Polzeath

Even though we are not at Polzeath, the universe knows that that is where we are supposed to be this week. Nathaniel and I have the traditional Polzeath cold (hacking cough developing into copious amounts of snot) and the weather is absolutely spot on. This morning there was torrential rain coupled with seemingly gale force winds. The rain smacked against the windows and we were pleased to stay in the house. This afternoon the sun came out and the south westerly was pleasingly warm. Nathaniel and I went out to try and get our temperatures down!

We had intended to go over the bridge, but the wind was so strong that the buggy was impossible to push!

Trees bending in the wind

But it was well worth going to the park because it was so pretty!


We did some duck feeding, made complicated because the wind was too strong for Nathaniel to stand up! After falling over a good few times, he retreated to the buggy.


It was just as well, as we were then approached by two ginormous swans who wanted a bit of the bread. Even I had to back off when they started to flap their wings at us. Nathaniel was a typical baby and was totally unbothered by them and wanted to stroke them!


Then we headed into the woods that were full of good crunchy leaves.

The trees acted as a bit of a wind break so Nathaniel was stable enough to good some good leaf kicking.


This was exhausting work, so Nathaniel went to sleep and left me to take far too many photos of leaves!

Buttons

Nathaniel now has a good deal of control over his fingers and has developed an interest in pushing buttons. It has not taken him long to discover that a particular button on the oven will make a beeping noise when depressed and he aims straight for that one each time. He is also enjoying the video (yes, we still own such antiquated equipment!). Hours can be spent pressing the eject button followed by pushing the video back into the machine. Repeat ad infinitum.

Dance Macabre

Nathaniel seems to be settling in at nursery okay and is enjoying the opportunity to get paint everywhere and refuse to eat anything that sounds like school dinners (he won't eat strawberry mousse or jelly and ice cream!). Today they had a Halloween party and had to come dressed up. Without wanting to sound like a religious nutter, I'm not a big fan of halloween and would happily ignore it, but it seemed a bit mean to send him costumeless so we acquired one. Here he is dancing around the living room:

A very busy day

Nathaniel and I have had a very busy day! As it is half term, there was no Steiner Toddler Group this morning, and so we decided to meet instead at the local community centre. Being the person with the keys, I had to be there to open up at the start which was not entirely convenient as Nathaniel would really have rather had a nap.

But it was worth the tiredness, because everyone brought a toy along to share. One of the toddler group parents owns our local cycle shop and brought along with him some of the tester trikes. You should have seen Nathaniel's face as Andy came in. I have never seen eyes so wide!

The object of Nathaniel's affection (yes I know it's not really a trike)

Eventually, after lots of triking around, tiredness overcame Nathaniel, and so leaving the others to lock up (and managing to leave our tea caddy full of tea in the kitchen!), we zoomed home so that Nathaniel could have a mammoth sleep. Two hours later it became necesary to wake him up in order to fit in some lunch.

Then we jumped into the car and braved half-term traffic to drive up to Creepy Crawlies. You would all hate Creepy Crawlies. I hate Creepy Crawlies. But Nathaniel loves it. First of all we went outside and Nathaniel and Maisie found trikes which they asked to be pushed around all the animals on. This wasn't back breaking at all!!!!

Once the goats and ponies and rabbits and chickens and sheep ("baaa baaa") and dogs ("ooof ooof") had been exhausted and we had played on all the outdoor equipment that could be reached by one year old hands, we left the delightful piped muzac and went indoors. I can't really describe indoors. It's giant cage on many levels filled with soft play obstacles. Think Fun House and Pat Sharp and you're almost there. Here is the under five's section (which Nathaniel treats as a recovery area from the over-five's area!) - its tiny in comparison to the main cage:

In the past, the kids have been interested, but not enthralled. But now they can walk! We have never been so exhausted. Four one year olds running around, trying to climb onto the slides on their own, drowning in the ball pools and trying to play on the equipment designed for much older, taller and more stable children, equals chaos. I tried to take some photos on my phone, but the camera isn't really up to much. So you'll have to imagine the faces of the four of them riding down "one of the UK's longest four lane astra slides" on our laps. Here is some flailing around in the ball pool:


When enough fun had been had, we packed the tired children into cars and sat in more half-term traffic on the way home. They all fell asleep which would have been fine if it hadn't been five o'clock. So we woke them up when we got home and Mahine and Phoebe came round for supper. We had made Tricolor Couscous Salad, and on realising that Mahine had not been able to bring the highchair with her, I should have aborted the plan. But common sense did not prevail and so we proceeded to have a picnic on the floor with a large bowl of couscous and two over tired one year olds. Anyone see where this is going?


There was a bit of a mess. This picture doesn't do it justice. There was couscous everywhere. On the sofas, on the piano, in the cracks between the floor boards, mashed into our socks. It was just as we started to get the giggles that Paul, our estate agent called to let me know about two house viewings tomorrow. It was all very silly. Its a good thing that Nathaniel now likes the hoover, because there was no escaping the need for using it before bed!

What a fun day!

Reading

I have already mentioned that Nathaniel is rather fond of books. But his obsession has been taken to a new level with the era of The Very Busy Spider. When you get to the last page, you turn back to the beginning and start all over again. And again. And again. And again.

I didn't think that anything could top his enthusiasm for Andy Wharhol's Colours but it seems that I was wrong!

On the other end of the scale, Ian has managed to totally freak him out with I Don't Bite. At the end of this perfectly pleasant Rod Campbell book, there is a pop out crocodile who snaps your fingers. However, it seems that there has been one snap too many, and now just a glance at the cover sends Nathaniel backing away from it. Opening the book results in tears. I never realised that a book could be so scary.

Needless to say, the proper "scary" books are just really good fun. Here he is enjoying the Scary Sid book:

Ill

What's worse than looking after a baby with D and V? Having D and V yourself.

What's worse than having D and V yourself? Looking after a husband with D and V.

Whats worse than a husband with D and V? Everyone having D and V.

Anything worse than that? Everyone having D and V, it being your first week back at work, and having to tidy and keep out of the house because people are looking round it!

Needless to say, we are all feeling a bit sorry for ourselves.

Who lives in a house like this?

Someone who has taken all their stuff to Mikey's house!



See the full story here

Shoes

As Nathaniel is now prancing around on his feet, we decided that it was time to get some shoes. After all, its a bit chilly for wandering in the park in bare feet.

So we took a trip to Clarks and Nathaniel spent a good 15 minutes removing all the shoes from their display and playing with the foot measuring device. Then out came the shoes and he crumpled! It seems that playing shoes and wearing them are completely different situations!

After much gentle coaxing, we found a pair that fitted, and Nathaniel demonstrated that the velcro fastenings were ideal as he could take them off himself. The patient sales lady disappeared off to get the box and returned with a certificate to say he had his first shoes and a special card with his size written on it (and a reminder to come back so that they could sell me more shoes on a 6-weekly basis!). You even get a photograph taken, but the little boy was all blotchy and refused to put the shoes near his feet, so they wrote on the receipt that I could come back another time to immortalise the occasion.


For a day, Nathaniel would only carry his shoes around on his walker. He was very particular that they should come for the ride and picked them up everytime they fell off, but that was as close to him as they were getting.

The bike helmet was his request!

The next day, he became more curious about them and would watch with interest as you put them on his feet, but once installed, he wouldn't move his feet at all - he just leant in the direction he wanted to go until he fell over!


On day four he suddenly realised that actually, they were quite comfy, and it made walking around outside a much more pleasant experience. And off he went! Now he walks everywhere with them, and if he wants to go outside, he'll bring you a pair of socks and then his shoes! He tries to put them on himself, with limited success, and given half the chance will help you put on your shoes or try them on himself!

Nathaniel helps Ian put on his shoe

Our travel options have been greatly widened by the shoes, and the other day we spent a happy 20 minutes walking to the butchers.

Creativeness

As everyone knows, when you become a mother, you immediately acquire the ability to make a scale model of Tracey Island with an egg box, create a shepherds oufit out of last year's angel costume, and make clothes that look pretty. So, inspired by a crafty friend, I decided to test my new found creative skills by customising a t-shirt for Maisie's birthday. Here is the result:


I'm pretty proud of it!

Birthday

Nathaniel has had a fine first birthday! He enjoyed opening presents, and sometimes even played with the present instead of the wrapping. Thank you very much for all his exciting new toys, clothes and books.




As we were having a few of Nathaniel's friends round for coffee, I decided that he should have a cake. I dutifully created one covered in thick chocolatey, fudgey icing, and then realised my error. Although I'm not particularly house proud, the idea of five one year olds smearing that icing all over the sofas.......

So I made a second, baby friendly cake with substantially less icing. This one was a serious victoria sponge filled with home-made plum jam made the night before at the WI (don't laugh yet - I'll explain another time!).


Two cakes!


The cake went down pretty well! Nathaniel was slightly confused with the whole candle-blowing business, but he greatly enjoyed doing the eating and attacked any piece that stayed still.


In fact he dealt very well with the whole party atmosphere. We limited guests during the day to five babies plus parents, and so it wasn't too overwhelming. Nathaniel actually played with his friends!

(some baby's identities have been concealed....)

In the evening, we had a second wave of visitors (and presents!) after everyone had got back from work. Nathaniel stayed up a bit to open up his gifts and try on his hats(!) and then went to sleep to allow us to enjoy a celebratory curry and beer!

A baby can never have enough hats!

Walking!!

One giant step for a small man... and another... and another!



Hooray for the walking boy!

Travelling on two feet...!!

It's official. Nathaniel can walk!

For a few days he's been taking two or three steps on his own but only if you place him facing you and encourage him to come to you, but nothing intentional of his own volition. However, today, after repeatedly taking 6 or 7 steps on his own towards us in the afternoon, this evening he merrily increased this to 8 and then 10 steps and then... he actively turned round away from what he was standing against to walk in a different direction to which he was facing. Shortly after, he then actively walked around Tassy, without holding on to get to where he wanted to go (in order to get to the oven - he current favourite appliance!)

We have no evidence to show yet (for those of you hoping for a video) so you'll have to take our word for it for now!

Let the increased mayhem commence...!

Sunny Afternoon

Today we took advantage of the beautiful blue skies and Nathaniel's new bike seat and decided to go to the Ebor Inn in Bishopthorpe for a cheeky afternoon pint. We got a packet of Scampi Fries as well. Nathaniel thought he'd check them out:



We sat in the sunshine in the pub garden whist the man romped around, stacked his cups and tried to post his wind up car through the holes in the table:



Nathaniel then had another return visit to the site of his first ever swing. This time he thought he'd up the game to swinging high in the air with no hands..!



After the swinging, we finished our drinks and headed back home for the man's afternoon nap.



However, we didn't get there before the nap arrived! He was looking very sleepy yet uncomfortable, so we investigated the reclining feature of the seat. Within a minute he was asleep!



Sleepy man

Travelling on two wheels

Nathaniel now has his own bike seat. Much deliberation went into this purchase (as if anyone expects anything less!) and we eventually went for the Hamax Plus system (for those who care). He he seems to be happy with it. He is much less happy, however, with his helmet, which he's surprisingly good at preventing reaching his head when you try to put it on. It currently involves one of us holding his arms! However, once in his seat he's happy - this is him on his first journey up the road:



We then played with the box the seat etc was delivered in:

Nathaniel	Who's in the box?

Tickle Stick!

We have been cleaning this week. Nathaniel looked dusty so I dusted him with the feather duster. He thought this was extremely funny. However, the one thing he then found funnier was grabbing the duster from me and attacking me back!



Take that!


Then tickling people with the new found tickle-stick became the must do activity of the hour...



Tickle!


Worn out from all the tickling...

Prawns and other animals

We had prawn & pea risotto - this was Nathaniel's first experience of prawns (and risotto). All was hoovered up at a great rate and thoroughly enjoyed!



Mmmmmm... prawns!


And whilst on the subject of hoovering, we decided that Nataniel needed to conquer his fear of the Dysonaur as it was hindering our ability to clean anything. I sat down with him and explained that it was going to make a loud noise, then we turned it on. He was unsure, but eventually seemed to accept it. After we'd turned it off, he then started to explore it more and seemed happy. Then it all went wrong again when he explored the big red on/off button and it whizzed into life. He was not altogether pleased at this...!



Mummy, I don't like this animal...