Street Life!

Hello once again.
You’ll all be sorry to hear I’ve been a little poorly lately. I didn’t got to bed very well last Wednesday night so dad came up to see what all the fuss was about. I was sick all over his feet through the bars of my cot. After a change of bed clothes and a cuddle from mum I was off back to bed okay for the night. The next morning I was sick again though so there was no nursery and a trip to the doctors instead. The doctor diagnosed and ear infection and I was given some lovely banana flavoured medicine. I was fine again by the afternoon and pretty much back to my old self.
Friday night we went West again to see Max (and Emma and Dean of course).
We went out for a pub lunch, I was allowed to sit in a real chair rather than a high chair which was nice. You could even see sheep out in the field behind. The weather was pretty wet so we went to Wookey Hole.

Here we are waiting to go into the cave. I’d never been in a cave before so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. It was dark and wet inside and we had a man that took us in and told us all about the place. He was telling us all about a witch that lived there in the olden days pointing out some steps down that were surrounded by a red glow that were apparently the steps down to hell. Once he had finished his patter I pointed straight to the stairs and shouted ‘this way’ towards the steps in question….I wasn’t quite sure about the caves to begin with but I really enjoyed it in the end so that’s another experience I can tick off my list. Outside the caves were some huge dinosaurs and a massive monkey, apparently called King Kong:

I decided to call him Ting-Tong though. There was also an indoor playground a ball shooting arena thing and an old fashioned penny arcade:

Here I am on the bandit, didn’t win anything though. I did however have more luck on another machine where an arm swept your prize off of a revolving table (with a little help from dad). The spoils of our success were a pair of lollipops which I shared with Max. They have some funny ways down in wildest Somerset you know:

Here’s Max and I eating our lunch in traditional regional attire. Emma and Dean seem reluctant to join in though.
The weather did finally cheer up a bit in the end and we sat in the garden for lunch on Sunday:

What a banquet, we ate like kings before making Dean get every single one of Max’s outdoor toys out for us to have a play with. As usual, I had a great weekend, thanks Max.
We went out to feed the ducks in Hungerford yesterday. The problem was everyone else had beaten us to it. All we could find was a load of plump ducks who couldn’t be bothered to swim across the river to eat my bread. We had to walk quite a way up the bank to get some more eager takers. I found it really funny when they snapped their beaks at the pieces of bread before tossing their heads back and eating the stuff.
I tried English mustard for the first time last night. Mum put a big dollop of this yellow sauce on her plate and I wanted to try it. I stuck my finger right in it then put it in my mouth…..and pulled a face……then stuck my finger in it again……and ate it again. I’m not sure if I really like it or not…..seems a bit strong?

Wet!

I hope everyone is enjoying the lovely summer weather as much as I am? Good job I’m still enjoying playing with all my birthday presents still while the rain comes down outside.
As if it wasn’t wet enough we went swimming again last week. My confidence in and around the water is coming on in leaps and bounds. I went down the slide in every way I could think and even a few I couldn’t. I was seeking out the bubbles and jets of water and made a trip onto the pirate ship a few times to check that out. My biggest achievement though was jumping in off the side of the pool. I saw some older boys doing it and decided I was going to get in on the action. Mum was on the edge of the pool with Dad waiting in the water for my splashdown. My first attempt wasn’t too good to be honest, I only just made it over the edge and into the water. I’d also decided I didn’t want Dad to catch me either….On my next few goes I decided it wasn’t such a bad idea to let him give me a bit of gentle assistance as I was going right under the water. After about eight goes I had it down to a tee and was loving it.
Saturday we went to town in the morning, we saw one of Dads old work mates with her new baby. I’m really interested in babies at the moment and like to point any out that I notice during our comings and goings. In the evening we went to Ben and Rach’s to watch the Eurovision song contest. As usual there was a sweepstake but with the addition of a national dish from the country you had picked. Mum spent hours making what appeared to be the most vile drink in history while dad melted some cheese over a candle. Neither of them won any money as usual.

I spent a large portion of the night with my laydeez Jeanette and Katie.

I’ve even managed to distract Owen while there was a scantily clad lady on the telly here…..

Here I am making off with a mini toad in the hole, Owen’s interpretation of English fayre. Dad got extremely drunk and went to sleep even before the results came in, he’s such a lightweight.
Sunday we went to a big blue building in Bristol. I think it was called IKEA or something. It was filled with weird furniture and stuff. Then all of a sudden right in the middle of the shop was a mini playground! There was a smart tunnel/slide combo, some little tents, rocking chairs and loads of other stuff. I took some prising away from that I can tell you.
I decided on Monday night that I didn’t fancy my high chair any more and wanted to sit in a real chair. I had to admit it was a bit low so I was quite glad when Dad got my booster seat out. Two days in and it’s going okay, just wait till I have something really messy though…..

Wheels!

Hello once again, how are we all?
Dad’s been keeping up the bike trip back from nursery, even if it looks like it might rain, it's great. We haven’t been caught out yet so fingers crossed. I like to helpfully shout out the word 'Wheels' at every oppurtunity while we are ridning along, i'm sure Dad finds it re-assuring.
Mum had Thursday afternoon off so we went to Lepe Country Park:

The sun was out and it was lovely and warm. We had a play in the park and had a long walk along the seafront without the buggy. The park had a big metal tube to crawl through, it was really funny when I was half way through and Dad wacked it one making a loud ringing sound. He had to do it so much he got a sore hand I think.
Friday we took the car to the garage. I was quite worried when a man made the car go up in the air and then took the two front wheels off….how were we going to get home? Dad assured me it was okay as he was just putting new tyres on. Never the less I was quite relieved when the car had it’s full complement of wheels attached and was back on the ground once more. After all that trauma we went to see Nanny. We went out in her garden and there was a frog in the grass! He hopped really well until he disappeared next door.
Then on to the weekend! Saturday morning and we went to Fantasy Land. I haven’t been for a while so was well up for it. My climbing skills had come on a lot and mum was amazed at my skills. I made dad climb all the way to the top with me and then made him go down the big slide with me on his lap. I wasn’t too sure on the first descent but by the 7th go I was loving it although I’m not sure dad was quite so keen. After that we went to Nicks to watch some football match or other and then have a barbecue. What a good day I had. I played in the garden with Yanna and Fen (thanks to Kin and Melissa for looking after me while mum and dad took it easy on the sofa).

And then we had a pitstop:

Later on I made everyone chase me around Nicks house, my energy was boundless. Thanks to Ben, Andy, Owen and Nick for the physical effort you made to keep me entertained and arranging the bean bag so nicely in the drop zone.
Sunday was at a slightly different pace to Saturday. We had a lovely lie in before going to get Great Grandma round for lunch. I got to ride round on her lap in the wheelchair which was proper smart. After lunch I was helping the table clearing process along to speed up the arrival of pudding by depositing the contents of my plate all over Grandma’s feet…sorry!

After dinner was done and dusted, I let her have a kip and a cuddle on the sofa.
After we had taken Grandma home I helped Dad wash the car with Mum. I loved splashing in the puddles and bubbles.
Monday Dad got all brave and let me help in the kitchen! We made some shortbread biscuits with chocolate chips in them. I helped mix the ingredients together in the mixing bowl and then supervised cutting them out. I took charge of adding the chocolate chips…some of them even made it onto the biscuits! Once they were in the oven we sat and watched them cook through the glass door.
On Tuesday dad picked me up from nursery on the bike and we went down the park to meet Mum for lunch. Things took a bad turn when I dropped one of my lovely home made biscuits in the dirt and cried my eyes out. Not even the offer of another one could ease my woe. I got over it eventually and we had a go on the slide in my super slippery trousers. Once we got home dad got me to help him put a load of dirt in a big tray and then poke some tiny little balls into the earth. He then got me to spray water all over it..most odd! I don’t know what all that was about, maybe I’ll find out later.

Hello, hello, hello, hello....

Alright then blog-monkeys!
I’ve seen lots of people over the last week. Nanny came round for the afternoon on Wednesday and then she stayed for tea, I ate 67,208 raspberries and a good lot of strawberries, I love fruit. It’s okay though, I still love my cake too!
Friday afternoon dad finally decided it was time to tidy up the garden. He got the lawn mower out and cut the grass which was a good job done as it was very nearly up to my waist. Whilst he was doing it I sat on my bike and laughed at him wandering up and down the lawn over and over again. Once he was finished, I got my lawn mower out and finished the job off properly. He also got rid of Santa’s tree hat had been going brown around the side of the house since Christmas, I’m a bit concerned that Santa won’t have anywhere to drop of the presents next time….Just as we were getting my tent/tunnel combo out for a game Aunty Chris turned up with Nanny again, bonus! I got to play with them in the garden for the afternoon. In the evening Alan came round to look after me. We had great fun, he’s such a soft touch he even gave in to my bed time demand of my huge horse coming in my cot with me.
On to the weekend and it was potty training time. Mum had me naked from the waist down with my potty ready for action. I pretty much had the idea of it from the word go and had several wee’s in it as well as depositing some solid matter a bit later on. I’m still a long way from the finished article though. Slim and Tracey came round in the afternoon, I had great fun with them. I even said ‘Tracey’ for the first time, even though it was about five minutes after they had left.
We went down the farmers market on Sunday and came away with nothing but a few organic carrots. I ate some of them cold, but decided against them once they were cooked with my roast. I like to stay a bit fickle and keep them on their toes. In the evening, Aunty Chris turned up for baby sitting duties. That’s twice I was abandoned in one weekend! Then Laura and James arrived too so I made sure I got rid of mum and dad quicksmart.
I’ve really been enjoying my train set of late:

I’m really enjoying putting the track together and then sending Thomas and friends around my creations.
I’m also enjoying my medical kit:

I’ll now be known as Dr Atkins if you don’t mind.
Dad came to pick me up from nursery today as usual, but we didn’t go home in the car….we went by bike! It was great, we rode past the fire station and saw the nee-nar’s before going through the park and along the canal past the boats and the ducks. The best bit was the big bridge over the water. On the way back down we went proper fast over the bumpy bits which really made me laugh. We finished off by going past the horses in the field over the way. I hope he can be bothered to do this again, it was really good.

Seaside!

Been on my travels again, back to the familiar territory of Cornwall.
I’d been promised ‘seaside’ all week by mum so I was more than ready to finally get on the road Friday evening. I was a good boy in the car and I had Andy for company in the back so that was good. I was sold a bit of dummy though because it was dark by the time we arrived and the seaside would have to wait until morning. Never mind, I ran around the caravan like a loony until I was finally wrestled into my jim-jams and put to bed.
Saturday morning we were off down the beach:

I did loads of digging and really enjoyed myself. I love the seaside almost as much as mum but I get the benefit of getting sand stuck to my snotty nose, it’s lovely.
Sarah and John came over in the afternoon, they had bikes!

John’s was a bit big but Sarah’s was okay as long as I had a little help. John had a smart book with animals in it and a couple of dinosaurs to have a play with.
Sunday was time for mum’s pilgrimage to Polzeath. We had the usual trawl around the shops and then it was lunch time. Here I am getting busy with an iced bun:

I only ate the cherry and the icing before handing the soggy bun remnants on to dad to get rid of. Next up was another digging session on the beach although the weather was quite so sunny and warm this time, it didn’t last quite as long. After that it was bouncy castle time:

This one was a lot bigger than the last one I had a go on but that meant that mum, dad and Andy were also allowed to play too. I think they enjoyed it more than I did to be honest:

In the evening we went to the Harlyn for a meal. I had Pizza, Chips and Beans (well just chips and beans really, I left the pizza) before my finest achievement to date…I ate an entire grown up sized slice of Banoffee pie. My face was a picture by all accounts when mum presented me with it and I polished the lot off (all bar the crust of the pie anyway).
Monday the weather was much better again and there was some surf too! Back down the beach for more digging! Dad and Andy tried their luck surfing while me and mum chucked rocks in the stream. There was even a horse having a run about on the sand just for my entertainment. I was also approached by a big old doggie who had a strange fondness for taking stones I was about to throw out of my hand with her mouth. It gave me quite a fright.
So then it was time to load up and go home until next time….