A Grand Day Out

Another beautiful day at Powis Castle. We had such a lovely time last time we visited that we swore we would return before the end of the year. Today was the day, we had clear blue skies (a slight chill in the air, but still, clear blue skies!). Last time we came Tom was just beginning to walk - he would take a step and then collapse in a heap. This time he trotted around the place like a pro. He even navigated steep verges and steps as well as returning to his fountain for a good play.

I don't think we had any crying and certainly no tears. He, of course ate as many stones as he could, and also decided that grass was tasty. His lovingly prepared sandwiches though were evil - nothing would persuade him to eat them. I'm sure if had made him a mud pie - he would have eaten every last morsel! I WILL teach him to like sandwiches - he is English after all! Apart from refusing his sandwiches we had a good picnic. Tom played 'Chase the Ball' and had a good giggle exploring his surroundings.

After another play in the fountain, we made our way back up the hill to the castle. Tom was getting tired by this stage, so he went into the rucksack so Matt could lug him up. We shared a piece of Bara Brith in the tea room and then made our way back to the car (past all the people having picnics in the car park - why oh why do people do that - I just don't understand) and home. A magical family day out.

Oh, I have forgotten to mention that Tom is beginning to drop his morning nap (boo hoo!) He doesn't sleep at nursery anymore and if he has had a good night's sleep he refuses to go down at 9am, however, he does get tired and wants to nap at 11 - so I have to distract him until after lunch and then he has an early afternoon nap. I'm sure it won't be long before he drops them all together.

AND he slept through last night - I heard 2 very short grizzles from him, nothing that needed any intervention. He walked his heart out today, so fingers crossed he sleeps well again.

Mr Cool

So we went to the Teddy Bear's picnic yesterday. We were lucky in that we decided to go early, we had our picnic, Tom made himself at home playing with all the toys and we were treated to a fantastic rendition of The Three Billy Goats Gruff by a story teller. The heavens then opened and we had to run for shelter. When we got to the car park, the sun came out again, so we dumped the picnic and blanket and went for a walk, before tucking into an eccles cake in the tea room. Tom was on quite good form and did quite a bit of walking. And as you can see from the photo, he was Mr Cool - wellies and sunglasses - a great look!

We got back around 3.30, so had a little play, dinner, bath and bed. Rachel M came round at 7pm (we have a reciprocal babysitting arrangement, I sat with Mae last night) and we popped out to Shifnal. We stupidly thought we would be able to get a table anywhere. We got turned away from every restaurant we tried (didn't realise Shifnal is so popular), so ended up at East End Balti - not a disaster.

Today dawned quite miserable, so we decided to stay at home and do some shopping. (Very exciting!) I'm in need of a dress for the Battle of Britain dinner Pat and Bob generously got us invites for. After consulting with a number of people, I decided that I needed a long dress for it - I don't have one so today I dragged Matt and Tom round Telford shopping centre trying to find one. Went into almost every clothing shop there was - the number of long dresses for sale could be counted on one hand, when I did find them, they tended to be in sizes 8 or 10 - not a chance I would fit. Our last stop was House of Fraser, I found a long black number which fitted and didn't cost a fortune - yahoo, it was purchased immediately and then we headed for the restaurant for lunch.

Tom behaved badly, wouldn't eat any of his lunch, couldn't even be tempted by chips! In the end I hid his lunch under fromage frais, not a traditional way to eat food, but I did get it down him in the end.

He was showing signs of boundless energy, so I put the reins on him and then we walked to the town park. Tom did really well, considering the shopping centre was busy, although he did show signs of being a spaniel - zig zagging from side to side. He had a good play in the park - showed his dad his new tricks, until suddenly he got tired, so we packed him up in the rucksack and came home.

Oh - almost forgot to say, he's not sleeping very well at the moment. Yesterday night he was up at 9pm, 2am and 4am. At 4am we ignored him and eventually he stopped and went back to sleep. Last night he was up at 3.30 - we tried to ignore him, but he screamed and screamed. We had to go in to see him in the end, he was absolutely furious! I think that he has got used to us being with him in the night again from when he was ill, and he now expects us to visit him each night. Not sure how to resolve it other than ignore him when he cries, but that is so difficult and doesn't always work.

Oh and he now says 'yeah' - don't think he knows how to use it though, as he is saying yeah to everything!

AND he has worked out the stair gates. He will crawl up the stairs, go through it, pull the gate too and then push the clasp down to lock it. Very useful for me when I have my hands full, good to know he has a sense of responsibility.

Do you like my tongue?

So, as has become usual, I am behind with blogging again - can't think why this week as I haven't been overloaded with cake orders (thank goodness - took this week to catch up). Just done my monthly accounts and am pleased to say that I made a net profit this month, even though I just spent £200 on supplies - cake boxes and drums which should mean that the next couple of months I should run a profit as I shouldn't have too many sundries to purchase (well that's the plan anyway!)

Can't really think what we've done this week - mainly as it has been such a dull, grey week. So depressing we've had thick clouds and rain most days. Tom has been in his rucksack with the waterproof cover pulled over him most of the week - he's as snug as a rug and gets plenty of attention as it is so unusual to see a baby on someone's back, let along with a 'tent' over them. However, it isn't the point it is August and it should be sunny!

Today dawned clear with sunshine (a bit cold for August, but sunshine never-the-less) so we took advantage and went down the town park in the morning, we, surprisingly had it to ourselves and Tom was really good until he decided to sit in a puddle and got very wet (hence the photo with him minus trousers!) I managed to put reins on him today, put it on the long setting and he was good in that he didn't do his sit down protest immediately, but was happy to swing from side to side exploring. Will keep on with this, as it gives him some sort of freedom and means I'm not chasing him all the time.

He managed to navigate a piece of equipment in the park that he has always had trouble with which was fab, shows he is getting stronger and stronger. His new trick this week is sticking out his tongue - perfectly demonstrated in this photo. Not sure what has facilitated it, but it is quite funny.

It's the bank holiday weekend coming up, we are planning a Teddy Bear's picnic at Attingham Park on Saturday and Powis Castle on Sunday - assuming we manage to get some sunshine. I have bought lots of picnic items in the optimistic hope that it doesn't rain. That's it for now, we are of to Kamila and Stella's this afternoon - Stella is one next week and Kamila is after some cupcakes.

A good weekend

We've had a lovely weekend, unfortunately we didn't take that many pics, so sorry for that.

Saturday we went to a BBQ at the Zielkes. Had a really good time. Everyone was there (great chance for a photo opp - but it never happened), the little ones we fantastic with each other. They weren't playing with each other, but they tolerated each other and were aware of each other. There were no punches thrown and no tears over toys. It was really nice to see them all playing, running around on the lawn.

One by one the babies went to bed and we settled in for drinks and chat. We could have stayed until the small hours, but I was sensible and called it a night at 11pm, we are still recovering from Tom's illness. As is usual, we split into 2 groups - girls and boys. The boys were all smoking cigars and drinking outside, whilst we were inside discussing the fittest Cbeebies presenters (what have our lives become?!)

Tom was an angel, he was a happy bunny, ate all his dinner and went to bed without a whimper. We had to wake him up to come back home which he suffered without any trouble at all - he went straight back to sleep on our return home.

Sunday we went to visit Auntie Jude in Chirk. It's been a long while since we've seen her - she was swamped with work - exams and then lots of marking. Tom was on good form again, made himself at home and spent quite a bit of time playing with fridge magnets (we don't have them at home) We had lunch and then went for a walk along the canal, looking for ducks to feed (there weren't any!) Oh well. We made our way home (Tom and I both fell asleep) then had a play before dinner, bath and bed. Unfortunately Tom now has a cough which is bothering him, here's hoping he manages to sleep with it.

It was an ear infection

So, we finally got to the bottom of Tom's illness. He was more or less back to his happy self on Wednesday which was fantastic. He also slept through on Wednesday night - even more fantastic (I of course couldn't - have lost the knack again!).

Thursday morning, I went in to get him and saw what I thought were blood stains on his cot sheets. Strange, but then I saw a huge lump of ear wax in his ear, so thought it must have been that. After breakfast, he was sat with me on the sofa when I noticed that his ear was full of gunk. I called the Dr who asked me to take him in, he had a look and said there was a lot of discharge, and to be safe he should go on a course of anti-biotics. Basically he has had an ear infection and his ear drum has perforated, relieving all the pressure and pain he has been experiencing. His first course of anti-biotics - poor thing, typical that he now has medicine being well. Strange thing is that he never tugged on his ears. We gave him so much teething gel, he must have wondered why on earth we were giving it to him!

Dr was nice (Dr Hudson), he was the same Dr I spoke to last week, when he originally got ill and had a temperature and poo problems. He told me that it was nice to speak to a sensible mother on the phone. I guess they don't have too many in Donnington - mind you the average mother in Donnington is a teenage with attitude!

Once finished at the Drs we completed some chores and then went to visit Sammie, Jen and Sophie. Sammie has been having a bad time with Jen and Sophie. Jen (3) ill and Sophie (1) not sleeping. Her other half is in the army and in The Falklands, so she doesn't get any support at home which can't be easy. I went loaded with cake and I think we cheered her up a bit.

Tom had a grizzly afternoon, I was a little worried about night time, but needn't have been, he was an angel. I managed some more sleep as well which was good.

Friday morning Tom went to nursery which was very quiet - in fact there were only 3 babies with 2 carers, so he had a wonderful time. I came home to work on cakes. I got seriously behind this week as I had such an unproductive day on Tuesday. I am recreating the In the Night Garden cake and Lily Pad Cupcakes for a 1st birthday present. I have discovered that it is really hard to recreate a cake - found making the In the Night Garden models again very difficult - the models aren't that difficult, it is trying to make them look exactly the same as the previous cake which is difficult. Got there in the end.

Picked up a very happy Tom (he managed to stay awake in the car on the way home), he had a 2 hour nap, whilst I finished off the cakes and did some computer work (I was going to make a profit this month, but have just put in a bulk order of cupcake boxes and cake drums and boxes, so have a feeling it will be a loss again, maybe next month I will go black)

The afternoon saw us in Hoo Farm again for a quick visit. Tom was a little bit lazy, when he doesn't want to walk, he sits down in protest and nothing I can do will convince him to budge. It is a very annoying trait. I don't think it is because he is tired, I think it is because he is lazy. I will see how it goes, might be something I have to work on.

Came home, he refused his dinner (sausage pasta from last night), then bath and bed.

I must say it is SOOOOOOO nice to have our happy Tom back, such a relief and it is good to know what it was that was making him so unhappy.

On the up?

We seem to have turned a corner, and today we had a happy Tom, which was sooooooo nice to see. Not sure what tonight will bring as we have heard the odd grizzle, but he was definitely feeling better today, lets hope it stays that way.

The last week or so has been a bit of a blur due to Tom's illness - I've got very tired, also Matt hasn't been very well either, so between us all, we have been pretty grumpy. I did manage to make a Guinea Pig cake with a Villa scarf though that was very well received. This week, I have lots of orders, and am putting Tom in nursery on Friday morning, as I didn't manage to get that much done yesterday - a combination of being tired and unhappy.

Will try to catch up properly at the weekend.

Poor little mite

Tom is still ill, bless him. We thought he was on the road to recovery - his poo has settled down and he was looking happy. This morning, he ate all his breakfast and a good lunch. We took him to Cosford as it was such a horrible day, he had a good 10 minutes there and then grizzled. Nothing we could do would cheer him up, so we went home and put him to bed. He only slept for 30 mins before waking up crying. He then cried for a good hour. Nothing would help, cuddles, reading, singing, food, drink, going outside etc. In the end, he calmed down and fell asleep on me. We didn't think that we would be able to get any food down him at dinner time, but in the end we did ok. He didn't like being in his chair, instead he had a picnic on the sofa - very messy, but we got there in the end.

After dinner, he fell asleep on me again, but he livened up as soon as we took him upstairs for his bath. Suddenly he got a gleam back in his eyes and he started chuckling again. He had a good bath with his Dad and then story and bed. We will see what happens tonight (he ended up in bed with me last night). We've now had a week of disturbed nights - very scared he's going to slip back into his old ways...

Tom Travolta

A somewhat better day today. Tom was only up once during the night (apparently), but Nik managed to get him back to sleep in his cot rather than have to put him in our bed. He had a reasonable breakfast, eventually, but hasn't actually eaten much for the rest of the day. I guess he's still not quite over his stomach bug, but he's been much more chirpy and active today. Nik took him for a walk in Telford Town Park this morning and, after a long-ish afternoon nap, he had a play in the garden as well. Despite not having much tea, he wolfed down a handful of dates before having a good, playful bath with me, where he spent a good 15 minutes tackling the concept of screw-top bottles. Some progress was made, but I think we'll need another lesson tomorrow.

Nik's out with the NCT girls tonight, and Tom hasn't made a peep so far, so I'm going to have an evening on the sofa watching Japanese TV.

Hope you like today's video. Tom has recently started dancing to music on TV, mainly Zingzillas and Chuggington on CBeebies. The footage doesn't quite do justice to his natural rhythm. It's possibly the cutest he's yet done, and we sit on the sofa trying to suppress our laughter. We'll try and get him to do some live performances for visitors.

Another catch up

So don't really know where to start as it's been a while and all a bit of a blur. We had a good time up in Yorkshire, but didn't get very far with the house hunt. All houses were either too small or with no / too small gardens. I really do hate estate agents, not one offered any help, suggested any other properties, asked any questions about us and our intended move. When we got home, we found a few more properties just on the market through the same estate agents - humpfh. One even told the vendors that my mum lives in Ingleton and that is why we were relocating there - I have no idea where that came from. There must be a good estate agent out there somewhere, surely? One got in a strop with me when I asked if there were any other properties on the market that would suit our needs - telling me that I should look on the Internet - great service don't you think, why oh why do we have to go through them to buy properties. I hate giving them money for doing nothing.


Tom being solemn on the beach

Right, rant over! One good thing did come out of the weekend, we have now decided that Ingleton is the place - if you are interested, the village has a website: http://www.ingleton.co.uk/. As I said, on arrival back home we found another couple of properties that we could have viewed. We have decided to go back up again in November for a week - rent a cottage. That way we will see the place at its worse (November is always dull) and we will be able to walk up and down every street to see exactly what is for sale and make appointments there and then. We discovered that Rightmove really isn't reliable enough.

We did have a lovely time with Kathy and Paul. Unfortunately I was a little on the grumpy side as was suffering from tonsillitis and therefore had a very sore throat, temperature, headaches etc, whilst trying to be a good guest and keep Tom in check. Tom behaved himself quite well and endeared himself to Kathy and Paul, and Matt managed a night out with them (I went to bed early) - he got drunk under the table, but he should know - they are related to Betty and Geoff - notorious drinkers!!!

We took Tom to the beach on the Sunday, but he wasn't that fussed, however, he wasn't 100%. He's now definitely unwell. He's got worse as the week has gone on. Started off with him not being his happy self, then waking up through the night and refusing to go back to sleep (two nights now he has ended up in bed with me), appetite is down. Today he refused to eat at nursery, something he's never done before. He fell asleep 15 mins before I picked him up yesterday - found him with the others, lying on a mat with his bum up in the air. Today, he fell asleep in Chris' arms 5 minutes before I arrived. He had hot cheeks, so they took his temperature : 39 in one ear and 39.4 in the other. They gave him an emergency dose of Calpol there and then before I took him home. He has also been drinking lots and lots. I put him to bed as soon as we got home. He woke up after 45 mins (soiled nappy), went back to sleep and haven't heard from him since, am waiting until 4pm until I wake him up.

I have spoken to the Dr who reckons it is Viral Gastroenteritis, he said to keep an eye on him, keep administering Calpol, take him off dairy. If he gets any worse to take him in.

I've only had one cake to do this week - the dreaded Guinea Pig one. Baked the cake yesterday and iced it today. Matt thinks it is good. It certainly has come out better than I expected, although, of course, I know where all the faults and mistakes are. Oh, if you are wanting to see a full portfolio of pics of my cakes - visit my Facebook page: click here, or if you don't do Facebook, I also have them all on Flickr which has open access to everyone: click here. The website doesn't allow me to put all of them up - so these are better.

Oh, Monday was a nice day, we went to Meilyn's Naming Day - friends of ours from the West Midlands JET Chapter. Had a good afternoon, and they liked my cake (phew as I had a number of disasters with it!)

So that's us at the moment. Not great. I'm recovering from my illness, but still not 100%, and Tom isn't helping in that he isn't sleeping at the moment - not his fault I know. I just hope that whatever is wrong with him sorts itself out soon.

Right, better go up and see how he is.

Ill and tired

Hi there, sorry for lack of posts, been ill and tired. Went up to Yorkshire for a house hunting weekend which got us no-where (although lovely to see Kathy and Paul again), I came down with tonsillitis and Tom is under the weather and not sleeping (I didn't get to sleep until 5am this morning and was awake again at 6.30). So, very tired and no motivation to do anything other the bear necessities. I have some pics and stories to post - but they won't go up today I'm afraid.

I'm getting better (tonsillitis isn't as bad as last time) and Tom is off to nursery tomorrow so hopefully if he lets me sleep tonight, all will look better in the morning. I need to have a clear head as I have that Guinea Pig shaped cake to make this week!

Can you cross your fingers for tonight please.

We have a whopper!

We seem to be getting Tom weighed at 6-weekly intervals these days. The last 6 week period saw him put on a whole 1 oz, which concerned us a bit, but this time his weight had shot up by no less than 2lb 7oz. That's more like it, and might explain why we're both getting so knackered lugging him about. Anyway, he now weighs 24lb 6oz (over 11kg), which is pretty much what he should be.

It's been a fairly run-of-mill week, me with a busy translation schedule, Nik with a number of cake orders, and Tom behaving like an utter loony. He didn't sleep during either of his mornings at nursery, both times arriving home in the state shown in the photo, that is, a zombie with a dummy. Up until this week, that would have ensured a good 2 hours sleep during the afternoon, but on both Tuesday and Wednesday, he only went down for 30 minutes before waking up screaming and being generally inconsolable for a god while after getting up. Today was better though, and he slept for about 90 minutes after lunch before waking up a happy chappy. Let's hope it was just a temporary blip.

We're off to Yorkshire house-hunting this weekend, so we're hoping that he sleeps well at Kathy & Paul's. He also has a job to do in cheering up Kathy, whose Mum (my Godmother, Betty) isn't at all well at the moment.

Back home

Not much to say about today, but we have a brilliant photo so thought we should share it with you.

Most of the day was spent getting from Plymouth back home to Telford. We left at 9.45. Tom fell asleep and stayed asleep for over an hour which was good going. He also stayed cheery until we got to Cribbs Causeway where we got out to stretch our legs and have lunch.

We stayed there for 2 hours, Matt got a bargain pair of Gortex boots from Clarks, I got a cake tin from John Lewis and Tom got some new sandals from Next (very exciting aren't we). Tom had a good run around so we were hoping he would fall asleep in the car. WRONG! He refused to sleep at all, the the second half of the journey wasn't quite as relaxing as it could have been, but he wasn't too bad. Ate for England again in the car - ate me completely out of snacks - he must be on a growth spurt at the moment!

Got home at 4pm, put Tom down in his cot for half an hour whilst we emptied the car. Then up for play, and did he play - he spent the afternoon loonying around big time! He also ate a mammoth dinner - I thought the snacks would ruin his appetite. I was wrong! Then bath, milk and bed. Haven't heard from him yet.

Today's pic - Tom in Matt's new boots. They suit him don't they?

A day at Cotehele

Simon, Clare and Jake went home this morning. Before they did, Tom and Jake had one last play together. They played very well with each other very well and as you can see they even have the same mannerisms. Tom tried to copy everything that Jake did - which involved running - not easy when you've only just learnt to run. Matt was in the room when Jake said "I got it", Tom turned around and repeated "got it". I wish I had been there!

I also wasn't present when they had big hugs when Jake left (I had been bullied into getting my hair cut at the local hairdressers). Of course it wasn't caught on film (the best moments never are!) Was good to see that they liked each other. Lets hope it continues.

Once I got back from the hairdressers (with a light head) we headed out to Cotehele - a local National Trust property. It is only about 5 miles from Crapstone as the crow flies, but the Romans never made it to Devon or Cornwall, so it took 15 miles and the best part of an hour down very narrow roads to get there.

It was worth it. The house was very good looking (we didn't get a chance to look inside, but would quite happily go back for an explore). The grounds were amazing. The shrubs were at their best - bursting with colour. We took a walk down a valley to the Tamar River, where there were a collection of buildings and more importantly a tea room (we were quite hungry by then) . Unusually for National Trust the prices were reasonable. We had cheese scones followed by a flapjack. We got 3 scones thinking Matt and I would have 1.5 each. Tom had other ideas. He was in extra hungry mode. He ate the best part of half a scone and a big chunk of flapjack on top of all his lunch I had brought with us. He was eating again for over an hour - where does he put it all?

After lunch he had a run around by the river. He had a great time toddling around and made lots of friends. There was a discovery centre with old fashioned toys and dressing up clothes to play with - Tom did so. I think he looks very cute in his flat cap!

Once everything had been discovered, he went back into his rucksack so his Dad could lug him back up the steep hill to the mill and then the car park (what a hero).

I, once again kept him awake in the car home, so he could have a proper sleep at home whilst we relaxed. Mum and Dad returned home from Plymouth (where they had been helping out the Diabetic Association on a bus), so we all had a play when Tom woke up. We then had a good dinner and all of us were early to bed.

Birthday in the West Country

My birthday seemed to spring itself upon me this year. We'd all been focused on Nik's Nan's funeral the day before (the reason we were in Devon), so it seemed to happen very suddenly on Friday morning. Nik and I were joined on the bed by a rampaging loony (guess who?) while I opened my presents. Tom seemed to think they were for him, especially the three bottles of excellent malt whisky I received from my folks and my in-laws, but once I'd explained they weren't for his consumption, he made do with tearing the wrapping paper to shreds and then eating it. Such a subtle child.

Anyway, my birthday outing started with a trip to Tavistock to give £145 to the local tyre dealer to replace the slow puncture on the Ralliart. £145? Ouch. Still, my fault for not getting it looked at sooner. It might have been savable a week earlier. We then thought about heading up onto Dartmoor to get a spot of lunch and exercise the lad, but the weather looked distinctly iffy, so we instead headed to a little village called Meavy, as we'd been recommended to try the pub there. Very nice it was too; Nik had a good portion of whitebait, I had a tuna baguette, and His Nibs ate all of his own lunch and a good portion of each of ours. His appetite is extraordinary just now. Worms? Or just a growth spurt? Still, he needs plenty of fuel at the moment as he seems to have boundless reserves of energy. After lunch, we spent 20 minutes or so watching Tom kick a football round the village green while keeping a careful eye on three very free-range (and splendid-looking) chickens hopping round the green.

We then drove the few miles back to Crapstone and put Tom down for his afternoon nap. We weren't sure what to do when he stirred (oppressive, tiring weather), but we dragged ourselves down to the village's rather spartan playground to give Tom a go on the swings and a slide on a very long, steep slide. He impressed us both by climbing up a very steep grass bank to get to the top of the slide - he seems to have very strong legs - but someone must have coated the slide itself with Uhu or something; Even without shoes on, Tom just stuck to the slide an d had to exhibit some bizarre backwards swimming technique to get to the bottom.

John & Carol kindly offered to babysit their grandsons so that Nik & I could go out for dinner (our 4th night out in 3 weeks!). John even chauffeured us to and from the "Who'd Have Thought It" pub in nearby Milton Combe - a lovely pub in an utterly gorgeous village. Situated in a steep valley and filled with lots of houses that we immediately wanted to buy (if they s uddenly dropped in price by at least 50%). Anyway, thank you Nik - a very nice evening.

Then a quick nip of one of my new whiskies (Ledaig) and off to bed.

Nan's Funeral

Thursday was Nan's funeral. It was upsetting and uplifting all at the same time. We took Tom to a play barn in Tavistock in the morning to wear him out so he would have a good sleep in the afternoon ready for the long afternoon.

He did well, was a small place with a big slide and the steps to get up the slide were too far apart for his little legs, but he persevered on and enjoyed himself. He had his lunch there, I kept him awake in the car back and then put him down in his cot on our arrival back. He fell asleep on cue and stayed asleep for over 2 hours which was fab.

We set off to the crematorium at 2.45 and got there to find we were the last to arrive. The service went well, Dad made a lovely speech about Nan and the two boys were more or less well behaved. Shelm (Nan's sister) was understandably very upset, and it upset me to see her like that. It's never easy to see someone in pain, let alone a relative. There were very few dry eyes in the house.

Once the service was over, everyone made their way to Crapstone. Mum and Dad had got M&S to do a spread, the weather held so everyone could sit outside. It was a lovely afternoon. Some great photos of Nan circulated, including ones of her during her cruising days (she spent some holidays on the Canberra). These were the 70's so cruising was still very much about formal wear - there were some really dodgy dresses going on. Nan came out best - but unfortunately it was a bad bunch - brilliant photos though! (She is the middle one here) There were also some pics of her, looking very rosy with a bottle of bubbles and arm flung round a friend whilst on a train in a foreign country - not the Nan I knew, but fantastic. Glad to see she had so much fun.

There were also plenty of dodgy photos of me doing the rounds: bowl cuts, shaggy dog perms, questionable fashion taste (nothing new there then) . Obviously they won't be making the cut here. There were some good stories floating around. Nan was obviously held in high regard by all.

The stars of the show, of course were Jake and Tom - they helped keep the edge off the proceedings and made lots of new friends. Lets hope that next time we see everyone it is for a happy occasion so we can all enjoy it.

People stayed until about 7.30pm which was good going as all had been up early to get to Devon in time: people came from Liverpool, Derby, London and Wiltshire. The boys stayed up to the end as well, without a grizzle (until the very end when Tom realised he was tired and screamed and screamed) so he had a quick bath, milk and straight to bed, he went to sleep immediately.

I was really pleased he behaved so well. I discovered a new thing today as well - he loves M&S party food. I think he demolished about 3 mini quiches and a huge pile of Moroccan cous cous - guess I should make some for him in the future.

Catch up

Wow, we really are behind this week. So much has happened, that I`m not sure if I can remember it all!

Monday - went to Hoo Farm with Rachel and Mae. Both had a good time and the sun came out which was great. Spent quite a bit of time on the trampolines bouncing - one of our favourite things to do there at the moment. Tom still wanted to eat every stone in sight, only managed to get about 5 in his mouth - dirty boy!

Tuesday - Tom in nursery whilst I caked (yes I`ve started to use cake as a verb). Cooked a chocolate sponge for an order tomorrow and a fruit cake for Sammie`s wedding cake, made some trees for Matt's birthday cake and coloured some icing ready for tomorrow. Can't remember what we did in the afternoon?

Wednesday - Tom in nursery whilst I baked 2 dozen cupcakes, decorated the sponge cake from yesterday and then decorated the cupcakes. Timed it to the wire. At one stange I didn't think I was going to make it and got quite stressed, especially as I had trouble with the green icing again. But I made it. Hope the client likes it (Michelle's head teacher - I delivered them to Michelle so didn't get to see her reaction)

Then we put the cat back in kennels, had lunch, packed the car, picked up Tom and headed South West to Devon. Had a very easy journey and Tom was very well behaved. Arrived just on 5pm which was great. Simon, Clare and Jake weren't very far behind) Tom and Jake played really nicely together and both went to sleep without too much trouble, leaving us free to have a lovely takeaway - Chinese and Indian fusion.

Pics will follow when we get back home.

Back home

Today we got up early so we could leave early and get back home to pick up the cat before the kennels opened. Tom had another good night's sleep. He woke up just before 6am but was incredibly good. I was also awake, but not ready to get up. Tom kept checking on me. At first it was every 10 minutes (he would sit up to see if I was awake - I would quickly close my eyes and play dead). He then checked every 5 minutes, every 2 minutes and finally about every minute until he threw his dummy out of the cot and started to cry. By then it was 6.55 and almost ready to get up. So good that he amuses himself quietly though.

We were on our way at 8.30, so we said goodbye to Grannie and Grandpa and came home. Tom was asleep for most of the journey which was good, only started to get miserable on the M54. Got the cat and then had a picnic on the lawn before heading off to Granville for a walk to get Tom tired for his afternoon nap. He then napped for 2 hours, had playtime at home (he didn't wake up miserable which was a nice change) then dinner, milk, bath and bed. We carried on with the milk before bed routine. Didn't go down particularly well, he arched his back and was very unhappy with me when we sat down for a story before bed. He was looking everywhere for the milk bottle. He did submit and take some from his water bottle - but I think he only had about half what he normally takes from his usual milk bottle. It is something we will persevere with though. Problem now is that he won't sit still for a story before bed now. Oh hum.

Had easy dinner of sausages, chips and beans with Matt's weapons grade homemade cider. I was feeling fuzzy after one mouthful. Guess we will be early to bed tonight.

A lovely time in London

We're just back from a few days down in London. We'd been planning to stop in for a couple of days on the way to the Branch family reunion in Maldon, which didn't happen in the end, so we ended up staying an extra day with Grannie & Grandpa, and I think everyone was very pleased we did.

We had a fairly easy journey down on Thursday morning; Tom only slept for half an hour and started yelling on the M40, so we stopped for lunch at Cherwell Valley services, which seemed to do the trick, and he then spent a good 20 minutes charging round and round the aisles of WH Smiths laughing like a drain, much to everyone's amusement.

We got to London around 2.00 and tried to put Tom down for a nap in his very nice cot there. Not a chance. Red in the face and apoplectic with rage. He may have been over-tired, but we think is was more because he hadn't finished exploring the house/garden and was furious that he'd been put to bed. Exactly the same happened after dinner & bath. There was no way he was going to sleep. In the end, Nik sat with him on the bed until he fell asleep and then put him in the cot. Not a peep until the following morning after that. Little bugger.

We all decided to head to the RHS gardens at Wisley after Tom's morning nap. Ha ha. More screaming and fury. Ho hum. So, in the end he had about 30 minutes kip in the car on the way. However, he loved Wisley and walked his little legs off, especially round the huge glass house, where we could hardly keep up with him at times. Just like last time we took him there, he was fascinated by the waterfall and sat there staring at it. Perhaps we should make a trip to Niagara. We then had lunch in the family room of the restaurant, where Tom wolfed down a very large lunch and a good chunk of our bread pudding before heading off into the soft play area and riding the hell out of a frog. We took him out onto the lawn with a football to try and tire him out good and proper, and Nik then sat in the back of the car on the way home to keep him awake. It worked. He was absolutely shattered and actually looked grateful when we put him down in his cot. So, planning works sometimes.

We had a play in the garden after Tom woke up, and discovered that the current toy of choice is a large, galvanised wheelbarrow (see video). He quite enjoyed being carted around in it, but was even happier pushing it up and down the garden himself. We were amazed he had the strength to do it, but he did it over and over again, grinning from ear to ear. I feel a trip to B&Q coming up. He had another good dinner, weed all over me in the bath and then went down for another good sleep, this time also without a murmur. He woke once during the night, but it was quite hot.

Grannie & Grandpa offered to babysit, so Nik & I went out for dinner round the corner at an Afghan/Lebanese/Turkish restaurant. Reasonable prices (for London) and excellent nosh. Really delicious. Hope we get a chance to go again before long. We then took a stroll around the mean streets of East Sheen and had a quick pint before heading back. A really good day for all concerned.

Change of author. Saturday saw us doing some typical London things that Grannie and Grandpa had planned:- a ride on a double decker bus followed by a boat trip on the Thames from Richmond to Teddington Lock and back. Tom had a brilliant time. He actually sat still on me for the first half of the journey, staring out at the water and waving at any boat that went by. On the way back, he decided that he was bored of the water, but that charging up and down the boat would be great fun. (Just as well there weren't many people on board). That kept him occupied until we got back. We then had lunch at a local cafe - Tom was in radar mode, his head was spinning from side to side and there was no way I could get any food in, so we gave up.

After lunch we headed off to Richmond Green, so Tom could stretch his legs, which he did. We also managed to convince him to eat lunch which was good. Tom ran his heart out and managed to show us some good moves on the football. Once he showed signs of tiredness we headed back. Tom then got shown off at Pat's shop before being put in bed, whilst I walked up the road to a sugarcraft shop which stocks lots of odd shaped cake drums so I got a whole load ready for the orders I know I have coming up. Lady in the shop was very very helpful, think I might be popping in there each time we visit.

Tom woke up in a grumpy mood in the afternoon. Took a good hour to get a smile from him, but Matt managed to sort him out in the end with a combination of dental gel, dummy and wheelbarrow trips. Then dinner, milk and bed. We forgot to take Tom's bottle with us, so he was forcibly weened from it. We know we can't give him any other drinking vessel after his bath, so I've been filling his water bottle with milk after dinner and trying to get him to drink it before bath. It has been moderately successful.

Saturday night saw us playing Scrabble (as is tradition in the Young household), I of course lost, but it was played in good humour. Matt then watched the MotoGP qualifying whilst I fell asleep on the sofa.

He slept - phew!

He slept. Phew!!!!! Wasn't a great night for us though, I could only sleep very lightly, meaning I was snoring and thrashing about, keeping Matt awake, so last night we all slept separately and we all had a very good night's sleep, so we are all now feeling a little more human, how I survived 3.5 months of that last year I just don't know!

Tuesday, Tom spent the morning in nursery and I finished off two cakes - see pics, first one is a Peppa Pig one for a little girl Daisy and the second a last minute Christening cake, so last minute that the lady had to go out and buy an M&S cake for me to decorate as there wasn't time to make it! Both ladies seemed happy and the Christening Cake lady said she would be in touch again soon for a 'Hello Kitty' cake for the end of August which was great. In fact she paid me more than I asked, which was a good sign.

Tom had had a good day at nursery, came home absolutely exhausted and then spent the afternoon outside.

Wednesday, Tom was back at nursery, Matt went to a local non-networking event for home workers so I was home alone, that doesn't happen very often! I had a productive morning, updating my website (www.lilypadbakery.co.uk) , facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Telford-United-Kingdom/Lily-Pad-Bakery/128974947114212) and flickr page (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lilypadbakery/), doing some admin and then making a car from icing for a cake next week.

Tom came home absolutely whacked again. It was baby sports day today and Tom came home with a certificate for taking part (apparently he didn't like the bean bags, but liked the multi-coloured parachute). They took photos, will look forward to seeing those. He had another long sleep once home. I had to wake him up at 3.30 and he didn't like me for it, he cried for a good hour, refusing his drink and biscuit. I had to carry him everywhere. I guess he needed even more sleep, but he had been gone for over 2 hours!

After dinner he warmed up even more and had a happy time before bath, but he had a very bad bath, screamed all the way through it, and came out in a rash. Not sure why, there was nothing new in the bath, maybe it was the screaming? He cheered up as soon as he came out of the bath, and the rash began to disappear as well. He had a good bottle and story before bed. Haven't heard from him yet...

A bad night

Well last night was the worse night we have had with Tom since December! He woke up at 12.22, I have no idea why - he wasn't hot / cold / coughing etc. We tried settling him as usual - no good, he was crying again within 5 minutes. We tried Calpol, no effect, he was crying again in 5 minutes. We tried teething gel, changing his nappy, water, comforting etc etc. But nothing would work. In the end Matt went downstairs and I put Tom in bed with me. It's not as easy as it used to be with Tom being more mobile, however, he didn't try to get off the bed. It took over 2 1/2 hours to get him back to sleep though. He wasn't in pain because he was laughing at one stage (not sure why - I was ignoring him in an attempt to get him to understand that it wasn't playtime but sleep time)

This is what I have been dreading since last December. I have never taken it fore granted that Tom sleeps now, always going to sleep with a little knot in my stomach wondering if tonight is going to be the night when it all goes wrong again. We never got to the bottom of why he woke last night, but I sincerely hope it was a one off. Think it is going to be hard to get to sleep tonight, wondering if he is going to get me up again. You could tell I was out of practise getting up in the middle of the night - I couldn't find the handle to our bedroom door at first and was scrabbling around for quite a while trying to find it!

So, Matt and I are in a bad way today, neither of us being used to an interrupted night's sleep anymore. Tom wasn't exactly a happy chappy this morning. I took him shopping to Tescos (got lots of money off vouchers - in fact I got our shopping bill down from £79 to £51 through vouchers - most of which were free vouchers ie not clubcard ones which was fab). He grizzled through most of it, I think because he was tired. I put him down for his afternoon nap early - we will see how he wakes up...

He woke in an ok mood, so I decided to take him to Telford Town Park so he could expend his energy. He had a happy time. We bumped into Rachel and Mae and so had lots of fun. Tom was on good form and was walking all over the place, sliding down slides, enjoying the roundabout, swinging, toddling and most of all, falling over and picking himself up. He did really well, and he played 'pick the ball up' with his new football after Rachel and Mae had left.

Got home at 5, had dinner, playtime, bath and bed. He went down well, I wonder what tonight will bring...