Sunday 16th June 2013

Samuel turns five next week so we have had a weekend of birthday and Father's Day fun!

We had a party at home on Saturday with lots of Samuel's friends.
Despite the increasingly threatening rain clouds we actually had some sunshine and the kids had fun playing in the garden and eating lots of pizza and jelly and ice cream.

Today we went to Wollaton Hall with the family. Again after fretting all week about the weather, the sun shone beautifully and we had a great day.
We played archery, bowls, football and Samuel had a go on his new bike.

We also took Samuel on a super hero animal trail in the Hall which was fun.

I'm not massively impressed with my baby turning five already but I like enjoying birthday celebrations!

Tuesday 11th June 2013

On Sunday we Joined the lovely people of HeartLink and other members at the annual Twin Lakes day out.

As anticipated it was a fantastically fun day
First of all I have to post these 'then and now' photos...


    
     Cuddles with the little chubster last year and cuddles with my big boy this year!


                                               
         Samuel: "If I open my eyes wide enough my super powers will melt these bars!"
         Freddie: "Seriously mum, get me away from this nutter!"



 Log flume fun for the big lads and at last a ride Freddie is big enough for... alas it is the slowest train ever!!

Ahh, I see. This is where the ball goes.

No, this is much better.

A great day!

Sorry for the tiny size of the photos.

My ipad does not like blogging!

Tuesday 29th May 2013

Just a little post to mark the fact that Freddie had his first session at nursery on his own today!

He was only there for a couple of hours.
When we left him he was too busy playing to get upset.

Once he had realised we had left he there were quite a few tears but he also enjoyed the toys and games.

It was a bit heartbreaking when we picked him up and he was crying into his bean-bake tea! Sob!

Overall though his key worker was happy with how he did.

One more practice session and then he starts two days a week!
Big boy stuff!

Saturday 25th May 2013

We have just returned from our first holiday abroad as a foursome.

We went to Cala Bona in Majorca for a week and had a fantastic time.

The boys were great on the flights and Freddie slept quite a lot on the plane.

We stayed at the hotel Bonaire which was superb for families with young children.
We spent the whole week playing, swimming, eating and drinking lots of yummy things.

Seeing the boys playing together in the sunshine made us feel very lucky.

I took a ridiculous amount of photos so here is a selection...

Monday 6th May 2013

It has been a very busy couple of weeks for Freddie and the rest of us.

Our new niece and Samuel and Freddie's beautiful cousin Sienna Ruth arrived on 24th April.

Well done bro and Emma, she is so gorgeous. A little princess at last!
I hope she likes pink.


The boys have both been on top form.
Freddie is a real chatterbox (no idea where he gets that from) and is trying to repeat lots of words.

Some of his favourite words at the moment are:

Daddeeeeeeeeee
Eeeeeee (that's what he calls me)
Pat/ted/jess
Bye
Hey
Pad (ipad!)
Cheese (when he sees the camera)
Pear (even when it's an apple)

Bank holiday madness...

As usual it has been a busy bank holiday.

We celebrated the naming ceremony of Freddie and Samuel's good friend Charlie.
It was a lovely day and the boys had lots of fun.

Freddie has recently started swimming lessons at the same time as his big brother.
This is a serious work out for Daddy too because it involves things like the Hokey Cokey in the water!

We joined some of Samuel's school friends and mum's and Dad's at the pub- the kids loved playing on the playground and the parents loved a beverage or two!

Today we had a lovely day at Clumber Park with the family.

Along with what I am sure was the entire population of the East Midlands we soaked up some serious bank holiday sunshine....

Sunday 21st April 2013

On Thursday Freddie had what should be his last appointment at the Children's development centre at Nottingham City Hospital.

The chunky monkey weighed in at 25 pounds exactly which puts him just above the 50th centile for his age.
This is great, we have really noticed him filling out lately so are very pleased.

His height was also taken and he measured in at 84cm. Again this is on the 50th centile for his age meaning he is roughly of average height. Good enough for me!

The doctor was pleased to see him walking and playing and I explained that he is saying new words every day.

All good on the development.

Then the doctor listened to his heart..
This went on for much longer then I was happy about.
When I say much longer it was probably about two minutes. However the second I realised he was listening for more than his usual 20 I got into a bit of a fluster.

The doctor was listening to Freddie's heart murmur. He asked if the doctors at Glenfield have discussed a murmur with us.

I was sure that in his clinic letters the doctors have always mentioned a murmur but the terminology is always a bit complex.

Anyway, the doc said he would contact Freddie's consultant.
The next day I rang a cardiac liaison nurse at Glenfield hospital. She was wonderful and explained what a heart murmur is and that the doctors who have scanned Freddie's heart numerous times would be aware of it.
She told me I shouldn't be worried which is always nice to hear from a professional.

A reminder, however small, of difficult times past is never very welcome by me.
However, it also makes us appreciate Freddie's amazing development even more.

Monday 15th April 2013

Yesterday we had a lovely day at the seaside.
We ventured to Chapel St Leonards and did all of the usual 'seasidey' things.

Crawling is definitely a thing of the past for Freddie these days.
The little star is happiest when he is walking around exploring.

Here are some photos from a day in the sunshine...