Birthdays and snow

It was my Dad's 60th birthday a few days after Christmas, and my family managed to meet up at my sister's to celebrate.  It is very unusual for us all to gather in one place these days, so it was nice for the cousins to have the opportunity to play together.
My sister and her husband put on a lovely spread for my Dad, which included a massive 60 profiterole cake.  My Dad does so much for his family, so I hope he enjoyed having us all there!

 Happy 60th Dad!  Thank you for always 

being there for us

Unfortunately, I didn't take many photos since I'm still paranoid about actually using my camera, but I did take a couple of photos from our visit.

My youngest nephew, Alex, is 7 months old already and he is such a good baby!  You can see him absorbing (and gumming!) everything around him. 

Baby Alex - how sweet is this face!

It was lovely watching the cousins play, and Lily was so good with Rowan, and held his hand when we went for a walk through the snow.  Rowan was a little unsure about the snow at first, but enjoyed stomping through it by the end - he started copying Lily and tried throwing some snowballs. Rowan was quite taken with Lily, and gave her a goodbye cuddle when we were leaving.

A snowy walk with cousin Lily

 Stomp! Stomp!

 

Rowan also enjoyed rough-housing with Tom.  I'm not sure how much Tom enjoyed that, but he took it all in good nature.

I'm hoping that we see our family more in 2015.  It isn't until you see how much the children have changed between visits that you realise how much time has passed.  I am lucky to have a brilliant, loving family, and it would be good to catch up more.

My sister

My Mum

First family holiday

Last November we went to Center Parcs for our first family holiday.  Gareth and I were a bit concerned as we would be sharing a room with Rowan.  He has had his own room since he was 3 months old, so we wondered how a sleep-over would work out. We had nothing to worry about and we all managed to sleep relatively well.  Although there was one morning where I had to slowly retract my foot from Rowan's reach, as he had woken up, grabbed my toes and started saying "mummy mummy" on repeat.  The photos were taken with my old camera so I'll apologise now for the poor quality.  Regardless of blur, red eye, over-exposure etc. I'm grateful that I have been able to record our family memories, so thank you trusty old camera!

Tree covered in Christmas lights.

Center Parcs really go to town at

Christmas

When I booked the break I hadn't realised that it coincided with the Winter Wonderland period.  There were lots of Christmas themed activities and decorations to entertain us, and despite only booking one activity (Santa's grotto for Rowan) we were not short on things to do. Rowan particularly loved the animatronic singing reindeer, and every morning the first thing Rowan said was "reindeer, reindeer."  There were real reindeer right next to these comical Rangifer tarandus but Rowan wasn't the slightest bit interested in them.  The zoologist in me was a little disappointed by my son's indifference.

 Rowan was mesmorised by the singing reindeer.  Every day entailed a visit to listen to

them sing

 Sorry real-life reindeer. Not today

We spent a lot of our time in the subtropical swimming pool which Rowan loved.  He adores water, and so he had a great time going around the children's rapid pool. Gareth even took him down the small water slide with him.  Gareth and I were able to go for a lone swim each on one evening, when we took it in turns to watch Rowan.  It was so relaxing swimming through the warm water whilst cold November rain dashed on your face.

The outdoor rapids. You can see the steam 

rising from the heat of the pool 

Looking at Santa's 'magic river' (blue and silver baubles

floating in a stream) 

Waiting to meet Santa. I had to turn the 

flash off to prevent the whole image being

over-exposed, so unfortunately it came out

blurry 

Inside the plaza. These are all real plants, 

and there were goldfish and koi in large

pools along the path

  We ended up returning home 1 day early as Rowan had started to come down with a nasty cold, but we didn't feel like we had cut the holiday short.  We all had a fun break, and enjoyed spending some rare quality time together.

 Awkward family selfie

 Tired Rowan (and tired Gareth!)

It rained for most of our holiday, but it

meant I could get this atmospheric misty

tree shot, so silver linings and all that 

Christmas 2014

Fortunately, Gareth wasn't working Christmas Eve or Day this year so we enjoyed a quiet family Christmas.  My amazing husband managed to sneakily buy me a DSLR camera  which I've been lusting after for over 10 years!  Since we only recently went on holiday (post to follow. Eventually), this year we'd agreed to only do small token gifts, so I was really not expecting a camera.  I've been going a bit snap happy, although I have been afraid to use it too - I'm so terrified of damaging it!  I'm sure the more I use it the less worried I'll be (although with a sticky 2 year old that may take a while!)  I intend to blog more now that I can take better photos - with my old camera, I am usually so disappointed with the images it puts me off taking pictures.

Anyway, back to Christmas... Rowan is old enough to understand that something different was going on, but not to the extent that he was too excited to go to sleep on Christmas Eve (despite plying him with sugar from his first ever hot chocolate!).

First hot chocolate (with marshmallows, of course)

Cuddles on Christmas Eve

Throughout December, we have had regular shouts of "reindeer" and "Santa beard" from him, so he at least knew the association.  Surprisingly, our Christmas tree survived despite Rowan pushing it over once, and pulling baubles off on a daily basis. He did put them back in different places, so we had a very interesting yet lop-sided tree by the time Christmas arrived.
Gareth and I woke up before Rowan on Christmas day (no doubt the last time that will happen for some years!) and we both took his stocking into his room (Santa had thoughtfully left it on the outside of Rowan's door) when he woke up around 9am.  He was thrilled to find a chocolate in his stocking, and happily ate it whilst opening the presents.  Although he did direct Gareth and I to open a fair amount on his behalf.

 Rowan's handmade stocking. I was pleased 

with how this turned out - it's lined and everything!

After his stocking was emptied, we went downstairs for breakfast and found Santa had delivered a present to Rowan, and also one for the whole family.  However, a boy led by his stomach, Rowan had his breakfast first before seeing what Santa had left.  Rowan was happily playing with his new Aqua-doodle pad from Santa, and then noticed more presents under the tree.  He helped Gareth unwrap Santa's present to the family (a calendar with a tag reading "To help you find time together") and then proceeded to go steadily hyperactive throughout the day.  He was too excited to nap, and was put to bed early at 5:30pm, where he promptly fell straight to sleep.  He still has several Christmas and birthday presents to open - I think if we allowed him to open everything on one day it would have been too overwhelming for him.  Everyone has been very generous, and we want to ensure he enjoys (and appreciates) everything that has been given to him.

Rowan helping Tangent open his present. I love the look of

anticipation on Tan!

Opening more presents

Unfortunately, we didn't have our dinner together as a family as Rowan was too excitable (and fighting the tale-end of a cold).  However, it was nice enjoying a quiet meal with Gareth after Rowan was settled in bed.  We did make sure Rowan had his birthday cake in the afternoon, so I don't imagine he would have wanted much 'proper' dinner anyway. 

 For Rowan's birthday cake, I made a Christmas yule log

with Lindt chocolate ganache

Everyone says Christmas with children is a magical time, and it is.  It is also absolutely exhausting!  I think it's going to take a month to recover our energy.

Update

Good grief.  Another two months have passed since my last post.  Things have been crazy-busy lately and a lot of the time I feel like I'm a living version of the Red Queen hypothesis (i.e. it doesn't matter how fast I run, I still stay in one spot!)
Rowan has had a couple of colds lately that have typically affected his sleep.  Apart from one glorious day when he slept in till 11am (yes; 11am - that is not a typo!) he has been foregoing his usual 8am lie-ins on our days off.  His nap time has also decreased.  Although I think he still needs more sleep since he's the crankiest toddler imaginable when he wakes up. As he's quite a full-on chap, I've found this increased demand on my time pretty hard. I'm postulating that his shorter naps may be reflecting an impending readiness to potty train soon, but I suspect I'm just trying to find justification where there isn't any!

Gareth has been studying hard for an all-day exam and I think his absence to study has affected Rowan, so perhaps that explains the change in his sleep. It's funny how kids pick up on changes. Since Gareth works shifts I assumed Rowan didn't have any expectations of routine, but it seems there is an element of predictability even for shift-workers.

Regardless, Rowan continues to sleep through the night so I don't feel I can legitimately complain.

I've also got a new job, which is exciting.  It's still with the same company just a different role.  It's worked out well as I don't need to change the days I work, so there's no effect on our childcare.  It basically means a bit more responsibility and pay.  To be honest, I'm just happy to be doing something a bit new for a while.  I was in my old role for nearly 5 years, so I was more than ready for a change!

Picnics and walks

We've had some awesome weather so far this Summer.  Perfect for lunchtime garden picnics!  Picnics have the added benefit of not having to clean the highchair and kitchen floor. Al fresco dining and no clearing up means everyone is happy!
When Rowan woke up from his nap, I gathered a selection of lunchtime nibbles (he loves having a selection of different items to chose from, although cheese cubes and raisins always disappear first!).  I have to be quick now as he can undo the child-lock on the fridge.  By the time I'd plated up our lunch he had already helped himself to a cheese and onion roll:

Serious business, this eating

We sat on the grass under our umbrella and enjoyed a platter of sandwiches, cheese, apple, tomato and pineapple.  Once the initial hunger was abated, Rowan then ran off to play in the garden, returning every now and then to take a bite of what he fancied

Buttons the Cow was invited to join us

Tangent wasn't invited

We had a fairly busy day, with walking Tangent in the morning, the picnic at lunch and meeting up with a friend and her toddler at the local park in the afternoon.  By bedtime Rowan was definitely ready for sleep, but insisted on his story.  He's really taken to books lately which is a relief as both Gareth and I get such enjoyment from reading, we really wanted to share this with Rowan. This evening I thought I should bypass his story as he seemed so tired.  Half an hour after leaving his room Rowan started crying.  When I went to his room to investigate he was sat on his bed and said 'book' pointing at his book shelf. Of course, I was happy to read him his story, and quite pleased that his bedtime story has become such an important part of his routine.  I'm sure his grandparents will recall trying to read him a soothing story whilst he darted up and down his cot, seemingly uninterested!  

Walking the dog. Sometimes he even shares the ball with Tangent

Poor old Tangent

Tangent has had it a bit rough lately.  Rowan has progressed from being an immobile lump of interesting smells, to a highly mobile, loud, grabby whirlwind in a relatively short amount of time.

Rowan was about a month old here, and the novelty of new

baby smells had Tangent obsessed!

Tangent still feeling the love with Rowan at 5 months old.

Rowan was getting more accurate with his grabbing, and 

showing an interest in dogs.

Tangent looking a little depressed not long after

Rowan learnt to walk.  There is no sanctuary.

 A resigned expression as Rowan continues to

haunt his days.  We started using the child-gate

to the kitchen more to give Tangent a break by this

point.

Escaping to the garden for a break whilst Rowan naps

 

It's not all fur-pulling and eye-poking!  Life isn't completely over when you're usurped by a toddler.

Good bye baby bed!

 Over the past month or so, Rowan has been working on climbing out of his cot.  He can get one leg on top of the bars, and can hop with his other leg.  It was only a matter of time before he figured it out, and Gareth and I didn't want him to fall over the bars and hurt himself.  So we decided to take the bars off his cot.  Rowan is not quite 18 months, so it seemed a bit early, but his aptitude for climbing indicated the time was now.

 We took the bars off Rowan's cot last night. It probably wasn't the best timing as we were in the middle of decorating that day, and I hadn't seen him at all the day before due to my work's company meeting*. However, since my Mother-in-Law was staying to help babysit we figured 3 adults around over the night would be good if things went bad.  Anyway... we got Rowan through his bath and PJs routine as usual and took him to his room and showed him his 'new bed.' We started reading him his story and he was running all over his room, on and off his bed and I thought he's so hyper now, we're screwed.

 Does this look like a child ready to sleep?

 Story over, we said good night, popped him on the bed and left. I shut the child-gate over, but left the door open because we have crap doors and a gnat's fart can open them anyway. He was in hysterics for 20 minutes, crying so hard and retching I thought he was going to be sick. I went back up, gave him a hug and reassurance. I picked up another story book and started reading it with him since he was so worked up the 'silent return' method wasn't going to work (he was acting afraid to even sit on his bed at this point). I changed tact and instead of talking about his 'new bed' I told him it was exactly the same bed - same blankets, same mattress, but that he didn't have the bars anymore. After repeating this (and reading the story about 6 times) I left the room again and he tried following me out and he was breaking his heart screaming after me (I have to say, at this point my heart wasn't doing too great either). He went quiet briefly then started crying again This time Gareth went up and lay on the floor in silence with Rowan lying on his bed. Rowan was clearly exhausted and trying to sleep but still woke up when Gareth eventually left his room. Gareth propped our trusty heavy books against the door (these have proven golden on windy days when his door would just blow open!) and left. Rowan cried for about 10-15 minutes then went to sleep. This must have taken about an hour and a half from start to finish.
Before going bed myself, I sneaked into his room to lay a doubled over quilt along the floor by his bed, in case he fell out, and he was fast asleep on his bed; not the floor where I expected he'd be! He slept right through the night, and didn't wake up till 7am.

If I could re-do it, I would have converted his bed during the day so we could play in his room and get him used to it (not just before he went bed!), tell him it was the same bed just no bars instead of freaking him out by telling him it was completely new, and keep his door closed as we always did when he was in his cot.
Today for his nap he cried for less than 5 minutes before climbing into bed, then slept for 3 hours! And tonight he stayed in his bed whilst I read him his story, looked upset when I started to leave his room but he stayed in bed and didn't cry.

Fingers crossed this is it!

 Hopefully we'll see more happy bedtime scenes like this one!

*Part of the day's activities was rock climbing. I was hoping I'd get allocated climbing, not because the other activities were rubbish (they kinda were though) but because I'd never been climbing before and thought it would be something I'd enjoy.  I volunteered to do the challenging climb as the easier ones had already been snapped up. Turns out I have an aptitude for climbing!  I know that makes me sound arrogant, but the instructor indicated I was good at it too (along with another woman there) and that we may be interested in doing a course in rock climbing.  I definitely would be interested, but I think climbing is prohibitively expensive, so I'm not sure how likely it is that I could take it up as a hobby.  Plus, I don't have an abundance of spare time right now.

Sewing shirts

Gareth had a wardrobe clear out recently and gave me one of his old shirts to cut up for sewing practise.  Since I liked the original shirt's design, I decided to just make a mini version for Rowan.  I thought it would give me practise with pattern matching the tribal design on the front, and generally be a good way to have a go at making shirts, which can be difficult, without ruining some expensive new material.  I used the shirt pattern from Small Dream Factory - you should really check out her site, she has some brilliant free tutorials on making baby and toddler clothes.  I particularly like that she uses lots of diagrams, so you can really follow what's going on.  Being new to sewing, I've found with some online guides I don't always understand what the text is describing, so having lots of pictures is brilliant!

The material I used was really shiny and slippery, so it made it very awkward to sew with. I also made some really basic errors (like sewing the sleeve on the outside of the shirt, so all the seams showed. Rookie mistake!) and making an utter mess of the collar.

This was the first time I'd made button holes and I they came out

ok.  They weren't quite as in line as I'd hoped, hence the slight 

puckering, but overall I was happy.

I was pleased with my pattern matching!

It took me awhile to complete this one, due to various 

time constraints, so Rowan had already started to 

outgrow it. I squeezed him into the shirt to take these photos.

Having now made one toddler shirt, I felt confident to go and buy some new material to make another.  Since it is Summer, I picked out the loudest material I could find (and busy patterns hide a multitude of sins). I showed what I bought when I got home, and I think the brightness temporarily blinded him.  

I made one size bigger, but I still think I should have added an inch or two to the length - Rowan is very long for his age.

This time, I sewed the sleeves on the right way around, and the collar looked pretty good!  I wouldn't be afraid to make another shirt at some point.

Rowan reluctantly posing.  I took the buckets he

was playing with to take the photo, and he wasn't 

happy about it.

Still thinking about buckets...

Finally, access to buckets after indulging his mum!

Self-promotion

I completely forgot to add a link here to the article I wrote for Bristol Post months ago, so here it is now:

Knitting up a storm

I had originally submitted it to a knitting magazine, but it wasn't quite what they were looking for.  I'm sure I'll get used to rejections if I find the time to write and submit more regularly (and hopefully acceptances!).  I am still waiting for an accepted feature to be published, and as soon as I have the issue details I'll post them here.

Going to the park

I often take Rowan to a local park when we walk back from our fruit and veg shop.  When he's first released from his pram, he looks a little unsure of all the park equipment, and spends some time people watching before dashing off toward the roundabout (his favourite!)  His interest in the park is increasing as he's getting older - when Gareth and I first took him there he looked like he was going to burst into tears, and wasn't happy until he was sat in an open green space playing with leaves.

It's not just our local park he's unimpressed with.  I recently took him to different one and he remained nonplussed.

I took Rowan to the park to go on all the equipment.

That's him in the distance.

Rowan is beginning to come round to the joys of parks.

He is proving to be a bit of an adrenalin junky and insists

on going down the slide face first.

Hobbies

Every time my parents visit us, Rowan immediately absconds with my mum's walking stick.  He enjoys tapping it on the floor, and waving it threateningly at Tangent.  Sometimes contact is made, but Tangent is learning to be quicker.
This is all lovely and innocent when my mum doesn't actually need the stick to be mobile.  Unfortunately, when she does need to get about, Rowan is reluctant to relent the stick.  A compromise was made on a recent visit, and Rowan generously swapped his hobby horse for his nanny's stick:

My mum relaxing with a sippy cup of milk whilst

Rowan terrorises the household*

This may become quite problematic, since Rowan can't distinguish a walking stick from a toy.  On a recent trip to the doctors, the waiting room was filled with elderly people.  It was hard work distracting him from all those walking sticks.  I am expecting him to swipe a stick right out from under someone one day soon.  I may ensure I am a good distance ahead, and tut at the growing delinquency of today's youth.

*We are currently decorating (The. Whole. House. Sigh) so all those patches on the wall in my photo's are poly filler.  For some reason the camera flash makes them really stand out.

Back to swimming

I recently realised that between illnesses and returning to work, I haven't managed to take Rowan swimming in almost a year. I couldn't believe it had been that long!  He really enjoyed it the couple of times we did go.  So last week I was determined to get him back to the pool whilst he's still at an age where he's more receptive to new experiences (he's already starting to get a little shy around strangers).  We arrived at the pool eager to rekindle our swimming sessions only to be confronted with a sign announcing the child-friendly pool was closed till midday.  Unfortunately, I wouldn't have the car in the afternoon so we had to drive back.
I tried again today and the pool was open as usual (hurrah!).  When we got changed I then noticed I'd forgotten to pack regular nappies with me.  I did have some spare swim nappies, but boy are they expensive!  Luckily the nappy he wore to the pool was still clean and dry, so I could put it back on again after.

We got into the pool, Rowan clinging on to me like a stubborn limpet, and I walked around with him to get him used to the water.  He did look a little anxious to start with, but soon became absorbed in people-watching shouting "baby!" whenever he saw a small child bobbing past.  When he got comfortable with being carried around I then held him vertically at arm's length.  He smiled, then sprung back into my arms (I'm certain I could have let go of him and he would still be stuck firmly to me!)
Eventually Rowan was happy to let me support his chest and stomach whilst he kicked his legs and wiggled in his version of swimming.  He was merrily 'swimming' like this yelling "bab!" [bath] at anyone in earshot. Occasionally he would stop to drink some of the pool water, then carry on.

We spent half an hour in in the pool, which I was very surprised by.  I was expecting Rowan to have a bit of a melt-down when we got in and have to leave quite quickly.  I had visions of doing weekly 10 minute sessions until he was comfortable.
Rowan seriously disapproved of the showers after our swim, but since I take him on my own there isn't really an alternative (i.e. palm him off to someone else whilst I shower).  Plus I wanted to get the chlorine off him as soon as possible.

I'm hoping to take Rowan every week, and I think it should be realistically walkable if I don't have the car.

I didn't have my camera or phone with me so there are no photos from today's swim, instead here's a picture of Rowan climbing in the fridge when I was cleaning it.

Ball pool

Rowan loves going to softplay. He loves scrambling over the equipment, climbing up the slides (yes, up) and diving headfirst into the ball pool.  I love the fact I can relax watching him dash about at top toddle speed, and not worry about him incurring a skull fracture.

At our local softplay centre.  I managed to get a quick snap of him
before he disppeared in a blur of excited toddler frenzy.

One afternoon, Gareth took us to Mothercare.  He didn't tell me the purpose of this visit, since we were already stocked up on over-priced baby stuff.  Gareth went straight to the paddling pools, and started perusing the available range.  Meanwhile, Rowan had dived into an inflatable car display filled with colourful balls.  Decision made!  We came home with Rowan's very own ball pool, which can also be used as a paddling pool.  Rowan adores his new toy, and is constantly asking to play with it.  He enjoys falling backwards into it, throwing the balls at for the dog, tipping it up and trying to climb on the roof (probably why it already has a slow leak!). Gareth made an excellent call with this, and has further proved his 'best daddy ever' status.

An amazing rare unblurred photo of Rowan!  Look at those

flushed cheeks of happiness!

A mini back massage at the end of a busy day toddling.

Forays into sewing

With the weather gradually improving there have been more opportunities to dry the washing outside.  This meant I could no longer ignore the need for better peg storage.  The last few years, our pegs have been crammed into a Tupperware tub which was sufficient.  However, since having a baby our laundry has inexplicably increased and the need for more pegs couldn't be ignored.  Unfortunately, our glut of pegs no longer fit in the faithful Tupperware anymore.  I decided to make a peg bag, and searched the web for suitable tutorials.
The one I chose to do was from Vintage Folly since it seemed straightforward and I'm not an accomplished sewer.

Overall, I was happy with how it turned out.  I had to make my own bias binding (bit of a lie, since I realised after that I hadn't actually cut it on the bias) which ended up a bit wonky, and the buttons pull on the fabric a bit.  But hey, it does the job!

Making the peg bag has fired up my enthusiasm for sewing (that and episodes of the Great British Sewing Bee).  I went on to make Rowan a pair of trousers upcycled from one of my old tops.  I didn't have a pattern, so I used an existing pair of Rowan's trousers as a template.  There wasn't quite enough fabric, so some of the fabric pieces included parts of the seam from the top.  They aren't great, but they fit him.

I've also made myself a pair of trousers from a Simplicity pattern (2414).  They turned out really well, apart from accidentally sewing the side seams together on the waistband, so I had to unpick it in order to slide the twill tape through.  Annoyingly, despite taking my measurements and using the correct size on the pattern, they have turned out massive.  When I was cutting the pattern out I thought it looked large, but told myself not to be arrogant, and trust the pattern.  I now need to learn how to alter them.  Or put on about 2 stone.