Tales of the unexpected with The Boy, my pride and joy.
When we visited a local park last week, and I saw my confident young man climbing trees, traversing cargo nets and swinging independently, my mind flashed back to one of the first times I'd taken him to that park.
To me it's such a short period of time, for him the time lapse is monumental!
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Linking up to Flashback Friday over at Mummy Mishaps and The Real Housewife of Suffolk County.
We're well into the pattern of getting our minimum of 15 minutes of outdoor play a day now, striding past week two and entering week three. It's been significantly helped by the fact that the past week has been half-term and so I didn't have the stumbling block of my work days getting in the way and effecting our fun and games.
The beach is a top, and easy, venue for us as there aren't enough hours in the day to explore every pebble there, but for a bit of variety we've been going to the parks as well. Turns out my council is a bit unimaginative when it comes to playgrounds in parks and we're bored of them already; there seems to be a set template of poxy climbing frame, baby and junior swing, one slide and a wobbly roundabout. A far cry from the treasures I see other people visiting!
However, we have enjoyed the one decent one in our town which is just around the corner from where I grew up and as such is one I frequented a lot as a child.
I used to climb that tree as a child, so proud of him for learning how to do it too! I'm sure it used to be bigger though?
We've also been to Victoria Park in Cardiff, which is a brilliant park with plenty of money thrown at it; different authorities have different priorities I guess? In the Summer, the paddling/swimming pool is packed with children splashing each other and shrieking with laughter. Winter turns the pool into a curiosity for young children. The Boy managed to find himself a friend in the shape of four year old Phoebe who took his hand and guided him around the playground.
Today we've been down the beach front (again) on The Boy's bike and I have had to tell Mr. TBaM to stop wrapping him up in cotton wool; he's more capable on his bike than his father gave him credit for! If we can just get him to keep his speed up then those stabilisers will be off in no time!
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41: 'The Terrific Trio' (We were fortunate enough to be able to visit Mummy Mishaps and her boys today, and true to form we dragged them outside into the fresh air for their minimum of 15 minutes outdoor play a day. Hoods up, wellies on, find an old hoop and some puddles, and what more could you want? Really enjoyed our day, thank you Jenny!)
42: '3D' (Today I took The Boy to the cinema with Nana and his cousins, to see 'Sammy's Great Escape'. It's only the second time he's been to the cinema, the first time to see a 3D film. I'll confess that I wasn't sure how well he'd see it, I wasn't sure on the development of vision in tiddlers. However the moment he put them on, he reached out to touch the fish swimming towards him and he repeated this at least a dozen times throughout the film, before then lowering his glasses to try and understand why it looked like he could touch the images. It was really very magical and endearing.)
43: 'Zoomy paint' (Hugely productive day today: playdough, painting with cars and a themed waterplay – more on that another day, gymnastics, and outdoor play again. The Boy loved exploring the different way of mark-making with the paint.)
44: 'Solitary' (After nursery we went down the beach for a blast of fresh air to the system. 'Blast' and 'fresh' are both understatements here. It was freezing and windy. Oh and raining that irritating fine precipitation that gets everywhere! We managed a scoot to the end of the pier and back before collapsing into the warmth of the car. It is worth noting that we were the only people on the seafront!)
45: 'Shake and fizz' (A little science experiment today with some frozen vinegar blocks and coloured ice cubes, liquid vinegar, salt, bicarbonate of soda and a pinch of inquisitiveness.)
46: 'Morning scoot' (I took him for his eye test only to discover he needs a more complex one involving dilating drops to check for a stigmatism, so we had to rebook. As it was 9.30 and we were dressed and out, we headed to Victoria Park in Cardiff which we last went to when he was too young to appreciate. He befriended a four year old little girl and they spent an hour happily racing around, holding hands, zooming down the zipwire, slipping on the ice, helping each other onto the equipment, and having a marvellous time.)
47: 'Hello up there!' (A bike ride through the foggy parks overlooking the beach and back along the seafront to the car, interspersed with some pebble 'plopping' down on the beach. 15 minutes? CHECK!)
I can't choose a favourite this week because I'm very pleased with all of them; they show a mummy and her son who have had a brilliant half-term together.
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34: 'Swinging' (The Boy learnt to pull himself up into his swing and then swing himself! All by himself! I'm so proud of him. He sat there happily swinging along while Mr. TBaM and I watched from our respective paused activities.)
35: 'Not Quite So Roar-y' (Quite possibly the most useless ride-on ever; cost £1 for a minute and barely moved. I'm not sure who was more unimpressed; me, mum or The Boy.)
36: 'The Paradise' (I had great fun creating this small world play beach for The Boy and he had great fun plopping the mummy and daddy into the sea. We made a miniature sandcastle and had a mini game of football with the Playmobil figures.)
37: 'Hopeful!' (We've been sent a Groclock for review and we started using it on the weekend after quite frankly the most ridiculous fortnight of early morning wake-ups. He's absolutely taken with it and loves watching it go to sleep. It does seem to be working because the morning after this photo was taken he woke at 5am and when he saw it was still night-time he went straight back to sleep until 7.35am!)
38: 'Sailing on the sea' (Grandad comes over to play with The Boy on a Thursday while I'm in work and Nana is looking after him, today they made this picture together with The Boy's tap-tap set.)
39: 'Pedal Power' (A quick trip to the beachfront after I picked him up from nursery and time to practise his bike riding. He's doing really well with it, steering well and staying steadily upright in his seat. The stabilisers are at the highest position they can be before removing them but he's not quite ready because he pedals too slowly. He's capable of pedalling faster but his problem is that he's too busy looking at the world around him and taking it all in to concentrate on the speed. And who can blame him?)
40: 'Wishing Well' (We've come away for the weekend to Weston-Super-Mare because I just need to get away from it all, we all do. It's not quite been the day I envisaged because it's über grey and drizzly, but we've had such fun! Off to see Mummy Mishaps and crew tomorrow!)
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and with A Kilt and a Camera
27. 'One Giant Leap' (Off to Porthkerry Park on Sunday to play in the sunshine and check out how high the water was in the brooks.)
28. 'Hello, Down There' (a trip to the local Victorian park on the way back from the supermarket. This is part of our bid to spend 15 minutes outside in the fresh air every day, inspired by Jenny from Mummy Mishaps and Cerys from Nature and Play. Some days are really easy, other days – like a work day – are harder. Today was also the day of the epic play-dough making session; three colours and still he wanted more?!)
29. 'Do You Like My New Hat?' (Big activity day today, Tuesdays often are as I try to cram as much quality and quantity time in as possible before having to go back to work the next day. We made a wintery hat which ended up looking more like a space hat, did a science experiment involving moving water, went to gymnastics and also went scooting in the pouring rain in Cardiff Bay. Thanks for that Jenny and Cerys!)
30. 'New Jigsaw' (A work day but when I came home The Boy was able to play with his brand new jigsaw from Orchard Toys. Watch this space for a review!)
31. 'The Gruffalo' (Thanks to a 'heart-pressing' session when The Boy saw one of his friend's wearing a Gruffalo hat, he decided he wanted to dress up in his costume. I got the mirror down so he could see what he looked like. The irony was that five minutes later, the nanosecond I'd finished taking photographs, he insisted the costume came off. I think he scared himself!)
32. 'Slumber' (Absolutely exhausted, I let him have a longer nap today. I certainly paid for it as we had a ridiculous wake-up time of 5.20 this morning. Now where's that Gro-clock I was sent for review?!)
33. 'Rebel!' (We nipped down to Cardiff Bay Barrage for a cycle and a scoot in glorious sunshine, but dear God it was Arctic! The road across the barrage isn't used by vehicles and is a safe route for cyclists of all ages. The Boy has a minimal awareness of the highway code and road signs, clearly!)
My favourite photo of the week is The Gruffalo photo.
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20. 'Birdman' (Yes we had a snowball fight but who wants another picture of that? We spent time on Sunday putting out food for the pair of blackbirds and Mistlethrush which we have in the garden. The fatballs had frozen so needed crushing, and we had half a loaf of bread to distribute. The Boy then spent ten minutes calling them, before going inside to wait at the window for them.)
21. 'Heart-pressing' (The Boy is obsessed with Instagram. 50% of the likes you'll see from the little green bug are actually done by him, he particularly likes seeing pictures of other children playing and I have to tell him who they are. Daily I have to look for photos of Jenny, Burton and Jenson; think we need another playdate. If your photo on Instagram is of a child and I've liked it, it'll be him. If it's got a comment or of food, it'll be me liking it!)
22. 'Artist At Work' (We spend a long time making the most amazing snow picture today; 95% of it was done by him – the 5% done by me was the gluing because he's a lazy tyke! He then wanted to take a photograph of it because he was so proud of it.)
23. 'Meet The Family' (I was incredibly disappointed today to discover that, despite two inches of snow falling on compacted snow and ice, school was not closed. I made my way in to my job, but was out of there by 3.45. At 4pm we were making snowmen in the garden! I'm on the left, Mr. TBaM is in the middle and The Boy is on the right.)
24: 'Now, Which One?' (This giant Kerplunk we had for review a few months ago, is still one of the most played games in the house! Problem is that now he's cottoned on that he needs the least amount of balls to win, and is very competitive!)
25: 'Eat Your Heart Out, Gordon!' (Uninspiring photograph, but it's a milestone snap. The Boy made his own tea tonight: pizza pocket. He cut the pitta bread in half, sliced up the chicken and grated the cheese himself, before stuffing them in the pitta pocket. And yes that's a sharp Kitchen Devil vegetable knife. Give a child the correct tools to use – under supervision – from the start otherwise they just need to be retaught. He'd be more likely to cut himself with a blunt knife as the knife would slip!)
26: 'Birdies, NO!' (Today has been a non-day. I hate days like this; slow to start and before you know it, the weather has turned and the light's almost gone. They affect my mood greatly, pyjama days on a weekend do not help the happy family way of life for us! All too late in the day we went to feed the swans at the local country park, they must have been starving because as soon as we walked towards them and they spotted the bag of bread, they were out the water and coming! To me, it was something like a horror movie, The Boy took it in his stride, and Mr. TBaM stood there telling them off for pecking his bottom! Nutter! The Boy then made us go for a walk in the pitch-black around the lakes, luckily we had our torches!)
My favourite photo this week is Day 20: 'Birdman'
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13: 'Boardwalk' (We went to the local country parks to feed the ducks the copious amount of bread we ashamedly had not eaten over the past few days. It was a beautifully sunny day, we saw the squirrels and had fun jumping in muddy puddles.)
14: 'Akimbo' (Every night before I go to bed I check on The Boy and he's normally sleeping soundly. Occasionally he's untucked. This is the first time he's been in this position.)
15: 'On the farm' (Tuesdays are a busy day for us as I invariably try and fit loads in before having to return to work the next day. This Tuesday we made cakes, did craft, played jigsaws and board games, played with the Playmobil farm, and spent time playing with his cousins.)
16: 'Picnic' (I was exhausted today after a tiring day in work teaching year six, and The Boy was
n't much happier either. Time for a picnic tea on the sofa watching the television. I popped in to check on him – he was with daddy – and found him in this state. Never mind, he was happy!)
17: 'Blanket Tunnel' (He made a tunnel by placing a blanket over my legs which were resting on a chair. Then he crawled through the tunnel, stopped there for ten minutes and played on the iPad. Can't see how he was that comfortable – neither were my legs – but whatever makes him happy!)
18: 'Catch!' (Finally our longed-for snow arrived and we spent over three hours playing in the snow throughout the day. Mr. TBaM had to work unfortunately but my boss closed the school for health and safety reasons, which meant we could have great fun outside. Here he's throwing a snowball at me which landed square in the lens of my dSLR!) This is my photographic favourite of the week.
19: 'Family Fight!' (My 67 year old mother and 37 year old husband had a snowball fight in her back garden while The Boy looked on. This really made me laugh to see three generations having such fun. I put the camera away and joined in pretty quickly.) This is my personal favourite photo of the week
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Settling down to peruse the delights in my Instagram feed, I knew full well that 95% of the photographs would be of the snow that has settled on the entirety of Great Britain. All of it bar this little pocket of south Wales nestled on the coast of the Bristol Channel.
We rarely get snow, and when we do it's not very much and it barely settles. It seems like the entire town is coated in salt preventing its inhabitants of having fun with the elusive white powder. We've had snow, I know we have! I distinctly remember a time back in the early 1980s when the snowfall was passed the tops of my wellies, which is incredibly high when you're six. That was probably the biggest snowfall in my lifetime, anything since has been no deeper than three-four inches.
It's got me thinking of the snow that The Boy has experienced.
This was The Boy's first experience of snow, the Winter of 2009-2010, and he was incredibly curious about the fluffy white stuff that was very cold on his baby hands. Mr. TBaM made an excellent snowman in both the front and back gardens, the snow stayed around for about a week to ten days.
Later on that year in the Winter of 2010-2011 we awoke one day to a glorious sight!
Unfortunately all we could do was sit and stare out the window at it; the snow was literally like powder and didn't stick together to make a snowman or snowballs, it just dissolved quickly leaving us wet and disappointed. It also prevented a repairman getting to me until two days before Christmas.
And that's it. We haven't had any snow since 18th December 2010.
In the porch a bright red toboggan sits waiting and has done since November 2011 when it was eagerly purchased before the shops ran out…
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This week has been a bit manic with an additional day in work leaving only Tuesday for a The Boy and Me day. Therefore I tried to make the most of it and get a whole load of playing and activities done to make up for the lack of time we should have had together.
6. 'Strike!' (Bowling)
7. 'Restless' (A poorly Boy with a persistant ear infection meant his sleep this week has been hot and sweaty, and he's been very disturbed.)
8. 'Taaaaaaarzan!' (We've finished at Tumble Tots as I didn't think he was being challenged anymore, and he didn't want to go up to the next group as parents weren't allowed to be with their children. We've found a 'free-play' gymnastics session where he can explore proper gymnastics equipment and be challenged in his ability and confidence.)
9. 'Squirt!' (I'd prepared some coloured ice cubes for him to play with when I got home from work, and gave him salt and a water bottle. Great fun!)
10. 'Follow My Leader' (This is the Eggy Alphabet app we've installed on the iPad, enabling him to practise his letter formation.)
11. 'Flip!' (For Christmas, The Boy had the PlayMobil farmhouse and shop with two characters who resemble Fiona and Farmer Nick from Coombe Mill. Here, Farmer Nick is making pancakes for Fiona who is having a lie-in. Lucky Fiona!)
12. 'Sleeping Soundly' (This is how I found The Boy sleeping when I checked on him, his knees were up and bent as well. He does have some strange sleeping positions!)
[Amended: Forgot to say which was my favourite. Probably hard to believe but it's the one from Tuesday; what looks like a bad photo is actually motion blur as he swung past me at eleventy billion miles an hour while tightly hanging onto the rope for dear life.]
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