Friday 29 July 2011

A quiet morning

Isabel has been getting too interested in life to nap and then ended up crashing out late in the day and so not going to bed until after I want to be in bed myself so we had a quiet morning at home and she nodded off mid book (The Biggest Bed in the World - she loves the breastfeeding picture, Isaac always wanted the page where one of the boys is doing a somersault).



A sleeping baby means mummy time and a book... doesn't it? Well that's the idea. But there was something interesting I was using a bookmark that needed investigating and then there was climbing to be done and singing a lullaby to the sleeping baby and photos to be taken and and....






Thursday 28 July 2011

My girl

She's definitely not a baby any more. Every day she amazes me with the new things she does. One her favourites at the moment it so hold her hand out and with a cheeky grin say 'top (stop) and then collapse into giggles and run off before turning round and doing it again. She's loving seeing her power over the world. She runs and twirls and tries to do everything her brother does (oh how sweet it is and yet how glad I am that she can't yet climb as high as he does). She can be very serious. She can be very stubborn. She can be easily distracted by a book or a song. She loves to walk everywhere and then when at home grabs the slings ('back") and wraps herself up in them.

She is a delight.



Wednesday 27 July 2011

Play matters

It was the annual play day in the park today. Last year it rained and I didn't want to go with a small baby so sent Matthew out with Isaac for a bit. This year the forecast was good and we were there for the whole day of it. Isaac asked to go to the swings for a bit when it all got too loud for him but other than that he was running, jumping, climbing and generally off for the whole day. At one point I lost him and only spotted a leg underneath a big plastic mound which he played under for a good 20 minutes.

It was a deliberate choice to put him in a bright pink shirt!











Tuesday 26 July 2011

On Fairy's Wings

The boy does fly around the place. Leaping, skipping, twirling, spinning. He has a lightness to his being that I love.



There was help in the kitchen when I made cookies.


And lots of 'sharing' (Isabel only offers when she's had enough).


And then this afternoon we headed off to Hook Norton park. Another village with a great play area! As it's the school holidays there were groups of older children (preteens) around and Isaac was watching everything they were up to. He did his usual thing of climbing to the tallest point and sitting on a post (I try not to watch) to which a group of girls kept yelling 'that little boy's going to fall'. Isaac was so busy telling him that he wasn't that I thought he might get distracted but he was fine. After watching some of the older boys climb up the outside of the slide guess who else did it. There were cheers and a helping hand from the crowd when he got to the top. This was of course repeated many many times long after the crowd had gone. He was asked many many times how old he was ('almost 4') and small children were yelling at parents that 'he's only 3 you know' much to his disdain - almost 4 is SO much older!


Isabel swung, slid and played with shoes - neither of my children keep their own shoes on for long, and mine were wrestled from me.





Sunday 24 July 2011

Poor Bear

The dog is injured again. He's getting too old to be hurtling around the place but he forgets this. He hurt his left shoulder a couple of months ago but this time it's his right shoulder. In theory he's not allowed upstairs but he doesn't know this and so if the gate is left open he wanders up and then can't get down again. He is very indignant that he has to be picked up. Matthew's not too pleased either.


A lovely afternoon with friends gave a laugh at Isaac's hair on the slide.


Saturday 23 July 2011

Enjoying the Gruffalo

I sometimes wonder if I'm needed....

Friday 22 July 2011

Florence Day


Florence would have been 2 today. She is much missed. For anyone who wants to know her story pop over to Jeanette's blog and have a read.

Jeanette, you and your family are in my thoughts.


I know this is one of many baby loss families and my heart goes out to you all.

Wednesday 20 July 2011

Small things that make for joy

There's a new play barn which has lots of big stuff in it (for age 4+) which seemed like a big leap when we first went there 6 months ago but today Isaac was off and I hardly saw him unless it was a flash at the very top or him whizzing down a huge slide. I suspect he was also climbing up the outside of it as I found him half way up at one point and had lost him for a good long time before that... if he's doing things like this at not yet 4 I wonder where he'll end up.

In one corner they have some interactive play with things that make music, have animal sounds etc. But there's also the best wind machine I've seen. Kids of all ages were having fun and most of the parents were mesmerised too by the balls floating in air. There was usually a child or two on the top too enjoying the air stream. Isabel would have happily stayed there all day.


She was persuaded off to do some dodgy driving (she can only go backwards). She cackles with laughter whilst doing it and then yells 'push, push' to get me to move her from where she's got stuck against a wall or some furniture.


Isaac is desperate to be able to swing across monkey bars and the like. He's not yet strong enough to swing across on his own and he's a bit fearful of the drop. This afternoon he spent a lot of time swinging and dropping and generally working out how to be in that space in new ways. He had help to swing from his legs (and get back up again) and spent a good 15 minutes climbing up onto the metal bars and dropping down to the ground again. He was so proud of himself he kept accosting a troop of Brownies who were doing group activities in the playground.


Not to be outdone in new skills Isabel climbed up onto the tall slide (both up the slide and up the steps). There's nothing quite like knowing your child is at the top of a tall slide where you can't reach and seeing her push off to go faster (think of the start of a bobsleigh race!). It wouldn't be so bad if her shoes didn't keep sticking her to the slide which can lead to unpredictable results. Mostly though I just had the job of guiding her down to the bottom and stopping her flying off the end.



Swings always provide fun and she's keen to play on the big swings. For the most part she's quite stable and seems to have 'got' it much more quickly than Isaac did. It's such a pleasure to swing on these swings. The swings in our local park have solid bars so that the locals can't wrap the chain around the frame. OK so it may stop the vandals but it also stops half the fun. It means they're hard to push and near impossible for Isaac to swing himself on. These were much freer and provided enough swing that Isaac could get himself pretty high. He doesn't stay seated very long though.





Evenings have been hard whilst we've been here. Isaac has been unsettled and not going to sleep easily and I am tired and losing patience. In the midst of the challenge of settling them tonight Isabel discovered my belly and decided to try blowing raspberries on it. There was such delight in it. I try to hold onto that joy instead of the frustration.

Tuesday 19 July 2011

Sand everywhere

We spent a lovely couple of hours on the beach this morning. We would have stayed longer but Isabel had had enough and was loudly protesting. I can see future visits requiring a windbreak and beach tent as Isaac could happily have stayed all day.

















Isabel loved the beach but not the sea. I was paddling in the shallow waves and she came over to see me.


Here she comes...


Oh no she's off again.



I haven't quite worked out how to do appropriate beach attire for everyone. The kids were both fine today and we managed a good balance between warmth and getting wet. I was fine for the beach but not so good for cuddling crying wet babies.