Thursday, November 10, 2011

Since we last saw you...


Isaac's had a birthday
we've been to some play groups
we've taken Rinny for walks
Isaac's kicked some footballs
we've hung out with friends and tried on their sun glasses [post cake]
Isaac' been to a Halloween party with his sisters
and we've done a fair bit of mucking about
We've also had our fair share of tantrums, snotty noses, bloody lips, nooooooooooooooooooooooooo!s, heart ache and tears. It's all about balance, right?

Life is still settling. We'll get there and hopefully my words will come back too and I can articulate myself again. Until then eh?

Friday, August 26, 2011

Pre birthday update

Hello pie fans!

Well, it's been a few weeks at least...actually a whole month (again, I know) since any Isaac related news. So here goes.

Isaac is now TEN DAYS shy of his second birthday. WTF? WHEN? When did my little baby boy suddenly nearly become TWO?! Best get on with birthday presents and cake!

Until a few weeks ago he didn't like slides. He could climb up them, but then didn't know how to do the next bit and no amount of Mummy help would teach him. Then we were at a local messy play morning (that happened to have a slide) and he observed a little girl's technique. Now? There's no stopping him! Literally. He spent half an hour sliding that day. The next time we went to a kids play area he spent another good half hour sliding. He can't get enough! Everywhere that has a slide must be slid upon. He loves the sliding. Nuff said.

He has lots of new words and ways to express himself now too. He says penguin! But called them pengas (with a soft g). TOO CUTE! It's because we have a lovely book (Me by Emma Dodd) that we read at night. I ask him which one he wants and it's usually either 'penga' or 'beebee' (Star Baby by Margarent O'Hair). He loves his bedtime stories. 

And talking of bedtime. I got him a duvet this week to see how he gets on with it. I plan to take the side off the cot soon and want him to be used to sleeping without his sleeping bags before we take the plunge. They've been so incredibly helpful, but I think it's time to move on, especially as I'm starting to think about potty training...but not quite yet. 


Other favourite words include: "Mum! Look!" "Where go?" accompanied by open hands gesticulating 'where?' "Cake" remains a firm favourite. Anyone would think that the boy lived on cake and cake alone. I do feed him a range of foods (when he'll eat them)! Cake seems to be a general term for food or being hungry. He knows "cook" now too and takes great pleasure in telling me that I'm cooking. There are loads, seriously. They all make me smile and some of them make me chuckle. He's ace.

He sees me with my Mummy bag of endless pockets and depth and apparently decided that he wants one too! He purloined this one of mine during an unpacking fit one day and gets very upset if he has to go anywhere without it. I decided I didn't really like it being dragged everywhere because it's one of my favourites so I have made him one of his own in a messenger style. It's pretty good, even if I do say so myself. It will get its own glorious post when I get around to taking pictures of it!

This was taken last Sunday on a walk up at Shipley Country Park. Yet another lovely place to walk the dog and take Isaac to see greenery and wildlife. He loved looking at the birds and the big pond there. He's very good at walking and walks nearly all the way into town without wanting to be picked up now. That's pretty good for one with such little leggies! We still use the hip seat, but much less now as he boldly strides about checking everything out.

The best thing I've bought for him to play with this summer has been his sand and water table from ELC. Hands down. He'll spend an hour at this thing playing with the sand. The water didn't do so well and ended up as part of the sand, so now it's just sand in there. Admittedly he chucks the sand all over the garden, but hey, he's having fun. That's the main thing. 

He still loves his books and we've snuck in a few episodes of Timmy Time on the BBC iPlayer. My GAHD he LOVES TT. Seriously. Then again I love it too. It's beautifully made, has simple story lines without (like a lot of kids TV) being horrifically dumb and makes us both chuckle. We love how different the characters are; even the two grown up characters in it are a hoot! 

Enjoying Mummy's hairband.
On a more serious note: he seems to be adapting well to our new house and living without Daddy. They see each other every other evening and every other weekend. He gets to see his sisters a fair bit too which is important because he loves them so very much. It's important for them to see him too, of course. I'm sure the change in circumstances will have affected him, but I'm doing all I can to make things right for us. We're still busy meeting up with people (when parcel collection doesn't scupper our plans gah!) and going out to parks and on dog walks etc. Busy keeps us happy. He met his French cousins for the first time last week which was great - they all got on famously!

We're headed south this weekend to scatter Grandpa over the Solent and pay our final respects. It will be emotional I'm sure. The whole family will be together again which will be nice. Blended family is a strange one, but seemingly the norm these days. Isaac will grow up not knowing any different. For that I am grateful; he won't remember Mummy and Daddy being together so less pain there than if he did...I hope? Only time will tell. 

Anyhoo, back to happy thoughts of the all important second birthday! See you next month? Or maybe before...

Thursday, August 04, 2011

Happy birthday Grandma

This lady right here is my Grandma, my Dad's Mum. I never got a chance to meet her and my Dad didn't know her for very long either; she died when he was seventeen. What a trauma for him! Imagine having your mother ripped away from you at a time in your life when you're still finding your feet. 

I think she has a beautiful face and I can see a lot of my father in her. I like her laughter lines and her lovely smile. I wonder what she was looking at when this picture was taken? I love the spots on her clothes and how dark her eyes are.

This is the only picture of her that I have and I've had it for a good few years now. She's been all over the country with me and has made me feel happy when I've looked at her. 

I wonder what she was like? Dad tells me that she would have loved me very much. I think I have her cheeks.

She would have been one hundred years old today. So happy birthday to you Grandma that I never met. I hope we do one day.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

A note on crochet (and a bit about knitting)

I have cancelled my subscription to The Art of Crochet. There are several reasons for this.

1. I have completed all of the square patterns at least once.
2. I'm not so keen on the other patterns in the magazine.
3. I will have very limited space in my new house for storage of crafty items.
4. I don't think I can learn much more from it.
5. I prefer square patterns from 200 Crochet Blocks by Jan Eaton and ones I find online. More imaginative and purty.

I've achieved what I set out to and feel no remorse about not completing the throw. I have The Art of Knitting after all! One subscription is enough for anyone. I only know the basics of knitting so I shall see how I feel about it when I can confidently say the first four things listed above about it.

On a crochet related note, I have made another amigurumi! Meet Barry.


He's a bit cute inne? He was made for my friend Kate because she loves penguins...a lot. He's another Lion Brand pattern (link here, you'll need a [free] account to view it).

In other yarn related news: the sweater I started for Isaac in January. You know...the one that nearly made it to finished item status? Well, it's never going to be finished because now it's TOO BLOODY SMALL for him. Plus it's summer. So meh. Nevermind. I learned that sweaters aren't as hard as I thought they would be and that knitting with circulars isn't as bad as I originally thought. R.I.P. lovely jumper. I've edited my Ravelry queue so I should ctually find myself achieving more, especially if I finish what I cast on and don't buy yarn unnecessarily! I'm told it's manageable. We shall see!

Green grass, blue sky and a picnic

Click image to enlarge

We really are lucky that there is such beauty so close to where we live. We arranged to meet my friend Steph and her daughter for the morning at Carsington Water as our sprogs seem to be nap synced. There are three walks you can do; we opted for the gentle walk as Steph is due any day now with Daniel (can't wait to meet you little man!) There was lots of chasing each other around and "this way!" and "a bee!" It was so lovely to get out into the sunshine and pretend I was by the sea a little bit. I even managed to take Rinny who loved it and didn't bugger about at all! A dog's gotta get out sometime, right?

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

And now for something completely different

Yes. A new chapter in my life is starting. One where I am no longer married to and no longer living with Isaac's father. I've debated writing about this heavily with myself and have come to the conclusion that I am going to want to remember how I felt at the time and so here I am. 

I honestly and truly thought thirty was just a number, life goes on, one year older and nothing changes, right? Oh how wrong can a person be? Thirty, for me, was an epic milestone. A time for massive reflection, consideration, decision making and action. There are things I know in my heart to be true that I've ignored for a long time and things I thought would go away and haven't. 

As far as ending my marriage goes, well, it was the single most difficult thing I've ever done. So many ripples with endless possibilities. It's not as if my decision only affects me and certainly wasn't one made lightly. In the beginning I was really really angry, then really really sad. Now I've made peace with it (this isn't one of those posts so don't expect juicy details) and am looking forward to the future. We have an Isaac plan which looks pretty bloody good and means he'll get to see lots of his Daddy. It's not as traumatic as I thought it would be, now, and we're both very positive about the decisions we've made. It's down to people outside of the decision to accept our choices. They don't have to understand it or even like it. Just accept it and move on. We are.

As for Isaac? I know he won't grow up with Mummy and Daddy living together as a happy family unit and this is what breaks my heart. Even now as I write my eyes prickle. I swore I wouldn't make him feel what I did as a result of my parent's separation. I can't guarantee that, but through communication and honesty I'm hoping he'll understand and not hate me for it.

So now I return to a me almost forgotten. It's something getting to know her again. I thank each and every one of my friends who supports me in my decision and loves me for who I am, even though I lost sight of that a long time ago. 

That covers all I wanted to. Anything else is not yours to know.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Boy in a box!

You know the general consensus that the box is always better than the toy? Well, here's all the proof you need.