A Life Update: August 2018

Oh August, what a speedy month you were! I feel like we’ve spent the entire time whizzing from one thing to another. I’ve blinked and another blooming month has gone by… September’s shaping up to be just as busy so I’d better crack on with what we’ve been up to this month and share with you some of my favourite snaps from the month.

August started with a flurry of celebrations. Both my parents celebrate their birthdays within the first few days an what better way to celebrate than with family? We hijacked my dad’s birthday by dragging him along to Pecorama; a train themed family park complete with play areas and a miniature locomotive ride. Honestly, I’m not sure who had more fun, my dad or the toddler! We opened presents, went wild in the park and rode the train around the grounds… a huge success, even if the tunnel did scare the living daylights out of both children!

A couple days later it was time to celebrate again (is it any wonder that we have a birthday obsessed child?!), this time for my mum with a big birthday. She’d hate me saying it so I’ll just continue to call it big! My parents decided to host a party in their garden in the evening, so everyone traipsed over to ours for brunch and gift giving in the morning along with yet more cake. The weather was perfect, the company quite reasonable (!) and we managed to get a big family nap in ready for the night ahead.

It turned out to be one of the hottest days and as a family, we melted our way through the afternoon drinks and into the evening. With a band booked, we danced the night away for the first time in what felt like forever; the toddler happily exhausted on the bouncy castle and the baby rocking ear defenders as she boogied along with me. I still can’t believe that we made it to the end of the night, even if we did leave with a massive toddler meltdown happening. I was so nervous about how we’d cope; how the children would behave, how breastfeeding in a fancy dress etc would go but on the night, it worked. Although we paid for it the next day with big yawns all round!

The next weekend was time for the littlest of family members; we were off to see Peppa Pig, Live! We’ve never visited a theatre or even a cinema with the toddler so it was a fresh experience for all of us, including the baby. We spent a small fortune at the merchandise stand (damn those merchandisers are clever for putting the toys right in toddler eye-line) before making our way into the show. Clearly Dave was super keen for us to attend as he’d managed to buy tickets for the middle of the front row, meaning Peppa was quite literally larger than life.

Whilst I was skeptical as to how it would go down, it was actually a really fun experience. The toddler’s mind was completely blown, the baby slept through the majority of it and we all got to sing the Bing Bong song at the top of our voices. Is there anything more that a toddler could ask for?! It made me laugh to realise that to the toddler, the show was completely real, to the point that he cried at the interval for them to come back! We left with one very tired but very happy little boy.

This month was also the month we took ourselves off to Cornwall for a few days. Our first attempt at nights away with two children in tow. The final part of my mum’s birthday celebrations were to rent a house with family members and close friends for a long weekend. Our children were the only little ones tagging along and they were excellent. I’ve never been quite so proud of them! We barely saw the baby as she was passed from person to person whilst the toddler kept us all entertained with his funny ways.

We spent days at the beach, explored (or should I say found!) the Lost Gardens of Heligan and took a family hike along an old railway track. It was just perfect; lazy days followed by chilled out evenings. The beauty of renting the whole house meaning that we could tuck the toddler up in bed and enjoy our night down with the adults without having to worry. That said, four of us in one room was a little bit interesting… there’s no escaping the toddler at 5am when he’s inches from your face!

Back home we took ourselves off to find the Gruffalo at Haldon Forest Park, we traipsed around the lanes near our house and we spent some much needed time finishing off some jobs at home. You know, the lawn cutting, the general tidying and the final touches to our spare room. The next job coming up is to finish turning our old bedroom from it’s current dumping room state, into the toddler’s big boy room. I can’t believe we’re about to put him into a bed but we want the cot free in December so it makes sense to move him in the next month or so and get him settled in. Why is my baby growing so quickly?!

Speaking of him. He seems to be growing by the day. He’s definitely in a rebellious stage and will push his boundaries as far as he thinks he can. Poor mummy is far stricter with him than his dad is and he knows it. He can often be found grinning when you tell him off and hasn’t quite grasped the difference between ‘sorry’ and ‘thank you’. He’s a monster, I can tell you! He’s now incredibly fast on his feet and shows no fear in exploring when we’re out and about – to the point that we’ve had to bite the bullet and invest in a double buggy… for containment half the time! He’s still shy when it comes to social aspects and can take a while to warm to people or to get going.

 

He’s had such a brilliant month with us being so busy. His affection for his sister continues to grow and whilst I thought he’d struggle with her sleeping in with us whilst he’s alone, he takes it all in his stride and runs in to greet her (rather enthusiastically!) every morning. I say it every month but his speech is incredible and this, paired with his impressive memory, means you can have proper conversations with him. His brain is so interesting and when he’s not trying to kill me off prematurely by leaping off of things, there’s nothing I love more than listening to him chat. Even if quite often it’s to tell me off.

His independence has meant that I’m often pushed to one side and told to go away. Sometimes it can hurt a little but I know he doesn’t mean it like that. The minute I’m out of sight I’m yelled at to come back! In the last few days he’s started showing an interest in nappy off time and has managed to use the potty and the toilet twice. I’m so bloody proud! I’ve never been so happy to see a wee before! We have a busy few weeks ahead and he’s asked to have a nappy on so I’m not going to push it but I think we’ll give it a good go in the next couple of months and see… eek!

At the end of the month, we made his week again and gave him a weekend to remember – a birthday party (remember, he’s obsessed!) followed by a trip to see Paw Patrol with just Daddy, Daddy’s friend and their little boy. A boy’s day out. We realised that it’s taken this long for them to have a proper day out together, if Dave has him on his own he usually ends up at home, Nanny’s house or the beach/park/woods. Their trip was a massive success and ended with the toddler meeting Skye and Chase. The photos! My heart was in pieces. Both boys came home exhausted which made me laugh, welcome to my world Dave! Toddlers are knackering!

The toddler hasn’t been the only one growing up this month. Dave celebrated his birthday even if we did keep it pretty low key! We went to a local agricultural show on his birthday and spent the day spotting tractors and getting up close with the animals. What a treat. Again, someone else managed to open all of the presents and blow out the candles. I wonder who that could have been!?

Let’s not forget us girls, eh? The baby has (obviously) been changing like crazy this month. She wants to sit or stand constantly and we’ve given in and brought the Jumparoo out of it’s loft banishment. Already she loves it in there, clearly that thing has some power over my children! She’s very strong in the neck but even so, we’re limiting her to tiny bits every now and then, she’d happily chill there for hours. She continues to be a delight and slots into the family like the part we never knew was missing. She’s content and quiet but constantly taking things in and watching what’s going on.

That’s not to say she’s always peaceful. She marked her twelve week injections (and my smear test – yay!) by screaming through the entire appointment from the moment we walked through the door until the moment we got back home. Blimey. All I can say is I’m glad that she’s usually quiet, that girl has got some major lungs on her!

Normal service has been restored though and she’s excelled herself by sleeping some hugely long nights, we’ll wake her at ten to go up and have a feed and she’ll sleep until 5/6am. The last few days she’s been full of cold and it’s meant a couple of earlier wakes… I’d forgotten how tiring it can be to get up in the middle of the night. Oh how quickly we forget these things!

She’s started laughing, she smiles at everyone and everything and is the chattiest of little ones that I know. She loves us parents but she reserves a special place in her heart for her brother. He can do anything to her (and does) and she still finds him fascinating and hilarious. He’s oblivious to it but I can’t wait to see what they’re like as they grow up together.

As for me, this month I’ve decided to take the plunge and started Slimming World. I don’t feel any pressure to lose weight but I said last month how I needed to give myself a little self-care and shifting a little weight feels like what I need to do right now. We live a fairly active lifestyle anyway but the convenience foods and chocolate had crept in for all of us so it’s nice to get back to doing some cooking from scratch again. Every week, I drag me, the baby and my mum off to the class; it’s probably the highlight of my weekday social life! We also booked a trip to Centre Parcs in for November so it’s nice to have a goal to aim for.

And that’s really it I think. August has been so busy that even writing this, I feel like I’ve forgotten things. It’s been lovely to catch up with so many friends and family over the month and I’m excited for what September brings for us. Autumn is my favourite season and seeing my little ones change by the second means I have no idea what they’ll be like when the season changes again! September is shaping up to be just as action packed so wish us luck and plenty of caffeine to get through it. Until next month… x

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I'm Hayley and this is us; working parents to three tiny wild ones. Whether it's travel, food, lifestyle or just a healthy dose of parenting reality, there's something for everyone here. So sit back, get comfy and start scrolling!

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