Shapes and Berries

Blackberry attack!

Saturday was really quite hot, 26 degrees. After lunch Sam and I took Eve for a short walk in the cemetery. Eve fell asleep whilst we picked blackberries. Unfortunately we were a bit late and most of them had been picked already, but it was fun none the less. Eve had a great time squashing them to smithereens as you can see in the photo above. Saturday was basically a mother's dream. My tomato plants really appreciated the sun, as did two lots of washing that were dried before the storms came on Saturday evening. It’s been raining pretty much ever since.

Looking at books whilst it rained outside

On Sunday morning Eve drew a circle and a triangle for the first time. She’s been saying the words circle, triangle and square for a couple of weeks. My friend Jilly is the head teacher of a primary school in Bristol, and said that being able to draw a circle (naturally anti clockwise) helps with the base for writing. I found out that I’ve been drawing circles the wrong way round all my life (clockwise) - this accounts for things it seems. I was slow with reading and writing as a child, and was quite shy. I remember clearly hating being asked to read aloud in primary school, it was simply torturous. My mum was great, and made sure that even though I was slow at reading I developed a passion for it, which remains to this day.

Eve loves singing the alphabet song and is mastering the word Kangaroo at the moment. Each morning she sits with me for a bit at the kitchen table and sings along with children's songs on Youtube. 

Development and Play

Eve amazes us daily with the things that she says and does. She loves books. On Sunday she was pointing at the shelf for Daddy to pick her out a couple of books. Sam and I were both pleased that the books she thought looked interesting were about Graffiti, and Art in the 20th Century.

Just relaxing, checking out a bit of art history

Victoria Park Playground

Eve is getting much more confident with apparatus in the playground. Yesterday Daddy took her to Victoria Park. She went up the steps on this fun looking thing and down the slide by herself multiple times. She was having great fun until she slipped on a step half way and and landed on her face on the ground below. The poor girl has a cut and bruise on her chin, but was apparently quite brave. She often has bumps dotted about on her body - I guess this is the time for experimentation, trips and falls.

Eve still adores playing with her baby doll and pram

The girl looks like she has a pretty good stance here, playing the Saxophone.

Yesterday I met my dear friend Jilly at the Lido in Clifton. We both used to be members but had to give up our memberships when our little ones came along. Sam and I both miss swimming at the Lido. It was so good to de-stress there after a hectic day at work. Jumping into the cool water is so invigorating.

Jilly and I hadn't seen each other for a couple of months. We both lead busy lives as full time working mums. We thought it would be good to have a few hours to spend together at the Lido to catch up and chill out. The weather was great. We had a lovely time in the steam room, sauna and hot tub and swam a few lengths, but just generally bobbed about with other women, who were doing the same as us. We all seemed to be chatting about babies, children and pregnancy!

Me and Jilly

Jilly's boyfriend Joe picked us up and kindly dropped me at home. We chatted in Sam's studio for a bit; it was so lovely to see their little girl Lamorna playing with the musical instruments.

Jilly with her little girl, Lamorna (7 months old)

Little Lamorna is such a cutie pie

Bristol Zoo

Sarah and Jake, Eve and Sam, and Dwayne

Daddy n our good pal Dwayne (AKA Cherry) worked hard on their basketball bets last season. They made a nice little profit and decided to spend their winnings on our families getting together for a day out at Bristol Zoo.

http://www.bristolzoo.org.uk/

The Jones family live in Oxfordshire. They drove down and met us at Bristol Zoo on Saturday morning. We seemed to arrive just at the right time before it became busy. Thankfully tickets had been booked in advance so we didn't have to queue with the kids, who were raring to go.

Playing in the gardens

It had been pouring with rain the day beforehand so we were mega lucky with the weather. It was lovely and warm. Eve and Jake enjoyed running about the gardens. Sarah had unfortunately broken her achilles tendon and had her leg in a cast. She booked a mobility scooter which was brilliant as otherwise she simply would not have been able to keep up with us. Great facilities offered by the zoo, good service.

I personally enjoyed seeing the seals and penguins the most. It was fun walking under the tank watching them swimming under the water. I'm always in two minds about zoo's. I know they are good for conservation and breeding, but I still felt awful seeing huge lions and gorilla's inside cages. Their 'houses' are large, but I feel, not large enough. A fun day had, with a little bit of guilt thrown in for good measure.

Penguins

Eve loved watching the seals with Daddy (he was pretty excited too as you can see!)

After wandering around most of the zoo we headed back to the gardens so that Eve and Jake could eat a picnic lunch. Sam and I took Eve to the playground afterwards, where she had a great time going down the slides.

Eve has now mastered the slide and goes down pretty easily and with determination.

Fun swinging with Daddy

The gorilla's were being fed at 12.30 so we headed over to their enclosure and got a good position at the front of the viewing area. They are incredible creatures, though I found it quite scary to be so close to them, with just a tiny electric fence and a little river between us.

Jake and Eve enjoyed a snack of seeds, nuts and raisins whilst they sat in their prams watching the spectacle.

Our final stop was to walk through the butterfly house. I have a fairly big fear of moths and butterflies. I don't mind if they are outside. The thing I don't like is their unpredictability, especially if they are inside. They are always very likely to fly right into your face. This is what scares me. A few years ago I was going to face my fear at a butterfly house in London but it was closed. So, I finally walked through facing my fear, with these fairy-like creatures fluttering around all around. It was fun and quite exhilarating. I'm glad I did it. Unfortunately Eve was asleep and missed out, as I think she would have really enjoyed it.

A big butterfly having lunch.

We drove over to the other side of town, so that us parents could have lunch in Boca Bar at Paintworks. It's our go-to place. It's so easy with the kids. They have freedom to run around a big space and you don't feel like they are bothering anyone.

We had a nice time looking out the window at a wedding reception down below in the courtyard.

Boca Bar

Jake and Eve having fun in our little garden

When we arrived home we just chilled out, played with the kids and prepared for bath and bed time. Everything went well and both of them slept through until almost 7am. Phew! Sarah and I got up with the kids. Us Mummy's and Daddy's felt a bit worse for wear as we stayed up late having a good time in the kitchen together.

It was so great to see Sarah and Dwayne. We had a good catch up, which was much needed after the last few stressful months. Laughing and joking about with good friends is so important. I think both Sam and I felt our spirits rise. Between this November and February 2016 as couples we will both celebrate our 15 year anniversaries which is pretty cool.

Daddy and Eve cuddles

The Whitlock - Fergusson Cousins

As it's summer holidays for Daddy as well as the kids, Sam's sister Katie-Jane brought Scarlett (5 years) and Huxley (almost 4 years) down to Bristol one day this week.

I had to work so unfortunately I missed seeing them, but by all accounts the kids had a great time playing in the park and eating lunch together.

Eve with her beautiful older cousin, Scarlett

Now that Eve is so much older it's great that they can now play alongside each other.

 Eve and Huxley enjoying the swings

Eve loves climbing fences at the moment. I often find her doing this when I pick her up from nursery.

We were teaching Eve how to walk along thin things, one foot in front of the other. 

Now she can walk along the whole plank of wood.

Hard at work with the train set

Daddy made yummy pasta for everyone

After many weeks of Eve getting terribly upset at bath time we have reverted back to the small jug for washing her hair. As she doesn't like water on her face I used to use this little jug when she was smaller to rinse her hair. I changed to a larger jug a few months ago when she seemed to have grown so much.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/TOMY-Bath-Toys-Bathtime-Dragon/dp/B00TYM5M5I

Now that we are using the little jug she seems a bit happier. She's also loving her new bath buddy, whom she named Tora. This dragon spits water and fire when you press the tummy. It's really good as I squirt the water in her face and she mainly laughs though sometimes she gets a bit cross. I think this will help her get used to having water on her face and not feeling so scared about it.

I wish we had time to take her swimming each week, but it's so difficult with the hours that we work. Maybe during the winter we'll try and go swimming on Saturday mornings, when the weather is too bad for us to be outside. The few times that she went swimming last year she enjoyed, though she looked worried. She loves playing in the bath, it's just the hair washing that is tricky. I know it will all come together soon though.

I'm going to buy her a plastic baby doll (preferably with hair), that we can wash in the bath. The ones we have all have fabric bodies. I think this will help Eve get to grips with having her own hair washed.

This morning as we were getting ready for nursery, Eve was pushing her pram around the kitchen. I asked her where was her baby? She looked at me and said, 'where is she?!' and went running off to find her doll. She's formulating sentences and connecting things easily. When we got up this morning she said, 'window - raining.'

When I dropped her off at nursery, one of the nursery girls said to Eve, 'oh look Eve, here's Eli, he's been asking for you this morning.' Eli walked straight over to Eve and gave her a hug. Eve had a big grin on her face. It was so cute, and sent me off to work with a spring in my step!

Sunday Family Picnic

Eve is thrilled with this dress that our friend Hugo passed on to her.

Daddy kindly got up with Eve on Sunday morning so that I could sleep for a couple of extra hours. I was feeling almost at the point of exhaustion after a very busy period at work. An extra bit of extra sleep can do the world of good, eh. 

When I got up, Sam went back to bed for a while. Eve played with me in the kitchen whilst I cooked her lunch. She started to fall asleep in her high chair whilst she played with colourful jelly moulds, so I took her into the lounge to watch telly. She fell asleep on the sofa, which was perfect as it meant I could get our picnic goods ready for our afternoon outing.

Grandad Col, Jeggsy and their beautiful dog Saffy arrived just after Eve had eaten her lunch. Eve seemed a bit shy and wary at first but not long afterwards she was happily singing and chattering away.

We walked to Victoria Park and set up our picnic lunch. We had planned this picnic a couple of months ago so we were lucky that the weather was pretty good. It was quite overcast, but warm, and the rain held off until the evening.

Having fun with Daddy at the picnic table

Grandad Col, Jeggsy and Saffy

Eve had a great time running around the park whilst us grown ups chatted. It's a vast space and is easy to see far away, so it was nice to let her run off by herself (whilst we kept a watchful eye on her).

She absolutely adored Saffy, and kept saying 'dog' and 'woof woof.' She's met Saffy a few times before but this time they really sealed their friendship. Once Saffy had calmed down after their arrival, she was happy to be stroked by Eve and patted on the head.

We started potty training at the beginning of July, and had three successful wee's in the potty, however Eve was getting upset and Dad felt that she was too young to be potty training so we put it on the back burner for the last six weeks. I have been putting her in pants and she's been playing with, and sitting on her potty at home, but we haven't been overly pushing the potty on her.

On Friday when we collected her from nursery they said that another little boy is potty training in her class. They told us that Eve was interested in the potty and that they would help her with it at the same time as the little boy. This was great news as I had asked them to do this at the beginning of July but at that time no other children were potty training. 

Daddy collected Eve from nursery last night, so that I could go for after work drinks with a friend (the first time since I started back at work last October). It was so nice walking home in the early evening sun afterwards. I do miss the outside world that exists during the evening and night time, so it really lifted my spirits. When I got home Daddy said that Eve had wee'd in the potty at nursery - I was thrilled! We are on our way...

Up, Up and Away!

Millenium Square, Bristol

A family weekend of fun and relaxation was just what the doctor ordered this weekend. It was one of those weekends where everything seemed to go smoothly; buses arrived bang on time and Eve slept appropriately, something that Sam and I both appreciated, as the past few months have been quite hectic.

We are really lucky with public services and amenities in Bristol. We hopped on a bus on Saturday morning, got off at Temple Meads and wandered over to Millenium Square with the sunshine beating down on us.

As usual there is always something happening in Millenium Square during the spring and summer months, and this weekend was no exception. Golf academy for kids was set up and we spent a while there having a go at chipping with a kids golf club. Eve didn't use the club but loved the balls that stuck to the green with velcro.

After playing there for a while it became quite hot so we headed to Queen's Square for a bit of shade.

Eve saw a Shaun the Sheep (part of a trail of sheep across the city) as we approached and made a group of people there laugh at her enthusiasm.

http://shauninthecity.org.uk/

Eve ate a picnic lunch under the shade of a tree in the square and then promptly fell asleep in her pram. Sam and I headed straight to Three Brothers Burgers on Welsh Back. It's on a boat on the river and is the sister company of the Lido. They've definitely hit the nail on the head there. They had a deal on for £5 for a classic burger with fries (you could add extras). I'm going to put it out there and say that it was the best burger I've ever eaten out. It was super juicy, medium rare with a brioche bun. Whilst we were there we saw a waitress who worked at the Lido when we were members. It was really nice to chat to her. The Lido does it again with another great business. Pow!

http://threebrothersburgers.co.uk/

Eve woke up at the end of our meal. She happily played with my sunglasses, and enjoyed laughing with Daddy. From there we walked across the river to Castle Park so that Eve could enjoy the playground before we headed home.

Castle Park, Bristol 

(the church is a shell as it was bombed during WWII, it is still very beautiful none the less)

We arrived home about 2pm and spent the next couple of hours relaxing and playing in the lounge with Eve, escaping from the hot afternoon sun. Just before Eve's dinner time we took her to the park, around the corner from our house. 

Once Eve was in bed, I came downstairs and said to Sam 'Where are the balloons?" It was Bristol Balloon Fiesta weekend and we already had the excitement of watching them flying over our house on Thursday evening and Saturday morning. Just as I said this, we both looked out the window and saw a hot air balloon. In the same moment my sister rang, she excitedly told me that she could see the balloons taking off at Ashton Court near to her house. Sam and I cracked open a bottle of bubbles and raced up to our roof.

We spent a very pleasant hour up there, drinking, chatting, laughing and waving at balloons (I'm guessing about 40 balloons might have gone by). Some of them flew really close to us. As one of them passed I said, 'oh, no-one is waving at us,' and Sam said 'yes they are, up there!" I said, 'no they're not.' Suddenly we heard a lady say 'hello' to us from her hot air balloon. This is how close it was to us.

                                                  http://www.bristolballoonfiesta.co.uk/

During our eleven years in Clifton we never saw the balloons on fiesta weekend, as they didn't fly in that direction. It made us so happy to finally see such a tremendous display. 

It was really lovely to spend time with Sam up on the roof. Our worries seemed to fly away with the balloons. It was very romantic and something that I shall always remember.

Cheers!