99. Shadow Play.

Harriet and I had fun messing about in the shadows cast by the bright winter morning sun. My hand was a big black spider that she chased around for a while before it climbed up on to her belly.
Rather shamefully, the camera angle took in the clock, which shows that Harriet was still in her pyjamas at 10.30.

98. Postman Pat And The Hail Storm.

Harriet and I had a lot of shopping to do today and I broke it up for her by letting her have a go in Postman Pat's van. 
We only just got back to the car before this hail storm hit town.

97. Tell Me Why I Don't Like Wednesdays.

Well, actually I'll tell you. Wednesday is bin day. And recycling day.
I have a steep flight of stairs to negotiate with the bin bags and recycling, and I have a little person who insists on "helping".
Once we're outside she is actually very helpful, but I have to carry her down the stairs first, making harder work for my poor bloated self.
Still, I do love the sight of her in her hat, coat and shoes worn over her pyjamas.

96. Water Me!

The purpose of today's photograph is to shame me into looking after my plants better. These sorry specimens have the added cruelty of having a clear view of the rain-drenched garden to make them even thirstier.
I have watered them now and we'll see if next Tuesday's photo is of verdant, healthy plants or of crispy brown stumps.

95. The Hills at Night.

I've managed to lose the camera's case so I didn't take it out with me this afternoon.
This photo was taken with my phone, hence the grainy quality.
It's only about 5.15pm, but now the clocks have gone back the nights draw in early. All the way home Harriet said things like, "It's really, really, really dark now" and "Eddybody's bedtime, isn't it Mummy?"

94. Fast Asleep.

I took this photo because Harriet looks so darn cute amongst her assortment of teddies and because today was an uneventful day with no photo opportunities.
The teddy at the top left glows in the dark and helps her off to sleep. The monstrously large rabbit was a gift on her first Christmas from her Aunty Jennie. The mouse is the softest teddy I've ever beheld and Harriet adores it (it was a gift on her second Christmas from her Aunty Natalie).
We have a new, less stressful bedtime routine. I read a few books with Harriet and then her dad goes in and she's asleep within minutes.
I don't know how he does it.

93. Soft Play With Daddy.

Scott took Harriet out to a soft-play warehouse to meet some friends for a play date today. I wasn't invited, as it was 'Dads only'.
They stayed for over two hours, which is an amazing feat in my eyes. I can't manage much more than 40 minutes at those places without being completely knackered. Harriet didn't want to leave at all, but their time was up.
Scott took a few sneaky photos (taking care to keep other children out of the shot) and I have chosen these two as 'my' entry for today:

One shot of Harriet coming down the big slide, not looking like she's enjoying it as much as she actually  is.

And one shot of Scott's nether regions, taken as he reached the bottom of the slide before he was absolutely ready for it, due to facing the wrong way in order to photograph Harriet.

92. Most Frequented.

This is the best fruit and veg shop in town, and Harriet and I visit it at least once a week.
Throughout the summer it was the source of our summer pudding fillings, and now it's where we stock up on avocados, dried and fresh fruit, and purple sprouting brocoli (and chocolate brownies).
Mmmm.

I used to drool over clothes shops..

91. Storm Brewing Over The Hills.

I pulled over on my way home from Toddler Group today to snap this. The weather had been warm and sunny all morning, but was suddenly on the turn.
It got very cold and windy and we were very glad to get home.

(This photo was taken through the windscreen of the car, which has muted the colours and made it look almost like a painting.)

90. The View From There.

Another view shot today. This is what I see from our kitchen window, which looks up the hillside. For six months of the year it's leafy, of varying hues. For the other six months, from November to April, the trees are bald and we are overlooked by our neighbours.
I much prefer the leafy half of the year.

Eagle-eyed viewers may notice the extremely fat spider on the top right window pane. He gets a very healthy diet there and seems to double in size each week. If he carries on at that rate maybe we won't be overlooked after all.

89. The View From Here.

If I turn my head to the right, when sat at my laptop, this is what I see.
The top window is the kitchen window of a nosey neighbour.
She spies on me.

88. Having a Laugh.

Feeling a bit feeble today so Harriet and I spent the day relatively leisurely. I'm making the most of days like this, as I know they'll be absent for a while when #2 comes along.
Harriet enjoyed pulling faces for the camera this afternoon and I've chosen a picture of her laughing at how silly she can make herself look.

87. Emo In the Leaves.

In the last week, the trees overhanging the driveway have shed pretty much all their leaves. Harriet's happy about that, as she loves crunching about in them.
I love the outfit she's wearing today. She's wearing a punk/emo ensemble softened by an adorable hat that she calls her "Pocoyo hat".

86. On The Phone.

One of us is obviously spending a lot of time chatting on the phone like this! As soon as I handed Harriet the phone she adopted this pose.
She didn't say an awful lot, but she looks like an old hand.

(Today she wore spotty tights, as her collection of stripey ones were drying on the radiator.)

85. A Book At Bedtime.

Harriet's bedtime routine involves a lot of reading these days. The book on the top is her current favourite. We read it last (often twice) and I am always yawning by the last page, which is handy because the story calls for a big yawn.
Bit of a lame picture really, but after precious little sleep Thursday night I was not much more than a groaning, mumbling zombie all day and taking photos was the last thing on my to do list.
Will do better...

84. Thursday Night Fever.

This photograph was taken after midnight, but seeing as my day was still far from over it's definitely being counted as Thursday's entry.
Harriet was off-colour all day. She was very tearful at Toddler Group, which had plenty of the mums asking what was wrong as they'd never seen her cry before. She was miserable and clingy back at home and then got sleepy around 3pm.
She was hot so I dosed her up and she slept, against my wishes, for an hour and a half. I knew that would make for a late night!
She was still not right when she woke, but she managed some food and then I sent her off to bed. She had me in and out of her bedroom until 1 am, at which point I gave up all notions of sleeping in my own bed and crammed myself into bed with her.

83. Harry And Bert.

Harriet and I had a busy day today. We went to Clamber Club in the morning and then visited the library in the afternoon. 
Harriet was in the mood for cake when we got there so we did the café first. We met a little boy called Robert  and the two of them struck up quite an intense friendship. I'm not sure what they were plotting here. 
We all went up to the children's section at the same time, co-incidentally, where the two buddies had a brief falling out over the stepping stone cushions.
As we left Robert called out, "Bye Harry!" inventing a pet name for his new friend. In return Harriet called back, "Bye Bert!".

82. Autumnal Stroll.

Harriet had over one hundred conkers in the house, all going soft and dusky-looking. I told her we needed to take them out and give them back to the wildlife before they rotted.

We took a heavy bag-load down to the bottom of the garden, where the squirrels and rabbits play, and scattered them there.
Harriet panicked and started scrabbling about, retrieving the conkers. I talked her out of it and we went off to find some new shiny replacements. A short walk down the road led us to a fresh batch, although we only found a few as I think they're coming to an end now.
Harriet will be most upset when there are no more. 

81. Sunrise.

I can't lie. I just can't...
This was taken yesterday, but I am currently in bed with a sore back and ridiculously low blood pressure, and no fresh photos in my camera. I don't want to take a picture of me in bed or anything else in this room so I'm slipping this one in instead.
It's my first cheat, and hopefully my last.

80. A Gran(d) Day Out.

Harriet and I spent the day with her great grandmother today. Scott was with his Dad fixing the car and we went along so that his nan could spend time with Harriet.
The two of them had a fabulous time. I was able to just sit and watch as they spent hours drawing together.
I chose two photos today as I couldn't find an angle from which to photograph them to capture both their smiles in one image.

79. What's That Sound?

We took a stroll down the garden today to gather a few blackberries in the glorious morning sun. A plane flew noisily over and Harriet asked, in her best patronising voice, "What's that sound?"
She even gesticulated, should the words have been too complicated for me.
She's off to her grandparents' this afternoon so that I can catch up on paperwork. I'd much rather be poncing about in the sun with my girl, but needs must.
And I don't know that I actually have the energy for poncing.

78. Megan's Birthday.

Harriet's friend, Megan, had her second birthday on Tuesday and we popped in to see her today to give her a present. She lives a few miles away so the girls don't see each other often, but they get on so well. Here they are playing with the Duplo Harriet gave Megan for her birthday. We were told to NOT buy anything 'In The Night Garden', as nearly everything else she'd had was from the range.
Harriet was most disappointed that the Duplo wasn't hers to keep, but she got over it and let us wrap it and give it to Megan. Megan, in exchange, very kindly let Harriet sit on her new bean bag and build a Duplo rocket.

77. Harriet's Apple.

...grew a face.
I have a bad feeling that Harriet is coming down with something, as she's been a great deal more hard work than usual today. She has barely eaten her food, and only deigned to eat fruit. This apple got nibbled at and a face began to emerge.
I helped it along a bit, and Harriet refused to eat it because it looked sad.

76. Happiness Is...

...a nice long bath with plenty of bubbles and splashing. 
Please do take in the full horror of the carpeted bath panel and the avocado suite.
Which leads me neatly on to...

Happiness is also...

...finding a shop that sells avocados for 17 pence!!!
17 PENCE!!!! I can't believe I didn't buy a whole box of them. I certainly came close to a Meg Ryan - When Harry Met Sally moment.

75. Sudden Changes of Weather.

Another view from my window and another rainbow, but how could I resist?
It had been a black, rainy day until this strip of golden sunlight appeared in the early evening and, as I gazed on, the rainbow emerged from nowhere (I couldn't see any rain, but there must have been plenty of moisture left in the air).

74. Harriet At The Fountain.

A humdrum day turned out to be pretty eventful, and Harriet and I found ourselves milling about town waiting for buses (again).
The little lady was thrilled that I let her play at the fountain.

73. Comedy Trousers.

Well, they make me laugh anyway.

(I really ought to have photoshopped my wrinkly hand.)

72. The Hills Over Great Malvern.

As I dropped Harriet off at her grandparents' today I caught sight of the hills veiled in mist. 
Aunty Jennie was there and looked after Harriet for a couple of hours, thus making sure that she had a good day and I got some rest.

71. Bugger. I Missed A Day.

Friday was a write-off. Didn't feel well at all in the morning. The Dr. says I have very low blood pressure and I should get plenty of rest.
Harumph.
I spent the rest of the day trying to keep Harriet entertained, and my feet up. I failed in that and I failed to take a photo, so here' s one of Harriet at Toddler Group taken yesterday. She loves driving the cars about and always has an assortment of goodies with her on the shelf at the back. Yesterday she had a doll, a teapot and cup, and a drink in the back. She's just looking over her shoulder to make sure that no-one's thinking of nicking any of it.

70. I Can Jump!

An action shot today.
Finally, Harriet has mastered the art of jumping! She has practiced solidly this week, but until today hasn't managed to consistently get both feet off the ground. Yesterday was, therefore, spent mostly stomping one foot very heavily down onto the floor.
If you look closely you will see that there is a shadow under each foot. She really is jumping.
Wahey!

69. Tired Eyes.

It got late in the day before I found time to take a photo. I scoured around for something that would say the most about life at the moment. 
I think my weary face says plenty.