll soon learn is, as I mentioned in my previous post, Mummy & Daddy are logistically challenged 😀 And as soon as we were preparing to leave… the rain came! Our 3rd rain day in Spain! However this time we were prepared!!

You loved it behind the rain cover, kicking and screaming your little heart out! Within an hour or so the rain stopped and we were able to stop for a nice (ish) meal out. Mummy really got into the swing of things and cleared up the plates on our table. She did so much of a good job a Scottish family asked her for a table of 4! LOL… Poor Mummy had to tell them she didn’t work there 😀

And as you were in such a good mood tonight by being happy, playing and extremely talkative, Mummy decided to treat you to a doll with my wallet 🙂 In the end you didn’t pick a doll… after a few minutes having even ignored Unicorns, you grabbed a pink bear 🙂

Daddy

This morning we had some Father Daughter time where I explained some very important things about boys. No matter how much they try to impress you, like Niko inhaling his food at creche, you should be careful! Don’t fall for his charms! 😀 However if you see he also has a bank account… or he offers you full fat milk… there might be something there 🙂

I think you welcomed my advice until you suddenly grabbed by thumb and bit me 🙁 So much so that it left a mark!

In the past you would settle for playing with the same toys, doing the same things over and over… now it’s getting harder as you constantly want new stimuli. So this morning I decided to teach you have to ‘High Five’ 🙂 For the whole day every time I held my hand up in front of you, you’d smile, laugh and try to grab it 😀

So now you have two ways of greeting people, a High Five or a kiss on the lips 😀

Daddy

This morning we tried to catch the open-air market however as we’re logistically challenged we got there when they were packing up. We didn’t miss much and Mummy gave you some of her doughnut, so you were happy!

Heading back to the apartment we stopped off for a bite to eat, it was extremely quiet around 2 PM due to the Spanish siesta. You were fascinated with a group of Spanish guys playing football and having a drink opposite us, mostly like due to the wig one of them was wearing. I setup my phone to take a funky hyper-lapse, Daddy and his gadgets eh?

In the afternoon we took you down for another dip in the pool but before that, I showed you how to use a selfie-stick. In a modern world you need to learn modern tools 😀 You did OK, the video you took made me a little dizzy though 😀

I think every time you go in the pool you want to stay longer and longer. We had a pleasant swim together while Mummy watched from the lounger, she was relaxing while trying to get tanned 🙂

Tomorrow we’re heading out to the lighthouse!

Daddy

Today was an extremely relaxing day, for the better part anyway. I looked after you in the morning while Mummy slept in, then when you needed sleep, we both joined her for an extra long lay in 😀

By the time we got up, dressed and left the apartment it was 3 PM. On our walk around the city we came across some entertainment for kids, a little old for you however you managed to have a little dance… you didn’t think too much of the magician 🙂

Mummy helped you dance a little 🙂

At the dinner table we played together, playing swap the toys… in this case biscuits. It was all going swimmingly until you decided you wanted both and tricked poor Daddy 🙁

You made quite a mess at the table with your bread, poor Mummy had to pick it all up from the floor. I blame it on tasting too much of our sweet food… making the bread no longer that interesting to your palate.

Daddy

We aimed for something quieter today, sleep in.. nearly impossible with you however we did manage 7 AM this morning. Then we’d hit the beach as we’re in Spain, it would be rude not to 🙂 The most important thing for a baby at the beach is sun protection, we had a lot of fun putting that on as you can see below 😀

We only stayed an hour as we were running late, we didn’t want to stay out in the sun between 1 and 4 as it’s too strong. As you can see it was a beautiful clear day.

We bought you a little pool to play in along with some toys for the sand, these kept you busy until the tiredness and hunger set it. In the short time we were there we played in the pool, dug some holes… I tried to bury your feet… Mummy had a sunbathe and I had a quick dip in the sea.

And most important of all…. I built you 2 sand castles 😀

Then a big giant came and stomped all over them, leaving a trail of destruction behind her 😀 You and your big feet! 🙂

In the evening we went out for a nice Tapas meal, unfortunately they didn’t have a child seat so you had to stay in your push chair. Mummy did take you on her knee though so at least you could pick what you wanted to eat 🙂

On the way back to the apartments we tried to put you to sleep behind the sunshade, this resulted in some very entertaining results! We’re trying to teach you to fall asleep behind it so we don’t always have to rush back to the apartment…. as you can see it’s a work in progress 😀

Then in the evening we cooled down by having another dip in the pool. As promised Mummy bought you a ball to play with in the pool! Every time you tried to grab it the ball floated off… we had a lot of fun chasing it around the pool splashing 😀 I also tried to teach you to swim, you’re really getting better at it every day! We’re going to have to sign you up for swimming lessons when we’re back home.

Here are some pictures of you in your cute body towel Mummy bought you.

Daddy

Mummy prepared you a healthy breakfast this morning, paprika, banana & water melon. It was my task to try and get you to eat it and….. it didn’t go so well 🙁 In fact it turned into somewhat of a food fight, food going everything except in your mouth.

As you can see from the last picture, I had to resort to giving you prepared fruit 🙁 It’s a slow learning process, one I hope you speed up with 😀

In the afternoon we took a stroll around one of the nearby shopping malls where we kept you entertained with the many attractions they had for kids.

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it or not, due to your reluctance to sleep in the push chair when out and about, we bought a sun shade for it. Not only does it protect you from the sun it also, we hope, will enable you to sleep longer 🙂 It also makes for some funny moments when you’re waking up… ‘let me out… I’m awake!’

Mummy knows you love ducks, as ‘5 little ducks’ is one of your favorite songs to listen to. So when she saw the ‘catch a duck’ game we had to have a go!

For doing so great and catching the biggest duck you won a cuddly toy. As you can see from the picture below, you had the same reaction as me… ‘what is that supposed to be?’. Mummy picked it, shes says it’s a dog 🙂 We’ve added it to your collection.

Upon arriving back at the apartments we decided to go for a early evening dip in the pool. At 7 PM the water was still OK for you so all 3 of us jumped in for some fun! You also met your friend Noah in the pool, she had a ball to play with… don’t worry… Mummy is going to buy you one to play with tomorrow.

Daddy

Today was action packed, your first dip in a proper pool, shopping in a thunder storm and another evening meal out. After seeing the weather had cleared up a bit from the previous day Mummy came up with the idea of nipping down to the pool for a quick swim. I’d been looking forward to this since we booked the holiday so I jumped at the chance.

Mummy prepared your swimming diaper along with your new swimming outfit, nice and snug… to make you more streamlined for swimming 😀

You took to the water like… well… a duck to water 😀 The water could’ve been a little warmer however you didn’t complain, you loved to splash and funnily enough… drink the water. This wouldn’t of been too bad except the fact that it was actually a salt water pool 😀 We even met another baby in the pool, Noah, she was only 3 days younger than you!

In the afternoon we decided to stay in Calella and walk around the town a bit, do some sightseeing… or in our case, shopping 😀 We bought you a personalized gift which you loved, especially the colour!

Suddenly the heavens opened and we were caught in a freak rain storm, luckily we were in a shop at the time however we were now stuck. We occupied ourselves looking around, chatting and Mummy showed off how she’s now taught you how to kiss 🙂

Do you remember on your 8 month birthday we bought you the keys to a car? Well, we finally presented you with the car and you were a natural. Unfortunately it seems you were over the milk limit for driving so we had to give it up, better to wait till your 18 right? 😀

The rain cleared up and we went on our way, not by foot, but by the road train! It wasn’t as exciting as it was made out to be… we saw traffic, houses & occasionally the sea in the distance 🙂

For our evening meal we tried a Uruguayan restaurant, you had fruit 🙂 We had a lovely and relaxing time with most of Mummy’s bread going on the floor to attract pigeons, you liked to look at them, plus it kept you quiet 😀 Being your usual bubbly self you managed to make some friends there, 2 little kids were caught by your charms.

Daddy