Amazing April

Good evening everyone!

It's been another busy month; not least because I turned 2 again! To celebrate my 'due date' birthday we went to our local - The Black Dog.  This seemed especially appropriate as it was where we went the day after I came home from Tommies 2 whole years ago.  This time I had my own sweet potato fries and my own chocolate brownie. Yummy

This month has been mainly one of visits:
One of Mum's friends from university came to stay whilst her flat was being sorted.  Jo is also a doctor and has changed jobs and houses, though the job change seemed to have been easier than the home thing.  She was very friendly and gave me hugs and even baby sat so Mum and Dad could go out for an evening - thank you!

Then Aunty Lizzie came to stay for 2 days.  She was very impressed with my walking and talking and my iPad skills.  M+D have found me even more Apps. I can now do jigsaws, pelmanism - matching numbers, colours, vegetables. I can also Skype, FaceTime and rearrange or delete Apps. Lend me your phone at your peril!!

I'm not a complete techno geek.  I like reading with people too.  I sit quietly next to Mum, Dad, Granny etc and listen as they read my favourite books to me.  It is important to be read the right book, so I always may sure I ask for books by name and then go and get them from my collection to show the grown ups which one I meant.

Combining literature with technology

I went to see my friend, Artie and his Mum.  We had yummy food and I played football in the garden and in his sandpit.  It seemed to inspire Mum - so now I have a little sand table of my own. This is huge fun and allows me to spread sand everywhere - which is surely what it was for.

We've had more dinners with my Godparents- more yummy company and food.  We've had friends round for dinner and gone round to both our next door neighbours too.  I met Cleo the cat. Cats are strange. She ran away when I kissed her then hid under things and stared at me. You can't please everyone I suppose.  M+D seem very impressed by my kisses.  I have perfected toddling over, hugging their legs and then putting my arms up for a hug and leaning forward for a kiss.  I am the master of Super Cute...

And then my cousins came round for lunch (phew I'm popular!)  We played together and got lots of my toys out and ate cake.  Mum and Dad are now allowing me to have bits of my own cake.  I can run off my energy now I guess.

I'm armed and dangerous...

The biggest new of this month is that I've been discharged from Physiotherapy.  This is one of the last specialists related to my prematurity so being discharged is a big deal.  It was said to say goodbye to Amy but it means I'm doing well and that the number of appointments I have to go to has reduced again!  Whoopee.  A massive thank you to all the staff at Sunshine House. You've been a huge help to me and Mum and Dad.

Whilst Mum was busy on call, Dad and I popped up to Leicester to see friends. We borrowed an XKR from The Classic Car Club and Dad had some fun.  It was a bit quick for me but I only had to voice my disapproval a couple of times.  Mum joined us on the Sunday and we had a lovely time in the countryside.  It is nice for us townfolk to get out of the City sometimes.

Now I'm walking with confidence, I've been moved up into Toddlers at Nursery.  To celebrate, I ran down the slope at Nursery and promptly fell over.  I grazed the side of my face but was otherwise unharmed and sat nice and still to be cleaned up.  M+D say I will get a few bumps and bruises as I run around and play.  Mum told me how many scars and broken bones she had and so did Aunty Lizzie!  Wow...they really need to learn to be more careful!

Mummy bought me a very odd shaped ball, but she seemed very happy to see me running around with it:

Granny W came to stay so Mum and Dad could go on management courses.  We went to the park, we played in the garden and did LOTS of reading.  Thank you Granny.

So now I am 2 whichever 'birth date' you go by.  I'm planning to step down my blogging activity.  It's been lovely that so many of you have been interested in my ramblings.  I will still update when something happens but it's going to be a little less often. I hope you don't mind too much.

Love to you all and bye for now

xxx

March

Happy Easter!

No big news this month but lots of happy little things: moving, talking, playing and friends.

Moving:
I've been walking more and more and am now confident both indoors and out.  I tested my wellies with Dad and Grandpa E and only tripped over a couple of times.  Wellies and my all-in-one snow suit make it quite difficult to stand up and toddle but Mummy was there to help.

I'm also mastering stairs.  Going up has not really been a problem, but coming down them is a bit more challenging. After some encouragement from M+D, I can now shuffle down on my bottom.  Very satisfying although I prefer to have a hand to hold whilst doing this just in case I miss my footing/shuffle.

All this means that my Physiotherapist is seeing me less and less with a view to discharging me provided I continue to progress with the walking like other toddlers (less waddling and less hands out to the sides etc).  I'm gaining confidence on a daily basis so I reckon this shouldn't be a problem.

Talking:
I've also been discharged from Speech and Language therapy as I can talk and copy and string words together so well.  I'm particularly good at animals and the noises they make: M+D seem to really like it when I say "owl" and "Tee-woo" as the noise it makes.

I can also recognise shapes (my favourite is a triangle), some colours (especially purple and pink) and I can count the numbers up to 20 (well nearly all of them).  I'm now learning the days of the week and lots of bits of the body, singing "head, shoulder, knees and toes". I've also got the hang of 'under' and 'on top', so you can't hide things from me anymore!

Me showing how to do a 'diamond'.

Playing:
I've now discovered Duplo and can now build all sorts of things.  M+D say that when they were little the bricks were just squares or rectangles but now I have curvy bits and wiggly bits and I can build animals and insects and things.  They even come with a book to help me build things and tell a story too.  How things have changed!

Seeing friends:
This month has been mainly about eating in and out with friends and family...

So I've been out to a tea house for my friend Leo's birthday party and we had sandwiches and cake.  We played with balloons and wooden cars and trains and I chatted with everyone.  Then it was Mothers' Day and Daddy's birthday so I got to see my babysitter, Diana, because M+D went out for dinner like grown-ups.  I think they had a nice time - I had a lovely time with Diana.  She gives me lots of hugs and lets me watch You've Been Framed.  It makes me giggle a lot!

Aunty Lizzie came to say hello whilst she was in town.  We had a delicious brunch at Village East.  I had pancakes and fruit salad.  I've decided that fruit isn't evil anymore and enjoy grapes, blueberries, banana and strawberries.  I'm still not sure about apples or pears though.  Pancakes have always been yummy.

We all went for Sunday lunch at our local pub; The Black Dog with another friend of mine, Isabella, and her parents.  I just ate bits off M+D's plate and sweet potato fries.  I finished off with cake and ice cream.  Isabella is a girl after my own heart and disregarded most of the savoury stuff and went straight for the sweet treats and snacks brought along by her Mum.  She was very kind and let me share some of them too.  Thank you Isabella!

Next weekend we all got into the car and travelled out of  London into the countryside (well Zone 6 anyway) to see my friend Robin and his parents.  His Mummy cooked food for me and Robin, then it was time for bed whilst his Daddy cooked for the grown ups. But Robin and I decided that it wasn't time for sleep even though it was way past out bedtimes. Eventually we got bored of the grown-up conversations and went back to bed!

Easter has been a mix of Dad doing DIY (wiring, tiling and floor stripping) which has meant lots of things I'm not allowed to touch, even if I look super cute. And then a trip down to see my grandparents which is where I started this blog.

"R is for Rfur". Me doing letters with Grandpa

So another month has flown by and it's April - the month I should have been born in.  I have a feeling M+D will have a little party again to celebrate but apparently once you turn two no one really uses the 'corrected' age anymore so I think this year will be the last of double birthdays.  Humph. I better get extra cake next time!

Bye for now,
love
Arthur
xxx

Toddling along

Hello everybody!

Let me start with my big news - I can walk!! They said I wouldn't manage it (actually, the exact phrase was "I'm not saying he'll never walk but...") and, to be honest I'm not sure what all the fuss is about. Having turned 2 'officially' at the end of January, I decided that it was time to try my hand at walking without something to hold on to.  I needed a little persuasion and a trip to St. Lucia to do it but now I'm up and off all on my own!

At the beginning of the month Mum, Dad and I packed up a lot of nappies, Weetabix, raisins, seemingly all the clothes I own, and the odd bit of swimwear and headed off to St. Lucia for a couple of weeks of relaxation and sunshine.  I even got my own seat on the plane as I didn't enjoy the last trip back from Italy on Dad's lap quite so much and this was much more satisfactory.  I had my little iPad and M+D either side of me to keep me safe and sound.  I practiced my charm offensive with passengers and cabin crew.

We spent the first week in a big resort with lots of swimming pools and steep hills.  M+D didn't seem to like having to push my buggy up and down the slopes especially as own room was on the other side of the resort from the Kids' Club and pool.  (Morgan Bay - seriously not recommended) Still, we met some other families and spent most of the time by the Kids' pool and that's where M+D began encouraging to walk on my own.  They started by helping me walk in a pool where the water wasn't too deep but could support some of my weight and off I went.  I was a bit wobbly at first but soon got the hang of it.

Splish splash

We went to the Drive thru' volcano in the south of the island at Soufriere and I splashed about in the warm, volcanic mud pools there. 

Mud, mud glorious mud...

Our first resort was on the Caribbean side of the island and I swam with Daddy in the sea there.
But since it didn't really work for families, we moved to a second resort for the next week and this is where I perfected my skills - on the beach.  The sand meant it didn't hurt if I fell over.  This resort was on the Atlantic side of the island. So I've now swum in the Indian Ocean, Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean - how cool is that!

Atlantic ocean waves

I learnt a new trick from David one of the bar men.  He taught me to say 'yeah man!' and to make a fist to bounce against someone else's fist.  This makes M&D giggle a lot so they keep doing it with me now we're home too!  Even the Nursery staff are doing it.  Honestly!

Pitons

We had a fabulous second week (at Cotton Bay), met some lovely other families, met up with M&D's friends Cat and James - I got a babysitter, they got giggly on rum! All to soon it was time to come back. This time I got my own bed - and found it had little switches which made it whizz back and forth. Huge fun for me, slightly annoying for Dad as he tried to sleep, oops!

So now I can toddle along on my own, getting up from sitting without needing someone or something to help me.  It means I'm playing more with the other children at nursery and that I've graduated from the fabulous charity Small Steps, who were such a help to M&D - I got a certificate signed by all the staff!  They have helped me get going and I know M&D are very grateful!

My words have come on leaps and bounds.  I can ask for things by name rather than just pointing.  This mainly refers to the iPad - or Ipider as I like to call it.  Mum thinks this is because I have an App of The Incy Wincy Spider on it and I've muddled the words.   She still knows what I'm asking for though. I can also say some phrases too - 'how are you?'; 'I am fine' and I know my name is Arthur Eccles.  Granny W taught me this last one when she came to baby sit when Nursery was closed.  We had lots of fun and I showed her how to use my iPad and she read me lots of books and watched me walk all over the house including up the stairs.  I need to be watched closely when I do stairs as I'm still not great at going down them and can be a little unsteady.

And did I mention I can count - all the way to seventeen, which is more numbers than I'll ever need I reckon.

Back in dear old London and boy is it chilly.  I've been busy socialising - with Isabella at Gymboree, Artie,  my Godparents and their daughters and with Jill at M&D's favourite gallery: the New Academy and Curwen.  Her space is brilliant for walking practice although M+D did keep stopping me touching things.  Spoil sports!

Bye for now,

Arthur xxx

Birthday greetings

 Hello everyone,

I started the year a troubled soul. We went to my Godparents’ for New Year’s Eve and the three of us were meant to be sleeping in their spare bed. Well I just couldn’t get comfortable, so I had to wake Mummy, then Daddy, then Mummy, then both, then anyone and everyone to explain that I was unhappy. I was perfectly fine the next day. M&D looked tired poor things.

I’m continuing to learn new tricks every week. It’s very satisfying and certainly seems to keep M&D happy. They keep saying well done – and I give myself a round of applause. Mum says I get this from Dad!

New stuff I can do:

Cruising – I can get anywhere in a room if you just give me the odd thing to cling on to.

Standing – I can now stand up on my own. This becomes a bit of a surprise if I do it in the middle of the room as there’s nothing to grab, so I have to sit down again!

I’ve tried walking but you get all wobbly and fall over. M&D and my lovely physiotherapist keep pushing me. I’ll walk when I want to, thank you!

I can climb stairs though. This is new and great fun. I did shock Mum by showing her that I didn’t know how to come down again. I may have bumped my way down but no injuries.

Did I mention I can count? Well I can. Let me show you: Won, too, free, for, fife, seax, nine, ten; bap, bap, bap. That last bit is me clapping ‘cos I’ve done so well. Seven and eight are overrated!

As a result of my obvious genius I’ve been moved up in Gymboree, which means I get to explore a bit more and have more toddlers around me who are walking.  It also means I get to spend time with my friend Isabella who has also moved class too.  She is encouraging me to walk on my own too but I’m quite happy bum shuffling for the time being.

Other things this month – it snowed! In London! I hadn’t played in snow before so M&D took me outside and we built a snowman, then a snow family of three, just like us. It turns out that snow is quite cold and doesn’t taste nearly as good as it looks. Still, it gets M&D very excited.

And Dad went away again for week but I wasn’t ill this time. It did mean he was away for my actual birthday but Mummy gave me extra kisses and I threw my food around slightly less than usual to say thank you.

Helping build our snow family

So M&D held my birthday party on the Saturday. All my godparents came and so did Sophie and Marcus, Robin’s parents who I met in C&W Hospital when he and I were both tiny. Godmummy Sherifa and Goddaddy Fred had made me a cake in the shape of the dinosaur from my favourite book: Dinosaur sleepover. It was quite the best cake ever. So what did they all do. No go on, guess.

Super cool cake and book!

They put me to bed. To bed! To sleep! They then ate lots of food, stinky cheese and drank Daddy’s special grape juice and then they ATE MY CAKE. Without me. Humph.  I did get some the next day though.  It was yummy!

I tell you something; I’m not standing for this next year. I did get super pressies though so a huge thanks to everyone for the presents and the cards.  I feel very special indeed and have lots of new toys to play with.

Lots of love to all,

Arthur xxx