Cameronbear's 1st Birthday Party

Today was Cameron's 1st birthday party and we were all really looking forward to going out and having a great time. Nearly all of our NCT friends were there with little ones (or not so little ones!) and there were lots of other babies and their families too. Natalie had put on a super spread of lovely healthy foods and loads of cakes too....yummie! Here are some photos of a lovely afternoon!

Thomas spent all afternoon playing with his friends and their new toys, he had a thoroughly great time so thanks for inviting us Cameron, Natalie and Carlton!

A lovely time at Bluewater

Today we went to Bluewater to do some shopping, the day started off with a bit of a shock! We'd just parked up and went to the boot to get the pushchair out...only it was empty as it was still in my car and we'd taken Simon's car!!! So our first shop was Mothercare to buy a lightweight pram, which we'd been thinking of buying for ages so this made us decide to buy one sooner rather then later. We did the rest of our shopping and then had some lunch. As the sun was shining we decided to take Thomas out for a walk around the lake and to feed the ducks, swans and geese. Thomas was mesmorised by them and kept trying to get underneath the safely barrier wires around the lake to take a closer look, luckily we knew he'd be like this and kept a very tight grip of his arm. It was so lovely to walk around in the fresh air and we noticed there was a small fairground merry-go-round ride there so we thought we'd take a closer look...well Thomas had other ideas and refused to go in the direction we wanted to go in so we ended up not having a ride. Here are a few photos and in one you can see the ride in the background.

A budding artist in our midst

Mormor bought Thomas a lovely colouring in book for his birthday and we got him some crayons and now he loves to sit in his high chair and do some colouring in. He loves to pick the colour crayon he wants from the pot and then go crazy with it!

Mormor also bought him a bucket and spade set for his birthday. In it was a small watering can and he loves to help me water the plants in the garden using his watering can...how sweet. No pictures only video and I've not figured out how to load these on the blog...sorry!

We have all been up for a while already and it's only 8.30am but T's happy walking around with his broom and stopping to play with toys he's left strategically around the lounge. We have a feeling it could be a very long day......

More pictures of Mr T's birthday

What a brave boy!

Yesterday morning I dropped Thomas off at nursery at 7.30am and he cried again...it broke my heart to leave him there and it took all I had not to run back in there and take him home. But I didn't and was very proud of myself! I thought about him constantly all morning and was dreading picking him up at 12.30pm in case he was still crying. My mum and I got there to find him asleep in the quiet corner, he was covered in a small blanket and looked so peacefull. Tammy (his key worker) said that he was a totally different boy as he'd been such a good boy. He spent a lot of time playing with other children and alone, he'd spent a lot of time in the garden playing with older children, did a bit of colouring in, listened to the stories and walked around a lot giggling and laughing to himself (he does this a lot at home!). He still didn't eat much but more than last week so that is also an improvement. All in all the feedback was very positive which is such a relief!!!
T has started waking up during the night again which is a big step backwards as last week when my mum and Debbie stayed over we'd got into into good routine. He'd go to bed at 7pm and not wake until 2am for a quick feed and then straight back to bed then he'd wake at around 6am to start the day. We're not sure why he' started waking up again but maybe it's because he is teething again with tooth number 7 making an appearance.
He loves to feed himself and gets very frustrated when we feed him anything with a spoon, he looks at us as if to say..."erm I don't think so as I'm a big boy now!"
I've not been feeling too good lately as I've been suffering with nasty stomach cramps, they're so painful that at times I'm almost immobile and often cry in pain, espcially as I'm so tired now that T isn't sleeping well. Things were so bad this morning that I got an emergency appointment at the doctors, he thinks I've got IBS. I'm not convinced but will try the medication he prescibed and see if I feel any better...fingers crossed. I also had to take T to have his next injection this morning, he was so brave and didn't even wince when she put the needle in. had remembered to give him some Calpol 20minutes before the appointment so maybe this helped. I asked the nurse about T's allergies and if the MMR jab has any egg or dairy in it as he's due to have this in about one months time. It turns out that it has egg in it so I am waiting for someone from Medway hospital to call me to see what we do instead.
Right I'm off to bed now even though it's only 7.20pm on a Friday night but I need to catch up some sleep.
S
x

Happy 1st Birthday Thomas!

Today is Thomas's 1st birthday! He woke up at 7.20am (a lie-in...yeh!) and was in a very happy mood right from the get-go. He came into bed with us for a cuddle and a chat and kept on giggling and laughing which was just so sweet. He came downstairs into the lounge to find all of his presents and everyone's cards for him on the floor...very exciting! He took a minute or two to explore them and then decided it was time to do something with them...ie rip them!! He got some gorgeous presents from family abroad and friends,they were all so very kind and generous thinking of our little boy on his birthday. A very big thank you to all who sent him something and a thank you letter will be in the post soon!

As the weather was so lovely and sunny we were able to go out in the garden for a while. The grandparents and Auntie Debbie came over at 11am for coffee & cakes and brought so many presents for Mr T that he had to have a break half way through opening them. He had his lunch and then it was time to go in the garden and play!

Here he is having a super duper day with his family!

Inspecting his presents first thing this morning, and his home made birthday cake.

Unwrapping a present from Mormor and Morfar and then sitting on it.

Playing in the connecting play tents from Nana, Grandad and Auntie Debbie.

More picures to come......

Happy Birthday Helen

Last night we went out for a curry to celebrate Helen's birthday with Helen, Chris and Grace and John, Lorraine and Polly to the Bay Leaf in Hempstead. The table was booked for 6.00pm so it wouldn't be too late a night for the little ones. The food was excellent and we'd definetly go there again. All the staff were so helpfull and friendly especially to us with Thomas. He sat at the head of the table and was the Chairman for the duration of the meal (the Chairman is what the waiters called him) and was as good as gold. A couple of time we had to take for a quick walk around the restaurant, he was so pleased to show everyone how well he walks. He loved to eat our popadoms and to chatter to us all, all whilst bashing the table with anything he could get his hands on!

Here are a few phohots of a lovely evening out:

Fun in the pool

Yesterday was a strange day as Thomas went to nursery in the morning (from 7.30am to 12.30) and Simon and I were at home without him. The house was too quiet and it felt so strange not hear our little man charging around the place. We made the most of the time and got on with chores which were so much easier and quicker to do without someone constantly interupting us!!!

We picked Thomas up at 12.30 only to find him sitting alone and in the corner of the room. He'd been crying a lot as his face was red and his eyes puffy...poor little boy!! He'd not eaten anything for breakfast (wheatabix and toast) and only had a third of his lunch. He didn't settle very well this visit and needed a lot of cuddles from the ladies there although he liked being out in the garden and storytime. I'm now wondering if one morning a week is enough to settle him in or if all it's doing is confusing him? There weren't many other babies there this week as a lot of the older children went up to the next room as they all turned 2years old...maybe this also confused him as he really loved to watch them run around and play. Not sure I really want to put him in two sessions a week but maybe we'll have to to get him settled in...not sure yet so will have to have a think about it for a while.

My parents came over in the afternoon and we all sat out in the lovely hot sunshine, just what a holiday should be about! The men had cold beer and mum and I had a glass of cold wine...how very civilised!! We decided to get Thomas's pool out as it was so warm, here are a few photos of him in it and around it.

Holiday!

Thomas and I are so happy as Simon has a week off work....yey!! He is so tired & stressed out that he really deserves some R&R.

Saturday we went to Jasmine's 1st birthday party at her house in Rochester, we all sat out in the garden which looks over the river. Here we are enjoying our lovely afternoon.

Sunday we didn't do very much other than chores around the house and helping Thomas walk...which is his new thing and he just loves it! He now walks from one end of the kitchen to the other and nearly the length of the lounge.

Today we went to Canterbury and had a stroll along the high street in the sunshine...at home it was raining so were really happy to be there! We went to Pizza Express for lunch and Thomas was an absolute angel! We were there for about an hour and a half and he was as good as gold! He was so good eating his lunch (of bread and butter, chicken tikka cold meat followed by chopped up grapes and strawberries) while we tucked into our pizzas. The waitress was besotted with him and everytime she passed our table she made a big fuss of him...which he loved!! Here are a few photos of our meal:

We can't believe that Thomas will be one in less than two weeks, this year has flown by and we've all had such an exciting year we can't wait for the next one!