The weather for the last week has been really good, and this weekend has been the hottest this year. It has meant that Heidi has been spending more time in the garden, playing and finding her new world now it’s not wet or dark outside.

The paddling pool that Emily gave as a birthday present was unpacked yesterday and inflated on the little noisy compressor. It has an inflatable sun-shield that fixes to the pool, and gives a little bit of shade. Once inflated it was placed in the back garden and filled with cold tap water. We let it warm up a bit before Heidi ventured in.

Once in the garden, Heidi lost all her previous nervousness of leaving the mat, and crawled without fear all around the garden eating anything in her path. Stones, sticks and some daisies. She liked the cold water and leant in, splashing timidly at first and then more boldly. Soon she was soaked and so we stripped her off, and got her into her swimsuit. On top of that came the wetsuit and we let her dangle her feet in at first. Very cold to her, as she normally only encounters warm water in the bath.

She soon was happy and in the pool, splashing and shuffling around chuckling to herself and occasionally waving at her reflection in the patio doors. She could not master the getting-out sadly and she really did not have a clue how to do it. Once out she was wrapped up and taken in for her bath which she enjoyed as usual.

Today saw us emptying the pool and using it to water the plants, as she had filled it with grass and bits from yesterday. Filled this morning, it warmed up during the day to a reasonable temperature.

A visit to Grandma and Grandad’s house saw her out in their front garden too, crawling as fast as she could – around the flowers beds stopping occasionally to eat some greenery. As it was approaching midday and getting hotter it was time for some shade and lunch at home.

She had her pasta whilst we ate ours, and it was all very pleasant. She was in the pool again, this time mastering the getting in and getting out. Only she did it constantly – clambering in and then out again and again. She loved it and tried to grab the two dragonflies which were trying to share her water.

Once dried and dusted down we headed off for another first. Today was a visit to the beach. Heidi has sat on Seaton beach which is pebbly, for a few moments as well as the beach in Woolacombe just as it rained. Today it was hot and lots of people were there. The fun fair was behind on the Green, and we were there, all three of us. Rachel, Heidi and Hayley. I bought her her first bucket and spade too. We sat on the beach and Heidi soon started to eat the wet sand and dig her hands into the warm sand. She really enjoyed this. It was great for us too, seeing our beloved little daughter playing in this way. All the things we wished Fred would have experienced. She got very sandy and grubby so we took her down to the surf which was very small but gave her feet an icy wash. She looked a little confused at first and then became curios of it.

We returned to our pitch and enjoyed the sun again, with Heidi in her sun cream, under the shade of her parasol. We really need to get some beach things – windbreak, pop-up tent etc etc for when we are away next.

It was still very hot underfoot as we walked to the pub for some tea. Heidi was rather animated and noisy in the pub but was much fun as usual.

On return to home she played for a bit and then suddenly she was fast asleep in her cot, hopefully exhausted after a busy day of new experiences……