Merry Christmas

Well, it's Christmas Eve here and we've cracked open the mulled wine. No chocs though as I haven't been able to get off the hill this week because of the snow. Lil Taf is excited. He knows Santa is coming down the chimney tonight to bring him presents. We asked what he would like in the presents:

-Some toys

-a snack

-bread

-rice

-a car.

Easy peasy.

It did snow

Innit pretty? 4 days before Christmas too.

Now We Are Two

Lil Taf turned 2 today. He had a lovely party at the local soft-play with his little friends and 2 of his cousins. It was a bit overwhelming especially when everyone sang 'Happy Birthday'. Unfortunately Mummy had a horrible cold and was unable to assist with blowing out candles. Luckily Daddy came to the rescue before the cake got too covered in spittle (Lil Taf can't quite blow yet).

He had known for ages that his birthday was coming up. He understood that he would get presents. I think he was quite surprised at how many he got. It took ages to get them all unwrapped. Of course, the thing he liked most was the balloons!

44

I was 44 yesterday. Can't believe it. Where did all those years go? Had a nice day except for when Lil Taf puked all over the Mexican restaurant. No reflection on their food - he was poorly. Have discovered that it's not a good idea to take a nearly-2-year-old to a Halloween party. What idiot invented that Scream mask?

I want

Lil Taf has just learned to say 'I want..'. Woke me up at 6am with 'I want a drink'. Was not satisfied with response 'I want 2 more hours sleep'. Kids, eh?

Potty Training

We haven't started this yet as Lil Taf still doesn't seem to understand about bodily functions. Tonight he decided he wanted to sit on the potty and watch 'In the Night Garden'. So I took his nappy off. Then made the mistake of leaving the room. When I came back in he'd done a lovely poo - about 30cm away from the potty.

England's green and pleasant land

Well, with the amount of rain we've been having, it would be. I just wish we hadn't annoyed St. Swithin so much.

We went on family outing to Frampton on Severn on Sunday. It was a lovely sunny day (hooray). It's a beautiful place with ancient houses and a medieval wool barn. It still has beautifully kept manor houses and a horse-chestnut lined pathway to the church. We had a meal in the lovely pub there and lil Taf enjoyed playing in the children's area. A little girl offered to share a bogey with him. Good boy wasn't even tempted! We went for a walk along the canal and ended up back at the pub for refreshments. There was a cricket match going on next to the pub on the world's smallest pitch. It is so small that a boundary only counts as a 2 or a 4.

Altogether a thoroughly English day (apart from the sunshine).

What's up?

Not much. Taf and Lil Taf have both been poorly with colds. The weather has packed in and we are now having a normal English summer. My 7 month old niece is crawling and can get up the stairs - scary!
Oh yes and I've rejoined the Guides. Have been for 2 weeks now and looks like it will be fun. The leader is really enthusiastic. Who knows maybe I will be too? It's the first non-baby thing I've done since Lil Taf was born. Yay, go me!!!

Too Clever by Half

Lil Taf can now count to 5. If you show him a birthday cake he sings something which sounds very much like 'Happy Birthday to you'. Last night he said 'cup please Mummy'. His peers are just managing 'Mummy'. He's either really clever, or it's the result of my non-stop speech since he was in-utero. Coould also be the fact that he didn't move much until he was a year old. Probably just taking it all in.

18 Months

I can't believe my little boy is 18 months old. He has an amazing vocabulary and can recognise and name circles, hearts and stars. He also gets some more abstract ideas like 'funny', 'naughty' and 'all gone'. We went to the zoo last week and he keeps on about the meerkat and top. The meerkat was on top of a pole and Lil Taf thought it was very funny. All his peers are still at the 'mummy' and 'daddy' stage. Every day is such an adventure.
Talking of which, we had to have a quick redesign of the house. I caught the little monster in the window sill with the blind cord around his neck. The cords are now out of reach and the table he used to climb into the sill has been relocated. He also grabbed a carving knife from the kitchen bench. To top it all off, Daddy caught him about to take a swig from the fabric conditioner. So we have child-proofed again. We should be fine until he can reach the door handles...

What you doing Mum?

I crocheted a tortoise the other night (as you do). It's a pattern by a very clever lady. Lil Taf woke up during this and his Dad brought him downstairs. Well, the little fella was fascinated by what Mummy was doing. He also added 'crochet' and 'wool' to his vocabulary. Perhaps he'll craft with me when he's older - yeah, right.

Testosterone

There is no mistaking that Lil Taf is a boy. He's never happier than when he's throwing a ball (or anything else) or poking things with a stick. Here is a picture of him in N Wales having a lovely old time. He was a bit annoyed that Mummy wouldn't let him in the water with his shoes on.

Glorious Easter

The weather in North Wales has been brilliant. We are here for our Easter holidays staying with Taf's Dad. It's a lovely place and Lil Taf has had a ball. He went on his first bus trip, but didn't seem too impressed. Probably because there were no sticks, balls or stones on it. Life is so simple at 16 months.
Lil Taf has moved on to 2 syllable words. He can say; bibby, willy (of course), bottle, water, tractor and choo choo. Makes for fascinating conversation.

Lotsa words

Lil Taf has loads of words now. Yesterday he learned 'key' and 'door'. He also recognises them and uses them in the right place. He's so good at nouns and verbs, but we need to work on more abstract ideas like 'yes' and 'no'. He still won't say Mum. He seems to think my name is 'Dad' too. His favourite word is still 'hat'. When I'm doing my washing up, he gets all the hats from the hat box and gives me a parade. Very cute. We have however discovered that it is a VERY bad idea to say "hat" whilst he's eating a yoghurt!!

Lil Taf Update

Well, he just went and got up and walked. The day it started to snow in fact. He just walked out into the kitchen shouting 'Dad Dad'. Clever lad. Now he can stand up beautifully and walk very well.

Also, Lil Taf was weaned from the breast 4 weeks ago. I was dreading it as I used to use it to get him to sleep. The transition went smoothly and he's happy to have a bedtime story and cup of cow's milk before bed. Takes him about 3 or 4 wimpers and then he goes off to sleep.

Driving me nuts

Lil Taf wants to feed himself and gets quite vocal if I try and do it for him. The result? The kitchen splattered all over with food, and me trying to count to 10 and smile instead of screaming. Still, on the plus side, he ate liver casserole with potato and Brussel sprouts tonight. I wouldn't touch it with a bargepole, but it's a Mother's dream for her child to eat. The photo shows one of our more successful ventures - he fell asleep on the job.

and snowed

so we had to build a snowman for the back yard too. This one is especially for TLM.

and snowed...

and Daddy couldn't get to work, so this is what we did.

And it snowed...

You don't normally get much snow where we are, but there was enough for Taf & Lil Taf to have a bit of fun.

OOH WOW!

Lil Taf has spent most of the day saying "ooh wow". Life is exciting when you are 13 months old. He has an amazing vocabulary now; goal, cool, cat, watch, hat, hot, catch. Of course, only a doting parent could tell them apart.