Christmas Concert and Party No.1

As promised, here is what we've been up to this week. On Wednesday it was Ben's Nursery Christmas concert. He's been singing the songs for weeks now, and yes, I know I'm his mother and therefore very biased, but he is a beautiful singer.

Here he is at the start, looking rather cheeky as usual. Having said he sings beautifully, he hardly sang at all during the concert - maybe he doesn't like all the other children drowning him out ;-)

On Thursday, we went over to Morley for our Mums & Tots Christmas party. Here's Zoe trying to eat her present! No doubt she'll be doing this alot.

Here's Zoe with Sam's daughter, Rheya.

And I think this is a first - a picture of me! Please excuse the baby dribble all down my arm.

November's edited highlights

I have been completely hopeless at keeping this up to date in November - I blame colds that went on and on and a lack of sleep! Here are a few of my favourite pictures from November, then I'll get on with December :-P

Here are some firework pictures from our impromptou Bonfire party. I used the 'firework' setting on the camera and I'm really impressed with how they came out.

We went for a walk round Pudsey Park and got a picture of them together on the 16th of November...

Ben is rather fond of Hula Hoops at the moment - here's a trick Ian showed him with the 'finger crisps' as he calls them :-D

That's all for tonight - I'll be back to start December tomorrow!

Snug as a Bug!

My new cosy toes arrived today. Well, I say 'mine' really its for Zoe, but how I wish they made them in adult sizes! I ordered it back in September from this lady who makes them to order for you - http://www.snunkie.co.uk/ - recommended to me by Sam - thanks Sam!I am so pleased with it - it is even lovelier than it looks in the picture, and Zoe seems very happy in it. Naturally we took it for an outing. We went to Bramley Morrisons, where the beautiful hang out ;-)

Thank you Mum! :-)

Today has not been the best day in living memory - Zoe has not been sleeping at all well this week, and last night she was awake from 3 am to 4.30 am. Not crying, just awake and chatting away. Then I got a call at 7.30 am to let me know my childminder was ill and couldn't look after Ben today, just when I was planning when I could go back to bed! And then I got dog poo on the push chair wheels. Don't get me started on that!

So my day was cheered up by the postman delivering us a little parcel from Edinburgh. Here is Ben in his spooky gloves. We haven't tested to see if they glow in the dark yet, but I'm sure we'll get them under the duvet tomorrow!

And here is Zoe in her exceedingly cute hat - it fits perfectly. So thank you very much for brightening up my day. Now I'm going to bed with a packet of Fox's Viennese Chocolate biscuits and a pint mug of tea!

Getting the high chair out again

Zoe's sitting up really well, and was making a right mess of her bouncy chair, so it seemed like a good time to get the high chair out of the loft! She seems quite happy in it, and particularly enjoys that she's at the table with everyone else.

And as you can see, we've already started weaning her on to a cup! ha ha She really likes a nice cuppa.

Zoe at 6 months

My recent posts have been a bit 'Ben-heavy' so this one is all about Zoe. She was 6 calendar months old on Monday (13th October). I did try to have her on the 12th so their birthdays would be exactly 6 months apart, (and therefore easier to remember) but she wouldn't oblige!

Here she is on Monday sitting up all by herself! I checked Ben's baby book, and he didn't sit up on his own until he was nearly 8 months old, and Zoe also rolled over a full month sooner than him. I had her weighed and measured, and she is now 15 lbs 6 oz, and 65 cm long.


Here she is when she was born (taken on my phone, hence a bit fuzzy) when she weighed 8 lbs 11 oz. I think its just amazing how much they change in only six months!

And here she is on Tuesday, also taken on my phone, in her swimming costume. Her favourite trick at the moment is sucking her toes, as you can probably tell from this picture!

Sunday 12/10/08 Ben's Fourth Birthday

I didn't know how Ben would take today, as he was a bit tired and emotional yesterday, but he slept in till gone seven this morning, and has had a marvellous day! (I wish I could say the same for Zoe - she had me up so early this morning, I could have watched the Japanese Grand Prix live!)

We started with his cards and presents from Zoe and us.

We got him a big boy's bike, which he seemed quite pleased with. He tried it outside, as it was a gorgeous day, but our drive is not exactly a great surface and we couldn't tempt him away from his new dustbin lorry to go somewhere better, so he didn't get too far.

After lunch, Stephen, Angela and Chris and Ian's Mum & Dad came over, and Ben had a fine old time opening more pressies and cards.

We were just getting organised with the candles and cake, when my Auntie Dianne & Uncle Keith arrived unexpectedly, so we had a proper houseful! I was very impressed with his candle blowing out ability - he's obviously had plenty of practice over the last few days :-)

After everyone had gone, we had a 'tea party tea' (sandwiches, crisps, cheese & onion rolls) which we all enjoyed for different reasons - Ben because it's all food he loves but doesn't eat much, me and Ian because there was hardly any washing up! Ben says he had a very nice birthday, and I hope he remembers it for a long time - it was a lovely day.

Saturday 11/12/08 Diggerland and the Chocosaurus

As part of his birthday weekend extravaganza, Ian took Ben to Diggerland near Castleford today. http://www.diggerland.com/ They had a really good time, and it looked like great fun! Maybe we'll all go next time.

I've also managed to get Ben's birthday cake finished (and turned one of my plastic mixing bowls green in the process - that'll teach me!) I am very pleased with the end result though.

Tuesday 07/10/08 Zoe's first swimming lesson

I took Zoe for her first swimming lesson on Tuesday. I've taken her swimming before, and she didn't seem to mind it, so I thought I'd take the plunge (if you'll pardon the pun!) and take her for some baby swimming lessons. I really wanted to do this with Ben, but I ran out of maternity leave. This is who runs the lessons http://www.waterbabies.co.uk/ and I am really looking forward to getting a cool underwater picture!

Zoe was very good, and didn't cry at all unlike many of the other babies. She was even laughing her head off at some points. She did look a bit shocked when she came up from going under the water, but she was fine. I couldn't really take a picture in the changing rooms (might try next week with my phone) so here she is, absolutely exhausted afterwards.

She woke up about ten minutes after I took this, and ate half a mashed banana and then had both sides as well, so it certainly gave her a good apetite!

Sunday 05/10/08 Legotastic!

I've not been able to get on the laptop all week as Ian's been hogging it, doing some evil Microsoft stuff, but since it is his laptop I can't really complain about it too much! So here comes a week's worth of stuff all in one go - I'll still put it in in order though, so as not to confuse :-D

Ben's really into his lego at the moment. He will play quite happily by himself building things for ages (when he's in the right mood!). Here he is, with a tower he built all on his own. I particularly like the polar bear on top.

Sunday 20th September - Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Don't worry - this is still my blog - just thought I'd try a different look. You know me - I get bored easily :-D This post has taken a while to get on as life has got in the way a bit this week. Even now, I'm doing this laid on my bed whilst Zoe decides whether or not she's going to go to sleep or eat her sleeping bag!

On Sunday, as it was such a glorious day, we packed ourselves off again and went to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park at Bretton Hall. http://www.ysp.co.uk/view.aspx?id=3 I think it is one of my favourite places to go - up there with Newby Hall and Edinburgh Botanical Gardens.

Ben sitting on a very expensive (I would have thought!) Henry Moore sculpture.

Ben really got a lot out of it this time - he was looking at the sculptures, talking about them, asking questions and generally having a great time. In the past when we've been, its really just been a big open space for him to run around in.

There were a series of sculptures of 'lady hares' which I found most bizarre. They reminded me of the dream sequences in Watership Down - 30 years on and I'm still traumatised by that film!

We had great fun in this field - I don't know if you can tell, but they're giant cylinders of asphalt with a metal tube through the middle - there were about six of them scattered through the field and we had a great time running round them, shouting through the tube and shoving bits of stick through the tube. Probably not what the artist intended, but never mind!

I love this picture - this is Ben looking through one of the tubes through the middle of the cylinders :-)

All in all we had a great day.

And in case you were wondering, Zoe decided to go to sleep in the end, but it was a close run thing!

Zoe tries 'real food'

The title of this should really be 'Zoe tries something that isn't completely milk' but that's not really catchy at all! I tried her with baby rice mixed with milk to start with. As is usually the way with these things, she ended up with more down her front than she actually ate, but we've all got to start somewhere, haven't we? I'm sure she'll catch on sooner rather than later. She's too busy smiling at her Daddy to eat in this one!

Then she decided that she'd have more fun chewing the spoon than bothering with the food. Oh well - try again tomorrow :-)

Ben the Daredevil!

Here we have a (very!) short movie of Ben's current favourite thing. He wheels his scooter or his tricycle up to the top of our drive, lines himself up and then freewheels down. He knows no fear!

ETA - you might want to watch it with the sound off - I don't know what's going on with it, but it doesn't sound right at all!

Sunday 14th September - Flamborough Head & Sewerby Hall

We've had such a disappointing summer, weather-wise, we decided to make the most of a nice day, packed up the car and headed for the coast. First of all we went to Flamborough Head, to show Ben the lighthouse and have a paddle in the sea.

After demolishing a delicious chip butty (Ben included!) we went down to the sea. If you're thinking of going, the path down to the bay is very steep and muddy, and so is unsuitable for the elderly, infirm or silly people wearing their nice violet Birkenstock sandals!

Ben had fallen asleep in the car on the way there, so by the time we arrived he was so full of energy he just went tearing up and down the beach - it made me tired just watching him! Zoe was quite happy just chilling out on the blanket, as you can see.

The tide came in at about half past two, which was far too early to come home, so we went back towards Bridlington to Sewerby Hall. http://www.sewerby-hall.co.uk/ We didn't have a look round the house, but there's a playground, (Ben said he was too big to go on the one for 2 - 7 year olds!) a little zoo and some gardens to look round, as well as a cafe and some craft shops selling jewellery, which I may actually get to look in if we ever go back. The 'land train' was a bit disappointing to our train aficionado - it was just a bus really! But we had ice creams, so he was happy.



We finally left at half past four, and let Ben eat sandwiches and crisps in the car for his tea - we are such bad parents :-D Despite putting a huge dent in my diet, we had a great day which is the most important thing!

Sunday 31st August - Harison's Christening

We went to my cousin Joanne's little boy's christening yesterday. The service was lovely - I particularly liked that is was just the christening. It seems to go on forever if you have it in with the normal service - especially when you have small children with you!


Here we have Joanne trying to stop Harison trying to take a bath in the font. His face lit up when the vicar poured the water into the font - I would guess he likes his bathtime!

After the service, we went over to the Church Hall for a natter and a bite to eat. Auntie Joan opened up the toy cupboard, so Ben was happily playing for most of the afternoon, when he wasn't eating pink buns, that is! I made the mistake of letting Angela take him to the buffet ;-)

Speaking of Angela, here we have Zoe and her Auntie Angela.

The hall was absolutely packed - Nal had a lot of his family who'd travelled from down sout especially, and there are quite a few Turpins, as well as friends - so it was heaving for a while.

Finally, here are Ben and Zoe in their Sunday best. And just in case you were wondering, I am holding Zoe!

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle ;-)

Yesterday, Zoe was wearing a pair of Ben's old trousers. I don't know why this pleases me so much, but it does. Probably because it means I didn't keep all that stuff in the loft for over three years for nothing! So, just for fun, above we have Zoe modelling said trousers, and below is Ben wearing them, about three and a half years ago.

Tuesday 26th August - The Deep

On Tuesday, we drove over to Hull to visit The Deep. http://www.thedeep.co.uk/ It was very impressive, but as with most of these things, I hope to go back in the future to be able to take my time looking round the place ;-) I was very impressed with the 'aquarium' setting on the camera, as you are not allowed to use flash photography at all, because it upsets the fish or something.

Ben was very excited by the ray fish, and I was extremely impressed that he'd remembered what they were called! Because it's still the summer holidays (just) it was very busy, so we didn't make the most of the 'hands on' things, as Ben just doesn't have the patience to wait, and the crowds were about three or four deep around the tank. He enjoyed running round the soft play area though - always good for burning off some surplus energy!

At the end, you have the option of going up the stairs and having a look at their giant tank with sharks, rays, swordfish, dogfish amongst others, or you can go up in the underwater bubble lift. Ben and Ian went up the stairs, but I had the pram so I went up in the lift, which was very impressive but only took 11 seconds so you don't really get to appreciate everything in there. Ben was saying 'hello' to the sharks on the way up, apparently. Before we went home, we had a browse through the gift shop, and Ben is very pleased indeed with his sqirty shark and motorised police patrol boat. The first thing he does when he gets in from Liz's now is ask when it will be bathtime :-D

Sunday 24/08/08 Thomas at Bolton Abbey Railway

We decided to go up to Bolton Abbey Railway for their 'Day Out with Thomas' this weekend, as we thought Ben might enjoy it. It was very busy, as you can imagine, but there was loads to do and unlike some of the places we've been to this summer, I thought it was good value for money. http://www.embsayboltonabbeyrailway.org.uk/

If you wanted to, you could have ridden backwards and forwards on the train between Embsay and Bolton Abbey all day, and there were loads of other things to do as well - a rather scary (to us adults!) looking magic show, Thomas the Tank Engine (of course), a lady making balloon animals, vintage buses and traction engines, rides and a bouncy castle which Ben said was his 'best thing'. They even had a man dressed up as the Fat Controller - I don't know how much padding he had to use though!

There was also 'Daisy' complete with blue eyeshadow and eyelashes that you could also have a short ride on, so Ben and Ian went off and did that whilst I gave Zoe her lunch.

On our return journey, Ian managed to bag us a first class carriage, so we travelled back to the car park in style :-D