Cinema night!

We haven't done that for a good while, not since I was pregnant and we had to leave because Leo was clearly distressed by the noise. My normally peaceful little belly bud, was flipping around all over the place.. It was Mad Max and the entire first half is just explosions!

Anyway, we were both working from home and mum had Leo so we took advantage of the new cinema that is 5 mins from our house. Aside from the permanent fear that we were going to miss contact from mum whilst we were in there, it was great to go out AND we were still in bed by 9 AND I did 7 hours sleep without snoozing! Do I feel amazing? No, but never mind! I'm still up and out in the gym by 5.30 so today is a good day!

Baby weekend

Every weekend is a baby weekend of course, bit this one was minus a poorly daddy in parts. Finally, the latest lurgie got to grips with Tom so I took Leo out each morning so that he could catch up on some sleep and chilling.

It made me really miss my maternity leave time and that full one to one immersion. It's a shame you stop maternity right at the point they start to become your little pal.

We made goop! This stuff, whilst very dodgy to the adult eye, is amazing! I can't believe I have made it to this point and not found out about it! It's just cornflour (or potato starch on this occasion) and water and it is a Non-Newtonian fluid; Google it.

Leo also thought it was amazing and threw it around the kitchen, which some may recoil in horror at the thought of, however, due to its properties it is the easiest thing in the world to clean up! Perfect toy!

We also did some super chilly walking so that I got my low intensity fat burn, which is the order of the day at the moment. I really have some work to do to be ready for Tough Mudder and just get back to a point that I'm happy with. I am tracking it on my other blog so this doesn't turn into all about me, it's about the family!

Anyway, non-Newtonian play turned into kitchen sink bath time which was obviously also amazing! You can have so much, cheap fun in a kitchen if you put your mind to it!

Finally!

I think this is the most restful nights sleep I have had in 17 months and it feels wonderful! However, little man's next set of teeth are starting to bud, so I am guessing it's the calm before the storm!

There is so much progression in general going on, he's such a little boy now and he just makes me so proud.

We have been discharged from the clinic for his coughing issue now, which is great news and whilst we were at the hospital, he desperately didn't want to give up a little car that he found in the play area. I just asked him to put it back as it lived there and we were going home and he said no. So I just explained it again and asked him to put it back and say bye bye to it.. And he did. It sounds so small, but before making the decision on how I want to parent based on respect and age appropriate approaches based on their stage of brain development, I would have just taken it off him and he would've been distraught. He had a similar thing with his cousins car and I asked him to give it back to him, and he toddled off.. So cute. I am also under no illusions that it will always be so simple and as his emotions increase in complexity, so will his will but I am adamant we will continue to manage everything in this style.

Bear hunt!

We went on a bear hunt this morning, organised by a company who also does outdoor pre school. It was great, lots of mud and mess, what more can you want!

This lead me to start reading about outdoor pre schools, and I simply have to find one that fits in with our schedule.. Leo would love it, and I love the idea of him having nap time in a sleeping bag hammock, outside!

There are a couple around us, none majorly convenient for the times I work and distances etc so I am going to have to get my thinking cap on. They have limited spaces so you need to get your name down early, but they don't take them until they are two, so we a little bit of a window.

I hate the fact that working parents are faced with these situations!

Adventure time

Today's little outing was Formby beach. It has always been one of my favourite beaches, I used to take the horses there as a teenager and we regularly went dog walking there over the years. Tom has taken on the love of it too and we will obviously be exposing Leo to it as much as humanly possible.

The air seems more comforting somehow, almost softer.. Very strange I know, but it does, even when the sea is tempestuous and dark and the beach windswept and ragged, it's still comforting to me and exhilarating. If it wasn't so darned expensive around there I would be there without a thought.

Leo of course loved it. We took him for his birthday, but he is a very different little man now and water and mucky sand are just the best combination of things in a little boys world, well, this little toddler's world anyway!

I think he would've stayed there all day if we'd let him. He was a little disgruntled to leave even though his little hands were like ice cubes!

Successful Sundaying

Time out

I decided in the early hours of Tuesday morning, after waking at 3.30 and not being able to get back to sleep, that we needed to do something drastic. Tom was starting with a cold and I am still not well.

I asked mum if she could take Leo one night a week, at least Tom could sleep through on those occasions and I stood a better chance of not being woken up and lying awake for hours as normal.

Kindly, she agreed and we did our first night on Wednesday night. We missed him horribly and I woke on several occasions but managed to get back to sleep. We went over to mum's first thing in the morning before work so that we could see him and he was merrily snoozing in bed with mum.

It seems a strange thing to do, but we need to be well and I need to sort it once and for all

They're cancelled!

It's been a rough couple of weeks. I've been really poorly AGAIN and then Leo has too. He was up all night on Christmas eve, vomiting. I couldn't eat anything Christmas day and I haven't had a single alcoholic beverage the entire break! I know, what a nightmare.

I am constantly coughing at night and Leo now has an ear and chest infection. Luckily, we spotted the signs and quickly got him some antibiotics, but it's not the Christmas we had planned. We haven't made it over to Bourne to see the rest of the family, as night times are hard enough over there when we are well! But it was the right decision.

We just had to cancel out Nye plans as I'm coughing all night, Leo is still disrupted and Nic, our friend who we were going to go and see is also struggling with this latest lurgie.. Basically a write off of all things planned!

We've managed some lovely days out though; Blue Planet Aquarium, Chester Zoo, walking in the local area, so all has not been lost. It's just been incredibly tough on Tom as he had to do the lion's share of caring for a poorly baby. He's had some fun with the little man whilst I snooze though!

Enjoying a croissant in the big boys chair at John Lewis