My Wild Ones // Mini Trekkers at Center Parcs

Last week we were on holiday at Center Parcs in the Lake District. As I’m sure most of you are aware there are tons of different activities to do…and most of them cost extra! You do get quite a lot of emails before you go urging you to book things in advance but seeing as we didn’t know what we would feel like doing, or what the weather would be like we didn’t really book anything before got to Center Parcs.

It was a good job we didn’t as it happened as Toby’s chicken pox weren’t fully scabbed over until our second day there so we couldn’t really do anything when we first arrived. We did go for a walk around to get our bearings and saw the Mini Trekkers course.

Nearly finished the Mini Trekkers course

It’s a baby version of the high ropes course where the kids get to wear a harness and cross different bridges to collect the pieces of a jigsaw. We asked Toby if he’d like to have a go and when he said yes we booked it for later on our second day.

First steps at Mini Trekkers

This was a great activity for Toby, and it was lovely to watch him overcoming his fears.

Enjoying Mini Trekkers

He was a bit nervous at first but soon got into the idea.

Mini trekkers

By the end he only really needed my help to step from the platform onto the walk ways and then he was quite happy holding onto the ropes and walking along by himself.

Gaining confidence at Center Parcs

Holding on

Going it alone

It helped that he had to collect the jigsaw pieces on some of the platforms and he was so pleased with himself when he finished the squirrel picture at the end of the Mini Trekkers course.

Mini trekkers - done

And even more pleased when he was given a squirrel toy to keep as well.

Collecting his Center Parcs squirrel prize

MyWildOnes

Living Arrows 21/52 (2016)

Well, despite the pox we made it to Center Parcs and we had a brilliant week! We couldn’t do much the first day or so as Toby’s spots hadn’t completely crusted over but it didn’t really matter. We made sure we did plenty of activities in the rest of the week, and ate lots of delicious food too. I’ll be writing more about what we got up to in some other posts but safe to say we had a great time and I would definitely recommend Center Parcs to anyone looking for a family holiday.

This week’s Living Arrows photos are a couple from while we were away. Toby was a trooper throughout his week of chicken pox, he hardly complained at all, and he still slept really well which was a relief. It was a tiring week away for him though (and would have been even without recovering from illness) and we had a few meltdown moments but on the whole he just enjoyed the whole experience. It was fab to see him trying things he wouldn’t normally do and the big smiles on his face when he did them.

Smiles from Toby on holiday

Gabe spent quite a lot of his holiday napping and we did have disturbed nights from him too. He loved exploring the lodge though, his commando crawling is really getting him everywhere he wants to go now…and lots of places we don’t want him to go! He’s so determined, but still gets frustrated when he can’t do something he wants to. Just look at him though – I’m sure it won’t be long before he’s properly crawling and pulling himself up, and then nothing will be safe!

Crazy commando crawling Gabe

Living Arrows

Living Arrows 20/52 (2016)

If you read this post you’ll know we’ve been having a pretty rubbish time of things recently. However, as I write this Gabe has finally got over his stomach bug or teething or whatever it was that was making his nappies so awful. The last couple of nights he’s actually slept reasonably well, for him, and even though he had me up at 5:30 am when he’s this cute you don’t mind too much. Of course now we’re just waiting to see how long it is before the chicken pox shows up but at least we might manage a few days without too much grumpiness.

20_52 16 G

And as for Toby; he is coping remarkably well with his chicken pox although thankfully I don’t think he has too bad a case. He is a bit up and down, one minute he’s tired and lying in front of the TV and the next he’s charging around the house, like when I grabbed this shot.

20_52 16 T

A lot of his spots have crusted over now so I’m just hoping the rest of them do soon so he can at least enjoy a couple of days of our holiday at Center Parcs. And just cross your fingers that Gabe doesn’t show any symptoms until after we’re home!

Living Arrows

Siblings // Toby and Gabe in May

Amongst the illness of the last month the relationship between Toby and Gabe is continuing to develop. Things haven’t really changed too much though; Gabe still absolutely adores his brother and is always ready with a smile or a laugh for him. He’s starting to discover the joy of playing with all Toby’s toys too and now he’s on the move nothing is safe from his little hands. Toby still seems to see Gabe as a mixture of someone to entertain and give the odd kiss to, and something of an inconvenience who takes up far too much of mummy’s time still.

I am though catching more and more glimpses of what their relationship might be like in another year or so, when Gabe can really interact and they can properly play together. Yesterday I left them in the living room for two minutes whilst I was tidying up in the kitchen and came back to this sight…

Toby and Gabe getting into mischief

Now pulling tissues out of the box is a favourite game of Gabe’s so I said ‘oh Gabe, what a mess you’ve made’ to which Toby piped up ‘And me!’ They’re going to get up to some mischief aren’t they?

Gabe is a very grabby baby, and he loves to grab people’s hair, especially Toby’s if he can get near him. We’re trying to teach him to be gentle and he is slowly getting the idea. And Toby is trying to be a bit more patient with him too, instead of immediately just crying and shouting for him to get off!

Gentle Gabe

We are also trying to encourage Toby to share at the moment which is something he is still struggling with. However, one thing he has almost definitely shared with Gabe this week is his chicken pox! Especially after Gabe had this Duplo in his mouth (it’s a crocodile’s mouth in case you weren’t sure) which had been in Toby’s mouth just a minute earlier. It’s almost inevitable that Gabe will get the pox so we’re just playing a waiting game now.

Siblings pracising playing together

And the last picture for this month is one of those glimpses of what is to come. They were both concentrating on the bricks and for the briefest of moments neither of them was trying to take anything of the other and I’m sure that it won’t be long before we are seeing more and more moments like this between my wonderful brothers.

Toby and Gabe playing with Duplo

 

The Me and Mine Project

Living Arrows 19/52 (2016)

We have, at last, all been relatively well this week (well, at least after Barry recovered from the bug that Toby had the week before). Nobody has got a cold for, I think, the first time since about February!

Gabe is still teething though and he has been having the most horrific teething poos ever – nearly every one leaks out of his nappy and requires a full change of clothes. The one at 2 am the other night that went right through to his sleeping bag was a real treat! He’s been OK in himself though – off his food a bit but I can’t say I blame him. I’m just hoping these next teeth come soon and we can all have a break.

I haven’t had the big camera out all this week though so both Living Arrows photos are iPhone snaps – I took this one of Gabe when I was pushing him up to the shop. He isn’t the easiest of babies sometimes but when he looks at you like this it does make all the sleepless nights worthwhile.

Gabe giving me a cute smile in the buggy

And I took this picture of Toby and his daddy at bedtime the other night. Toby has got really into his books in the last few months and we always have a bedtime story (or three!). Usually we end up reading the same stories over and over again for a few weeks and then he’ll have a change of heart and move onto something else, but the other night he chose a Noddy book for his daddy to read. This book actually belonged to me and my brother when we were little and I’ve had it (along without about six other Noddy books) for years, ever since I left home I think. I don’t know if you’ve ever read a Noddy book but they’re quite long so he’s been having one chapter a night. I wasn’t sure if he’d have the patience to sit through a longer story but he seems to be enjoying it…and I just love watching my lovely husband and my biggest boy enjoying time together.

Toby and his daddy reading Noddy at bedtime

Living Arrows

My Wild Ones // Weaning: the story so far

The lovely Hannah is on holiday in Italy this week so she has asked me to host My Wild Ones which is very exciting! I’ve got a slightly different post this week – instead of just sharing a day out as I often do I’m going to shift the focus to Gabe and share some photos of his weaning adventures so far.

We started weaning with Gabe when he turned six months old so we have been going for about two and half months now. Just like with Toby we launched right in with a mixture of finger foods and spoon feeding. We’re not doing full on babyled weaning but equally I have never pureed anything either.

Gabe took to solid food straight away. The first thing he actually ate was some cinnamon and raisin bagel – perhaps not the textbook first food but it happened to be what Toby was having for lunch so I just gave him a bit!

Gabe's very first taste

He tried some melon that day too, although I don’t think he actually ate very much of it.

Stress less weaning with some melon

Since then Gabe has had all sorts of bread products – breadsticks are still a firm favourite, as well as lots of different fruits and vegetables and things like yoghurt, Weetabix and porridge too. Most mornings he has his practice at picking up Cheerios too – not only a tasty breakfast but also a fantastic way of developing fine motor skills!

Cheerio picking up practice

What we have found though is that although Gabe is happy to feed himself he still doesn’t manage to eat an awful lot that way, but he really likes his food and seems hungry. He also started waking for night feeds again, having not had them since he was about three or four months. So in an effort to get more food into him during the day, and hopefully fill him up, he has been having half of one of the seven month plus pouches for lunch and dinner, alongside some finger foods at every meal too. He is still perfectly happy to be spoon fed too – and loves to play with the spoon after he’s finished. I’ve not been brave enough to let him try and eat off the spoon himself yet though!

Having a go with the spoon

We are now starting to try and move on a bit from the pouches (which have lumps but are still soft) and introduce more textured food to he can just eat what we eat. He’s got six teeth now so biting shouldn’t be too much of a problem! Last week we were having Swedish meatballs with pasta and broccoli and he had a really good go at that so I think he’s getting ready to move on to the next stage of weaning.

Inspecting some pasta

Although he’s always been pretty good at picking things up and getting them in his mouth he’s definitely getting more accurate and generally better at it now – even when it’s slippery banana.

Weaning at eight months

I’m also very excited that we are going to be working with Babymoov on their Stress-less Weaning project over the coming months. We’ll be trying out some of their products and working with a nutritionist too answer all our weaning questions too. You can see Gabe’s snazzy new Babymoov highchair in some of the more recent pictures and you’ll be seeing some of the other goodies we’ve been sent very soon.

So now it’s over to you – I’d love you to link up your posts for My Wild Ones here while Hannah is away.

A few guidelines for linking up:

  • Link up one post per week with the theme of My Wild Ones. It could be a post about your child/children exploring inside or out; the idea is that it’s a photo project of candid childhood photography.
  • The post can be a one photo, a series of photos, or a combination of text and photos.
  • Comment on at least one other blog.
  • Please pop the badge at the bottom of your blog post
  • Don’t forget to tag me on Twitter – @tobygoesbananas – and I’ll retweet your posts as many times as you share them! You could also use #MyWildOnes to share, if you fancy.
  • Linky opens every Thursday and closes the following Monday.
MyWildOnes

Living Arrows 18/52 (2016)

I’m a bit late with this week’s post after a busy weekend away at Blog On in Manchester. Toby had a sickness bug at the end of last week but he seems mostly recovered now. Luckily Gabe seems to have mostly avoided it, but Barry is currently in bed feeling awful – I’m just hoping I’m not next in line!

These photos were taken last week before the bug struck…

Gabe is mostly loving his food (when he’s not feeling a bit poorly) and I think you can see how much he had enjoyed his spaghetti bolognese.

Gabe's spaghetti bolognese face

And although Toby perhaps spends a bit too much time on the tablet some days I love how much he focuses and concentrates on it. I think he was reading a Clangers story on the CBeebies Storytime app here.

Toby concentrating on the CBeebies Storytime app

Living Arrows

Me & Mine // A Family Portrait (April 2016)

I’m a couple of days late with this month’s Me & Mine post. I was away at Blog On (a blogging conference in Manchester) this weekend and we hadn’t managed to get a family picture through the month so we had to wait until I got home today.

Unfortunately it’s been another month of illness for us. Gabe has still had a cold and been teething again. He also managed to add an ear infection into the mix this time too. Barry and I both had some flu-type virus at the same time, and Gabe was really suffering, which led to me being told I should be enjoying my baby by a random stranger in the street. Toby managed to avoid the cold / flu thing but he ended the month with a sickness bug! It really hasn’t been a healthy month for us.

We have managed to squeeze in a few nice things though – I took Toby swimming for the first time in about 18 months and after a bit of initial reluctance he loved it. We also had a lovely walk in the woods, a picnic in the garden and a trip to the farm.

I took this quick selfie on my phone when I got home from Blog On today and actually I think it’s one of my favourite Me & Mine photos…Me & Mine April 2016I said it last month but I’m really hoping the illness is behind us now. We’ve got a busy month ahead with a trip to Center Parcs in a couple of weeks, my birthday at the end of the month and some very exciting developments for us as a family which I should be able to share with you very soon too – I promise I’m not pregnant again though!

Please send your healthy vibes our way and hopefully will have a better month in May!

My Wild Ones // A trip to the farm

So after last week’s sunny picnic in the garden we’ve had every kind of weather from rain to hailstones but at the weekend the sun made it out for a bit so we decided to go out for lunch. Not far from us there is a pick your own fruit farm which also has a fabulous farm shop and cafe. There isn’t any fruit to be picked at the moment but there some animals to see too and a great play park so we thought it would be a good place to go to let Toby burn off some energy.

After Gabe had fallen asleep on the way there we took a bit of a circuitous route so he could have a longer nap. There’s a great view over the Forth back towards Fife.

View over the fields and the Forth

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y the time we arrived it was time for lunch. It’s so much easier to go out to eat out now Gabe can sit in a high chair and have something too, and Toby can eat almost entirely independently too. He’s not that keen on having to wait for Daddy to bring his lunch though…

Lunch with my boys

Toby enjoyed looking at the animals and then playing in the park, and Gabe was still feeling a bit under the weather so he mostly enjoyed being snuggled in the sling.

What's through the fence

Baby chickens on the farm

Toby looking at the piglets

Gabe having a look

Piglets on the farm

Gabe looking at the pigs

Toby on the tractor

Driving the tractor

Toby loving the big slide

Playtime on the farm

Hannah is on holiday in Italy next week (lucky thing!) so I’ll be hosting My Wild Ones – please do pop by and link up your posts.

MyWildOnes

Living Arrows 17/52 (2016)

It’s been a bit of a funny week here – we had some lovely weather and even managed to get out into the garden for a picnic but then towards the end of the week we had some tough times again as Gabe seemed to be having either a reflux flare up or a bit of stomach bug and threw up whole bottles all over me a couple of times. He seems to be OK again now, fingers crossed.

Toby is in a real toddler phase of pushing boundaries at the moment too so there have been a few tears and tantrums from him this week too when he doesn’t always get his own way. Bedtimes have been particularly tricky territory with lots of messing about and not wanting to go to sleep, but he does usually calm down and accept it’s time for bed when he realises he’ll be left by himself instead of one of us staying with him until he falls asleep like we usually do. I know this is totally normal for this age but it’s so frustrating when he’s been so good up until now.

Anyway, toddler troubles aside, yesterday we went out for lunch at a local farm and fruit picking place that has a great shop and cafe, and a fab playground too. I’ll probably share some more photos later in the week but for now I love these two close ups of the boys…

Smiles from Toby on a windy spring day

Gabe getting some cuddles from mummy

Living Arrows