New Tricks

Half term week has been going pretty well, up until today that is.

To start off the week we had a lovely visit from Saskia, Aiden and baby Keira, which strangely enough, doesn't make me feel broody. They stayed until I pretty much kicked them out so that I could meet with Nanny Rennolds and Auntie Katie at Costco. I felt really bad about it but Saskia said I was being silly.

Ellis is doing really well with his dancing. He is practicing all the time at home, and I constantly have "The Witch Doctor" going through my head. Leo tries to join in and it's very cute watching them together. I will try and get some on video.

Leo hasn't been very well this week so I couldn't decide if we should go to the zoo or not, but after giving it some thought, and watching him bomb about the place, I thought I would just see how he was.

On the way there he asked to go home, then said he wanted to see animals, before saying he wanted to go home again. He ended up saying he wanted to see animals so I carried on.

The car park was full so we had to park down some streets, a little walk away. I loaded up the buggy, changed Oscar's nappy and made it to the zoo not long after Nanny Rennolds and Auntie Katie and her gang.

We had a fab day, seeing pretty much every animal, had lunch, played in the water, fed the parakeets, Chloe did the aerial walk, which upset Kamron as he really wanted to do it too. He isn't tall enough though. They had tattoos put on and ran around and around.

We managed to lose Leo at one point. He said he wanted to go with Kamron who was stood with Nanny and Auntie Katie so I said that was fine and he walked around towards them. Ellis wanted some food so I was messing around with the cool bags and when I looked up again, Leo was gone. Mum and Kate hadn't even seen him so of course we all worried. We checked everywhere. We were stood right by the park so I just thought he had wondered off into there. Nope. A short panic later, he was found a few metres away down a path.

After that Mum and I needed a sit down, so we had tea and just chilled out. Leo was now strapped into the buggy and eventually fell asleep next to Oscar.

Oscar was an Angel all day. Not a peep from him. What a good baby! Even tonight I just put him up to bed and he went off all on his own, no fuss. I can't even remember how horrendous it was! Of course I can, but I can't believe how far we have come. Rob doesn't remember it being that bad.

Oscar did a new trick today, he got up from his belly to a sitting position. Will try and get that on video tomorrow too. Growing up way too fast.

I was looking at all 3 of them lined up in the bath tonight, and just totally amazed that I did that. I made them humans sat there grinning at me. What better job in the world could there be? None.

Today was a "couldn't get motivated" day. My friend text me about messy play this morning but nobody was dressed and Oscar was asleep and I was still slouched on the sofa not wanting to move. I struggled to get up to make breakfast for everyone so to rush around getting everything sorted was just too much for me today.

Ellis did some painting while Leo napped, as I just couldn't face cleaning up that mess, and I pottered about a bit.

The nap times don't seem to be working out the same any more. Oscar pretty much goes back to bed by 9am and Leo doesn't go up until about 10:45am, which is pretty much when Oscar wakes back up. It doesn't really matter, it just means I can't get a few things done with out disruption.

This afternoon Sharon, Ellis and Tom came over to see us which was really nice as we haven't seen them in a while. Tom and Leo are really cute together and play really nicely and Ellis just played with the toys. My Ellis was on the computer for a bit and was a little too excited, running up and down shouting, so I let him use the PC.

Heavy rain forecast tomorrow and we are supposed to be going to Sophie's house to meet with the active birthing group. With Leo being off colour though I may give it a miss. I will see how he is in the morning.

Off for shower and bed now. The evenings feel so short, and I struggle to keep my eyes open past 10pm. I'm certainly getting old!

Obstacles

We attended Harry's birthday party on Saturday morning, which was really nice and the boys all had a wicked time.

Uncle Dave was over doing some work on the car and we spent the rest of the day just chilling out, playing in the garden, cooking and pottering.

The boys helped Daddy to mow the lawn.

Then they set up an obstacle course which was great fun.

In the evening Rob and I had a go on the Wii and polished off a bottle of champagne which was a really nice way to finish the day and it was good to have some one on one time, having fun and not just sitting with our computers.

The following morning started off with some lovely chatting with my boys.

Once Rob was up I needed to go food shopping. I don't know why but I took Leo with me. I suspect it was because Rob would have said, "which one you going to take with you?". I just have said none especially as Leo had a slightly raised temperature. He wasn't acting ill or anything so I took him with me. It turned out to be a bit of a mistake as he just moaned the whole way round and wanted to go home.

Ellis spent his day on the computer. I didn't mind as I wanted him to just have fun, as school was certainly taking a lot out of him and I wanted him to relax and just do whatever he wanted to do. It did mean that I didn't get to go on my PC all day!

Oscar was a bit crabby at times but is doing well with moving around and eating solid food. He napped a lot so I suspect he might be coming down with something too.

I did lots of eBaying in the evening, getting things ready to post etc and that was about it. I think I'm going to give up with it though as it just isn't worth all the effort. Be glad to just get rid of it all and have it out of my house!

The boys all went to bed really well and I took pictures off the web cameras that are set up in their rooms.

Cake Sale

I've really been worrying about Ellis' report and giving him a hard time about it too. I need to back off and relax a bit more I know but it's hard. I'm sure it will all work out fine. Just another phase!

I was so worried about it that I spoke to his teacher after school and she told me not to worry and that it will all get sorted out. Starting afresh after the half term break. I don't think that will make one bit of difference, but fingers crossed.

After school activities are making life a little manic at the moment, and I'm pretty sure it will only get worse, not better. Ellis has hip hop dancing twice a week now and swimming lessons on Friday. I really struggled to get him to his 2nd dance lesson this week as he just cried saying he didn't want to go. I made him go though and he had a fantastic time and the teacher asked if he had been practicing as he had really improved. I said he probably had in his head.

At Leo's pre-school this week they had the photographer in and you can take siblings in for pictures too. I wasn't going to bother but then reconsidered as thought it might be nice to have just Leo and Oscar together. It was a bit hectic though as Oscar was way past needing his nap and Leo was just too excited. I hope she got one, or two, but I have to wait and see.

When I was waiting for Ellis to finish his dance lesson, I took the other 2 to Sainsbury's to do some food shopping but I ended up not leaving enough time to get them a proper dinner so Leo had to make do with a few bits. Not very successful I must add.

On my way out I spotted an old teacher of mine, Mr Wilcox. I really remember him as he was kind, but stern, caring, helpful and just a lovely person. He remembered me too which was really nice. We had a quick, lip reading, chat over another customer and the tannoy above our heads and then I had to make a quick exit to pick Ellis up. I really wished I could have spoken to him longer. He still works at my old school so maybe I could arrange it.

The last couple of weeks, I've really noticed that Leo and I have become closer. He really craves my attention and when Ellis is home and I'm trying to do spelling and stuff with him, Leo grabs my hand and tries to pull me away. It is really sweet but I feel for Ellis as he has been out all day and just wants 5 minutes with Mummy.

Leo and his buddy Ted, chilling together.

Leo and I spend our time together doing puzzles, which he loves doing, we watch a couple of programs together snuggled on the sofa and we read books. He really is quite calm when on his own and I'm loving our one on one time together. He is quite the opposite when there is someone else watching. I constantly get comments about what a hand full he is, constantly on the go, can't sit still for one second. He is the same when he is supposed to be sleeping. We can see him on the webcam we have in their room and he constantly tosses and turns in his sleep, not very restful sleep. He wakes every night too, either bad dreams, scared or needing a wee. It's exhausting. Speak of the devil, he is crying now as I type this. It's a bit unfair on Ellis really, even though he seems to sleep through it, it does disturb him and he has asked for Leo to move out already. Not much we can do though.

Oscar is doing well. He is still practicing his crawling and has done about 3 shuffles in a row, before face planting on the rug. It's so cute and he is so happy to be messing around on the floor, pulling my plant over, the scooters, the fire, and trying to make a quick exit to the kitchen. I have started to block him in though by using the pouffe.

Dinner time at Mum's this weeks was chaotic to say the least. I'm trying to get Ellis to try new food, so we had lamb hotpot, which was delicious by the way. It took me a long time to get him to have one spoonful but he did like it, and ate some more. I had to bribe him with diet coke and stuff but he ate it which is the main thing. Leo was constantly screaming, banging and not eating his food and Oscar was getting rather impatient. I can switch off from it but I think Mum and Dad aren't used to the noise.

I thought bath time would be hard but I it was actually quite good fun. Dad helped out too, getting Oscar dressed.

Friday they had a cake sale at the school. Mum and Chloe came over and we were all going to go together but Oscar needed a nap and Leo didn't want to go out, now that the iPad had arrived, so Mum kindly agreed to stay home with the boys and I took Chloe to the school. She took the boys toy buggy and baby with her which was really cute and we sat with a tea and cake each. A couple of people commented on her being mine but I soon put them straight. Not that I wouldn't want her to be mine.

We picked Ellis up and then Chloe and Nanny went home and I took the boys to Ellis' swimming lesson. Again he didn't want to go but I managed to watch him this week and he did quite well. I could tell he had missed a week as his confidence wasn't as good but he still did well. Leo was quite good too. He sat, well, jumped up and down, and ate some bits from his lunch box. Oscar barely touched the packet food.

That evening I went out to Naomi's house for a takeaway with my mummy friends. Sarah kindly picked me up so I could have a few lagers, which I did, and I had a great time. I talked too much I'm sure and I definitely ate too much. It was a bit disturbed though as Oscar woke up and Rob kept messaging and ringing me to find out what to do and he eventually asked me to come home. A little frustrating as there wasn't anything wrong. I came home, held him while I told Rob how it went, then put him to bed when I went to bed. He went straight off to sleep. Not blaming Rob as it must be hard to know what to do. I can imagine what I would be like, even now, looking after someone else's baby I wouldn't know what to do if it was crying.

Don't know if you've noticed but I've written this entry very differently to how I normally write. I quite like writing it this way but I wonder how the pictures and videos will fit in. I think this will be the way forward as it makes doing an entry a lot quicker, and maybe it's better content too. I'm still playing with this blog and working out the way forward.

Parents Evening

As I type this out, I'm eating my dinner, have a banging headache and very tired. I should go to bed really but this blog plays on my mind. I want time to stop for a bit so I can catch up! The more I think about it, the more I realise that I may have to take a different approach with it. Only blog when I have a topic to talk about and to do updates on how the boys are doing and just include pictures and videos as and when. I'm even struggling to do just one entry a night, without pictures and videos!

Anyway, today has been good. It didn't start too well and I was very grumpy with the boys and ended up apologising to them as I was just getting it all wrong. As it happened we were ready for school about 20 minutes before we needed to leave. I didn't like it. I would rather be rushing out the door and just making it.

Leo did really well at Steve's gym class and loved going under the cargo net and posting some coloured balls down a tube.

Mummy friends Naomi and Charlotte were over this morning with their babies. I managed to get both my babies into bed so I was able to sit and have a chat which was nice. I did pop up the shop to buy a newspaper as there was supposed to be pictures in there of our children. But none of our schools participated for some reason.

This afternoon my Mum came over to watch the boys so that Rob and I could go to Ellis' school to meet his teachers. We got to see his learning diary too which was excellent. The teachers both said he was doing really well, had settled in easily, had made friends, was happy to do anything, was a very busy boy, happy to work in a group or on his own and knows what he likes to do. They said he is doing very well with the phonic sounds and with blending the sounds to make words and they really liked that he likes to try and write, which apparently a lot of boys don't have too much interest in. The only thing they said he needs to work on is knowing who is boss. He always likes to have the last word and I think talks back too much and doesn't always do as he is told. They reminded me that he is still very young though and not to worry about it. Yeh right!

I've had a headache since the appointment. I'm really doing my head in about how to rectify the issues, even though I should just be really happy that he is doing so well. I don't want him to be naughty, and I want the teachers to like him and enjoy teaching him. I will be asking for updates as the next parents evening isn't until March.

Rob did bath time, for all 3 of the boys, on his own, for the first time this evening. I think he did rather well, as there wasn't that much screaming and the boys were cleaned and dressed when I took Oscar down for a feed. He can do it more often now! It was excellent to clear up and get organised for tomorrow before the boys were even in bed. I had a shower, washed and straightened my hair, before and after pictures from Rob's phone are below, then did some blogging while listening to Britney Spears Femme Fatale.

Sicky Bug x 2

The day started so well, we hadn't had too bad a night. I went into Leo once at 4am, and Rob went in at 6am to put him on the toilet. Oscar fed once around 4am, probably because Leo woke him up and then they were all awake at 6am. I really should be getting up with them at that time but we try and drag it out until 7am.

I did the morning shift but Rob was up by 8:30am anyway to take the car to the garage to have some work done on it.

Once he got home we had some lovely family time. We played the shopping game, and read books, had a play fight and then Rob sat with Ellis to do some cutting and sticking and stuff from a magazine. They were doing that for ages which was great.

Rob popped out in the afternoon for a bit so the boys just chilled out with Mummy.

Eventually he came back and it wasn't long before he had to go and pick the car up again. On his way he bought a new duvet for Ellis and I must admit, I've thought about stealing it already. It is lovely. It is an all seasons one which should work great for him as he is so hot. We can either have 9 tog, 4 tog or 13 tog. They just popper together. I really want new bedding and I don't know why I'm not just ordering it.

Late afternoon, early evening I had a bad tummy. It didn't feel good and I wasn't hungry either. At bath time I noticed that Leo was showing similar symptoms to me so I prepped his bed with a towel, removed all unnecessary bedding and got all spare bedding and pyjamas out ready. Thankfully, while I was on the toilet being ill, 5 minutes later, Leo could be heard being sick. Rob got there first and I made it in to sit him up with a bowl. Loads of sick! Rob ran a shallow bath and I was soon back on the loo. Rob sorted out the bedroom and I managed to bath Leo between toilet visits. I hadn't been sick at this point. I got Leo nice and clean but he was really shaking so Rob took him downstairs to chill, while I got back on the loo. Shortly after it was my turn to be sick. Nice.

During a lull I went down to get Leo dressed and dried his hair. We then both sat cuddling, sharing a sick bowl, covered with a towel.

I soon headed back to the loo to be sick again, and I could hear Leo downstairs doing the same. I then fell asleep on the bathroom floor and Rob brought Leo up to bed. 2 seconds after he was put down he was sick again but only a very little amount. I stayed on the floor for a little bit longer but as soon as I moved to go to bed, I was sick again! This time I was making so much noise as there was nothing left to come up, and I could feel Rob laughing. He later apologised but I can see how it would be funny. Not at the time though.

I finally got to bed but had to feed Oscar with Rob sat by me with the bowl ready. I got him back to bed and tried to go to sleep. I was so cold and shivery though so it took a while.

Leo was fine during the night too, and Rob got up with the boys in the morning, but not for long and was soon saying he needed to be ill. He ended up just going to bed and I stayed up with boys. I felt tired, weak, achy, had a headache and just generally run down. I sipped water and ate bananas and bread and butter. Sort of like a hangover cure but without the fun the night before.

Leo was full of beans which was great to see.

Rob stayed in bed for most of the day and I knew Leo and I couldn't go out so we just chilled playing puzzles, cars, catching, watching TV etc and I arranged for Uncle Dave to come over to take Ellis out. Ellis hadn't been out since Thursday so knew another day in for him would be horrid.

Uncle Dave arrived just before I put Leo up for a nap so I got him to stay in his car so that I could post Ellis out to him without Leo knowing about it as he would be sad. I tucked a bag over Ellis' arm, gave him a drink and basically whispered to him to wait on the drive for Uncle Dave to get him. I was so worried about hiding it all from Leo that I forgot to say goodbye! Once Leo was in bed I phoned him to say that I would miss him, and to check that Uncle Dave had fitted the car seat properly ;o)

I managed to watch some TV while Leo, Oscar and Rob were all napping. It was quite a nice quiet time.

I spoke to Ellis a couple of times and he was having a lovely time. He went to the airport to watch planes, which he always loves, went to see Nanny and Grandad George, had lunch and went to the park! Lucky boy.

He came home shattered and just watched TV or played on my PC for the rest of the day.

We bathed the boys and got them in bed by 7pm but I knew Leo would play up as he had such a long nap (3 hours!). They eventually went off.

Oscar woke at his usual 10:30pm time but I left him and it only took him 2 minutes to go back off.

Rob and I laid on the sofa watching Cold Feet which we did about 14 years ago.

I was organised for school run day but Rob decided to work from home so there wasn't too much pressure to get everyone ready. Leo stayed in his pyjamas in fact and Oscar went back to bed.

It was raining as we ran across the road which was a shame as the weather was so nice over the weekend and I'd been stuck in.

It was nice having Rob home and he really helped me out with the boys, just watching them for me so I could sort washing and stuff, without having to check back in every couple of seconds.

I managed to get lots of stuff photographed for selling today. All my maternity clothes, nursing pillow, birthing ball, blankets, kids clothes etc. I'm quite sad about the whole thing but if we ever did decide to have more, it will be nice to have new especially as it has been used for 3 babies now.

At one point today, Leo was playing too closely to Oscar. He generally does this but this time, Oscar grabbed a bit of his hair and wouldn't let go and kept tugging. By the time I got there, Oscar had a huge clump in his hand! I couldn't believe it. Leo has really thin whispy hair as it is, he doesn't need his brother pulling it out too! Poor Leo, but he will never learn.

I picked Ellis up, taking all 3 boys with me, and once home it's a mad rush to get them fed, changed and in the car for Ellis' dance lesson. Luckily and thankfully, Rob agreed to keep Leo at home with him which really eased the work load and stress.

Ellis got his own t-shirt at dancing, with his name on it. He was so chuffed with it and obviously loved his dancing.

I did a quick shop, then went to Costa Coffee for a tea and to feed Oscar but he just wasn't interested, so I gave up. Maybe he is coming down with something or just didn't fancy it. He was having lots of fun giving everyone smiles and banging on the table.

We picked Ellis up and on the way back to the car he was pointing out numbers on the houses and telling me what they were, 8,9 etc then turning the corner there was a bus and he said "and that's the number eighty six bus Mummy". I did my astonished face and fell on the floor acting so surprised, but I wasn't acting, I was surprised! So proud of how well he is doing. He is reading 4 letter words quite easily and just seems to want to learn all the time. I constantly catch him counting and doing the phonic sounds. It's great but I also wish he could just switch off.

Bath time as soon as we got in, which I did, followed by story time.

I'm enjoying doing my blog entries on the day and the content is better but so much more! Lots of reading and probably not enough pictures and videos. Oh well, only so much one very tired Mummy can do.