When we all visit with one another on the weekend, we make sure to 'make our rounds' and say goodbye to everyone before departing. So, after a tasty Sunday dinner at ours it was time to say 'ta-ra' until next weekend and I finally managed a kissy photo of our adorable offspring. It's so sweet to see them show affection!
Speaking of sweet...
...how's THIS for some lovely one-on-one time with his favourite Uncle Daz?! Ryan has been introduced to smart phone bowling!! SCORE!!
Ryan has been interacting a lot with his teddy. Yesterday he put a his bib and hat on teddy and even fed him some Megabloks for tea. Then today I caught him in this moment where he was giving teddy a ride on his quad bike.
I really hope his budding genorosity is something that he carries with him in life. It warms my heart to see.
If there is one thing we've learned about our son, it's that he does NOT enjoy wearing hats any longer...until now. This is the hat we bought for £2.50 in Weston-Super-Mare and Ryan thinks it is magic! He's forever putting it on first thing on a morning and he also puts it on his stuffed animals.
By the looks of this photo, he appears to be less impressed with my job hunt than I am.
Finally, the day has arrived!! Today we had what we would consider to be our first family holiday, despite it being only a day-trip, to the seaside. With our local SureStart programme, we paid for seats on a coach bus to take us to Weston-Super-Mare in North Somerset. I had heard mixed reviews and there was speculation about the weather, but overall it turned out to be a very pleasant day.
The first thing I noticed as we exited the bus was loud, squeaky voices in the air. They were strangely familiar and it wasn't until I saw the striped setup that I soon realised it was Punch & Judy (a popular puppet show in England). We stopped briefly to watch but soon moved on.
Matt was soon in heaven as we walked the length of the Grand Pier and went inside the open arcade! Every kind of game you can imagine, plus a second floor filled with fun houses and soft-play areas! Matt quickly tried winning a George pig for Ryan, but The Claw prevailed.
I was informed before the trip, by our new neighbours' mother that we'd be lucky to see the sea. I was confused by this until she explained how the tide stays out a really long time.
Sure enough, looking out over the back of the pier the sea seemed to not start for miles and we could clearly see both islands of Steep Holm and Flat Holm.
We wandered to the shops across the road so Matt could find relief with a new pair of shades. I happened to notice a cute "cheeky" monkey hat and after showing Matt it was only £2.50, he agreed.
We stopped at the fountain for a bite to eat and then it was Ryan's first chance to get out and do a little exploring on his own...
The fountain was a HUGE hit, but short-lived as some bigger kids were running around and splashing a little too much for my taste.
It wasn't long before we decided to carry on and then Ryan decided he was ready to try out some sand...so down to the beach we went.
Just look at his first proper steps on the beach!
He's even clapping himself about it!!
He knows all about what a bucket and spade do...
...so he got right to work filling the bucket!
Here's a video of how Ryan got on in the sand.
Even throwing the sand is exciting!!
At this point I could see the sea had come in a considerable amount so dediced to take Ryan down to check it out. It was a bit tricky getting the video though because he wanted so badly to let go of my hand and go running into the water!
No two ways about it...he LOVED it!! Daddy took a pic on our way back as well.
Before leaving we decided it might be fun for Ryan to have a visit/ride on a donkey...
...however, Ryan did not share this same enthusiasm!
It wasn't long on the trip home until he was asleep. Long day for this kiddo!
I can't even spell it really, phonetically at least, the way Ryan now says 'colour.'
I've saved up some old soda bottles to do coloured water in each to work with him on his colours and make it a bit of a sensory activity for him. I didn't expect he would be excited as he was but it did seem to be the ONLY thing, almost, that he played with ALL day!
We're heading to the seaside Wednesday for a day-trip to Weston-Super-Mare. Ryan is making a list in his little diary of things he needs to take along. Pretty sure that his penguin, monkey, giraffe, and 'Baa' are on the list.
He can nearly put his shoes on all by himself now! Our little 'big' boy!
He's a bit of a nut, too!
This actually had Matt and me in stitches and nearly wetting ourselves! Here he was jamming all the heads of his animal friends down into the bucket and we both wondered, out loud, where Myst was and how we could just picture Ryan doing the same to the cat!! Squashing his kitty head into the bucket but leaving out his big fluffy tail.
What made it so funny is that it's something Ryan really WOULD try to do if he could. So in our minds all we could "see" were two giant Myst-eyes and his fluffy tail sticking out.
Ryan's cousin (our niece), Amy, is TWO today! She's gorgeous and growing up SO fast before our eyes!
We spent the day at Emma & Daz's along with my in-laws, Josie & David. The kids had loads of fun in the garden, playing in the Waybuloo tent and bouncing about in the bouncy castle!
Ryan surprised me at one point when I looked over and noticed he was climbing the big slide all on his own. Only a few weeks before the steps were just too far apart for him to manage, but they seemed to be no challenge to him today.
So, when do they take a break from growing up for a little bit?
Ryan kept insisting on sitting on Daddy's lap this morning. It didn't look very comfortable but he did what he could to stay there so I suppose it was comfy enough for him.
Em and I went to bingo tonight and she won a whopping £15 that she graciously split with me. We don't normally go on a Saturday, but it was a fiver special for the main session. Plus, in the end the game only cost us each 50p, so not bad at all.
He's not upset. Honest. He is just imitating 'Raa Raa the Noisy Lion' from CBeebies and giving his best 'rawr.' This has been his "thing" the past few days. It can get pretty intense when he gets into character.
He seems to think his mouth must completely cover the mic in order for it to be successful. It's just funny to watch.
I went to Redditch on the train today to view a school with a vacancy in key stage one. The skies were fine when I left home and during the trip, but just when the school was in sight it started to pour.
I managed to get inside without getting too drenched and saw three other applicants sitting in the reception area, waiting for the person to give the tour. Silly me, I make a small joke about it "being a little wet outside" and all I get are stone-cold, poker faces! I appreciate they are my competition and so-forth, but crack a SMILE or something, people!
I thought Americans were supposed to have the poor sense of humour?!
All morning, our newly 19-month-old Ryan tried and tried his best to get his car (or any other small object) inside the pink, "hamster" sphere. When he would get frustrated he would bring me all the pieces to do it for him, just like Daddy will.
I would get the two pieces fitted together and he would immediately throw it to the ground, splitting the sphere open and sending his car flying. Then he claps. Oh my, does he clap...and chant, "Yaaaaay," to himself. Since all the cool kids are doing it...I join in, "Yaaaaay!"
He finds other things throughout the day to occupy himself...and then Daddy comes home!! Game on!
One of the funniest things...and yes, there are LOADS of them...that Ryan does is get right in your face to check your expression when he is doing something silly...like stacking things on your head or putting something on you like a hat. He just squats right down and looks right at you! Meanwhile, you do your best to not wet yourself laughing (because it IS that funny).
He seemed very much himself today despite the foul odour/scene I walked into this morning. Sometime between the time that Matt left home at 8:10am and 9 o'clock he got sick in his cot and it was absolutely EVERYWHERE! I had to strip him down right there and throw everything smelly out of the room so I could crack a window and begin to air it out. I think it is the first time ever I have retrieved him on a morning and not cuddled him first thing.
Oh no...he went straight in the tub, just after I pulled food particles from his lovely, blond locks. He must have been so confused why Mommy wasn't picking him up. Instead, we walked hand-in-hand to the bathroom while I assured him that we'd get him all cleaned up and smelling good in no time.
Thinking back, he was off his food all day, yesterday...including refusing offers of fruit or biscuits even! Anyone who knows him well, knows this is so NOT like him. When he only ate about 10 bites of dinner last night I assumed it was likely due to teething.
The sad bit is I never heard him wake in the night so I don't know if he did, got sick, and just fell back asleep on top of everything, but if we did miss his cries I feel bad that we couldn't be there to comfort him.
He was a bit better today, but still not eating as much as he has so perhaps it's just a small tummy bug or a reaction to some milk that might have gone off.
When I returned home from Bingo tonight, I secretly wished he was still awake so I could snuggle with him, but Matt had long put him down and said he was out like a light...so at least I know he was tired enough and will have more chance of sleep.
We finally had the chance to meet up with Matt's cousins, who live up just past Manchester, in Bolton. The last time we saw them was back when Amy was first born, almost 2 years ago when I was still pregnant with Ryan! Then he was born that December and because of the timing with the holidays and all the snow, we just haven't found the time to meet up since.
He was a bit shy at first, but soon made himself at home watching Daddy and 2nd cousin, Jack, play a bit of footie.
Then he decided he would be up for a game or two himself. Look at him standing ready to 'chest' the ball! He even convinced Lucy to join in with him for a bit.
Alice (another second cousin) was a great sport, too!
Both Alice and her sister, Emily, were so good about playing with Ryan all afternoon. They really kept him entertained!
We managed to get him still enough for a bit of time to do some drawing with cousin Amy.
And before long, just minutes before we decided to head home, he just couldn't keep his eyes open any longer. Long, rough day for a tiny, little man!
Ilene brought Rhys over this afternoon so the boys could get together and so she and I could sit and flap our yaps, of course. It was the first time the boys interacted directly as last time it was between their pushchairs at The Bullring.
This first photo just tickled me because of the series of events that led to it being taken to begin with.
Both Rhys and Ryan had their own water to drink, but it's much more fun to drink someone else's water. Better yet...it's MORE fun to TAKE TURNS!! And...that's exactly what we watched them do for about 5 or 6 "passes" of the cup. They'd take a drink and pass to the other one, who was patiently waiting, then that one would take a drink and pass it back. It was so sweet to watch!
Rhys was full of cuddles and love to share with Ryan, and although we consider Ryan to be very loving towards us, it caught him a bit off guard as he doesn't often get regular one-on-one time with anyone his age (outside of his cousin, Amy, of course).
Rhys was also full of some mad/sweet wrestling moves, which Ryan also found equally amusing. I suppose having older siblings, in Rhys's case, is a bit of an advantage.
As Matt and I looked over some of the photos tonight I commented that this one I can see being repeated many years down the line in a situation where the boys are in college/Uni and one is guzzling a cider in the background while the other is going streaking! These pair can really ham it up!
After two and a half years in a long-distance relationship, I packed my life of 29 years into 21 boxes and moved to England to marry and be with my husband, Matt. Now I'm reveling in the youth of my 30s in Great Britain, supply-teaching in primary schools near Birmingham and enjoying newlywed life, being a mommy, and all the surprises they bring!
