Y3 - 123/365: His Loyal Subjects

We've finally taken one of Ryan's final Christmas gifts out of the box this past week -- his Happyland Castle from his Nan and Grandad. Up until now we've been hesitant as he has a knack for throwing and dropping things and we didn't want him to break it, but he's been pretty good with it since we first opened it late last week, so today we brought it downstairs for a bit so he could have a play.

His main interests are putting the characters on the towers...or in his mouth...

...but the way I see it, he at least has an honest interest in them and it's one toy that has managed to capture his attention for longer than 5-10 minutes.

He even started to stack them in a queue around his sippy cup!

And he's incorporating other, unrelated, toys into the role play experience...

"Come here Mister Dinosaur...how would you like to snack on this yummy Friar? I've taste-tested him myself!"

Y3 - 122/365: That's The Plan

Not sure if he's just doodling or mapping an escape route over the new door barrier. Something tells me if it's the latter, he could be possibly be using Myst as his getaway horse. Either way, the boy is in deep thought.

We had planned to give Em & Daz's a miss today due to my cold and Ryan having just gotten over his. Plus, we also learned that poor Miss Amy (along with her Mommy & Daddy, I'd imagine) had a pretty rough night as well, so best to keep the kids apart in case one had something they could pass to the other. So, it was just Ryan and Mommy at home most of the day and early evening until Daddy returned home with our Sunday dinners to go...thanks, Em!!

I'll be so happy when I'm not surrounded by a mound of rough-on-the-nose, cheap, white tissues!

Y3 - 121/365: Chinese Takeaway

After carefully perusing Wing Wah's new menu, Ryan shows Daddy he would like to order some Dim Sum and the Aromatic Crispy Duck. However, after some reconsideration, he settled for a bit of Mommy's Cantonese Sweet & Sour Chicken with boiled rice and a bit of Daddy's Chow Mein.

It was lovely!

Earlier today we met up with a potential childminder who doesn't live far from us. She's booked for the most part, but has said she will help us out for Wednesdays and Fridays either until we find someone else with more openings or until she has one of her under 5's move up and start attending school in September.

This means, we have childcare sorted for every day besides Monday so I can open up my availability for more work. Score!

Y3 - 120/365: Light Load

Location, location, location...it's all about location!

And speaking of which...I was in Reception today. Reception is wonderful because it often means you have a TA, you don't have much if any marking, and most children can be won over by the promise of a storybook.

Today's selection: The Cat in the Hat.

Since Matt stayed home with our little prince, it meant I had a ride home from the train station as well, in lieu of walking this time, which was fantastic. Once inside and changed into comfy clothes, Ryan couldn't get into my arms fast enough and what happened next nearly made me burst into tears...

Without even my asking or prompting, after releasing him from a long hug/cuddle, my little boy leaned toward me and gave me a kiss! Granted, he could have been trying to also eat my nose...but it ended up as a kiss!!

Totally made my absence from him today worth it!!

Y3 - 119/365: Semi-Lazy Day

I think yesterday has taken it's toll because today Ryan has been a bit lethargic and even spiked a bit of a low-fever again by mid-day. He was playful early on when we worked with his puzzle. I can now say "spider" and he can identify the spider puzzle piece.

But you can see here that his face just looks exhausted and this is what prompted me to dose him with a bit of Calpol before lunchtime. Thankfully it broke before Matt returned home, so the trip to Marry Hill that was postponed last night was able to carry on.

I was on a mission because I desperately needed a new pair of jeans. New Look used to carry the brand 'House of Denim' and they had various styles and lengths and they all fit quite nice, but now they have a brand called 'Yes' and although they carry a 28" inseam -- which means I don't have to roll them -- they're super thin jeans and wear quickly. Plus, most of the styles they carry now are skinny jeans and in my opinion, those are just so many shades of wrong. Fat people were not meant to sport "skinny" jeans. It's an oxymoron, really.

We first stopped at Extreme Eyebrows. The really nice Middle-Eastern ladies who work there do a form of eyebrow maintenance called threading. It works the same as waxing in the sense that it shapes the brow, only it's done carefully with a thread that they hold in their mouth and use their hands to have it grip the hairs and remove them. I've been so apprehensive to have this done, but since I haven't had anything done since 2008 when I moved here, £6.50 was a steal to have it done.

I won't lie, it was a bit painful since my brows were nearly fully grown back in, but they assured me it wouldn't be as painful the next time. Still, totally worth it for the result as she did a fantastic job. I couldn't thank her enough!

From there it was straight to New Look. I was forced into buying 1 size larger than I really wear and a 30" inseam instead of 28"...but since I already know they won't last too long, I'm not bothered.

We completed out trip by popping in Asda and then returned home shortly after. Still out much later than we had hoped, but thankfully Matt is home with Ryan tomorrow while I have to catch the early train for another day's work.

Y3 - 118/365: Long Day for All

My poor little buddy didn't get much of a break today. After his morning nap, which was only just over an hour, we headed out to a local primary school for me to pick up an application pack for two teaching vacancies they had advertised. On the way back from the school we made a stop in the park for a little wander and a go on the swings.

Normally he would be ready for a second, smaller nap around 3pm, when we returned, but he wasn't having it today. He had his sandwiches, did his yawn and eye rub, so I took him up to his cot but he didn't want to know. He just kept his eyes open and grinned at me, so back downstairs we went.

By the time Matt returned home, Ryan had started to spike a low-grade fever but wasn't able to keep his little eyes open any more. While Matt and I discussed what to do for tea, I hear him snoring on my shoulder and discovered he had passed out even with us talking at full volume! I laid him on the sofa, propped with a pillow while Matt made a quick bowl of porridge so we could quickly feed him and take him straight up, bypassing his bath.

Matt returned with the bowl and tried to coax our little man to a conscious state long enough to eat...

...and imagine that -- it worked!!

Y3 - 117/365: Tuesday...The New Monday

I had another work assignment today -- can't complain for those. The main office initially thought I was to cover Reception, however, I was bouncing about again from class to class to cover for teachers doing their SEN reviews.

I remember one year group, a year 2 or 3 class who had an assignment to plan an invitation to Shrek and Fiona's wedding! What a brilliant idea for a lesson!! We had a lot of fun planning as some children tried to persuade guests to come with the promise of ice cream, bouncy castles and even a disco. The funniest bit was a group of boys were planning a romantic venue of a tent to hold the nuptuals. Thought out like true blokes, right?

By the time I got home, did a bit of washing up, and waited for my loves to arrive there was no secret that we were all pretty shattered. This is evident by Ryan's vacant stare when it came time to brush his teeth and get ready for bed.

Of course, he doesn't miss a beat on the nights that Daddy comes back up to read his story. He knows enough now that if Daddy appears in the doorway and sits down with a book, it's his cue to go sit on his lap -- and he will -- to listen and lift the flaps.

I love watching this relationship between the pair of them blossom more every day!