Yesterday (Sunday 30 Dec) Ian, Jessica and I went over to Ian’s parents for the afternoon. Neither Jessica or I had been there for a while, but as Jessica will be spending Wednesdays at her farmor and farfar’s house after I go back to work on 1 February it’s important that she starts getting used to being there. Ideally, we will build up gradually, until Jessica spends all day there when the time comes.
Jessica didn’t appear to recognise Albert and Diana’s house from her visits when much younger and was happily walking around exploring. A lot of little things on shelves and side tables were swiftly moved out of reach of curious little hands… Albert had made Jessica a little wooden trolley – of similar style to the one she has at home, but with the obvious quality of something handmade with skill – and she immediately took charge of it, walking up and down the hallway, living room and kitchen with a little help to turn it around.
It was Jessica’s first time meeting the family cat, too, and she was so delighted! There was a big, happy smile on her face and lots of little giggles as Jessica spotted Sheba, then walked towards her trying to grab her fur and tail. Sheba must have seemed like a lovely, stuffed toy, only she moved, wow…! Sheba wasn’t put off by the experience and I guess we all from start tried to show Jessica how to treat the cat gently – in spite of my allergy I even stroked Sheba’s fur for educational purposes. I hadn’t thought about it before, but it will be nice that Jessica will get used to at least one pet, to learn how to treat and appreciate animals close up.
The trickiest bit of getting Jessica used to being away from home all day, Ian and I anticipated would be getting her to have proper naps somewhere else but her own cot at home. Albert and Diana are getting a travel cot for this very purpose but did not have it yet, so after having fed Jessica her afternoon bottle I tucked her in in her pushchair, which Ian had set up in the dining room for the purpose, and we kept our fingers crossed in the room next door that she’d settle and go to sleep. After about 10-15 minutes of moaning (though not the very upset kind), she relaxed enough to go to sleep. Unfortunately the nap only lasted about 45 minutes, which we knew wouldn’t be quite enough, but although we could tell she was still tired Jessica wasn’t cranky about it, and as a summary we had a really nice, relaxed time, with Jessica (as usual!) getting lots of attention.
Gabriella