Miracle recovery

Since Tuesday night, you have been poorly. You have had a fever and have been sick, all over Mummy I might add! At lunch time today, I was very close to rushing you back over to the Doctors because you were just inconsolable. You cried hysterically for an hour, fell asleep sitting up, and then cried for another hour when you woke up. I managed to convince you to have your medicine and half an hour later you were like a different child. That Calpol bottle really is Mummys best friend! You have turned a corner now and seem to be getting better.

Because you haven't eaten, Mummy offered you lots of yummy treats, like special ice-creams. This is one of the perks of being poorly.

Being in the garden automatically means bubbles to you. And we have plenty of them with our bubble machine.

And in continuing our theme of eating whatever you want after you've been poorly, we made Pink. Yes, that's right, Pink. ( It's what we call strawberry flavour Angel Delight! )

I've never known anyone make such a quick recovery after appearing so poorly. Mummy was very worried about you Harry but is very glad you are now on the mend.

x

How to live your life

There are certain things in life that your parents are meant to teach you. How to walk, talk, catch a ball, count to ten, ride a bike. These are usually the fun exciting things in life. You will remember them forever. There are certain other things in life that your parents teach you that you never even realised. Things you do automatically because they are second nature. Things like this:

This is how to live your life Harry. Simple guidelines which make everyones life just a little bit nicer. Follow these rules and you will grow up to be a good, decent person. And I will know that I have done a good job in raising you.

x

Funny faces

You made Grandma and I laugh a lot today. Well, you do that everyday but today was especially funny because you were pulling such funny faces.

I don't think I need to say anything else...

xxx

Numbers

I never realised just how many numbers we come across everyday. Not until you were able to read numbers and now insist on pointing them out all the time. For example, a walk to the library means pointing out numbers on doors, wheelie bins, car number plates and buses. A five minute walk takes us fifteen, at least. God forbid we go to the supermarket. There are numbers all over the place! All you can hear from our trolley is 'four two! three zero!'

You've been able to count up to 30 for a couple of months now. Although, all of the teen numbers sound the same. (You always say the right amount though so I know you are thinking it correctly). You can read numbers up to twelve. You are barely two and you are reading numbers. You are so clever Harry and Mummy is so proud of you. What gets me is how you are so eager to find numbers anywhere we go, whatever we are doing. People may assume that because I am a teacher, I have sat you down and drummed it into to. But I honestly haven't. You WANT to learn. Even when we play on you magnetic drawing board and I ask you what you want me to draw. The answer is always 'umbers, pwease Mummy' I can beg you to let me draw something else, but you say no and get cross with me.

You read you numbers on your bedroom wall before I turn off your bedroom light and say goodnight. Sometimes, when your eyes have got used to the dark, I can hear you reading them to yourself again before you drift off to sleep.

I go to sleep singing the Numberjacks theme tune in my head because you have made me watch it TEN TIMES in one afternoon. Bloody numbers....

It's snowing!

I've waited patiently for you to come back from Daddys house so that we could play in the snow. Our back garden was completely untouched. Pure white snow, a blank canvas for us to play on. As soon as you arrived home, the wellies went on and were out like a shot...

....you told me it was cold and you wouldn't touch the snow. You didn't like it sticking to your wellies and didn't like that your football was wet. You asked to go back inside after 4 minutes. Oh well, maybe you'll enjoy it more next winter.

Come on Mummy, It's freezing out here!

You are two on Wednesday. I'm still thinking about what to write in this blog for you to mark the occasion. Watch this space...

Grandad, a true gent

I keep trying to write this post. I want to tell you about your Grandad, my Dad, more than anything but it's difficult to find the words. There is a whole childhood of memories to remember. To put that into words is no easy task. Then there are the teenage years when I thought I knew best, and the grown up years when I realised that, actually, Dad did know best. I don't know if this post is to tell you about your Grandad, or a therapy session for me. Either way, here it is.

Your Grandad.

Grandad had 3 tattoos. They were a constant source of ridicule. Weird place to start when describing your Grandad I know, but appearances are important.
On his chest was a rose where the name of an ex-girlfriend had been blacked out. On his left arm was a naked lady with a snake covering her bits. On his right arm was an eagle that had been drawn by a friend. It looked more like a pigeon. All considered epic fails I'm afraid. Let this be a lesson to you Harry, tattoos will be regretted at a later date...
Grandad could look quite intimidating with his tattoos but he was a big softy at heart. He was a church warden, ran numerous charity events and would help anyone if he could. That's why so many people describe him as being 'a true gent'.

Your Grandad loved darts. And he wasn't too bad at it either. He was always nagging us to go and watch him play but we always said it too boring. We should've gone to watch. I think we would have been proud. His dart board is still in the kitchen at Grandmas house.Uncle Kyle will teach you to play on it one day. Mummy will stand at a safe distance!


It's hard to remember the times before Grandad was poorly. Looking at photographs help, like the photos of him with a moustache and a mullet in the 1980's. You have this picture of Grandad pulling a silly face in a frame by your bed. It always makes me smile. 

Grandad liked Ska music, especially The Specials. You quite like bopping along to some of their songs. We'll have to listen to more of them.

DIY was Grandads other talent. He was really good at decorating houses and generally fixing things. Mummy has needed a few things fixing just lately and I really wish I could call him and ask him to sort it out. He would huff and puff about it, but he would get the job done.

Grandad wasn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination. He smoked, had no patience with us children and spent way to much time on the computer. His favourite dinners were faggots and Fray Bentos pies which I'm sure are designed to induce heart attacks. He used to get mayonaise all over his face when eating a kebab after a night out and his nose would whistle when he breathed out of it. But if these were his only flaws, he didn't do too badly. 

What you should know is that your sister Ellie changed my Dad. We already know that she is an amazing little girl but her coming into Grandads life captured his heart. With Ellie in his life, he became even more determined to help others. This wonderful child with an extra chromosome brought out the best in my Dad.

And then there was you....

You were one of his proudest moments. Because he was poorly, he didn't feed or change you, or even hold you very much but you could feel his love for you. It was in his eyes.

There are so many other things you need to know about your Grandad, things that your family will tell you about as you grow up. He will always be a part of you Harry and I know he is proud of you. He always will be. Unless you refuse to support Manchester United of course...

Mummy x

Cheese!

You've finally learnt to smile for the camera! This is just a post to show how cheesy you are.

This is by far the cheesiest pic I've ever seen!

xxx

Feeling crafty

Mummy is getting a bit creative in her old age. Since becoming a stay at home Mum, I've had the time to rediscover my crafty side. I love making things for you Harry. Especially things for your room. I don't think you really care very much but I hope you will treasure these things when you get older. I put my love for you into these things Harry. I hope you can see that.

I know it's soppy and sentimental but it is absolutely true. You make my soul happy.

Love to read

After you had gone to bed this evening, I picked up books from all over the downstairs of our house. There were books under the sofa, on the fireplace, on the table and even a little book that had been kicked under the fridge. You love to read. Well, I say read but mostly I mean you like to point at objects and shout their names. You can read numbers though, which is very clever for a little boy who isn't even two yet. You can read the numbers 1 to 5, even when Mummy tries to trick you by mixing them up.

You've got a new way of delaying bedtime now. I say it's time to go to bed and you ask, in the cutest voice, "one more?" and you bring me a book. It's hard to resist a request like that.

You have quite a few favourite books at the moment. Here are some of them:

- 'Thats not my Train' (and other titles in this series. Toddler Mummies and Daddies know exactly what I'm talking about)
- 'My Dad' by Anthony Browne (excellent illustrations to entertain Mummy)
- 'Toy Story' picture book (Driving Mummy crazy - I'll ellaborate further in a future post)
- My first words (Full of images of everyday objects which I have noticed are mostly from Ikea)

I hope you continue to love books as you get older. You'll be reading Daddy's copy of 'War and Peace' in no time!*

Mummy x


* Daddy may not own this particular book, nor does he intend to ever own it but, you know, you get my point

A day at home

We didn't really go anywhere today. We walked to the library to take some books back but that was the extent of our adventures outside. We did, however, have some adventures inside.

You are fast becoming a little telly addict. It's nice for Mummy to have five minutes to do the washing up or put some make-up on but I don't want my precious boy ending up with square eyes! So instead, I recruited you to help me with my boring jobs today. And, I must say, you are very handy with the washing. Just the right height to load and empty the machine, especially when Mummys back is sore. God forbid if I try to help you. You MUST do it all by yourself, each item carefully removed and handed to Mummy. We'll have no chauvinistic ideas in this house!

You might notice that you have wellies on in this photo. These are the wellies we found in the charity shop for just £1. They have aliens on them and you LOVE them. You wouldn't take them off today. You kept telling me to put mine on. I did for five minutes but they are really not the most comfortable footwear to wear around the house.

After lunch, we decided to get a bit creative. You asked for your box of arty bits and pieces and we let loose with the paint and play-doh. You don't like getting your hands dirty though. Even the slightest speck of dirt, paint or food is a big no-no. This results in us getting through at least 20 wet wipes everytime we do anything remotely messy. The paint was the big issue today. Sorry, the green paint.
"Greeeeeeeen! Paint! eurgh!!!!"

Last photo. Isn't this just the cutest 'I'm not doing anything naughty Mummy, I promise' face ever?

Love you, scrummy boy x