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Here we go.
The past week Lileeva has had her naps in knickers, without pretty much no accidents. (One, but that was an unusually long nap.) So we decided to get a waterproof sheet/mattress protector, take the sides of the cot off, and give this night time dryness a go too. We placed her potty and some toilet roll beside her bed, offering to leave her side lamp on for the night, which she refused.
The first night was weird... She woke up dry, but one of her comfort teddies was soaking. I figured she must have used it as a nappy. However, the second night was perfect. She woke up dry, and regardless of the darkness, she managed to get up, do a wee in her potty, then get back to bed. I'm so proud of her!
We yet to work on her wanting to stay in bed, when we put her down the evening. Started on the bed time stories, but she keeps getting up afterwards, saying it's 'Morning time!' and we have to raise our voices to get her back to bed. I'm sure this won't be problem for long though, she's a fast learner.

334.

That's Lileeva, pretty much potty trained.
It was Father's Day, when she decided she rather use the potty than her nappy. We didn't push her, we didn't say anything about it. Something just clicked in her.
Going even further, for the past week or so, she didn't even use her potty, but is doing her business on the 'big girl's toilet'. She places the kiddie seat, drags the step, closes the door, sits up, does her thing and wipes herself. She can't flush the toilet (Chain tank.) and we obviously have to sort her out after number #2's, but that's the least to worry about! We even go out in knickers, and squat in bushes if the urge is great, only using nappies for naps and night time sleeps.

She is also very active, less fussy when it comes to food, and asks for fruits as snacks, instead of sweets. Maybe all this contributes for her losing a bit of weight from her belly. She's never been a fat kid, but her tummy is definitely shrinking.
Only issue I have is her constant tantrums. It's getting ridiculous and way too frequent lately. She bites, kicks, pinches, punches, scratches, shouts, screams... The entire package. Most of the times for no reason, or because she can't take 'No' as an answer. Hopefully she'll grow out of it soon, because it's madness.

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I really have no excuse why not posting, apart from being lazy. I usually super drained by the evening and can't seem to be able to pull my thoughts together after putting Lileeva to bed.
During her daily naps I usually either do my training routine or have a kip myself.
Speaking of which, she's been sleeping a lot in the past few weeks, she's probably having another growth spurt.
She is a fussy eater, but eats well. Also a copycat, which comes handy when teaching her things. She's very independent, wanting to do everything by herself. She is stubborn too. Not sure where she gets these from. Cough.
I do still have my down moments when I think I'm a terrible mum, but coming across how some other people raise their kids keeping me reassured of the opposite. Alright, yes, I know parents whom take their children out many times daily... I'm not one of them, and to be fair, I started to see on Lileeva that she slowly starts to get bored of the nearby parks and playgrounds too. However, it still doesn't stop me to provide her a daily 'adventure' though.
But there are these parents that don't even think of taking their kids out to the park, playground or even to their own garden! Buying garden toys is out of question too. What the hell?! We only have a tiny balcony, but made the best out of it with artificial grass, a bench, a tiny paddling pool and toys and the door is always open for her. None of us made to be between the same four walls 24/7.
So to speak, I try not to beat myself up if I have a chillaxing day spent indoors a couple of days a week. Tops.
This Saturday Lee is taking her to see his aunt, next weekend she'll be staying with Lee's mum because we are off out of London for our anniversary. On bank holiday weekend we all be going to the woods for camping with Lee's workmate and his fiance, then afterwards us three are off to Rome and Budapest. We took her to Cornwall last month, and last week we went to Essex for a day to see my friend and her son, and also, I try to get around to my sister-in-law's with her weekly.
Considering all this, I think we are doing parenting well and making our toddler's life as interesting as possible.

320.

Went away for a spontaneous family mini holiday to Cornwall earlier this week.
We stayed at Hayle but visited St. Ives and Land`s End too and traveled through Penzance.
It was amazing to say the least. The weather was beautiful, the sea is breathtaking, the people are the kindest I`ve met lately. After our 5 days of heaven, arriving back to Lilevrpool Street on a Friday afternoon peek time, where if you`re lucky people just look through you, buts most likely kick your pram/suitcase/feet was pure disgust. The combination of that, and the five long, hot and airless hours spent on the train made me almost beak down in tears. I came to realise how much I actually hate London and not sure if I wanted to stay here on the long haul.

The holiday itself was nice, even though you can`t really relax when you have a child. Lileeva was an angel when she decided to be content and well behaved, but was a monster when she got bored and overtired. Which happened quite easily unfortunately. This put Lee on edge, and that put me on edge.
We didn`t argue much, but I did have the amp of having to look after Lileeva the majority of times, after all that`s what I`m doing at home too. I`m still not sure though Lee realises how much being a stay-at-home mum sucks the life out of you on a daily basis.
Anyways, we did have our wonderful moments, and for that, the trip definitely worth it.

On Monday, my friend Sanyi, who now lives in Plymouth was waiting for us in the train station. After packing our luggage we ended up in a pub`s beer garden which was looking right at the sandy beach and had a playground for kids. Perfect.

Tuesday we took the bus to St. Ives. It reminded me of Edinburgh with it`s highly touristy atmosphere, tiny beautiful streets and the sea view. Only the weather was better, obviously. Met with Sanyi later and had a mini BBQ outside our chalet. Was delicious.

On Wednesday we took the Cornwall tour bus from St. Ives. Visited St. Michael`s Mount which is a castle on top of a mountain in the sea, which you can get to by walk if the tide is low or by boat when it`s high. Then we went to Land`s End, the very corner of the UK. Just beautiful. Words can`t really describe.

Thursday was our lazy day, spent on the sandy beach. Lileeva didn`t really enjoy the sea, but Lee got over his fear and went in all the way, swimming. He got quite burnt too, while I scrubbed up a nice little tan myself.

All in all, it felt like we were on some tropical island, anywhere but within the UK`s boarders. It was magical, and we are definitely going back again at some point.