Lazy Sunny Afternoon

Our little blondie.

Isaac art - aka what he threw off the top step.

A little reading (fwiw I don't think he's classed as a Spirited Child but the book is still worth a look as all toddlers have their spirited moments).

New skills.

Although sticking your hand in the glass when you've been playing in the sandpit isn't recommended.

The dog (or Mr Finny Bear as Isaac calls him!) had a mad five minutes.

I did a little baking with some help from the boy.

I used this recipe for cinnamon rolls but did the first bit in the breadmaker. The dough was very sticky and needed a lot of extra flour to be able to roll it out but it was fun to play with.

Indoor Play

Isaac says two things when he sees a sling, "back, back" or "front, front". It's no different when he's the one doing the wearing.

Yesterday we went to a big indoor play place. It has lots of different zones, enough to keep both child and adult occupied for hours and the food's pretty cheap.

We went to Ikea!

I was very restrained and only bought a few bits and bobs and some fabric. I'm not sure which bit Isaac liked the best, the outdoor play bit, riding on the escalators, playing in the room sets or sitting at lunch watching all the lorries out of the big windows.

Perfect weather for an ice lolly

Isaac loves our homemade ice lollies (made with redbush earl grey tea) and I've finally persuaded him that eating them outside is a good idea so he doesn't drip on the carpets.

All great until it starts to rains and he insists I sit outside with him!

Not put off he wanted to go outside and play again but I managed to dress us both more sensibly this time.

The buggy has come back from its holiday and Isaac is enjoying the novelty factor. Although mostly he just thinks it's his car or climbing frame.

Matthew is away again but with the joys of Skype Isaac can still feed him yogurt covered raisins.

The life of a dog

Is so hard!

He's not actually allowed on the furniture but sometimes he forgets, especially when he thinks no one is looking.

Work in progress

Well this week I've finally created some space for my sewing machine.

It went from this:

To this.

And I've started on a project - the tester square...

A long time cutting... most of yesterday.

And the first lot of sewing. I'm not sure when I'll get to do any more though as Isaac sleeps in the room next door and I think it would disturb him and if he's awake then he has to 'help'. It feels good to at least have something underway though.

A Dog's Dinner

This is what the bear usually has for his breakfast and his dinner.

I swear he's been sending telepathic messages to Isaac and is in the process of training him to be his slave as the boy was insistent that he had to get into the food cupboard and start putting food in the dog's bowl (3 hours before dinner FWIW).

This is what he thinks the dog ought to be allowed.

Needless to say the dog was banished from the room while I put it all away again.

He's very forgiving.

The garden's looking lush at the moment with lots of flowers but I need to get in and do some weeding. The lavenders are pretty easy to look after though and we spent a while watching the bees.

I'd like to say we grew this ourselves but it's actually part of our Riverford order. It looked so lovely I had to take a picture of it.

A new week

Well we didn't do anything all that exciting today but a walk to the post office takes a while.

Especially when the boy does the walking.

One of his favourite 'toys' is an umbrella and as the weather has taken a turn for the wetter here we had one on hand. It makes a great pull-toy with the metal spokes scraping along the ground and echoing off the tall buildings.

He picked up a feather which was more interesting than the brolly.

And the feathered creatures were more interesting still - although they wouldn't stay and play.

He did his civic duty and put some rubbish in the bin. As soon as he picked it up and I said it was dirty he said 'bin' and then carried it until we found a bin for him to put it in.

This is what the dog looks like when he wants something.