Introducing Caleb Peter

The only thing better than dancing wildly to grandad's whistle is watching videos and doing it along with yourself!!!

A sprinkling of snow!

Eden was quite excited to go play on the snow... But as soon as we got outside started saying "mummy help" and clung to me for dear life... It didn't last long and soon he was "crunch crunching" the snow and running around like a crazy person!

No matter what we set out to paint, this is what occurs

The flurry of days

Well it's getting difficult to get photos and videos of Eden these days, as he knows the sound they make when being used and that he can see them immediately. So I'll start videoing something cute and he'll stop to come sit on my knee and watch! I don't think there is anything better for him than watching videos of himself!

This one was taken yesterday- it's the tunnel we gave him for his birthday but the first time he got to use it.

I think he knows things are changing... He's a but clingy and cries easier than we're used to. He often wakes up crying and then talks about preschool. And yet he still says he loves it. We'll keep trying but I'll not leave for as long this next time. If it doesn't happen, it's not the end of the world... I just think it's a good opportunity for him. But not if he hates it and feels abandoned.

And this not so tiny one inside me is getting bigger and more wriggly. Phil and I are getting impatient to know what it is and meet it!

River again

Sometimes any number of things happen between my putting him down for a nap and him sleeping. Today I was called back because his hat had come off, which he obviously needed on to sleep.

This is how I found him, half an hour later, with his play cd on!

Face painting and sandwich spreading

Well today we went to a new group that we attend 'healthy heroes' which is fabulous! It was their final session of this set (another starts in a fortnight) so it was a bit more like a party.

The kids were given lunch boxes, which they could put stickers on, offered oranges, bananas, strawberries, and apples (Eden thought it was punishment to put these in his bag instead of eating them immediately!) and then a space was set up to make sandwiches... And yoghurt and milk were also provided! And all I paid was a £0.50 door fee!










There was also face painting, which I didn't expect him to be into... But he sat still, even as she held his head still!!! All to have a bee on his cheek! He wasn't so sure about the older boys who had tiger faces and ran around roaring though...

'yiding'

My dear little monkey...he loves climbing on top and under this chair. I think the days of fort building are nearly upon us!!!

Another day, another tractor

This is my first iPod blog! Hope it works.
Eden really likes this 'tractor' which is really a mower. And seeing as the hughes are very good to him, he gets to


sit on it whenever we go over!

our days

(he's playing with dried butterbeans whilst i sorted some stuff to put in the slow cooker)

Our days are a mixture of repetition and 'newness', active and quiet play.

I find repetition seems to be what builds his confidence. We go to the deer farm often (and I really mean OFTEN) but every trip is different. Today he pointed out buttercups and acorns. And of course had to step on all the stones.

His counting is getting better. He can get to 4 but is most confident with 2. He is constantly pointing out '2 bears, 2 cars, 2....etc).

I wish we had a house big enough for some sort of climbing frame as eden is constantly climbing and jumping...

anyway groceries are being delivered, gotta run.

A perfect morning

This morning we went to Brock Bottoms, as the weather was finally reminiscent of summer (although I still maintain it reminded me more of autumn than summer). Eden spent a good long while running up and down the hill by the carpark until we could finally convince him to walk further down the path.


And then he discovered the river, and the joy of throwing stones into the river. He slowly got further and further in, and by the time we left he required a full change of clothes! But he loved it. The whole way back to the car 'River! More! Again! River!' and so we promised we'd return soon. Possibly with wellies next time, although his crocs did just fine.

Pictures Pictures Pictures!

I know. I'm entirely unreliable. Here are a bunch of photos that should hopefully make up for it a bit. They're from the past few weeks, all taken on phil's Iphone i think so the quality isn't the greatest, but they were photos that needed to be taken!

this is eden in his great uncle stuart's AA van... a yellow van is about the most exciting thing in eden's life these days. Obviously he had to wear his bob hat. That hat gets worn a lot.
Eden and I went for a walk with Pauline and it was rainy...so he borrowed Laura's jacket (who is 18)... it was so funny seeing him run around in this MASSIVE jacket with his bob hat on.
this is the bigger of eden's 2 new slides. This one lives at grandma and grandad's as I don't like the idea of him landing on the tarmac if he flies off it.

and here is eden's side of a game of boo. He pushes his hands so far into his face I sometimes wonder if it'll hurt!

adventures on the dino-slide

For Tegan

(well prompted by Tegan)

Some new Eden-isms are:

Druck: which is cup... I think it's a mix between drink & cup?

Dract-dee: Tractor

Man: Man, Van

Burbul: purple

Yellow is definitely his favourite colour, and nothing beats seeing a yellow van!

There'll be more videos but there were several technical difficulties!!

Back Again

I do apologize for our absence. I don't really have any recent photos of Eden, and that always delays me. The above photos are his recent masterpieces.

The introduction of the following have captured his attention: a 'stool' to sit at the coffee table, paper covering the coffee table all the time, a paintbrush...

He loved painting the mug & bowl for phil and I'm not sure i've ever seen him sit so still as he did whilst decorating the moon and star. I plan on displaying them somewhere - we did them because he's always pointing out moons, stars and suns in books.

It has highlighted that we really need some more supplies. The crayons we have don't mark very easily on paper, but he loves pencils... so I'm leaning towards getting some pencil crayons/coloured pencils (depending on your nationality, you'll know what I'm on about).. also we need a child friendly paintbrush, and a glue spreader... among other things that are always on my wishlist for eden.

He is speaking more every day. In fact there's generally a new word every day. The latest are: yellow (!), grass, door, bowl, van, man (although van & man sound the same). And pretty much everything is about daddy these days. I'm no longer called anything - just a piece of furniture!!!

the artist at work

Well, we finally put together the little table we bought for eden. It's in front of his window in his room. And oh my gosh was the reaction positive! For the first time, he is showing interest in drawing.. and i think it's because he can get up and down by himself (shocking that we produced an independent child, I know).

These photos were taken post-bath last night. We try to give him some naked time before bed.

He can now point out where his belly button is. If he has a vest on, he'll pull his top up and look down wildly for it.. it's kind of funny.

oh and...

here's a video i took earlier in the week:

his room

So it's dawned on me that I've never posted photos of eden's room... and no one really goes in there (besides us, obviously). So here are some. The first one is pretty dark, but you get the picture!

I've always felt really strongly that order is important for little ones. Sadly, when we went through the patch of him being a sobbing wreck by 6pm, we stopped being so strict with tidying up at the end of the day. Things were thrown into general tubs and shoved to the side. So today eden went to grandma's, and I cleaned it all. His reaction on his return was very positive...Before his nap we sat and played with a puzzle that's pieces had been hidden under the futon for a month or so. It is important. Let's hope we can do a better job at keeping it organised (and start on the rest of the house!)

Eden is getting more mobile, more vocal and more responsive every day, it seems. He needs so much more exercise and all day is dragging me to the door to go outside and play. He loves the decking that's behind the chapel because the steps are perfect sitting height for him and they're manageable (with a little effort) to climb up and down after his balls that he's constantly throwing up there & immediately kicking off.

I do have to 'enforce' quiet time sometimes, because now that he's down to one nap, he can get quite strung out when he's not quite ready to sleep. That either is him in his cot with toys or sat in his highchair in front of veggie tales (on the laptop). Sometimes we'll sit together on the couch and watch something...but usually i find he needs to be on his own.

Hope everyone is well.

look familiar?

Eden is wearing a sweater that was made for me when i was a bit older than he is. I was convinced it wouldn't fit but it was the closest to me when i needed to give him another layer. I love it on him and am SO glad that the weather is turning the way it is, as it's perfect for this time of year.

Eden loves going to his great-grandparents farm and walking with the hens. Just because it's cute, i'll put the link here too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RHaEy9KwTA&feature=autofb

happy spring!

brmmm brmmmmh

it's very handy to have farm owning great-grandparents when you're obsessed with tractors & animals...

as soon as we drove in, you could hear a tractor at work (although faintly) and eden was saying 'brmm brmm' over and over and over again. he wasn't happy till we went over to see the tractors... and then kept trying to go back. Fortunately the person (some relation of some sort) whose tractors they were invited eden to get in one.

Then there were hens to see.. he even makes a hen noise now!

And a football to kick about - his first proper word is ball! (unless you count 'mamamamamamama' 'daddiddiddii' and 'yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh').

spring has sprung!!!!!

Finally! Spring is here! If we were outside right now (which we aren't, merely because eden is sleeping) we wouldn't even be in coats - just thick hoodies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank goodness. The days are longer, the temperatures are rising and the sun is out (at least for now).

Although eden still loves to play outside with his ball, he has realised that it's more fun if we play too (before he just wanted to chase his ball around). Because the back area is sloped, the ball can get a bit of speed to it, so if I run after it, he giggles and follows along... and giggles as we 'kick' the ball back and forth ... His kicks are often him simply running into the ball, but it still counts.

Today we were at a playgroup we don't often make it too (it's in longridge)... but he spent the ENTIRE time on ride on tractors. There were some that he could easily get on and off, but he preferred the ones he was too small for. Obviously. So I spent most of my time pushing him around. He loved it. That playgroup is a toy library, so you can borrow the toys...so I may borrow a tractor in a few weeks.

the little mr.

I finally can access the photo I took of his first painting. He did it on canvas board, because I figured the first was definitely one to keep. It's currently sitting on our mantle in the dining room, but will eventually find its way into a frame.

He is getting more clever and more cheeky with every passing day. Since staying at his grandparents on the weekend he has decided to give up on naps. Everytime he is about to do something he shouldn't, he turns to make sure we're watching, grins and does it. Like bashing our mirror (particularly with toys... i wouldn't mind, but it might break!) or the paper lamp, or opening our fridge....those kinds of things. His grin just gets cheekier. And cuter.

He is also starting to understand more - I can ask him to pass me something, and if he thinks that's acceptable, he will. And I told him that we had to bring his ball in...which he ignored, till he realised that I had his other toys and we were really going to leave the ball, so he went and brought it to me. And he moos with the best of them (although his moo often has a b instead of an m).

He also wants to spend ALL of his time outside. On nice days I'm fully supportive of this, but on wet, rainy cold days like today...having to get him into his rain suit, plus everything else... and then stand out in the cold whilst he chases a ball around... well that's for a limited time only I'm afraid. I can't wait for the summer (if we get one!) so I can take a camping chair out, and a book and let him play to his heart's content. Today I got out the old baby bath and we would put the ball in, then get in himself...then throw the ball out, get out and chase the ball...and do it all over again!

Anyway. I think he's FINALLY gone to sleep. So I better get tidying.

The weather this week has been AMAZING. Eden & I can't get enough of outside. Yesterday involved a 6 mile round trip to the farm for lunch. All our days are involving as much fresh air and sunshine as possible. This was his first time in that adorable wool hoodie. It's not generally warm enough yet, but that day was. And on his hands are actually slippers, but his mittens were in the car at phil's work!!!

His 3rd molar has appeared much quicker than the last two, but is still effecting him greatly. Stupid teeth!!!

He is requiring a lot more interaction in his play now. For ages he wanted you in the room, but not involved. Now he prefers me to sit in the middle of the room and be involved and left at his choosing. This morning we spent a long time playing with a box one of his toys came in - cardboard with one clear film side... He got so excited that he could put things in, including his hand, AND STILL SEE IT!!!

He is getting bored quite quickly as well. He thrives when we're out and about and doing new things. This is slightly difficult on a tiny budget and no car when you live in a small village, but I'm working on it!

Carrying on

Eden's favourite thing in the world is to be set free outside. He chatters and makes funny noises and giggles whilst walking around poking, and licking and falling over. In fact, i think he begrudges how much time we spend inside. (despite going outside once or twice a day for varying amounts of time).

This morning in an attempt to making life inside less boring, i introduced eden to finger painting. It didn't quite go as a i expected. I thought he'd immediately start trying to eat the paint, and that it would occupy him for awhile...

it didn't. it lasted 3 minutes. I took a photo of the finished piece but it's not letting me post it. i think the bib was the problem, he was NOT impressed when i put him in it....it'll be easier when the house is warmer and he can just be naked.

I've currently got him in his cot, hoping he'll go to sleep...as we have a playdate this afternoon and he NEEDS naps... but he's chattering away so I may be fighting a losing battle. I wish napping wasn't so important, because I'd like to be more relaxed about it...but days when he doesn't get enough sleep, he's a nightmare! and i don't think it's fair to him, either.

so i'll leave you with a funny photo of him and a molehill. this happens a lot.