Tired

I may be 3 but I still need a nap some days!

Monday we went to Piggies Playbarn to meet up with some friends - Tom's new found confidence paid off and he went off without needing me to interact with him - fab!  I was hoping I would get a sleep out of Tom on our way back and yes I did - isn't this picture so cute?

Party Party Party

This weekend was a very busy weekend.  We had actually been invited to 3 parties - Matt managed all 3 (using his motorbike to zoom to one) whilst Tom and I managed 2.

Birthday girl blowing out the candles on her Miffy Cake

Saturday was the 3rd birthday of Mae - I was on cake duty: a big cake for Mae, another one for Lucy and cupcakes. All got a bit frantic at the end as Rachel's mum wanted to make the cakes but then got ill and I had another 3 , but it all got done in the end.

So the party was good - all very beautifully presented as you would expect from Rachel - the most beautiful tiny cakes made by the grandparents - and plenty of pastels adorning the room.  Most important of all though was a bouncy castle.  Tom didn't go for it initally, then would only go on it holding on to me, but luckily Sammie and Sophie were there.  Sammie managed to get Tom on to it and then as long as I hid from him he was happy as Larry and spent the day bouncing away.

Tom and Mae - what a beautiful couple

In fact he really got his confidence up which meant I was free to do as I wished.  Sammie pointed out to me that I could drink seeing as she had picked us up, so drink I did: 3 whole glasses of red wine - absolute bliss and because there was loads of party food I didn't have any bad effects - fabulous - it felt really good believe you me and by far the most I have drunk since conceiving Tom!

Sunday was Jessica's party.  Another bouncy castle and this time no looking back - he was straight on it - although if bigger children got on or there were too many children on it he would get off - not a bad strategy and once again we managed no tears, even though he got squashed a couple of times - a sure sign he is getting braver.

Tom with his balloon sword

Tom spent most of this party with Mae - he was absolutely delighted to see her and ran straight up to her to give her a huge hug and kiss.  At one stage they were running round the hall holding hands and lots of hugs and kisses were going on - so so sweet and for the first time Phil could see it all he was suitably charmed although there was talk of shot guns (he has a licence as does one of the other NCT Dads).

Tom was so confident doing his own thing that at one stage I felt like a spare part and began to think that maybe I should try to socialise with some of the adults - a very strange feeling - I am so used to having a clingy child with me.

So, another plate of party food, more bouncing, more cake and then goodbyes.  Tom was asleep in minutes on the way home - well deserved he certainly played hard.

Next weekend we should be going to 2 more parties but they clash so it will just be the one, then one more and party season will be over for a while and we will have to entertain Tom by ourselves at the weekend!

Oh and on Sunday night Tom informed us that Mae is his best friend - didn't even know he knew that expression!

Oh and last week Tom officially started pre-school and LOVED it - which is amazing seeing as he is small and timid.  He was so proud, happy and excited to be in the big room - it really is a joy to see.  So nice not to have to go through grief with him, so I am proud, happy and excited too.  Tell you what though - it is sooooo noisy in there and some of the kids are quite big.  Somehow he has managed to get a couple of older children to look after him - so I think he should be fine.

Zoo!

On Saturday we met up with Grannie, Grandpa and Auntie Jude at Chester Zoo.  We were incredibly fortunate as 1) it didn't rain and 2) ALL the animals came out to play.

Tom did really well considering he had all his close family to hand and didn't seem at all overwhelmed, in fact he spread his love really well, sharing his time quite equally between everyone, apart from wanting to go to the loo every 20 minutes and getting tired towards the end of our time there, he was really well behaved.

First stop was the elephants - including some little dumbos - they were fed inside and then plodded outside for us.  Next stop was the giraffes - my favourite, it was too cold for these to be outside, we found them munching away in their house - there was a baby there, but already quite tall.  

Next stop was the reptile house and then the jaguars.  Both jaguars were out and about playing.   One on top of a tree stump and the other prowling - Tom was engrossed with the 'cat' so we stayed a while watching them.

Tiger family - Chester Zoo

We then stopped for lunch - paninis and cakes all round - Tom did best of all as he had a bit of everyone's sandwiches - and ate everything without any bother: he was sitting next to Grannie and Grandpa so was on his best behaviour. I was sat next to him but was told in no uncertain terms that I had to vacate so Grandpa could sit next to him - I know my place!

Once suitably refreshed we headed to the Orang utans who were out playing and swinging - including some babies - they were very entertaining. 

Sleepy cub

We then found our way to the tigers and believe it or not the two tiger cubs were out right in front of the viewing platform - we couldn't believe our luck.  They were sooooooooo cute - the two cubs were playing with each other, one got pushed off the platform and became a bundle of fur on the ground.  We spent quite a while watching them, then Tom saw the monorail and decided he had to go on it - so the two grandfathers were sent with him and the rest of us walked.

We went to the monkey house - where Tom learned to 'oo - oo - oo - oo' and swing his arms like a monkey (thanks for the lesson Auntie Jude).  By this time he was getting grumpy and we decided to make it a day - we had had such luck with everything we had seen, thought it better to leave whilst we were ahead.

Little & Large

We then drove to Auntie Jude's house - Tom fell asleep (even though he was in the front seat) and we managed to successfully transfer him to her bed, however, he turned over and bumped his head on her windowsill so that was that.  We decided that a bit of cake would cheer him up so I got it out, planted 3 candles in it and we all sang happy birthday to him.  It was a test, if he didn't recognise it, no more cakes would come to him.  He passed the test: 'Doctor Yellow!', 'Cake!'. Once he had consumed a slice he perked up and was ready to open yet more presents.  This he did with suitable panache - a lot of train bits and pieces from Grannie and Grandpa - including a signal box, engine shed and tunnel, all of which were very well received.  He got another Driver Ted DVD from Auntie Jude which I'm looking forward to showing him.

Doctor Yellow Cake
(Japanese Bullet Train for those wondering!)

We then had a mad display with his duck which he waved manically in the air and then threw in a random direction.  It was hilariously funny - Grannie was almost crying with laughter at one stage.  Once a reed diffuser had almost got knocked over, we called it a day and said our goodbyes.  Then home, stew, bath and bed.

A really good day and once again we were all shattered at the end.  

Thanks to everyone for Tom's pressies - all have been well received, we are all looking forward to playing with them.

I'm 3!

Rrrrip - the paper flew off

Can't quite believe it but Tom turned 3 on Friday.  Time really is speeding up now.  Everyone keeps telling me that before I know it he'll be at school which will open up a whole new era - guess I need to enjoy every moment now - especially as with his talking he so much fun.

We spent this week explaining to him that it was his birthday and that although he was 2.5 now he would be 3 on Friday because it was his birthday.  His first words on Friday were 'it's my birthday' and 'I'm 3', so I think it sunk in :0)

In my froggie tent

We allowed him to open 2 pressies before breakfast - one from Matt - a Totoro and one from me - a scribbler.  Guess what: the Totoro was favourite by some way!  He fell in instant love, definitely a new best friend.  He went down to see Granma and Pop Pop in bed had a play, came back and then we all got up for breakfast.

Present unwrapping took quite a while - as was the case at Christmas, he wanted to play with everything as he unwrapped it, but we managed to convince him to move on, and when he was concentrating he was pretty good.  His favourite present remained the Totoro, and his second favourite was a froggie tent his Granma and Pop Pop bought him - in fact he went quite loopy with the two things as can be seen in the video.

Unwrapping pressies

As the weather wasn't being good to us and ice and snow were still on the ground as well as it being pretty cold we decided that the best birthday treat would be to take him on the train to Codsall for a pub lunch and back again.  This we did and he enjoyed it as predicted.  He sat really still on the outward journey on the train, watching everything and commenting on everything he could see out the window.  We had a small lunch at the pub - bacon baps for grandparents and Matt, a cheese bap for me and a cheese sandwich for Tom.  I ordered a sandwich rather than a bap for Tom as I thought it would be smaller - how wrong I was - he ended up with the biggest lunch of us all - a doorstep of a sandwich with a wedge of mature cheese in it.  Anyway he enjoyed it especially as we ordered him some curly fries as well.

Testing out my pirate sleeping bag

The train was a bit fuller on the way back, and Tom more of a fidget - a sign he was getting tired (well he was over excited in the morning) so when we got back he went to bed and straight to sleep.  In the afternoon Rachel, Mae and Lucy came round to say happy birthday to Tom which was lovely.  Tom and Mae played together really well and Lucy was adorable as always.

They left at 5, the Gouges then came round with a pressie for Tom, we then shot out to Shifnal Cottage - what else could we eat on Tom's birthday other than curry!  As is usually the case Tom ate up, and was made a fuss of by Abdul who gave him huge amounts of chocolate and a free ice-cream.  He certainly enjoyed his birthday to the max and went to bed unbathed but happy.

The adults then crashed out on the sofa with whiskys in hand.

Snow

Winter finally arrived in Shropshire this weekend, Saturday saw a big snow storm including freezing cold wind.  All very exciting unless you have a toddler who doesn't like the wind whom you have to transport on foot from a party back home as his Daddy has got the car for the day!  It doesn't happen very often that we need 2 cars but this Saturday was one of those.

Tom & Mummy in Granville Nature Reserve

Originally we were all going to go on the West Midlands Translator's walk, but it dawned freezing cold and I really didn't think it would be a good idea to take Tom with us - he hates the cold and there was a biting wind.  So Tom and I went to Seren's party instead.  It wasn't far away - in Muxton, but we had the conundrum of how to get Tom home.  First idea was bike - but the wind was too bad, then pram - got the pram out of the shed, tyres were flat, borrowed a pump from the neighbours, the tyres burst! Only option left to us was the rucksack carrier.  So after the party (not a great success, Tom went into clingy, shy mode and wouldn't play - although he did win the pass the parcel - a fantastic Thomas play set) I wrapped him up as a Michelin man and walked back home through the snow and wind.  He was obviously very content as I could hear him snoring in my ear!  I did get some strange looks from motorists and other pedestrians though!  Matt had a very cold, snowy walk and took quite a while to get home.

Tom in his 'Babbie Tom' suit & sunglasses

As there were a couple of inches of snow on the ground on Sunday we got the sledge out to have some fun.  Well. Mummy and Daddy had fun, Tom decided that it wasn't fun to slide on the sledge and would only sit on it if we pulled it at walking pace (humpfh - he doesn't know how to have fun sometimes!)  I did a couple of runs and ended up under a tree at one point!  Dad did the same.  We managed to get Tom to go a couple of times, but it was under duress and he didn't really enjoy it.  We decided to go to The Club for lunch so drove to the Granville car park and had Tom on a sledge going slow all the way to the club which was just about acceptable. 

Toilet Training Success

A momentous day in the life of Tom.  Today for the first time he pooed in the toilet.  This has been a LONG time coming.  I think I was more excited than him when it happened.

We have put together a reward chart for him and promised him a play on the Severn Valley Railway if he poos in the toilet 5 times.  Fingers crossed the bribe works...

Weekend in Chester

This weekend we toddled off to Chester to meet up with Lisa, Cameron and the girls.  Tamsin who is 5 has a soft spot for Tom and so does he for her, which means that after the compulsory 30 initial 30 minutes shyness they played together really well and Matt and I relaxed, very nice.

Picking my nose is more interesting than the story Tamsin.

All girls were doing well, especially Jenny who has developed loads since we last saw her in October, she is talking now - she's 10 months younger than Tom and you can really see the difference.  It's hard to imagine him 10 months younger now - Jenny is still (just) a baby whilst Tom is a small person.

We didn't really do that much, but relax and what the children play.  Tom was asked if he wanted to sleep with the girls and he said he did.  So, he had his first sleep over, in a sleeping bag on an air mattress with Tamsin.  Tamsin even read to him so we weren't needed at all.  I didn't think it would last long, but after a lot of excitement and play, they both fell asleep on the mattress.  Unfortunately at 10pm Tom woke up crying (the air mattress had deflated) so he ended up in the travel cot, but he did way better than I thought!

The next morning, he decided that he would play on Jenny's scooter and dive off it everytime  he got into the lounge.  We think he will make a good footballer!  Anyway, after a leisurely breakfast, we said our goodbyes and came home.  A good time was had by all.

Oh development news - Tom has dropped his naps - argggggggggh - 3 months too early!  It wasn't even gradual, he suddenly decided that he didn't want to sleep in the afternoon anymore and gets really upset if he thinks I'm going to take him upstairs to bed.  So I'm having an interesting time doing my cakes as I have lost 10 hours a week creative time.  Won't be a problem in April as then he'll get extra time at nursery, but until then I think I'm going to have to do some evening work.  Oh hum.

Weekend with my cousins

This weekend Matt was in York, so I took the opportunity to take Tom down to Aylesbury to see his cousins as it has been quite a while since they've been together.

It was an absolutely glorious weekend and we had a nice and easy journey down.  Tom stayed awake for the whole journey, but was as good as gold amusing himself and even letting me sing to my music (normally he shouts "Mummy stop!" when I sing along)  First stop was Thame, S&C had got me a token for the cake shop there for my birthday last year which I hadn't yet used, so as we were in the area I thought I would use it (saves paying p&p).  Simon was right it is a weird shop, and you have to be in the know, as the shop was very small but with a huge store room.  Pretty much everything I wanted was out back, but they did have everything I wanted.

Jake and Tom on top of the hill

We then jumped back into the car and headed to Aylesbury, arriving dead on 12.  Amber was napping upstairs, but the others were all there and happy.  Tom and Jake took a little while to get rid of their shyness, then Tom took a while to relax as Jake was pretty full on, and Tom doesn't like having his personal space invaded, he got there in the end though which was good.

We had lunch, waited for Amber to wake up and then headed out to a nearby hill to give everyone some fresh air and a chance to enjoy the good weather.  I got out Tom's bike as him going on a bike is much quicker than him walking.  Unfortunately it was mega muddy - at one stage I think his bike was double its normal weight.  Anyway, everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, we got the fresh air and exercise that everyone needed.

When we got home, it was playtime - Jake, Tom and Amber played run round in circles around the ground floor for a good while (until they were hot and sweaty)  then they had their dinner (Mum and Dad are right, Amber is a eating machine - blink and you miss it - food doesn't last long around her).  They then had a bath together (Jake got a jug of water and poured it over Tom which spoilt the mood for a while - that whole personal space issue again!) Amber was quite happy though - she really is a placid, happy little thing.

The Bath Photo (before it all went wrong!)

All went to bed without a problem - Amber generously handed over her cot to Tom and she slept in S&C's room in the travel cot.  Tom made himself at home - we didn't hear a peep out of him all night, which is amazing seeing as Amber did some good screaming at various intervals during the night - believe me she can make herself heard, although she is teething - it looks like her back molars are coming through which can't be fun.  We then had dinner and one of Colin's bottles of wine - very nice it was too.

In the morning we got up, had breakfast and then headed out to the local Leisure Pool for a swim.  What an amazing facility,  3 little pools all geared towards the under 5s, with jacuzzis, shallow water, lots of seats, 2 slides linking two of the pools, a current pool (deeper with a current going round an island meaning you don't have to swim very hard - just float and let the current take  you) and another very shallow pool with 2 mini slides, a boat with levers, a dolphin and some other playthings.  Absolutely brilliant and really not that expensive.  However, it was full and noisy and Tom didn't exactly take to it.  He pretty much clung to me and grizzled the whole time we were there (well until the last 5 minutes when he finally let go of me and had a good on the smallest slide without too much encouragement).  Simon tried to take him away from me to see if that would help - it didn't!  Amber and Jake however had a fab time.  We certainly don't have anything like that in Shropshire, I wonder if there is somewhere in Wolverhampton similar?  I am determined to get Tom to enjoy swimming...

We returned to S&C's - playtime for the boys, sleep for Amber whilst S&C cooked a 2 joint roast - yummy.  Jake and Tom played really nicely with each other - even managed to share playing with the loop the loop car.  We all sat down for roast dinner together which was fab.  Amber ate hers without any encouragement, the boys also did well, but needed some words.

By now it was 3pm, so Tom and I said our goodbyes.  Tom ran upstairs and hid in Jake's bed shouting 'no home', 'no home' and Jake told me that Tom was going to live with them now.  All very sweet, but I had to break the spell.  Tom wasn't too upset as he was deeply asleep within minutes and stayed that way until Matt called me in the car an hour later (a very long story, but he had got a lift home from Shrewsbury with a friend and his family.  His car then died, the RAC had to be called out - they were stuck at ours for about 3 hours - with a 1 year old and a 4 year old) - so Tom came home to a full house - but he was good and played mad games with the 4 year old until they left.  He went to bed without a bath - we didn't hear a sound from him.

Anyway a good time was had by all.  It was good to spend longer than 3 hours with the cousins.  I even got a kiss off Jake, and he called me Auntie Nik, which he hasn't done before, felt very weird.  I'm hoping they will allow us to return the favour and come up to stay with us sometime soon - maybe for a trip to Thomasland.

Oh Tom is developing lots a the moment, I'll try to expand in another blog post sometime soon.

Fast Tom

Puff Trains

Not paying attention (as usual)

Mummy had a cake to make today, so the rest of us headed down to Bridgnorth after breakfast for a day playing on the Severn Valley Railway - I don't think Grandpa needed his arm twisting very hard. We caught the first train south all the way to Kidderminster, and had a coach almost to ourselves - handy, as His Nibs was in full-on fidget mode and wouldn't sit on any given seat for more than about 10 seconds at a time. Having said that, he seemed to enjoy looking out of the window and impressing his grandparents with his ever-growing vocabulary. I think "river" was a new word for the day, which was hardly surprising as you can see for pretty much the whole journey.
As soon as we disembarked at Kidderminster, Tom legged round the end of the platform to where he remembered there was a miniature railway - he was spot on, and it was running, so he took Grandpa for a quick spin. We then had a quick look round the railway shop, with Tom seriously interested in some beautiful-looking model locomotives in a glass case. However, they were upwards of £100 each, and we don't have a train set, so they remained in the case.
We then caught the next northbound train, which was absolutely jam-packed - we could hardly find seats together. This meant that Tom didn't have as many wriggling opportunities as on the way down, and he sat quite nicely, mostly on Grandpa.

Beating up Grannie

We had lunch in the Engine Shed cafe at Highley - baguettes for the grown-ups and fish fingers & chips for the lad. It was all quite nice, but none of us could finish up. We then dispersed throughout the museum; Tom & me to the wooden train set, Grandpa wandering round the steam engines and Grannie buying jigsaws in the shop. I took Tom outside to watch a southbound train go past, but it peeped very loudly just as it went past us. Cue a few (but only a few) tears from Tom, so I guess us repeatedly telling him that when trains say TOOT!, they mean HELLO! has at least partly worked.
We the caught the train back to Bridgnorth, in a compartment of our own where he was changed from pants to nappy as he was looking very tired. Sure enough, he was asleep almost as soon as we left the car park.
Dinner was a curry for five at Abdul's, which we all enjoyed. Tom didn't eat his own weight in curry, rice, naan & poppadums (as he generally does), but he did enough to impress his grandparents with his culinary range.

Christmas is here

Sunday

How many presents

Finally the big day arrived.  Santa had come to visit Tom in the night and he proudly brought his stocking into our bedroom in the morning to unpack.  To his delight there was another train, and a very cool froggy torch to play with as well as many other bits and pieces.  We had breakfast, got changed and then packed the car (took quite a while as we had sooooooo many pressies) and drove up the empty A5 to Chirk and Auntie Jude.

Trunki Fireman

Tiny Boy in a Big Bed

We got stuck straight into the pressies, I think it took Tom the best part of 2 hours to get through all his, but he did manage to open all of them.  Everyone was very very good to him, he got soooooo much I don't know where to begin.  His main pressies were a scooter (from us), a Trunki (from Grannie and Grandpa) and a till (from Granma and Pop Pop) all were very well received.  Considering he was overwhelmed with presents and with his extended family, Tom did very well, he didn't cry (except for once when he slipped over and banged his head - which was fair enough) and he ate well - finishing up Auntie Jude's wonderful Christmas dinner without hardly any encouragement.  At 3 we finished, Tom was flagging so he went for a sleep in Auntie Jude's bed (first time ever in a big bed) came down at 4.30 and was a very happy chappy playing with his new toys, until supper and The Gruffalo's Child (during which he sat still for about 15 minutes which is a record) on TV before coming home.  It was almost 9pm before he got to bed, and he was still going strong then!  The only mishap we had were 2 poos in his pants - (too much excitement?!)

Monday

We had a tidy up day in the morning, then decided to go to Granville park for a walk (scoot) to the Club for lunch and back again.  Didn't go quite as well as we wanted as the ground was too rough for the scooter, eventually we had to give up as a nut and bolt fell off!  Oh well.  We also had a bit of a stand off when Tom refused to walk, but we won it after a couple of minutes which was good.  Then the usual cheese on toast at the club for Tom, and a sandwich for Matt and I.  Matt then went to get the car as we didn't think Tom would manage the walk back - he was looking quite tired.  He had a good 2 hour nap and when he woke up Grannie and Grandpa had arrived - yahoo.  Tom showed no shyness at all, went downstairs, found them in the lounge and made himself at home sat between the two of them, showing them his jaunt on the SVR.  The rest of the afternoon and evening was spent playing with Grannie and Grandpa and his new toys, dinner (Matt's stroganoff - which Tom ate without a second's hesitation even though it did have a bit of a kick to it), bath and bed.

Making Mince Pies

Friday

Making Mince Pies

When I had finally finished all my chores and delivered all my cakes, I decided that it was time to bake with Tom (poor lad doesn't get to do much seeing as all my stuff needs to be of a professional quality).  I had found some interesting looking mince meat in Waitrose (Port, cranberry and glace cherry) so we set to work, making pastry, rolling it out (roll Tom, don't push it!), putting it into the bun tins, making holes in it with our fingers and then slapping 'jam' into them, pushing the lids on, sloshing milk on top and stabbing holes in the tops.  A lot of fun was had by all, but they were a little rustic looking.

Party Boy

This weekend has seen Tom at 3 parties - a lot of party food has been consumed and he is no longer afraid of Father Christmas, meaning he has had a lot of fun.

Tom in his Christmas hat

Friday evening was the BEST Christmas party which Sammie (who has the biggest, kindest heart in Telford) arranged for the children of BEST volunteers.  She had no budget and no help and managed to pull off a good afternoon (I don't know how she does it).

Collecting his present from Father Christmas 

  There were games, we provided our food and then Father Christmas came (with a very loud booming soldier's type voice - hummmmmm!)  In fact Father Christmas had us in stitches, with him and Sammie worrying and checking on Rudolph!  Tom didn't enjoy himself to start with, clinging to me and grizzling when we tried to get him to join in.  After about an hour he finally relaxed (better late than never)  When Father Christmas arrived, his bottom lip stuck out - he certainly thought about being upset, but he managed to contain himself and collected his present (a train - which certainly perked him up).  He ended up running around and came home happy.

Saturday was the NCT Christmas party.  Matt took Tom out in the morning on his bike, whilst I made quiche and cakes. 1pm saw us at the St John's Ambulance hut in Oakengates which Lou and Andy had  turned into a Christmas grotto.
 Tom only took about 20 minutes to warm up (much helped by the presence of Mae) and then that was it, he ran his little heart out: up and down, up and down, round and round he went - stopping only to wee (11

Making music

Pin the bow on the Rudolph

times - it is very exciting weeing in other toilets!).  Father Christmas came again and Tom went up by himself to collect his   present in fact all the children went up by themselves to collect their presents except for Jessica who was scared (and the grand daughter of Father Christmas?!).  They played pass the parcel (Tom did exactly what he was told) and Rachel lead the men and children in some Christmas carols which they did well (Tom actually sat still for the whole time which is unusual for him).  The rest of the time, they ran around enjoying themselves: Mae, Olly and Tom played together and Seren and Jessica played together (the mum's friendships are definitely having an affect on the little ones friendships).  We didn't leave until 5pm, came home and then bath and bed.  He must have been tired - no nap and constantly on the move - AND NO TEARS at all even though he fell on his face a couple of times.  Just goes to show tears depend on his mood.  Anyway Matt and I were very proud of him and it was a pleasure to watch him enjoying himself without having to intervene at all.

The run with the tablecloth game

Sunday we were invited for Christmas nibbles to Carol & Graham's place.  Derek and Jackie were there as well (fun fun fun!)  For some reason they didn't stay for nibbles - they had a roast cooking in the oven which was strange - why would you cook a roast when you have been invited for nibbles at 12.30?  Anyway, meant we didn't have to talk to them (they are the world's most boring couple).  Tom had a great time, Olly was there and had brought some toys with him, which Tom got stuck into.  He also had a bike up and down the yard, saying hello to the 7 horses.  We had a really good time, so good that when we told him we were going home, he dissolved into tears.  Mind you he was tired from yesterday and although he was still saying 'no home' in the car on the way back, he soon fell asleep and also went back to sleep in his cot when we arrived home.

So, all in all a busy and successful weekend.

Jigsaw maestro

Tom is addicted to jigsaws at the moment - a trait we think he has inherited from his grandmothers. He now insists on doing about 10 a day, after breakfast and before dinner. He's got quite good at them and can usually rattle through a 24 piece jigsaw in a couple of minutes. Have a look at the video to see what I mean.

Busy few weeks

Wow!  Didn't realise how behind I have got with this - now going to have to try to remember what on earth we've been doing the last couple of weeks.

19th & 20th November
Matt went to London for the day, so Tom and I had the day together.  It was a bit of a non-event I'm afraid.  First of all we went to Stafford as I have been wanting to visit Hobbycraft for a long while (supposed to be good for all crafts, including baking).  I was very disappointed, there were hardly any baking things there at all, couldn't find silicone moulding material anywhere (to make my own moulds for specialised cakes) only had a very small selection of paint brushes, not much 15mm ribbon, in fact I left empty handed - good for my bank balance I suppose.  It was quite a small shop, so I'm thinking maybe it was a small store and others would be better.  I will have to go to explore the one in Wolverhampton next.

Little and Large

Sunday we finally got to meet up with Matt's old colleague, Carol.  She's had a bad year - Breast Cancer and a hip replacement.  However, she is very stoic and seems to have bounced back.  Apart from her eyes, you would never know she had been ill.  All was as usual at the Chapman household - complete chaos, everyone talking over each other, but very homely and a warm atmosphere and heaps of warm scones straight from the oven - Carol is a good cook so they were very yummy.  Victoria (Carol's daughter) was there and after a while Olly (her son who is about 3 weeks older than Tom) turned up on his balance bike.  Luckily we had Tom's balance bike in the car so they had fun cycling up and down the yard (Carol keeps horses, so her garden is VERY interesting).  Olly is quite quiet and shy like Tom, so they got on with out too much trouble, in fact Tom was probably a little more boisterous than Olly (that's something I don't get to say much).  Once Tom's bike was out though he disappeared, he was quite happy to be out in the cold exploring, so much so that Graham (Carol's husband) had to turn the electric fence off to be sure of no 'shocks'.  It was good to see Carol in such good spirits.


26th & 27th November
Matt took Tom out on his bike this morning - he took him to Apley Castle.  Unfortunately it was a little windy and Tom decided he didn't like it - they aborted their journey and Tom got sent upstairs in disgrace.  Once they had both calmed down, they went to Wyevale to visit the food fair (Matt wanted some more sausage rolls) and then picked me up on the way to Tom's club for lunch.

Two boys concentrating with jigsaws

Sunday we met up with Jude in Shrewsbury.  We were going to go for a cycle at Haughmond Hill, but there was no point as it was still windy.  We had a couple of errands to run in Shrewsbury anyway, although a couple of them got aborted with shops being closed (we thought all the shops would be open, being close to Christmas).  Found somewhere different to have lunch which was nice enough.  Tom proudly announced to the whole restaurant that he had done a wee wee, which was fine, but then he announced quite loudly the same when Jude left the table - just as well there weren't too many people around!  Anyway, he seemed to have a good time and walked nicely.

Showing Granma the way at Attingham

 The following Tuesday Granma and Pop arrived for a couple of days (delivering some very important parcels).  Tom went to nursery as usual on the Wednesday to give them a chance to recover and then they all went to Attingham Park on the Thursday - Tom on his bike and Granma and Pop Pop chasing after him.  Unfortunately it wasn't all open, so they couldn't do the walk right round, but I think Tom impressed them enough, plus he ate nicely in the restaurant.  They all came back happy, can't ask for more.  In fact they and Tom played really nicely the whole time they were up, so much so that Tom's bottom lip stuck out when they left, and I had to take him to see Rachel to cheer him up.  Tom really came on during his time with Granma and Pop Pop, just goes to show how good it is for him to have time away from me and time with other people (other people do things differently from me which is a good thing - gives Tom different perspectives), his language really came on as did his confidence, which is so good to see.

Tom and Marcus at the Dragonfly 

On Saturday, Michael and Marcus came up for the weekend.  Marcus is 5 and a half now and quite like Tom in that he is quite shy.  Once again, Tom didn't mind having someone else in the house and playing with his toys and positively enjoyed playing with him.  We took them to do the Loamhole Dingle - which they both enjoyed, Tom did the whole thing this time without any picking up - it is much easier doing walks with other children, he always wants to keep up and races ahead which is ace.  We picked up a keyring thingy from the geocache this time, which we need to place in another geocache - think there are some in Granville.

Sunday we did a little walk in Granville, had lunch in Tom's club and then went to Cosford so the boys could have a run around.  Both seemed to enjoy it a lot.  Before we knew it, it was time for Marcus and Michael to leave, time flew when they were here - it was a good time.

10th December

Daddy here. Tom and I continued our Saturday morning boys' activities by making our first visit to a dads & tots group that's held once a month at Albrighton Primary School. I had a feeling it would go well as Tom kept saying "playgroup" all the way there in the car. Sure enough, we both had a great time and the 2 hours flew by. There were 4 kids there, with Tom being the oldest by a few months. The other folk there were all very nice, as was the lady who runs the group. I didn't hear a single whinge or moan from Tom all morning, and he played nicely with the other little ones, did a 20 piece jigsaw (more or less) all by himself, shared "his" cars with a little girl called Amelia, and rode on every single one of the outdoor vehicles (see video). We haven't seen him pedal a vehicle along before, so that's another sign of his current rapid development. He ate his snack, despite dropping his cucumber in his milk, and even joined in (ish) with the songs at the end. All in all, a complete success, and it's a shame that we won't be able to go next month - I'll be in York.

We drove home, picked up (a very pleased) Mummy and headed to the Golf Club for our usual lunches - calzones for Nik & me, and cheese on toast and running around like a loony for Tom. Thence back home for a sleep for his nibs, after which we watched a few YouTube clips of Doctor Yellow (as we have to every day at the moment). Tom had dinner by himself today, as we were too full from our lunches to eat at 5.00. Tom then put on a show of utter madness for his Grandpa on Skype before having a bath with Mummy and a story with Daddy and then hitting the hay. A good day.

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.