Dawn of the Dad

I write this just after receiving a call from Carla. She’d misplaced her house keys and rang me at work to confirm I hadn’t taken them by mistake. There was more than a hint of panic in her voice so I reassured her I hadn’t, making sure I didn’t use adjectives like, “forgetful”, “scatty”, and “absent-minded”. Fortunately, she found the keys while talking with me. I mention this call because Amelie is now able to say hello and bye to anyone on the phone. Even more heart-warming than this, for immediate family members, she will prefix our names. I could hear Amelie jabbering on in the background during the conversation and so Carla put her on to say hello. Imagine for a moment you’ve been walking outside in winter. A strong bitter wind has blown the rain into your face, making each droplet feel as sharp and cold as a thousand blow-darts. Your face aches, your toes are numb and your eyes are blurry. Then you enter your house, the fire is roaring and the heat warms you from the outside in. Well, that’s how it feels when I hear Amelie say, Hello Daddy. I feel like I’ve walked a hundred miles in a blizzard only to then be warmed again by her voice. I don't think I'll ever tire of hearing her on the phone.

Amelie is now able to greet and give farewells to both Carla and myself, and the Nanas. She has also mastered her uncle’s name, Mark, but is still struggling with Granddad, which comes out more like, Dash. Amelie is also able to count to three and can be frequently heard saying, “One, two, three...Go!” This she has picked up after a game we play where she stands at one end of the garden and awaits my instruction for her to run toward me. It’s proved to be a good way of getting her to stay still and waiting, especially when it comes to the top of stairs.

The skin condition on her back has yet to improve. It was almost free from any spots and blotches, but then the treatment finished and they've began to remerge again. We spoke with the doctor explaining that we were concerned about the reoccurrence of the skin condition, however, in light of the fact Amelie has been on oral antibiotics and topical creams for over a month, we felt it best to have a respite from any further medication and treatment. He agreed it was probably for the best, but prescribed an antiseptic bath wash that should reduce the nasty bacteria we carry on our skin, which he believes has found its way under Amelie's skin and caused the infection. We've been bathing her every night, and while it's not as bad as before, her back is still marked and blotchy. Speaking of bath time, Amelie has now progressed to the big bath. We've threw away her baby bath and now she has free rule to splash and slide along the big one. She enjoys splashing, especially if it gets Carla and I wet. Her aunty bought her a rubber duck recently from Ireland, which she likes me to fill with water and then squeeze the contents into her face. Amelie that is, not her aunty. Amelie also enjoys wetting me when she gets out of the bath. She always wants me to pick her up, and with her legs still covered with water, she thrashes them around until a noticeable amount has soaked my top and trousers. She seems very disappointed if my slippers are not wet too.

Other news - well, she has mastered the entire alphabet now. Of course, she can say only about 50% of them, but in terms of knowing what each one is, she has it down. Amelie began nursery again in September moving from Little Lambs to the Ducklings section. She has moved up with a few of her friends, Izzy, Harry and Rory. It’s a bit strange in the nursery now. Before, all the children were crawling around and unable to say anything, but now when you walk in the room they all gravitate to you like little zombies, shuffling their tiny feet and slurring the word, “dada”. Of course, I’m not their dada so I have to grab Amelie quick and make for the door, it’s a bit like that scene in Dawn of the Dead when they’re running through that shopping mall trying to escape the flesh-eaters. Okay, so I’m exaggerating, but it is a little freaky some days.

The first week back in nursery, we noticed at home a change in Amelie. She seemed more defiant, and whingy. It was Carla's birthday and I took us all out for something to eat. It was supposed to be a nice night but Amelie just began playing up as soon as we arrived. She wouldn't sit in her seat, she cried almost constantly and we couldn't pacify her at all. I took her outside at one point (I could tell Carla had had enough by the way she kept ordering more vino), and Amelie proceeded to run toward the road. I never raise my voice to Amelie because I feel that by doing so she will become accustomed to it and not differentiate from something serious to something like a simple command. But I raised my voice then. I screamed at her to stop but she didn't respond and kept on running. I caught her well in time and shouted at her that it was very dangerous to cross the roads because of the cars. She began to cry. This flux in her demeanour carried on for a few days so we scheduled a meeting with nursery. Her new key-worker is Lisa. We explained to Lisa what had happened and stressed the importance that there should be continuity regards to reprimanding Amelie if she does something wrong. Lisa said she had never seen that side to her and that Amelie was very well behaved. We put it down to the transition from being at home with Carla for 6 weeks and then going to nursery (or maybe I’m turning into one of those delusion parents that can’t see Amelie is twirling us both). Strangely, Amelie calmed again at home and since - touch wood- has been fine. Then one day at nursery Amelie had to have a “time out” because she stole some food from one of the other children and then later ripped off some pictures from the wall. She was reprimanded accordingly and thankfully, nothing else has happened. The But the incident was raised to us by Lisa and she made a point of telling us exactly what they did to explain to Amelie the error of her ways. It’s not that we want to be strict with Amelie. Quite the contrary. We have found Amelie will take advantage of certain situations if you allow her to. It's these little moments we foresee could be bigger problems in the future if not nipped in the bud now. What we're essential trying to do is avoid making a rod for our own backs. We hope then that by establishing certain etiquettes and rules from the start, and highlighting the consequences should they not be adhered to, we will be less dogmatic when she's older. But as John Steinbeck once wrote, the best laid plans of mice and men oft go awry.