My older girlfriend

Had a lovely weekend this weekend.  Adam (Matt's best man) came down with his daughter Leia who is 4.  Unusually for Tom, he accepted her straight away, no shyness, no clinging to me.  She bossed him about and he was quite happy to be bossed about and went wherever she asked him to go.  Fantastic, this meant we could all relax and didn't really need to involve ourselves that often - how lovely.

Splashing in Granville

After a make your own pizza and a catch up we took Leia and Adam to Granville for some fresh air.  Leia was on good form, running this way and that and even treating us to an impromptu performance of some songs.  She was a pink blur full of energy and not at all shy.  Tom just followed in her wake and managed to keep up (but no singing from him).  They both enjoyed splashing in the puddles, so much so that Tom had to be stripped down to just his top before being allowed in Adam's car to go home.  We tried to get a good photo of the two together, but neither would stand still.

The plan for the evening was to go to the Donnington Fireworks.  Leia really likes fireworks, we weren't sure about Tom, but thought we would give it a go.  We gave the kids an early dinner of hotdogs and then walked down.  Then it all went wrong.  The bonfire was supposed to be lit at 7.00 and the fireworks started soon after.  The bonfire didn't get lit until 7.30 - not a good start.  Then we waited and waited and waited.  Not great with two little ones.  Leia got herself some sparkly pink hair which amused both of them for the wait (don't you think Tom looks great - very Baby Spice!) It got to 8.45 when I finally found someone to ask what was going on.  Apparently there had been congestion on the road, so they decided to delay everything (great! - if I was stuck in congestion I would turn around, not think that the fireworks would be delayed for me!)  They finally started at 8.50.  Tom cried immediately, but I think by then he was just too tired to cope with anything new.  I took him home, leaving Leia and the boys behind, but apparently Leia, who was also tired by now missed Tom and followed quite soon afterwards.  So, a complete disaster - thanks Telford!

Baby Spice?

On the good side, both children went straight to sleep, so we grilled ourselves some hot dogs and burgers in the lounge, watched the football and then went to bed ourselves, not exactly the night we had planned.  As Adam had predicted, Leia was up dead on 6am.  I could hear her shouting so went down to check on her, Adam was still spark out and he looked so tired last night, I couldn't bring myself to wake him up.  So I stayed with Leia and we played in her bedroom for a couple of hours until the boys were up.

We took Leia and Adam to Cosford in the morning.  Tom and Leia continued to play really nicely - at one stage they were rolling on the floor kissing and hugging each other - how cute!  After inspecting all the planes, buying a 'nellow elicopter' and a play in the 'fun & flight' area we continued on to Codsall Station pub for fishfinger sandwiches and to watch the trains (there weren't any due to engineering works!) before saying our goodbyes and heading our separate ways.

A very good weekend - haven't seen Tom so animated and play so nicely with someone for quite a while, so good to see.  We also risked Tom in pants for the weekend and he did really really well.  At Cosford he had his first wee on an adult toilet - he enjoyed it so much he did it 3 times, looks like we have wee wee sorted - can't believe it has been so easy.

A big week (and it's only Tuesday!)

Tom is certainly developing fast at the moment.

Monday - I took him swimming as usual.  I've not been able to let him go (when wearing armbands) yet - he's screamed the place down each time I've tried it.  At the beginning of the session he was the same as usual, but me being me I didn't give up and kept trying.  He finally did it!  He suddenly discovered that if he kicks his legs he propels himself and can move.  Hurray!  He managed to kick along a couple of widths and then I'll move him out to the middle of the pool and tell him to get to the edge which we did.  I was so proud and he was pleased with himself, although he did get tired and grumpy at the end, but can't blame him really.  He got lots of hugs and kisses.  Although to put it in perspective, there was a 2.5 year old girl in the pool with him swimming widths and jumping in with no buoyancy aids at all - couldn't believe my eyes when I saw her, didn't realise 2.5 year olds were capable of swimming!

Tuesday - I'd been wondering what to do about nursery and nappies so called them for advice, explaining that we had started potty training and that Tom was doing pretty well, but not great when wearing anything more than pants.  They told me to risk it and take in plenty of spare pants and trousers, which is what I did.  He cried as usual when I left him (to be expected these days).  When I went to get him after lunch, I was wondering which trousers he would be wearing and how big a bag of washing I would get.  To my utter surprise he was wearing exactly the same trousers I left him in.  I couldn't believe it.  He greeted me with a huge beaming smile and the staff rushed to tell me no accidents.  Wow!  Apparently he really liked being part of the 'toilet culture' taking his turn on the potty and even sat on the toilet too.  What an angel.  Another proud moment.  He did well this afternoon as well, only had one poo accident which was my fault as I didn't get to him quickly enough to help him with his jeans, but all wees went in the potty without event.  He really is growing up...

Back home

Easy Rider

So after an exhausting Saturday (flogging round the cake show for me and taking a grumpy boy train spotting for Matt) Sunday dawned beautifully clear, blue and sunny.  We decided to take Tom to Attingham Park so he could ride his bike (we were a little worried he may have forgotten what to do). We didn't need to worry, he was very excited to see his bike loaded into the car and was on it in a second. He was off, with us running after him.  We took him to the play park, but he wasn't interested, being on his bike was too much fun to worry about a slide or some swings!  He even tried to get on the roundabout with his bike.  He motored his way about 80% of the way round, before finally flagging.  He got a life onto Daddy's shoulders to finish off the path - but with his helmut on (he refused to take it off - but I can understand why, it is a very cool helmut).  We treated him to a cake in the cafe (during which time he decided to ride one of their 4 wheel buses around the courtyard) before leaving for lunch.  He got back on his bike to get to the car.  He is very very stable now and beginning to go faster, just needs to learn to pick up his feet when going downhill and we WILL be running after him.  He certainly turns people's heads already.

Spain - Part 3

The weather has gone off again - last night it rained and rained and rained.  This morning it rained and rained and rained.  What to do with a toddler in a small villa in the cold and wet? Well we've done all the indoor activities there are to do.  However, Matt managed to break the cafetiere yesterday so we thought we would seek out a shopping centre and see if we could replace it.

Two Toms

We headed off to Velez Malaga to a shopping mall we had seen on the way here.  First stop a huge hypermarket that sold everything and I mean everything, you could even buy a 125cc scooter there.  Found a replacement cafetiere but at a price, so left it there and got ourselves some bits for dinner and breakfast tomorrow.  Tom was given the job of pushing around a mini trolley on wheels which he took very seriously and did very well, didn't bump into anything or anyone which was brilliant for him.  We then looked round the rest of the Mall, Tom leading the way running ahead - he was in a really good mood.  I can't understand it, he expended more energy and had more fun today in the shopping mall than he did down on the beach - can you explain that?  I can't!

We found a more reasonably priced cafetiere in another store, had a look round C and A's for nostalgia more than anything else, and then decided to head back to Frig for lunch, there was a food court at the mall but it looked like nasty fast food - why have that when you can have good food elsewhere?  So, we had another €9 menu del dia at the Balcon de Frigiliana - and very nice it was too.

Came home to a damp villa with lots of damp washing (we did our last laundry yesterday).  Problem, there is a heater in the villa - but no remote control, which is the only way to use it.  There is also a gas heater, but that ran out of gas.  Last resort - a log burner for which we only have massive damp logs.  Matt tried very hard to get the log burner working, but with no kindling and no paper it was pretty hard work, and in the end we gave up.  Oh hum, lets hope the washing manages to dry overnight.  Spanish houses really aren't set up for cold, rainy days (just as ours aren't set up for hot days).

An interesting night - the torrential rain didn't let up for a minute. Neither of us got much sleep, mainly because we were worried about the villa flooding and the dirt track down to the main road washing away. Tom, of course, slept his usual 13 hours without stirring. How does he do it? There was thunder and lightning as well as the insane rain.

Business class

By morning, the rain was coming in through the roof, windows and doors. We set off earlier than planned for the airport, thinking that the journey might be difficult. In the end, it wasn't, so we had to hang around a bit before we could check in. Sadly, Burger King was the least ghastly option for an early lunch - our first trip to such a joint for a long time (since the night Tom was born in fact). The flight back was very good - Tom behaved well and slept on my (eventually dead) leg for an hour, and we landed at Brum about 15 minutes earlier. Then bus to the car park and the drive home, the last 15 minutes of which was in pretty much the same weather as we'd left behind in Spain.

All in all, it was a very nice holiday in a lovely area. Yes, we had some spectacularly bad weather, but the other days were nice and we made the most of them. The villa was comfortable, Tom liked the mule in the olive grove next to the villa, I liked the big ginger cat next door the other way, Frigiliana is one of the most charming little towns we've ever seen, and we all ate some excellent food. I should also point out that none of us consumed even a drop of alcohol for the entire duration of the trip, largely because the Spanish seemed to have cracked the art of making non-alcoholic beer that actually tastes like beer. Shame you can't get any of it over here.

Spain - Part 2

Tom's new favourite food

Sunday dawned nice and sunny.  We decided to go on a walk from the villa.  We had tried to find out about local walks in the area, but to no avail.  We aren't sure how walking works here, has all land got public right of way, or are you liable to get into trouble for walking through someone's olive grove?  Not sure.  We made a few false starts walking up what we thought were tracks only to discover they were people's driveways, but we managed a semi-interesting walk in the end.  A little boy, however, didn't enjoy himself and grizzled all the way round, until we found some windfall oranges which we rolled down the road, that was fun, but the rest wasn't.  Oh and we said hello to Mr Horse and the goats that live just down the road from us.  Tom was straight in and stroked the horse's head - we couldn't believe it - so he can be brave when he wants to be.

When we got back to the villa we discovered that we were almost out of beer - not a good situation, so we went into Frig to get some more.  We found a shop that was open, but we couldn't find anywhere to park our car, the town was seriously full.  So, we ended up down in Nerja as the supermarkets there are on this side of town.  The supermarkets there were closed.  Oh hum, so we ended up in the town again.  By now it was lunch time, so we decided to go back to the bakers and get some pastries to eat overlooking the sea.  This we did.  Tom seemed to eat more than either of us, focusing on a rather lovely Quiche Lorraine of which Matt and I only managed one bite each.  We then got ourselves an ice cream each.  Tom said he wanted a pink ice cream, so I got a fruits of the forest one.  This he liked very much - in fact I think he had more than me - he has certainly got to like ice cream on this holiday.

We then came home, Tom had his nap and we spent the afternoon playing by the pool, Tom once again using his potty when he needed a wee - what a good boy.

Pool time

Monday - another big moment in Tom's life - this morning he did a poo in his potty - Matt and I were very excited.  We are getting there.  As it dawned clear, hot and blue, we decided to go down to the beach.  So we packed up and went down to the Playa de Burriana which was a nice enough beach, some stones, but mainly sand.  He sat ourselves down close to the sea and started to play.  Matt took Tom down to the sea, from which I heard almighty screams - Tom went absolutely mad.  He showed himself to be absolutely terrified and this was with Matt holding him, not dunking him.  Tom wouldn't calm down at all so in the end we had to give up.  Luckily he was happy enough playing in the sand so we let him do so.  What made it worse was there was a little German girl a year younger than him on the beach having a wonderful time running about and playing in the sea.  She really wanted Tom to play with her, but he did his usual shy, clingy routine and wouldn't.  He was interested in her though, watching her from a distance and when she had all her clothes off, he decided to do the same and stripped down.  He finally went over to say hello, but wouldn't play, he would only watch.  He even got given some food by her parents, but wouldn't eat it, would only hold it.  What a shame.  He could have had a wonderful time playing with her.  Oh well, silly boy!  After Paulina had left the beach, we decided to give up and have lunch at one of the seaside restaurants. We slightly over-ordered, still haven't got to grips with how Spanish menus work, ended up with a huge portion of calamari, a huge huge portion of chips and half a chicken, baked potato and veggies.   Then it was back to the villa, nap, playtime round the pool, dinner and bed.

Frigiliana playground

Tuesday we decided to go back for a wander through Frig as we only scratched the surface last time.  We took it easy, Tom was in a good mood, so we took advantage of it and strolled around at his pace.  We looked around the shops and found some bits and pieces we liked.  Matt got his holiday T-shirt (the only time he buys clothes is on holiday).  Had a sit down, drink and ice cream in a cafe overlooking the gorge (guess who ate most of the ice-cream?!) then some more exploring before finding a restaurant where we ordered a paella for lunch (Tom ate more than his fair share - "nice rice") and then we explored the upper part of the old town.  Wow - I thought the lower street was nice, but the upper street was unbelievably pretty.  The locals obviously take great pride in their town as it was immaculate, little white washed houses in narrow cobbled streets, plants outside, a really nice atmostphere.  Tom even got cooed over by an old woman sitting in her porch, he was on good form though as we had to climb some steep steps - he didn't complain once, which is unlike him and a very pleasant change.  Then it was back to the villa for the afternoon routine.

Wednesday it dawned cloudy.  We hoped it would clear up over breakfast but it didn't.  Whilst outside Tom had his first accident in a couple of days which was a shame, but to be expected.  We decided to go exploring today, so took the road out of Frig and drove the windy roads to Torrox.  We then went to find a beach to play on, but they were all stoney, so we drove back to Nerja and went back to Monday's beach.  Tom still wouldn't go anywhere near the sea, but was happy to play with the sand.  At one stage, Matt and I were making sandcastles and playing football, whilst Tom was lying on the beach - isn't it supposed to be the other way round?  Trust us to have a child who is scared of sandcastles!!!!!

El Acebuchal - 'The Lost Village'

After an hour or so we packed up and headed back to the track on which our villa is located, but this time carried on to El Acebuchal - a hamlet up and then down a narrow windy track.  We had been recommended lunch there.  Wow!  What a place.  It has a horrible history where all the men and boys were shot during the civil war and the place was then abandoned until 1998, when an old villager decided to rebuild his family house, which sparked others to do the same and now it is the prettiest of places.  There is one restaurant there serving home cooked rustic spanish food.  The menu sounded wonderful, I couldn't decide so asked the waiter to decide for me.  Matt ordered lamb in a cinnamon sauce - which turned out to be really sweet and almondy but in a nice way.  Our meals arrived, and they were gorgeous, my first ever wild boar was lovely, Tom liked both our meals too (how many 2 year olds have had wild boar?).  We decided to try dessert and were treated to home made chocolate ice cream with big white chocolate buttons in it (Matt was in heaven) and a huge lump of date cake (Tom was in heaven).  What a place.