Y3 - 28/365: Business As Usual

This is the look I get before he stumbles at me, full (Ryan) speed, and flops himself across my belly whist screaming and squealing his little baby lungs out. He's pretty hilarious, actually.

I checked my bank account today and noticed that exactly £840 has "mysteriously vanished" from the balance -- I suspect UK Border Agency have their money then. Greedy punks. At least my app is complete and mailed, they have received it (and my money) and I hope to possibly get a decision by mid-November at the latest.

I must say, the ILR application has by far been the easiest and most simple to fill out and submit along with evidence. For those not familiar with the tedious process of immigration to a foreign country, this is what we sent:

1. Application - containing 2 passport photos of myself and 1 of Matt
2. Both my own and Matt's actual passport (to prove identity and for me to get my new visa vignette in mine)
3. Evidence of Finances (6 months of bank statements to show we have an income)
4. Knowledge of Life in the UK (my pass certificate from taking the ridiculous test)
5. Evidence of Cohabitation - this is supposed to be 6 things addressed jointly covering the past two years to prove we have lived together, and they have to be from at least 3 different sources (I sent 17 in total, some addressed to each of us separately, ranging from tenancy agreements, council tax bills, and Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs, just to be safe).

And that's it. Previous applications, such as the Fiance visa, required things like phone records, photos together, and evidence of intervening devotion since we were in separate countries at the time. Then for my spousal visa, which was done in person, we had to include our marriage certificate and a budget.

I have told Matt once we get this one back in the post, I want to celebrate by shredding all of our documents we've saved the past two years solely for this application. I'll be so happy once I'm no longer under the thumb of immigration control!

Y3 - 27/365: Two Steps Forward...

Boy oh boy is our boy on the move or what?! All day he has been perfecting his new-found skill and it's amazing to watch! He doesn't get discouraged when he falls, although he just may very well give me a heart attack when he does, and he's forever trying to push himself just a little bit further. I hope this determination is a permanent trait.

For example, I now give him free reign of the front room...the fireplace is padded around the marble base with cushions, the telly is blocked off with the footstool, and the door into the hallway and the rest of the house now stays closed (ever since he figured out how to stand to one side and pull it open when we left it cracked before). Well, because he can roam as he pleases, he has developed a lot more independence and spends a great deal of his day playing in the bay window, where we have many of his toys displayed on the ledge, like his sensory bottles, books and assortment of colourful blocks and plushies. He enjoys cruising the entire length of the window playing with his things and even ventures around the room batting his cloth sensory cubes.

Tonight, he was playing at the base of the settee where I was sitting and pulling himself up on my leg where he would then put both hands in the air and wave them while shrieking in pure delight. He did this several times in a row so I grabbed my camera, low on batteries and all, and prepared to catch him in the act the next time he popped up in front of me like a cute little weasel.

Then he did it.

He turned his back to me and just started walking away. Okay...maybe not walk...more like stumble like a little, tiny drunken sailor -- but the point is he wasn't walking towards ANYONE! He took about six staggered steps towards the fireplace (so immediately I leaped off the couch to 'shadow' him in case he got too close). When he noticed I was behind him a bit he stopped, re-gained his balance, still standing and then continued to walk away from me towards the TV -- about four more steps. He started to wobble a bit so I called his name and told him "now walk to Mommy," and he turned yet again, hands in the air and mouth wide open, like he was on a thrill ride at the amusement park and walked a further 4-5 steps to me!

I was in such shock!

He's by no means walking steady on his own, but he has such an eagerness to try as much as he can! I immediately scooped him up and ran upstairs to tell Matt. Of course, Daddy was chuffed with the news of what a clever little man we have -- as always. Neither of us like to assume that Ryan will reach any specific milestone by any certain age, but we can't help but suspect that given Ryan's willpower, he will be full-on walking in no time!

Do they make bubble wrap wallpaper, carpet and furniture?

Y3 - 26/365: What Nap Time?

Occasionally on an afternoon when Ryan falls asleep, I will place him on a couple of pillows on the floor and cover him with his blanket. I do this because too often I will place him into his cot and within minutes (usually long enough for me to go downstairs and make myself a sandwich) he will wake up crying and I have to go back up and collect him.

Today he went down for his morning nap beautifully. I put him in his cot with my own pillow (so he has my scent) and he stayed down for a full baby sleep cycle of 45 minutes exactly.

Good enough for me.

This afternoon was a different story. He fell asleep, but I could tell it wasn't a very deep one so I made his pillow "bed" on the floor and gently placed him down. Not even five minutes passed and his little head was up as his baby-dar (baby-radar) went off that he was no longer against Mommy's chest. So I immediately switch to plan B...some Norah Jones on YouTube and 3 songs later he is spark out.

I rock him for a bit to make sure he is out before placing him back onto the pillows. This time curtains drawn and TV on an 'off air' channel. Before I have time to even get off the floor myself, he rolls over as if he was faking sleep and this is the look I get.

Hmm...plenty of time tomorrow for a nap, I suppose.

Y3 - 25/365: Sign & Date Here

Now that he's getting older, I'm going to start trusting Ryan with a little more responsibility. So, today he started off well and got some banking done.

We had to drop by Lloyds TSB to get some statements printed out so I could finally send off for my Indefinite Leave to Remain. Thankfully the banking manager was more than happy to help and Ryan chose to oversee the transaction from the comfort of his push-chair and matching foot muff.

All being well, Matt will be dropping all the documents into the post on his dinner break tomorrow and within 3-6 weeks (the fewer, the better) I will have a shiny new visa in hand for a mere £840, rather than £900 (when the price goes up next Monday).

Thieves!

Y3 - 24/365: It's Tired Out...

Ash, one of my sister-in-law's two cats has a magnetic collar for getting in and out of the cat flap. After dinner tonight I noticed something odd hanging off his neck.

Turns out it was the tape measure!

Ryan slept straight through last night until half-seven this morning! Here he is winding down with his favourite Auntie Emma after our Sunday dinner. Let's hope all his new found movement recently will wear him down again!

Sorry for the lack of substance in tonight's entry...I'm tired and off to bed.

Y3 - 23/365: Yabba-Dabba-Do!

I spent most of the morning sifting through the paperwork I have been saving up over the past two years to submit for my ILR (Indefinite Leave to Remain) application. I had fully intended on sending it off at the beginning of the month, 28 days before my current visa was due to expire, but life happened so here we are with the app still in our hands, but nearly complete and ready to go out before Tuesday next week. I even downloaded a passport photo app for my phone as Matt and I have to submit photos of ourselves along with our current passports so a visa vignette can be made.

I loathe the passport photo booths here and I'm pretty certain I can take a much clearer picture on my own at a fraction of the cost.

Once we had that sorted it was business as usual with our little cruiser.

He is on fire! His Nan and Grandad had stopped by only briefly this afternoon to pick up something left behind when they looked after him on Thursday, and Ryan was more than happy to show off his new moves. He's really taking care now to take proper flat steps instead of his Flintstones-twinkle-toes move he was doing before.

The best part was he did his first steps TO Daddy...AND I captured the moment with a photo!! He really is so proud of himself, and so are we!

Y3 - 22/365: Ain't Nothin Gonna Break My Stride...Nobody Gonna Slow Me Down...

Look out! Two days in a row without a photo of Ryan. We had some books to return to the library and I took the photo and thought how much I'm going to love when the new library is completed in Blackheath Town Centre!

To be fair, if I would have included any of the photos of Ryan I took today, all you would see would be a baby blur because boy was my boy a'movin! He just could not be stopped...full stop. In fact, today led to yet another milestone jotted into his Beatrix Potter First Year Baby Book...

Our baby boy, Ryan, took his first steps!

He's been working his way up to this moment as he used to just do his version of a "trust fall" into our bodies when propped or pulling himself up to the sofa. But today, no falling...at least not intentionally. I was on the phone with Matt early this morning and sitting on the floor while Ryan beat his hands against the settee. Next thing I know, I see Ryan turn towards me like he sometimes does, and this time he took 4-5 proper steady steps toward me.

I shouted down the phone, "Oh my God...he just walked!" to Matt, who I know was a bit bummed that he missed it. But I made sure to get plenty of videos and I let him practice till his heart was content for the rest of the day. A few times he would steady himself and turn and walk AWAY from me and I would have to chase after him to make sure he didn't face-plant. Then again, a few times...he did. But he'd just get back up and crawl to the sofa and start again.

He was loving it!

Once Matt was home Ryan was able to show off his skills for Daddy as well. We both nearly cried at the clever cookie before us!

He still needs quite some work on his balance, but he's taking chances and having loads of fun doing it -- so for now, that's all that matters!