Lots of just hanging around

A bit of wrapping...

A bit of Daddy's lunch (note the dog in place for anything that drops on the floor).

A bit of washing up...

A bit of dog training...

Oops no treats left.

Helping with dinner!

Getting the measure of things

You can spend lots of money on toys designed for children or you can just give them a tape measure...

Climbing and sticking

A bit of barefoot adventuring in the garden this morning.

And then some sticking this evening...

Where once were swings...

WARNING - if you've not read the last post start there...

OK so most of you won't care but it makes more sense!

After our earlier 'swings, swings' demands and a visit to some substitute swings I thought we'd got it out of our systems. But for an almost 2 year old these things run deep. So after our evening meal (well his, I didn't get to finish mine). Wellies were put on (by child) as was a coat (I had to do the zip but otherwise again it was just him) and there was banging on the door and more 'swings, swings'. So off we went. The wellies were abandoned pretty soon as they were uncomfortable without socks so off he went barefoot.

And this is what we found, nothing!

The boy found a good stick to ring the fences.

And then did a little climbing.

And spent a lot of time running around the park shouting 'Ruby, Ruby' after he saw our neighbour's lurcher-saluki cross running round the park. He seemed to like the word as he said it all the way home too with a lot of giggling.

Sad day

You know those days when you get up full of optimism and then get kicked in the head...

we've had one of those.

Small boy put on his own wellies this morning and stood at the door shouting 'swings, swings'. So what is a mum to do but get her stuff together and head to the park.

Only to find...

and...

We knew this day would come but it's sad all the same. And that it's happened just as the schools break up for the summer seems somewhat perverse.

I don't know who was more upset, Isaac or me. Although only one of us held onto the gate shouting 'swings, swings' and crying and then had to be carried home screaming...

I will miss the swings as they were good swingers but I'm most sad about the climbing frame as I have such a clear memory of him shooting straight up it when we came home from Danna's last time.

We did quite a lot of running around the park to try to take our minds off the swings and Isaac had fun looking at the scarecrows.

And it's been such lovely weather today that we then spent quite a lot of time in the garden until the call of swings returned and we had to get in the car and go and find some elsewhere.

The garden's looking very pretty at the moment although I need to do some weeding - only problem if I do it when Isaac's around he copies me but he pulls up anything he sees...

The dog has been a happy bear today. He got a new bone. It's followed us everywhere so that he's not missed out on what's happening but he's been able to crunch at the same time.

The Boy's Getting Better

Well after a few quiet days because Isaac's not been very well we've had a bit more of a normal day. It was raining so hard this morning though that the dog refused to leave the kitchen even though Isaac was out playing on his bike. I'll leave you to decide the relative intelligence of a 6 year old Labrador vs a toddler!

We did a lot of building with some megablocks (less inspiring than the duplo but Isaac found the building easier).

The dog was a passive participant.

Isaac had to show me a brick close up when I got the camera out.

And then he decided he should wear the blocks.

Before using his 'wheelbarrow' as a dumper truck and throwing a brick in at a time before tipping it out on the bottom of the stairs.

There's a suggestion in Steiner/Waldorf that fever is a positive thing and that if you look at a child's development there are often big leaps in cognitive or language development that accompany or coincide with the fever. (Steiner physicians don't really seem to approve of controlling a fever but prefer to let it run its course - Isaac is prone to fever spikes in the middle of night though so I'm more cautious and use some drugs to stave off the worst.) With this in mind though I've been thinking about any developments that have happened in the last week. Isaac's language has definitely made a leap and his creative play today seemed on a new level to me. I don't know if it's linked to the fever or not.

We went for a play in the park this afternoon and watched the men working. They're relaying the tennis courts as part of the improvements. Isaac could have stayed for ages to watch but the fumes got a bit much for me.

We both admired the dumper truck though!

Sometimes it's great to see how generous kids are. Two boys were playing football and were quite serious in what they were doing but as soon as Isaac headed their way they were happy to include him and to encourage him to kick the ball. He loved it and I could see his confidence grow just in the 5 minutes of playing with them.

Fire Engines and Police Vans

This was the view on our street today.

But fear not it was The Big Lunch and the street was closed to vehicles apart from our friendly neighbourhood emergency services who came to let children climb all over their vehicles and play with their hoses.

But first we made a few scones - well I say, we, I mean I did cos the boy was too busy standing there with his hand in his pocket and picking his nose.

Unfortunately the weather was very British and we had to huddle under cover for most of the afternoon.

And the waterproofs were on and off all afternoon.

There was much admiration of the fire engine and when he climbed up into the back of the cab he looked very unimpressed and wanted to know where the wheel was.

So we had to lift him down and let him in the front. He got to hoot the horn but couldn't reach the siren.

The rest of the afternoon was spent mostly on the bouncy castle.

Or dancing to the entertainment.

Our friend Kerry did a little set and Isaac was her biggest fan!

But then it went a bit wrong and all the naughty boys and girls got locked up...

But he made his escape on a pink motorbike...

(this is one that when you press the pedal actually moves, unfortunately he wasn't very good at steering so we had to clear a wide path)