Thomas talk

During one of Thomas's grilling sessions about where things come from he asked where water comes from.

I said mountains. He looked at me and said "yes, and taps, and rain"

Clever boy

Plane spotting

During our walk in the sun Thomas pointed out an aeroplane to me.

I said I wonder where it's going, Maybe the airport? Thomas said "maybe it's going to drop people off on their holiday"

Moving down

So Lucas has gone from being a tiny baby to an eight month old baby on the move so it was time to drop his cot down.

I felt a bit sad that he was no longer able to sleep at the top. Like we had reached another milestone.

I am also relieved we did it before he managed to climb out, which I am sure would have been any day now.

Buy a box?

Thomas was trying to sell me a cardboard box earlier. I asked how much he wanted for it. He said seven quid. Lol.

I don't even say quid so I don't know where he got that from.

Thomas talk

I was telling Thomas I was going to have my hair done and he asked why? I said it needed doing. He said "No you don't Mummy, it's ok as it is, you don't need it doing, it looks gorgeous"

If only he was like that all the time!

Pottery painting

As a treat we took the children to do pottery painting.

Ended up messy and actually I think the Mums would have enjoyed it more without the children :-) They got bored after about five minutes.

Trying hard

Thomas, who is now coming up to 3, used to be such a good eater but recently he's being tricky.

It could be because his baby brother has arrived. Or just his age where he wants to do the opposite of anything I say.

So most meal times are a stressful chore, with me begging, threatening, pretending to throw away, pretending I don't care when actually I am so wound up that this normally easy task takes 4 times as long, which means his poor brother is sitting around while Thomas picks at food, I am unhappy food is being wasted, then I am disappointed that the same rigmarole has occurred once again.

So often I try different things to encourage him to eat. Hoping that he will just say thank you Mummy and eat at an acceptable speed with no fuss.

This was chicken dippas with mayo and broccoli. He did eat it all, although after an hour and a half and Phil had got home and sat with him while he ate.

Walkies

As it was a lovely sunny day today we went for a walk this afternoon. As usual Misty decided to join us. She is a crazy cat.
I think she remembers when she was just a few weeks old and we put her on a rabbit lead and let her play in the garden.
I'm wondering how well it will go down if I put her back on the lead and take her for a walk. She seems to enjoy being out with us.

Thomas talk

Phil got home from work and was chatting to Thomas about it.

Thomas said "I think I'll come to work with you one day Daddy, yes then I can get some money to buy some bits"

At least he has the right idea that you need to work to get money.

Chilli

Homemade veg chilli with sour cream :-)

Perfect for a cold (chilli) night

Random Acts of Kindness Day

Yes, today is Random Acts of Kindness Day and I like the sound of that.

Here are some ideas we can do.  Why don't you try some too?
Smile at 10 strangers
Donate money to charity
Take snacks into work for colleagues
Let people out in a traffic queue (time permitting, lol)
Give a treat to a neighbour
Give a compliment to a friend/colleague
Massage your partner
Cook a nice meal for your partner
Pat a dog
Say thank you

Thank you for reading this and have a happy day :-)

Am I missing something? - Dinner

"We always eat dinner together"

"We love to eat meals as a family when my Husband gets home from work"

"It's important to eat dinner as a family"

My husband doesn't normally get home in time for us to eat dinner together but today he managed to get back by 5. 

When he said he would be back early of course I was delighted that I had someone to share the load with, the struggle and stress of dinnertime.  Then I thought....Fabulous.  Let's do it.  Let's all have dinner as a family.

I got the dinner ready (fish, chips and mushy peas in case you are interested) after I had given Lucas his dinner (he eats and 4.30 so he has longer between his dinner and bottle - it's all about him being sick but that is a different story) 

I had covered everything.  I was prepared to share my fish and chips with Thomas but had a back up of beef casserole, mash and carrots just in case.  I wasn't going to let him catch me out!  Thomas decided he wanted the casserole option.  I am cleverer than him so I still saved some of my dinner in case he had a change of heart when I had dished up.

So dinner was on the table.  Lucas was in his highchair and getting restless so we were trying to keep him happy by giving bits of our dinner (chips - naughty) 

Trying to ignore the whinging and noise of Lucas we carried on with dinner.  Thomas seemed happy with his casserole and mash so I sneaked into the kitchen and got the rest of my dinner, secretly happy that he didn't want any because actually I am not keen on sharing my food.  Thomas then decided he didn't like casserole anymore. 

Trying to stay calm we said not to worry and just to eat the mash and carrot.  He was happy to do this as long as he had salad cream on his plate.  Then he was just playing with his food.  Meanwhile Phil and I were eating as fast as we could so we could give Lucas attention (and so Thomas couldn't nick food from our plates)

He then decided that he didn't want any salad cream and cried because a bit of salad cream had managed to get onto a bit of potato.  We negotiated and offered to feed him in the hope that this may speed things up and get him to eat some food.  He had a think and decided this was something he would agree to.  All was going well until again a bit of salad cream crept onto some potato.  This was the end of the world.

We explained that dinner was served half an hour ago, he had hardly eaten any and Lucas had been sitting in his highchair for over an hour.  He didn't seem to bother about this. 

Eventually after being spoon fed like a baby most of the mash was finished.  I offered a yogurt which was gratefully received.  Phew......I had a few minutes to try to tidy up the plates and the food which we tried to bribe Lucas with from on the floor.  Until Thomas cried because he didn't like the look of that yogurt.  He wanted a strawberry yogurt.  How a 2 year old can tell the flavour of a yogurt just by looking at it is beyond me!

At this point I told him to get down and was just pleased it was all over.  I cling filmed the yogurt and put it in the fridge to try again tomorrow. 

So am I in the minority?  Am I the only person this happens to or am I missing something?  How this can be relaxing family bonding time I am not sure. 

Don't get me wrong I think it is important to eat as a family so children know eating should be a relaxing, pleasurable experience.  I eat breakfast and lunch with the children (most of the time) but for now I think evening meals will be enjoyed with a glass of wine when they are in bed.

Why don't children listen - Toilet brush

I have started to learn that when you tell a child not to do something that just encourages them to do it.  Judging from the feedback from my parents I wasn't too dissimilar.

So when Thomas touched the toilet brush while I was giving Lucas a bath I immediately told him to put it down.  It shocked him a bit so he let go.  However then he decided to pick it back up and was very interested in it and the brush in particular and started stroking it.

I told him to put it back and between bathing Lucas and juggling with the toilet brush I managed to get it back in the pot.

Then I had to explain to Thomas that he had to stand washing his hands until Daddy could come and help him so I could get back to Lucas.

This situation was stressful at all!

Cuddles

With Lucas, he's feeling poorly so lots of cuddles today.

Nothing better than snuggles with your Mummy when you're not feeling well.

Its a hard life

Valentines

So Phil and I had a date at home. Although by the time we'd bought everything it probably would have been cheaper to go out. But not as convenient.




Camembert starter

Cooking

Yum yum

Peppercorn sauce. Possibly a few too many peppercorns, lol.

Happy Valentines day Mummy

Fab picture Thomas did me at pre school today.

Happy Mummy

Artist

No this isn't Thomas's work, this is my drawings.

Although I did use a book he got for Christmas. Its a book which shows you step by step how to draw.

I think I did quite well :-)

Little dinners

Home made Cottage pie for the boys

Pancake Saturday??

So it appears that I missed pancake day.

I admit I did see a few posts on facebook but didn't click until late last night.

I don't think Thomas and Lucas will have noticed.  On Saturday I'll have a go at making pancakes and tell them it's pancake day then. 

Snack time

After gymnastics I took Thomas to a cafe for a treat. We both had a hot chocolate and I bought him a biscuit. I was excited and thought I'd be able to have half but he wasn't having any of that!

And he didn't even finish it.

Oops

My first attempt of semolina didn't go too well

Another use for a cup holder

Umbrellas

Take away

Nothing nicer after a night out

Peek aboo

Lucas trying to get under his chair. We can still see him though :-)

Tooth number 5

We've had a few rough days with Lucas teething and today I noticed a new tooth coming through, bottom left. So he's got that coming through as well as his top ones.
Poor thing

Messy!

I had to tackle this after a long day because of a long night!
What a mess

Sleepy Joey

I knew at some point this would happen. Quite surprised it took nearly 3 years! Today is the day I climbed into a cot bed, curled up and tried to sleep. Although after trying for nearly an hour with Lucas squealing in delight that I was in there, him trying to bite me with his new teeth and chatting away I decided to give up and climbed back out.

Sshhh

I decided to hide in the boys play pen earlier. Phil was with the boys so I thought I'd make the most of it and take 5 minutes to relax :-)

Easy dinner

One of Thomas's favourites and quick and easy.

Wholegrain cous cous, with a tomato and basil sauce (I used Peter rabbit organic) cucumber and cheese.

I sometimes use ratatouille instead of the tomato sauce for extra veg.

He has a dollop of sour cream too

Artist

Thomas drew a picture of a whale and I think it's quite good!

Cheating a little

Now that i'm going to be a working mum of 2, I decided some days I need to make things as easy as possible. This includes dinner!

When I finish work it will be a rush to get back to feed the boys therefore pouches are the way forward.

Don't get me wrong I have lots of purees in the freezer. The purees he turns his nose up at and it's a struggle to get him to eat them. A struggle when i'm rushing and been at work I don't want.

Lucas loves eating the pouches of food and it is so easy, lid off, Pop in a bowl and microwave.

So a less stressed mum with more time to spend with my boys, is that a bad thing? X

Tasty breakfast

Lucas loves this breakfast and it's perfect when you don't have much time.

Add warm milk to a rusk (I use a low salt/sugar banana rusk) then pour some fruit puree, I used an Ella pouch on top.

Quick, easy and tasty x

Early morning chatting

Lucas decided he would like to wake up early, I am not too sure what time because I was so tired I thought if I didn't look at the clock it wasn't really happening.

I will guess it was around five. Where he got his energy that time of the morning i've got no idea but we had the usual, pulling the monitor off the window sill. Babbling away, screams of excitement. Turning his mobile on.

Eventually at twenty past six Phil got him. At least he is happy to chat to himself. I wonder where he gets that from? he he

Hello Lucas

This morning Lucas made me smile, even more than usual.

As soon as Phil brought him into the bedroom he gave me a beaming smile and said hello. Well made the sound of hello anyway. That's just as good for now.

Anyone for cake?

At a lovely meal at my friends house we enjoyed the most delicious pineapple and banana cake made by one of my friends. Yum

Loving Pink Cloud Boutique

My friend has a business selling lots of gorgeous Shabby Chic gifts and homewares.  Have a peek at all the lovely things!
Pink Cloud Boutique

Hungry hippo

That 4 o clock feeling

So it has got to 4 o clock and am I the only one who loves that time?  It isn't early afternoon but nearer to the kids dinner time which means closer to their bed time.  As though I have gone over the hump of the afternoon and am on the nice downwards slope towards my own time.

I find once it hits 4 o clock I can start the evening process. Making dinner, giving dinner at 4.30 (varies depending on location, organisational skills that particular day and how tired I am) cleaning up from dinner, playing for half an hour and then bath, bottle, bed, and.........RELAX.  

There I said it, even if I do feel slightly guilty

When there were 2

Picnic

Nanny and Aunty Nic joined us for lunch today and it would have been a bit of a squeeze at the table so we decided to have a picnic in the lounge.  We had lots of scrummy sandwiches, crisps, cucumber. 

Thomas enjoyed it.  He made everyone laugh when he wouldn't let Aunty Nic have any of the cucumber.  He let everyone else have some but not Aunty Nic..

Lucas enjoyed his Tuna mayo sandwiches and special baby crisps.

Good job I put the rugs down though because it got a bit messy.

Bossy Thomas

During our picnic in the lounge today Thomas said to Nanny "Nanny, why are you speaking with your mouthful?"
Cheeky monkey. 

Reminiscing

This photo was taking during our honeymoon to Bali. 

It is of Tanah Lot Temple.  It is one of the most famous Temples in Bali and means "Land in the middle of the sea"  It is really popular to visit at sunset because it is beautiful as you can see from the photo.

We hired a private tour guide to take us to a few temples and ended up here and watched the sunset. Very romantic.

Lucas tooth number 3

So finally Lucas seems to be getting another tooth.  Top left is coming through.  It won't be long until the top right will be there too.

He has been a bit grizzly and waking up at night so I thought something was going on but now you can see the tooth poking through his gums.  They look so big! Poor thing.

Weekend

This weekend has been filled with my favourite things.

Wine, food and having fun with the family, yes this did include wearing Lucas's sunglasses, and this was before the wine!

Working Mum

So today I did a long day at work.  I worked 10-5.  It was really lovely to be Jo again and not have to carry baby wipes and muslins around. 

Work was really busy so the day went quickly.  Thomas couldn't wait for me to go so he could have some play time with Daddy.  He kept telling me to go this morning which did get a bit annoying after a while.  When I came home he was very happy to see me though.  So was Lucas. I think he missed me a little bit too.

Mum on her own

Today is the day Thomas goes to Grandma's.  I have been very lucky that even though I have been on maternity leave the Grandparents have still been having Thomas. 

But with the end of my maternity leave looming I thought we ought to get Lucas being used to being away from me after spending day in day out with me for the last 8 months.  Obviously this is only for his benefit....nothing to do with me wanting time on my own ;-)

So mid morning Lucas went to Nanny and Grandads house for 3 hours.  I was really looking forward to time on my own. Just doing nothing. Being me.  Not being yelled at by Thomas to put on another Octanaut DVD or Lucas screaming because Thomas has sat on his head or he is in a position he doesn't like. So I thought it was odd that when the time came to leave my parents (Nanny and Grandads) house I didn't want to go.  But with a gentle push by my Dad off I went.  Alone.  Worrying whether Lucas would miss me, get upset. Will my parents remember to feed him, give him water with his lunch?  Forgetting that they did a great job of bringing me and my Sister up.

Finally I got some time alone.  I did have the urge to clean when I got home.  But at least I didn't have the guilt that I should be playing with Thomas or cooing to the baby.  It was nice sitting in silence and just being me.

Pizza on a budget

So rather than paying nearly £30 for a take away pizza, garlic bread and chicken dippas we went for the make your own option.

Ok we aren't completely making our own but bought basic pizzas and toppings separately so we can jazz them up!

Nice people and socks

Yesterday I came into contact with lots of nice people. Mostly within the space of an hour in tesco and the reason was Lucas kept loosing his socks. Lol

First person told me he'd lost a sock.

Second person told me I'd dropped something.

Third person actually put his sock back on for him while I was paying for my shopping.

Fourth person picked it up and ran after me.

So it has made me realise there are nice people, not just grandmas either, they were all types of people. People I wouldn't have expected to bother which taught me not to be so quick to judge.