A fun weekend looking after baby Catrin
Although I try to see my granddaughter Catrin – now almost two – each week when I collect her from nursery and sometimes babysit, we have only had her with us overnight on two occasions. The first was a year ago when I blogged here and here. The second was this weekend.
Our son Richard delivered Catrin to us about 11.30 am on Saturday. We knew that Saturday would be fine but Sunday would be rainy so, after feeding her at home, we drove to the town of Beaconsfield and she had her midday sleep on the way. Our destination was the wonderful model village of Bekonscot which we have visited several times over the years but never with Catrin.
“What do you mean, granddad, that
I’m going to be taller than all the buildings here?
It claims to be the oldest model village in the world, having opened in 1929 and hosted a total of almost 15 million visitors. The place is an absolute delight for little kids and Catrin loved it – all the miniature urban and rural settings with lots of scale buildings and people plus an extensive model railway.
We stopped for some lunch and Catrin enjoyed ham sandwich and babycino before riding a toy train and a toy car. Towards the end of our two-hour visit, Catrin tried out the playground and then we all went on the miniature railway before buying a children’s book at the shop (which is housed in an old railway carriage).
“Wow! You’re right!!
I am taller than the buildings.”
“After a delicious ham sandwich,
I love nothing better than a babycino.”
“Stop taking all these photos, granddad,
and put a pound in the slot of this train.”
“This is the biggest slide that I’ve been on,
but I’m not afraid.”
Back at the house, Catrin had a splashy bath and then slept on a blow-up bed provided by her father. She went to sleep instantly, hugging her favourite cuddly toy, Elly the elephant (acquired in Los Angeles Zoo). Sadly the little one had a cold and woke about half-a-dozen times in the night but each time went back to sleep after a reassuring cuddle (unfortunately I did not have the same experience).
Sunday started around 7.30 am. It was raining as forecast so we needed to have time indoors. I took Catrin on the London Underground (which makes her feel very grown up) to the Science Museum which I have visited many, many times with kids of various ages.
“This is more much fun than the buggy –
but why do they keep saying:
‘Mind the gap’ “
In the basement, there is a relatively new section called The Garden which is especially for young children.
Catrin had a fabulous time here, manoeuvring a plastic boat around the water feature surrounded by loads of other noisy kids and pushing Elly the elephant and various coloured bricks around in a wheelbarrow. She hated leaving the place, but she was rewarded with a special purchase at the museum shop: a spiky ball that displays flashing lights when you bounce it (why didn’t we have toys like that as a kid?).
“Never mind all this rubbish about
learning the principles of hydraulics,
I’m just having so much fun.”
“I could be a builder when I grow up.
Nah – politician sounds more fun.”
Catrin slept on the tube journey home. Back at the house, we played and played. She is such a happy child with a lovely sense of humour and an impressive vocabulary (favourite word: ‘No’). Richard took her from us about 4.45 pm, leaving us very tired but sure that we had given the little chick a fun time.
To use a phrase of my own grandma, she was ‘as good as gold’. If she would stay still while I’m changing a dirty nappy, she would be the perfect baby.
November 6th, 2012 at 1:20 am
Well Roger, I think you might be the perfect Granddad!