Holidays

We’re back, but first things first…they’ve sold our car! I couldn’t believe it, someone drove it away to London. We were supposed to be going on holiday two days later, smart move. Once the deal had been done we went out for a walk to the shop, I got a lollipop which I decided I could draw with on the pavement, mum wasn’t too pleased with my artistic endeavour and said I wasn’t allowed to eat it anymore.
Thursday with no car meant no nursery for me, so I did my best to drive mum to distraction all morning. We played dominoes and all went well while I was winning but things took a turn for the worse when mum won and I ended up getting sent to bed. Nanny and Auntie Chris appeared at tea-time (I think they can sniff it out) so I showed them what a good boy I am by eating all my food up.
I decided I’d actually be awake for a bit and gave Nanny a little smile, she liked that!
So Friday then, holiday time. Dad disappeared off out and returned with a big shiny blue car, it was apparently a hire car (which meant he wouldn’t have to spend hours cleaning up our sandy footprints from it when we got home). I helped him pack all our stuff into it, it had a much bigger boot than our old car so we could get the really important things in with ease (bikes, skateboards, buckets, spades and kites). Rach, Ben and Kimi came round and we set off for Cornwall!
I’d never been to Cornwall before, so I didn’t know what to expect at all, Ned seemed to be pretty excited by it though. We stopped at Exeter services and Dad did his usual ‘public’ feed, this time accompanied by Ben giving Kimi his dinner too, we drew quite a few glances!


We were soon at the caravan and ready for bed!
Next day and the sun was out and we hit the beach:







‘My’ Andy turned up later in the day, so that was me happy. In the evening we had a barbecue, here I am with the correct and cornwall approved set up:

And here’s Kimi and I taking refuge from the choking smoke their singed meat was producing, we had milk instead:

Sunday was sunny again, so it was more beach action.

Then John, Sarah, Amy and Mark turned up, we had great fun playing football on the sand and collecting winkles from the rockpools.

I decided I would be John’s shadow, he’s pretty cool and knows loads of stuff about dinosaurs and animals:

We raced our bikes up and down the road, I loved it.
In the evening I had my first outing to something called a pub:

Dad reckons his pink face is because of the reflection from my outfit!

Since the smoking ban has now been introduced we even hung around to have a game of pool (Dad was rubbish, but I did love seeing the balls go into the pockets and collect under the table).
We got out and about a bit, here we are at Fistral beach:


Of course, no trip to Cornwall would be complete without Mum’s pilgrimage to Polzeath:

We had a lovely picnic and an even nicer ice-cream, but dad moaned it was too busy.
The biggest thing of the week for me was that Dad let me drive the car, sat on his lap around the camp site, how smart is that? I didn’t even hit any other caravans.
Slim and Trace came over for a visit, ace!

Dad, Ellis and I found a pirates cave:

Turned out there was a big scary monster in it!

We took them to Constantine beach, Dad and Andy had a surf and I played in the sand with Slim:

And then I joined another group of kids to go sand surfing. It was brilliant fun.

It was actually a lot steeper than this picture makes it look and we were really zooming on the board, looks loads better than taking them in the sea.
Our last day on Friday was pretty wet, but I managed to get Dad and Andy to get down the beach to try and catch me a crab (the holy grail of rock-pooling). Andy tried to fob me off with a dead one but soon redeemed himself with a living one. Once it was captive in my bucket I decided I didn't like the look of it one little bit and made them put it back sharpish! It was good to see John and Sarah in the afternoon again. We watched ‘A night in the museum’ DVD, it was brilliant, all the animals and people in the museum came to life at night. John had broken his wrist and had a big blue plaster on it. It was really hard and looked very heavy, hope it gets better soon John! Once the film was finished, we said our goodbyes and headed off for home, until next time.
I enjoyed my first holiday, and fitted right in by doing lots and lots of lazing around and sleeping.
So back home and still no car of our own. We went out Saturday looking for a new one, how boring. We were out all day long and still didn’t get one, how difficult can it be? Still we did end up in Pizza Hut…Ice cream factory!
Sunday we went to Laura and James’ engagement party/gathering/drinks. I decided to wear my yellow star shaped glasses, everyone said I looked like Elton John, who ever he is?

I ran Uncle Den and Owen ragged racing them up and down the garden and then cleared off with James’ sister to see their new kittens, all finished off with crisps and Laura’s home made cakes, does it get any better than that? I made sure I told everyone we ‘only had a hire car’ to see if I could generate some pity.
I had a lovely cuddle with Auntie Gail and honoured everyone by actually waking up for a little while while Nanny had a fuss over me.

So Monday then, off to look at more cars, still nothing they like and the hire car went back….oh dear.
Mum has been taking Ned to nursery in the morning perched on the edge of my pushchair, I think I’m pretty good to let him use it all with smelly old bum. Dad had to pick him up on the bike and they both got soaked, ha! At least my buggy has a rain cover. In the afternoon we had a family outing on foot to the doctors as it was Mum and My six week check up. Everything seems to be working as it should and we’re both just fine by all accounts. I’ve also started gurgling occasionally when I see something I like (or indeed when I see something I don’t).
And I’m really into colouring at the moment, oh and beating dad playing pairs, he has the memory of a goldfish!

Wee/Wii

Hello once again, we’re back for another action packed dose of thrills, excitement and soggy pants!
Wednesday we went for a walk to the little park, I didn’t want my buggy so walked like a big boy while Ellis was strapped in some sort of contraption to dad’s front. Apparently they tried me in it when I was a baby and I cried like mad, hardly surprising really, would you want to be strapped to that man?
Well I actually rather liked it and soon fell asleep, I did think about producing a lovely milky puke all down his front but I’ll keep that one up my sleeve until he has his best top on I think.
Dad went out on his bike with Owen in the evening, it’s nice for him to have a little play mate I think. I helped load the stuff into Owens car without any trousers and pants on, much to everyone’s amusement.
Friday afternoon and wet weather boredom struck them badly and we went to town to buy a computer game, called a Wii apparently? It’s ace, there’s a little controller you can waggle about in the air to make things happen on the screen.

I’m particularly good at the tennis and the bowling so far, I love the golf as well but apparently I’m not doing it right. I hit every shot as hard as I can and I’m not interested at all in getting the ball in the hole. In the evening all the cards players turned up so I had to show them how to play Wii before going to Bed to listen to Abi next door in Ellis’ room, I think she was having a wrestling match in there. It didn’t keep me awake for long though…
I got lots and lots of cuddles, thanks everyone.
Saturday I helped Dad clean the car again, he’s still trying to sell it. We waited in for hours and the bloke who was supposed to be coming to see it never turned up. There were some colourful words muttered…In the afternoon Grandad and Anne came over to play while Mum and Dad popped out for a bit. We had a lovely time but it all went a bit sour when we couldn’t figure out how to get the video of the Lion King to play, it’s hardly surprising really, there’s so much equipment stuffed under the telly and about 400 remote controls to muddle through. Never mind.
I had a lovely restful time and Anne made sure I was fed, clean and dry much more efficiently than Mum and Dad ever manage.
Sunday was carnival day! I had no idea what a carnival actually was but I was excited about it nevertheless.
There’s no point in asking me what a carnival is either!
We went down the park where there were all sorts of things to do and see (in between bursts of rain) and then headed into town. There were loads of people either side of the street who all seemed to be waiting for something. Eventually a marching band came through followed by a fire engine and then loads of lorries with back’s all dressed up! The best ones had pirates on them. Mum gave me a few pennies to give to the people collecting with buckets but I decided to keep hold of them for myself.
Just for a change, I thought I’d sleep right through it all, even the noisy bands.
After the parade had finished it was the main event….the fair. I went on bumper cars for the first time ever:

They were brilliant fun. Dad let me drive and ram the car into anyone I fancied. We had so many crashes I lost count and Dad could barley breathe as he was laughing so much. After that I went on the swings, a big covered bouncy castle (I was the last one out, the man had to shout at me) and a massive slide:

I caused quite a bottleneck on the climb up (that’s me, the little yellow speck)but came down as quick as anyone else:

After that I had a go on a little roundabout. I chose the bus and sat down ready for the ride to begin….

and then decided I’d have a wee:

Oh dear, I had a look to see what I’d done! Sorry to who ever went on it next.
I slept through all this too, I love the fresh air.
Monday the health visitor came to see me, I was weighed (9lb 6oz), so I’m doing well. They don’t need to come and see me anymore!
After nursery we went to JJ’s in Basingstoke. I had a great time playing with mum who hasn’t got her belly anymore. I did have a little dispute with one older boy who thought he was in charge of the soft building bricks. He built a car with them and cleared off, so I thought I’d play with it. He didn’t like that at all and wanted me off. I took refuge in the pink princess castle and every time his back was turned, I’d nip out of the door, run over to his construction and push it all over before running back to the castle. This happened a few times before Dad bribed me away with a Freddo chocolate bar.
Dad continued with his policy of feeding me in public places and took charge of bottle duty. I’m sure he only does it so all the ladies come and speak to him….
Tuesday and we had another Wii session. We played bowling. Dad won, I came second and poor old Mum came last. I know this is not what would happen in the real word though…..
They say a picture paints a thousand words apparently, I don’t know a thousand words, in fact I don’t know any, so here’s a few pictures:









Okay then, I’ve been told it’s that time of year again…holidays!
Due to my early(ish) arrival Mum managed to secure us a week away. It won’t make any difference to me, I can sleep, Eat and fill my nappies anywhere. So there won’t be any updates next week, providing dad doesn’t sell our car!
That’s right, we’re off to Cornwall for a change, but none of that farmhouse with hot-tub's rubbish, we’re doing it properly in Andy’s caravan and I can hardly wait….

Down the beach

So Wednesday morning Mum took me into nursery to drop Ned off. He gave me a big kiss to show off in front of his friends, I’m not sure what he thought when they lined up to all give me a kiss goodbye as well!
Once we had gone to pick him up we took advantage of some dry weather (I thought I had been born in the summer?) and headed off to the seaside for the afternoon:

Here’s me having my first ever feed on the sand, I’m sure I’ll be getting used to this over the coming months.

And here I am playing with my truck, I had a great time even though I didn’t fancy going for a paddle as there were little bits of pebbly beach that made my little delicate feet hurt. As is normal in these situations I tried to join another family with two young girls but sadly they went off home without me….one day I’ll escape.

Thursday was a big day for me....I went to the barbers! Mum had been on about me going for ages but Dad has not been so keen, fearing all sorts of tears and lopped off ears. He shouldn't have worried, I loved it. I had to wear a big black blanket and sit on a special chair while the lady made my hair wet and chopped it all off. It really tickled my face and I loved blowing it onto the floor. Most of all though I liked smiling at myself in the big mirror. I even got to help myself from the sweetie tin afterwards because I was such a good boy. I was so pleased with my new look we marched straight round to show Auntie Chris at her work.
On Friday we went to the library to get some books, I picked the ones I wanted in record time and they were all about tigers. On the way out we also rented the ‘Cars’ DVD at long last. I couldn’t wait to watch it. Dad put it on after tea, and after the massive excitement of seeing Lightning McQueen race and the total disappointment that he didn’t win I was soon asleep and missed the end (actually, I missed the middle as well).
Saturday we went to Windsor to do some shopping. I was a really good boy! Dad and I saw the soldiers in their big furry hats and red jackets marching while Mum and Ellis looked at delicate things in a girls shop. One great thing about Windsor is that it has a pasty shop just like the one in Newbury (only it doesn’t have any chairs in it?)

So they all stuffed their face with pasties, and just for a change I had some delicious milk while we tried to take shelter from the lashing rain…..glamorous!
Once we got home we popped round to see Nanny, we had a lovely cuddle.
Sunday we went up the woods to splash in the puddles…but there weren’t that many to be found. We had to search long and hard and eventually struck gold with this beauty:

We all had a good old splash about and I did my favourite trick of going in too deep for my wellies and getting wet feet.
I slept. Had a little cry and then slept again.
We came home and I decided my legs looked a little un-interesting, I decided to cover them in stickers:

After that I ate a big roast dinner, even the vegetables! Once that was out of the way we watched Cars again. Once more I had the roller coaster ride of the first race and then fell asleep. I did see the end this time though.
Monday the health visitor came to test my hearing. Apparently you need to be asleep for it to be done….no trouble there then. I was also weighed and am putting on weight nicely now.
We picked up that Ned from nursery and went straight to see my Great Grandma. Ned is very rude, he walked in and made no secret of the fact he wanted the chocolate out of her fridge. He loves it, I don’t know what it tastes like but Mum seems to like it too….maybe I’ll get to try it one day?
I had a bit of a sing song in the afternoon, I don’t know what Mum and Dad found so funny about:
I’m a little teapot short and stout,
Here’s my handle, here’s my stump!
Once Ned had gone to bed Alan and Sonia came to see me. They bought me some presents, some lovely clothes and a ‘Bumbo’

It’s pretty weird but I’m sure I’ll get used to it. Ned tried it out on Tuesday morning, I’m surprised he didn’t get his big bum stuck in it!
I love Ellis’ Bumbo, it’ll be great for her to be able to sit up and watch me go about my business.
I rang Dad at work on Tuesday morning, he loves talking to me on the phone, I make so much sense and never have long awkward pauses. I didn’t go to nursery, instead Grandad and Anne took me out to the Beale park. I had a great day out with them even if poor old Grandad could only afford one ice cream that I ate in front of him while he went without. We saw meerkats, rode on a train and had a great time riding around the playground in the pedal cars. I also chased some rogue chickens, although I didn’t like it when they chased me back.
While Ned was out, Mum and I went visiting her friend Jean, she cuddled me all morning so that gave mum’s arms a rest. Once Dad was home the three of us went out for lunch, it was so civilised without that hooligan brother of mine.

Here I am getting a cuddle with Grandad.
Oh yes, and another thing Mum says I have ‘Bingo wings’ if anyone could help enlighten me as to what they are I’d be most grateful.

Introducing Ellis!

Did you all miss me? Wonder if we’d been abducted by little green aliens from outer space? Or maybe Dad sold me on Ebay? As I’m sure you’re all aware by now there has been a new arrival in the household, but more of that later. In addition to all this excitement Dad managed to break the computer, tried to fix it and only made it worse the fool. So a big thank you to uncle Alan who sorted it all out for me.
Okay then, get comfy because here comes a big update!
Going back three Fridays ago, Owen came round with his new bike. Well I was told it was a new bike but it looked more like a big box to me. I helped them unpack it and then supervised Dad and Owen putting it together. It was quite a nice looking bike, but not as nice as mine! Soon after the house started to fill up as England were playing their first match at the new Wembley stadium. It was pretty dull so Chard and I did skateboarding in the garden instead for most of the first half. When we came in I realised Kimi and Abi had come round to see me too, so I ‘shared’ my toys with them nicely (if a bit reluctantly).
Saturday morning we were all set for a picnic, we had the food and the bikes loaded ready to hit the road when Mum decided we should probably stay a bit more local. You can’t get much more local than the garden. By late afternoon things were starting to happen, it looked like I was soon going to get my new brother! Laura and James came to look after me for a bit while Dad took Mum to the hospital, we had an ace time playing in James’ fancy new car. Mum and Dad were soon home again and Mum still had her tummy so it looked like another in a long line of false alarms. I turned in for the night……
….and when I woke up Mum and Dad were gone and Auntie Chris was at home with me. She fixed me a lovely breakfast before taking me back to her house to do some baking, We got a call from Dad mid morning to say I had new sister called Ellis.
For all you stats fans out there, my official weight was 8lb 4oz's, I was born at 07:05 on the 3rd June 2007 at Basingstoke hospital. My name came to Mum one morning when she woke up apparently, i'm glad she gave it plenty of thought.
I wasn’t too pleased with the news to begin with as I really did have my heart set on a little brother to play with but I soon came round to the idea. We made some extra special shaped biscuits for everyone (Dad got a bike, Mum got a boat after her more ambitious umbrella broke and I made little Ellis a teddy bear) and then went out for a drive, during which I promptly fell asleep. I woke up when we got to McDonalds though and impressed Uncle Ian with my impeccable food presentation techniques. Dad came and picked me and Auntie Chris up in the evening so we could go and have a look at the new one:

Here she is with a very relaxed looking Mum

Here she is with a very tired looking Dad

And here’s one of her by herself in her little crate in the hospital, she looks a bit mean here I think, I better watch myself in future. She has more hair than Dad!
I'd better speak up for myself here I think, I had been through it a bit that morning and I think I look pretty good!

And here’s one of all of us!
Auntie Chris finally came in to see us after hanging about in the corridor for an age and switched between dishing out the blessings, crying, speaking to all the other new mums on the ward and having a good old nosey about the place. She looked to be in her element. Ellis was really tiny but I wasted no time in getting a cuddle with her and giving her a load of kisses. I guess a little sister isn’t quite so bad after all. Dad and I went home to bed on our own, the boys club in session for one last time….
Ned's cuddles were really lovely, if a little 'enthusiastic'
Next day was Monday, so it was back to nursery to for me to show off to my friends about my new little sister, or ‘My Ellis’ as I was now calling her. Dad came to pick me up but I was in for quite a surprise when I got back to the car, Mum and Ellis were there!

Here we are in the back of the car together for the first time. Once we were all home it was bath time! Ellis had her first ever bath and I washed her hair for her, I made a good job of it too. I then had a bath myself and even made my own hair wet by going under water to show Ellis how brave I was, I think she was impressed. We’ve started a new bedtime ritual where Ellis gets into bed with me to hear my bedtime story:

I think she knows the Lion King word for word already.
Hmm, I think he must only have one book.....
So Tuesday saw the start of the social whirlwind of visitors. It was great to see you all but it’s all a bit blurry to go into detail. I’d like to say a great big thanks to everyone who came round and had a little play with me and bought me and Ellis a present, it was like having another birthday!
Yes, i'd also like to thank everyone for all the lovely cuddles and presents, what a lovely welcome to the world I had.
After a few days Ellis started to look a lot nicer than she did when she first popped out!

Saturday was barbecue time at Andy’s. I had a great day, running around like a loony all day with Yanna and Fen:

I decided to sleep all day.
Sunday was back to the social whirlwind again with visits from Slim and Trace and Nick, Carol and Abi.
Monday after nursery we went to Bucklebury farm park.

Mum helped me dig in the sand.

Dad cuddled Ellis for a bit.
I like quite like cuddling Dad, Mum reckons i'm a Daddy's girl already as he can normally stop me crying.

I showed Ellis how good I was at climbing and Mum explain to her exactly what I was doing.
I decided to sleep though it all, except for the climbing demonstration.
Wednesday we took Ellis for her first trip to the supermarket, what a lucky girl.
Yeah, guess what? I slept through it! We did go and 'register' me in the morning though at Mum's old school. I'm all official now!
Thursday I didn’t got to nursery, we went to a theme park near Bournemouth airport instead. It was brilliant. I have a pretty poor track record with fairground rides as most of you will probably remember, but this was different!


















I had such a good time, we rode on elephants, bounced on trampolines, rode a space ride, raced cars, crawled into a crocodiles mouth and best of all we rode on the rollerskate (or rollercoaster as Dad insisted on calling it) even though I wasn’t quite tall enough!
I thought i'd carry on doing what I do best and slept through it!
Friday night Andy, Ben, Rach and Kimi came round for a curry. I tried most of the things on offer……..except the curry!
Saturday we had a bit of a lazy one. Mum helped me wrap dad’s fathers day present which I struggled to keep secret. The issue of muzzies also came to a bit of head today. I’ve been nicking Ellis’ at every opportunity which has lead to a bit of a crack down from Dad resulting in me only being allowed one white one at a time and zero tolerance of my clean washing basket raids.
Thanks to Nick and Carol for getting me the nice pink and yellow muzzies, the toe-rag still tries to pinch them though. I do much more spewing than him so I think I should get first dibs!
Sunday was father’s day, we gave him his present (boring old t-shirt and shorts) before getting him to sort out our picnic, we were off to see Sonia ride her horse Jim:





She made Jim dance, jump and race and it was all very impressive. I really enjoyed it all with Alan showing me around. Jim even had his own lorry to ride home in!
Guess what.....I slept!
In the afternoon Max and Leo brought Emma and Dean around. Max and I went wild as usual.
So then it was all back to near normal on Monday with Dad going back to work.
I've been pretty good at night but made sure i'd give Dad a hard time by having a very uncharecteristc noisy night, just what he needed!
So that’s all for now, I hope you’ve all managed to get this far and we’ll be back to more manageable updates next week. As you can see i've decided to be really good and let her share my blog with me!
Maybe i'll do more than just sleeping this week and i'll some more to tell you about next week......but then agai.........zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!