CAN YOU HELP ME PLEASE GRANDMA?

Emma, Poppy and Lily arrived before 10 this morning as Emma is helping to look after a dog for a family member and as she was taking Poppy to see Sallianne this morning she wanted to let the dog out before they went over there. Poppy was not very pleased when they came in as she wanted to see her friends Harry and Imogen but I soon distracted her with the plane which Sarah very kindly brought over for her yesterday and then she did not want to leave! She waves at the planes which fly over our garden as she thinks Aunty Mable and Pippin are inside (from the tv programme Come Outside!)
They went off on their visit and arrived back here before lunch when Poppy made a bee line for the plane again. The Sylvanian family hedgehog had to fly it and Poppy was beaming from ear to ear to see it flying around the room, courtesy of Mummy!
We had our lunch, and were very pleased to see Poppy ate all of her pasta and toast, she was obviously hungry after her busy morning. We played for a bit longer and then she was getting tired so Emma took her upstairs to bed.
Poppy had two hours sleep and when Emma brought her back downstairs she brought the play shoes with her so she was tottering around in pink high heels. She then decided I had to wear the purple ones, unfortunately they only just about fitted on to my big toe!
Poppy likes to take the clothes off her Sylvanian families rabbits and hedgehogs, she was handing them to me saying "Can you help me please Grandma". When I asked why I had to take their clothes off she said they had to go in the bath! She won`t let you help to get the clothes back on and gets frustrated so they get pushed aside and left in the nude!
I had the paralympics on the television and the dressage came on, Poppy was mesmerized by the horses, she really does love horses, I think Emma and Lee may have to start saving!

BBQ

Emma arrived with Poppy yesterday just in time for lunch. Poppy was a bit tired so Emma wanted to make sure she had something to eat before having a sleep. Poppy though had other ideas, although she had been looking sleepy in the car on the way here, she livened up virtually as soon as she entered the house and started chattering away! She can have quite a conversation with you now, we catch most things she says but sometimes we are stumped and she has such an expectant look on her face, expecting you to know what she has said to you and answer accordingly! Eventually, after a ham bap, crisps, some jelly and custard and a drink we could see she was getting really tired, she goes into a kind of trance and if there is something she is interested in on the tv she will stare at the screen, hardly blinking! She lay on the sofa for a little while but it was obvious she was not going to get to sleep as she kept getting up and chatting so Emma took her up to lay her in the cot for a while. She called out to her Mummy a couple of times but soon all went quiet and she was fast asleep very quickly. Emma was able to get on with some work on the computer and I headed off outside to make up my hanging baskets with the pansies we bought the other day. Poppy slept for 2 hours! Lee arrived to fetch them and she had just woken so he went up to fetch her, she had woken in lovely mood and was very pleased to see her Daddy. As she came into the room she announced "I was a bit tired", bless. Grandad came in from the garden where he had been doing some weeding to see her for a little while before they headed home for a bbq.

LOVELY NANNY SEASIDE.

Poppy and her Mummy and Daddy returned from Devon on Saturday having had a lovely holiday visiting Nanny Seaside.
After getting a few loads of washing done the whole family arrived to see us late afternoon, luckily we had bought two pizzas that very morning so they stayed for a bite to eat with us.
Even during the course of a week Poppy seems to have come on more with her talking, chattering away to us, telling us about her holiday.
Emma said the beaming smile on Poppys face when she sat on a donkey was worth the rather high price of a very very short ride!
Poppy went on some of the fairground rides and particularly enjoyed the carousel horses which Daddy took her on.
Poppy had her Mummys heart in her mouth when they were on the boat to Brixham, Nanny and Mommy both asking Lee anxiously to hold on tight to Poppy. Poppy wanted to wear her Mums sunglasses and was leaning over the side of the boat, watching the water wearing them for most of the journey. Emma said she fully expected her sunglasses to become victims to the sea but no, Poppy managed to keep them on until they got to the landing stage and on the way off the boat she promptly dropped them! They were just about to go down the gap between the boat and dry land when the man helping them off the boat managed to swoop down and grab them! She was very lucky!
They had a cream tea in Cockington Village, a very pretty place full of cottages with thatched roofs which attracts lots of visitors, especially during the summer. Scones with clotted cream and jam, yum.
So they all had a great time visiting Lovely Nanny Seaside.

Poppy the film star.

A few Poppy videos on Youtube.

http://youtu.be/ZCwEHowbgAU 
http://youtu.be/I0cA6Jv3hN8
http://youtu.be/kHI-kSodgiQ
http://youtu.be/ZYOyktfxInM
http://youtu.be/YiRfrpfEfz0
http://youtu.be/7XK0r2baCpE
http://youtu.be/J9Cq8FH8u0g
http://youtu.be/MzGhADNOEe4
http://youtu.be/JvV_EhRNJUQ
http://youtu.be/l7d3-Y0J3Jw

Poppy on holiday.

Poppy is on holiday in Torquay at the moment with her Mommy and Daddy, visiting Nanny Seaside (Daddys Mum)
They are having a lovely time, the weather is beautiful and they have been out and about. They have been on the beach building sandcastles and Poppy has been in the sea with Daddy, apparently she was in up to her neck and even got her hair wet, not that it bothered her much. Mummy has been paddling and reports that the sea is quite warm.
Yesterday they visited Brixham by boat and Emma almost missed the boat when some people in the queue went past her as she was folding the pushchair up. She had to point out that her daughter and whole family was already on the boat as the man had just said "only two more" so luckily he let her on! It was a good thing he did, she had no money with her and Lee was holding her ticket!
Today Poppy has had a go on a donkey, Emma sent me a photograph of her sitting on the donkey with a huge smile on her face. (Poppy, not the donkey!) Lee later sent me a video as Poppy has been on a huge inflatable slide, which Emma did not think she would manage to climb, but she did. Unfortunately I cannot get the video to download, instead I get pages full of gobbledegook computer speak so I shall have to see that when they return. She also went on an old fashioned carousel ride with Lee.
So they are all having a lovely holiday, Lily too, as she is stopping with her friend Oscar the dog belonging to Nanny seaside. Lily loves to visit friends.

HIGH FIVE GRANDMA!

Gray and I went to have a look round Wightwick Manor gardens this morning and had our lunch in the new tea rooms. We headed home after lunch and Emma, Poppy and Lily arrived to see us. Poppy had a huge grin on her face as soon as she came in, Em said she had been wanting to see Grandma and Grandad! Ah bless. The dolls house immediately came out and the little hedgehogs and rabbits who live there were soon divested of their clothes! They all had a bath, one by one, in the dolls house bathroom. Poppy was doing her best to put the trousers back on one rabbit but it was a bit fiddly for her to do. She then decided to take her doll for a walk in the pram and kept calling "bye" as she trotted off into the other room, closing the door behind her. She would then knock on the door and come in, telling us she had been to the shops, before turning round and going back out again to do it all over again!
As it is, for a change, sunny today I asked Poppy if she wanted to play on the slide in the garden and so off we went outside, she played on the slide for a while then wanted to make sandcastles in the seaside.
When Em was painting her own nails at the weekend in the tent whilst camping Poppy kept putting her hands towards her Mommy, wanting her nails painted pink too so Em put a little varnish on for her which she immediately wiped off, telling her Mommy it was broken! She showed us her nails when she came in today and when we were out in the garden a plane flew overhead, she was waving her hands in the air shouting "Look at my nails Pippin" (Poppy loves the tv series Come Outside, featuring Pippin the dog and Aunty Mabel who go for adventures in a plane!)
Poppy was making us laugh doing "high fives" with her Mummy, "high five, down below, you`re too slow", she thinks it very funny when she snatches her hand away and says "you`re too slow!" She thought it was very funny when she realised that Barney the dog can do "high fives"!!

CAMPING TRIP.

Poppy has been camping with her Mummy and Daddy this weekend so the Poppy Chronicles are courtesy of Emma today, via text message!
They had a lovely day yesterday, had a trip on the Severn Valley steam railway to Bewdley and Poppy loved the train though she was so worn out on the return journey she missed the whole thing, sleeping all the way!
Poppy went fishing with Daddy but apparently they both found it a bit boring, but then again not the best activity for a 2 year old! Rivers and little kids don`t always mix! 
In the evening they went to the pub by the site to see if they could catch some of the athletics and to Poppys delight there was a disco on so she danced the night away, almost dancing herself to sleep! Emma said they were back in the tent by 9pm, Lee lay down with Poppy for her to get to sleep while Emma went back a little way to clear up after Lily, and when she got back to the tent Poppy, Lee and Lily were all fast asleep!!
Some annoying fellow campers, who had no consideration for anybody else on the site, kept everybody awake until about 5.30am so Emma said they were pretty tired this morning, all except Pops who thankfully slept through it all! They just managed to get the car packed up and as they finished the rain was starting, I think a shower and a sleep was in order when they arrived home!

POPPY GOES CAMPING!

Emma and Poppy arrived on Thursday just after lunch, they had been at Jungle boogie all morning with Bev, Ruby and Florence and had eaten lunch there. It is a new soft play centre in Codsall, Poppy enjoyed herself but at one point she did get stuck and Emma had to climb up the slide to rescue her! Apparently she had climbed all the way up and then come upon a rope type bridge which she did not have the confidence to tackle so she sat down and when Emma went over to see if she was okay or not, Poppy declared "me stuck". Emma looked at the structure Poppy had climbed and did not fancy tackling it so decided the easiest way to rescue her would be to climb up the slide and help her across the bridge! She said she did feel a bit awkward as no other parent was climbing over the apparatus but she had no choice. A lot of the other children were older than Poppy, 3 year old Ruby was quite confident climbing over everything, but some of the things were just a little too big for Pops. Emma said it would be best if we stick to the soft play centre at the garden centre where we usually go as she could not see her Dad climbing up the slide as she did! When Em arrived at our house Poppy was absolutely worn out so she put her straight to bed and she slept for the best part of 2 hours! Gray announced he would take the dogs for a walk, but when Emma said Poppy had enjoyed taking Lily for a walk over the football fields the previous afternoon he decided to wait until she woke up and they all took the dogs together. Emma had to wake her in the end, or she would have been very late to bed that evening, and Gray, Emma and Poppy set off to walk the dogs in the woods, Barney as usual holding his ball in his mouth, ready as always for a game.
At this very moment Emma, Lee, Poppy and Lily are camping in Bridgnorth for the weekend as the sun, for once, has made an appearance. They were to have gone to Torquay to visit Julie, Lees Mum, but Lee has to work this coming week and so they have had to change their plans and are going later on instead. So they decided to go camping for a short break and chose to go somewhere local as at least they could then return home if camping with Poppy and a dog did not work out well. We have the job of feeding the guinea pigs, rabbit and goldfish for a couple of days. Hopefully they will have a good time camping, and Poppy will enjoy running around with Lily in the fresh air.  

"Welcome to Sainsburys" Poppy said!!!

Emma and Poppy were visiting Sallianne this morning and so they arrived here at lunch time, ready to go and see Rhys and his brothers for his 8th birthday today. We had lunch and then Poppy was tired so she had a sleep before we went. We were waiting for Grandad to get back first anyway so he could go with us. I managed to find a play shop till for Poppy on swapshop so on the way we went to fetch it but Emma put it straight into the boot or Pops would have wanted to play with it on the way and it was a bit large for on her lap. When we arrived Rhys and his brothers were very excited, having apparently run their mom ragged all morning, so she was worn out! My sister was already there so we all had a cuppa and the children played outside on the trampoline, Poppy leaping up and down with the lads, holding hands with Ryan! Ah bless. When the lads Grandad and Dad arrived the candles were lit on the cake and we all sang happy birthday before enjoying a slice of chocolate cake. Broke my diet but never mind, it was just a small piece, (and it was lovely)!
As it was getting on for 5pm by this time we decided to head back as Poppy would be wanting her tea so goodbyes were said and off we went. We called in for Lily and Poppys pushchair, which Emma had arrived at our house with this morning, and while the pushchair was being folded up Em put the play shop till on Poppys lap as there was no longer room for it in the boot. Immediately she saw it she leaned forward and put the little mike to her mouth, I wondered what she was going to say "Welcome to Sainsburys"!!! Where on earth had she got that from? Salliannes? Playgroup? She then announced that they had potatoes and crisps so I think she will be having lots of games of shops with her Mummy!

Poppy climbed out of the cot!

I had a bargain today, I managed to get a second hand trampoline for Poppy, just a small one with a handle suitable for a little `un, and it only cost me £2.50! As soon as Gray got home I had my shoes on ready to go out and fetch it, I saw it advertised for sale on the swapshop which is on Facebook and immediately asked to buy it. We took it straight round and as soon as Poppy saw it she could not get her shoes on fast enough to get outside and start jumping about. Her cousin Ruby was visiting so the pair of them were hanging on to the handle, leaping about! We were well pleased.
Emma was telling us that last night Poppy managed to climb out of her cot. They had put her to bed and heard a bump, followed by crying and rushed upstairs when they realised what must have happened to find her crying, lying on the floor. When they had calmed her down she smiled and said "I climbed out!" Within about fifteen minutes Lee had taken the sides off, it is a cot bed, and they tucked her up and said it was time for her to go to sleep. Lily, the dog, jumped on the bed and made herself comfortable so they hoped Poppy might settle down. Off they went downstairs, shutting the stair gate behind them but within a few minutes they heard "Mommy" and she was up! Eventually she settled down and went to sleep, Emma said the funny thing was when she woke up this morning she somehow did not realise that she could get out of her bed and sat in bed calling "Mommy"! I wonder how they are getting on tonight!

GOLD!!

Emma and Poppy arrived mid morning to visit as Lee was at work. We were watching the Olympic games on tv at the time and Gray had not even got dressed as everytime he tried to go upstairs we were in for another Gold medal and he kept sitting down to watch the excitement!
Within about half an hour most of the toys were spread around the room, Poppy certainly likes to make the most of the toys she has at Grandma and Grandads house! I managed to get her some sylvanian families hedgehogs and rabbits from Perton swapshow and she was thrilled with them, she had the dolls house out, and they all sat around the dining table having a tea party, all except for one rabbit and a hedgehog, one went to bed and the other was upstairs in the house looking through the window!
We had lunch, not that Poppy ate a great deal as she had an upset tummy and a little later she was showing signs of tiredness so Emma took her up to bed for a sleep.
Lee arrived and I had put some sausages in the oven for tea, as there were quite a few they stayed for tea and Poppy ate a good amount which was nice to see after her upset tummy of earlier. She managed most of her tea followed by a bowl of strawberries and ice cream.
We were all watching the cycle racing on tv we were excited that they won and Poppy shouted "gold", waved her hands in the air and then gave a round of applause. Ofcourse as we all laughed at her she laughed and kept doing it. As we said the games may not be in our country again in her lifetime, and history is being made, its nice to get her involved, may she will remember!

Please sign petition to save neonatal services for prem babies.

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/36729
Poppy was born 10 weeks premature weighing just 3 pounds and 4 ounces. She was in hospital for 6 weeks and when she went home she still only weighed 4 pounds and 5 ounces. The neonatal department of Newcross Hospital in Wolverhampton and the neonatal community team were wonderful, and the community team were invaluable when Poppy finally went home. It is scary looking after a tiny baby, and it is very scary looking after such a tiny baby. The neonatal community team is under threat, and their services are so very important. Please please sign the petition to save the neonatal community team. Please share on Facebook, retweet on Twitter, tell everybody you know about these cuts and ask them please to sign. Thankyou so much.
Poppy is now 2 years old, she is a wonderful little girl, without the neonatal team she may not be here.

Visit to the boys.

Emma, Poppy and I went over to visit my niece and her three boys this morning. Poppy, as usual, fell asleep on the way over and was still fast asleep on our arrival. The boys were very excited as usual, they all love Poppy to bits, and ofcourse wanted to see her straight away. She had to wake up properly so sat on her Mommys lap for a while before sliding off to play with the farm set they had very kindly got out for her. She grabbed hold of quite a few of the horses straight away with a big grin on her face, I think she was a little overwhelmed by all the attention and was rather quiet but soon cheered up when the lads put Bruno Mars on for her, she loves his songs and started dancing and singing along which they all joined in with. As it was not raining (well for about 20 minutes anyway) we went outside and Poppy joined the boys on the trampoline, she had a great time leaping up and down, holding Ryans hands. Emma decided it was time for us to leave as it was lunch time and told Poppy we were going, "no" she said carrying on jumping!! She was certainly enjoying herself. She came out of the trampoline net of her own accord a couple of minutes later and was worn out so we said goodbye thinking Poppy might fall asleep in the car. She didn`t but was certainly tired! She managed to stay awake until we got back and after a sandwich and some melon, and a little play with the dolls house she finally gave in when Emma lay her in the cot and slept for almost 2 hours!!