Another busy day and another birthday boy called Jake, this time Tom's cousin in Aylesbury. So after a morning of running Tom around Telford Town Park to wear him out, and an early lunch, we headed off down the M40 yet again. Another easy ride down, meaning we had an hour or so before the party which was held at a local gym - when I say gym I mean a proper gymnastic gym - had bouncy floors, trampoline (took me back to childhood and I did a sneaky quick routine - wish I had my sports bra with me though!), a foam pit, a huge swing - in short it was a fab place for both children and adults.

Everyone seemed to have a good time, then it was dinner for the kids, return to Simon and Clare's for a run around and change into pyjamas before heading back around 6pm. Surprisingly it took Tom a good 45 mins to get to sleep in the car, but he was fully asleep by the time we got home. Matt took a very floppy boy upstairs to bed whilst I was dispatched for fish and chips (we were both starving - we are used to 5pm dinners now as we eat with Tom most nights (means he eats better), so we were both ravenous by 9pm)

Anyway here are a couple of videos we took which tell the story of the party better than my words:

More lovely days

We have had a couple of really good days. Friday saw us in Cosford with Sammie, Jen and Sophie. They had a wonderful time, first in the Cold War hanger and then in the 'fun with flight' area, where Tom took control of his favourite machine - collecting the parcel putting it on the lift ready to be loaded onto the plane and then letting others press the buttons to move the plane and drop the parcel. As long as they gave the parcel to Tom to put back on the lift then everyone was happy. He stayed there for absolutely ages so didn't get too upset when we eventually left. We then had a picnic outside as it was such a nice day. Sophie and Tom had a wonderful time running up and down a grass verge. Sophie kept going to kiss Tom, which he wasn't too happy about! Then they found a mini crater which they sat in and played in. They got incredibly dirty! Anyway, it was lovely to watch them have so much fun together. Tom fell asleep on the way home and I had trouble waking him up from his nap. We had a quiet afternoon, we popped into Asda to pick up a curry - for the first time in months, I had to take Tom in the pram as he absoultey refused to walk - I guess he really was tired from the morning.

Saturday morning saw us back at the scout hut in Priorslee for another 2nd birthday (Jake from Messy Mondays) - this time there was a bouncy castle, which Tom quickly clambered on. He hasn't seen one before, but knew exactly what to do. He had lots of fun. We were all asked to bring toys with us, which meant there was plenty to do, although he had trouble sharing his bus with anyone else. He had the usual party food lunch - sausages, crisps, biscuits, chocolates and jelly!

Came home, had an early nap, customer came round to pick up my latest cake and then we all walked to Asda to pick up something for dinner. Tom then played outside with Hannah and Becca whilst I made dinner (homemade pasta with belly pork - yummy!)

A tired boy finally went to bed around 6.45, I could hear him snoring within minutes!!!!

Another lovely weekend

Another lovely weekend - we seem to be having a good run of them at the moment. We went up to Manchester - well Salford actually to see Adam, Karen and Leia. Stopped by in Shrewsbury first to pick up Matt (was out on a pub crawl Friday night - naughty man - even involved a kebab and not going to bed until 3 - does he think he is 21?!) Had lunch in a pub and then drove up. Got there just before 3. It took Leia and Tom about 15 minutes to get over their shyness and then they played together really nicely, running around everywhere. Leia took to pushing Tom round the garden in her car, which he loved, they were out there for a good hour.

We left the men to it, whilst Karen and I went to a Zumba class. I've been meaning to have a go for a while (new aerobics / latin dance fitness class) so she gave me the perfect opportunity. I quickly put on some of Adam's baggy clothes and trainers (luckily he has small feet) and away we went. Was good fun, but I discovered I am less fit than I thought - really do need to do something about it.

Came back to tapas made for us by Adam and then had a lovely night drinking really good wine and chatting. Tom was a little unsettled in his cot, had to go into him twice. We spent the night debating the best plan of action with him. The last couple of times we have tried sleep in the same room as us he has cried, but this time he was crying because he was on his own in a strange room. In the end we decided for me to sleep in the same room with him on my own, so I could put him in bed with me if necessary, and Matt got the sofa downstairs. It worked well (Tom didn't cry), but he was unsettled and coughing a lot meaning that I didn't sleep very well, and Matt had trouble on getting to sleep on the sofa (he kept sticking to it as it is a leather one!) So not a successful night, but as I said Tom was well behaved.

Had a bit of a lie in in the morning, eventually getting up at 8am. Tom then ran around in his pyjamas with Leia - not sure what they were playing, but they were cuddling in bed together at one stage and then they were both cuddled together in the cot at another stage, then I caught Tom removing Leia's duvet, putting it in the hallway and dive bombing it! Anyway there was a lot of hilarity. They certainly became good buddies.

Late morning saw us walking over to The Museum of Science and Industry where the kids had a good hour playing in the interactive area, before heading off to Cafe Rouge for lunch. By this time Tom was exhausted so we carried him back and then headed back to Telford. He slept the whole way back, bless him.

Got home around 4pm, Tom played out whilst I made him some dinner. He had a big crash on his bus, bless him. He seemed really concerned about his hands which were fine, then we noticed a really big bump on his head (cartoon style) - he seemed completely unaware of it (this proves what I have always thought, there isn't much going on in there!!!!!) He had a little cry but it didn't last long. He had dinner, then bath and bed. Haven't heard from him yet - must be shattered as he is really down on sleep - don't think it will be long before we head up as well - we are all pretty tired, but in a good way. Thanks Adam, Karen and Leia x

A Lovely Weekend

We have had a lovely weekend, helped in the fact that the sun shone all this afternoon. It wasn't all good though. We had a grizzly morning on Saturday - hysterics on the stairs before breakfast and then we decided to take him to the barber's for his first ever haircut. There was a little boy, a little younger than Tom in the queue before him. He behaved impeccably, sat on the booster seat and sat still whilst the barber cut his hair. Next up was Tom. As soon as we got near the chair he turned red in the face and started to cry. There was no way he was going to do it so I sat on the chair and held him. He cried and cried, moving his head as he went. Poor Mick (Matt's barber) had a real job not to poke him let alone cut his hair in some sort of style. We had to resort to giving him a dummy (snacks, toys, books didn't do anything). It sort of calmed him down, but he never really settled. I ended up with snot and tears and hair all over me! Mick, to his credit, stayed calm and did a good job, I really don't know how he did it! So anyway, we now have a very smart boy. He looks so different.

He cheered up in the car, and after a trolley ride in Tesco he was back to his usual self. We spent lunchtime in Wellington - I had a long list of ribbon I needed to get for various cakes and there is a really good stall in Wellington market - huge variety and very cheap. We went to our favourite pub first, found out they've stopped making our favourite meal - bucket of chicken wings, so had a combo platter instead which included chicken goujons. We haven't been able to get Tom to eat chicken yet - but he kept pointing to our plate, so we let him choose and he choose the chicken and he ate it. We were astounded - it wasn't processed chicken either - proper chicken breast in a thin batter. I will try that at home.

We then toddled around Wellington - Tom on his reigns as he has now got so confident with his walking and within himself that he is quite happy to walk off away from us which means trips out can be a bit scary with him going in any direction. He did really well, we managed to go to all the places we wanted to go to and he didn't sit down in protest or throw a tantrum = a successful trip.

We came home, he had a nap, I did some fruit cake experimenting in the kitchen (I have a dairy free, wheat free cake on order so made a small one to see how it turned out). The afternoon was spent playing trains in the lounge as it was raining. He really enjoyed himself as you can see in the video below.

Sunday we decided to go to the Sealife Centre in Birmingham. Been meaning to go for ages. Well Tom woke up in a very good mood, which was enhanced in the car, he kept clapping everytime we pulled away from a red light! We got to the centre just as it opened, so it wasn't full. He had a fantastic time. He was back on the reins again so we had some control over him. Lots of the tanks had viewing at his level, so he was able to get a really good look at the fish and coral etc. He seemed to like the silver coloured fish the best (wasn't really interested in the the brightly coloured ones)?! Some bits we missed because he was so excited and full of pent up energy that he just had to run through them, but it was a good visit. We took him to the 4d theatre for a short film, but I had to take him out as he didn't like being sprayed with water (maybe the memories from yesterday's hair cut were too raw!). He was a little uncertain walking through the tunnel with sharks etc, but did manage it in the end. Oh, and we got a new word - 'turtle' which was good.

Once out he had a play in the soft play area there (more interested in a Bob the Builder ride than the soft play) and then to a pub for lunch (well we actually had breakfast but who's counting) and home. Tom had a nap and then as it was such a beautiful day (blue sky and sunshine) we

spent the rest of the day outside running up and down the cul-de-sac outside. The Gouge girls joined us for a while. Was really nice - Tom ran his heart out and the girls played really nicely with him, almost forgot to make dinner and had to rush in to get it made.

So a really nice weekend filled with good memories.

Oh and as you can see from the pics, Tom will now only eat bananas in their skins, far more interesting than slices or chunks!