I’m a bit late with this week’s Living Arrows post as we’re on holiday – we left home on Saturday and spent two nights in a wooden lodge in Yorkshire before driving down to Butlins in Skegness. Typically for us, just as we’re about to go on holiday Toby has been teething again – canines this time. And teething makes for a grumpy Toby who doesn’t sleep very well and who turns into a right fusspot over his food. It doesn’t always make him the most pleasant of travelling companions! Added to which he is just starting to walk and so wants to explore everywhere, especially if it’s somewhere you don’t want him to be or something he shouldn’t be playing with.

On top of that he’s really not been sleeping well at all. He sleeps OK until about 1am but then wakes up and screams every time we try and put him back in his cot. The only thing that has worked has been him sleeping with me, which means Barry has been kicked out of the big bed to go and sleep in one of the singles. I don’t really mind too much but I just hope Toby realises this is a special holiday arrangement not to be continued once we get home!

Anyway, it sounds like we’re having a terrible time but there have been some lovely moments too. When Toby is in a good mood he’s hilarious and we’re enjoying spending some time together as a family. This week’s Living Arrows photo was taken while we had our tea tonight in one of the Butlins restaurants. Toby loves to point at the moment and there’s nothing he likes more than pointing at the camera while he has his photo taken…

Week 41 already and only 11 weeks until the end of the year! I can’t believe how quickly this year has gone but at the same time, last Christmas, when Toby was only 6 months old, seems like it was forever ago.

It’s been a fairly ordinary week…except that Toby has started walking! Only a few steps at a time (and I’ve not managed to catch it on camera yet) but it’s very exciting! Unfortunately the week as ended with him having another cold, teething again (canines this time) and to top it all off he’s got conjunctivitis too! I feel so sorry for him (and for us when he’s awake for the fourth time in a night) but I suppose at least he’s building up his immune system and we should be thankful he hasn’t had anything more serious. And apart from the waking up in the night it doesn’t seem to be affecting him too much.

It’s been another busy weekend though – after a visit from my mum last week, Barry’s mum came to stay this weekend and Toby thoroughly enjoyed another weekend of being doted on by his Nana. (We’ve got Grandma and Nana here, but two Grandads – what do your kids call their grandparents?). It does feel like we haven’t really had any time to relax lately though. We’re all really looking forward to our trip to Yorkshire and then Butlins next week!

Anyway, this week’s photo is just a quick one grabbed while Toby was having his breakfast yesterday. It’s about the only time he’s still for more than two seconds these days!

It’s been another incredibly busy week here – I’ve been appearing on stage every night in Aida (the musical, not the opera) and so have had to leave bedtimes to Daddy every night. I’ve had a brilliant time rehearsing and being in the show but I have to admit I’m quite glad it’s over and so life can calm down a little bit!

My mum has been up to visit this weekend too and yesterday we took Toby’s Smart Trike (and Toby of course!) to the park for a ride around. We bought the trike for Toby’s birthday back in July but with one thing and another we’ve not really had much chance to use it. It doesn’t help that round where we live the pavements slope down to the road making it really hard to push the trike without it almost tipping over. I’m sure we’ll still get plenty of use out of it, especially when he gets a bit bigger.

The other big news this week is that Toby has started to walk with his walker and when you hold his hands (if he feels like it!). Although he’s been standing confidently for ages he just hasn’t been bothered about walking before so this is a big step forward – hopefully he’ll get the hang of it quickly and start walking on his own soon.

This week didn’t start off too well with Toby only napping for about half an hour at nursery on Monday meaning he was then up four times in the night! But things improved as the week went on and both Wednesday and Thursday he managed two good naps and pretty much slept through. On Friday though he was sick at nursery so I had to collect him early. He was sick again in bed in the afternoon but thankfully that seems to have been the end of it.

Toby is still loving to play and practising his new skills – he managed to stack his building blocks six high this week, all by himself too! He also loves anything with buttons to press and dancing along to anything that makes a tune (his dancing looks like he is conducting an orchestra – it’s so cute!).

I’m so pleased we set up the play area for Toby in our living room – he really likes it and we’re happy because we know there’s only a limited amount of chaos he can cause in there! And I love how bright and colourful it is… Toby’s almost camouflaged in this week’s Living Arrows picture!!

There’s not a huge amount to report for this week’s Living Arrows post. I have been back at work and Toby has still been enjoying nursery (even though he’s still hardly having any naps while he’s there). His cold is much better this week too which is a relief – he seems to have had it forever! We’ve certainly been getting plenty of smiles and giggles this week, as you can see here…

I know I keep saying this but Toby seems to be getting cleverer by the day! He has really started actually playing with his toys and this week he has worked out how to stack his blocks and stacking cups. And then he knocks it down and gives himself a round of applause! I love the look of concentration on his face in this picture..

Last week was a strange week – on Monday morning I was sent home from school when the HR department realised I was working when they hadn’t had my updated police check (the school hadn’t realised I shouldn’t have started work without it. And now I’m not allowed to go back until it comes through, which means I was off work for the rest of the week and might be off for all of this week too! I didn’t want to disrupt Toby’s nursery routine seeing as he seems to have settled in so well so I’ve still been taking him, although not quite as early as I have to when I’m at work.

Toby seems to have developed even more quickly than normal during his three weeks at nursery – he has been pulling himself up to standing since we were on holiday at the beginning of June, but this week has been the first time he’s actually let go and stood on his own for more than about half a second! He’s also started trying to cruise round the furniture more. He still won’t even entertain the idea of trying to walk if we hold his hands though, he just sits down if we even try!

We’ve also been getting much more babbling that is more of an actual effort to communicate – Toby has started saying ‘diss’ when he picks something up and I’m convinced he is trying to say ‘this’  He suddenly seems to understand so much more too – if you hold your hand out and say ‘ta’ he’ll give you whatever he’s got (or even tries to put something in your hand when he isn’t actually holding anything!), he definitely understands ‘no’ and is starting to remember and learn when he’s not allowed to touch something. He’s also been working out what to do with his shape sorter this week, and a few other puzzles too. My favourite one this week has got to have been when I was getting him dressed the other morning – his socks were next to him and he picked one up and put it on his foot! Alright, he didn’t actually put the sock on but he put it on top of his foot and he clearly knew what it was and where it was supposed to go.

Amidst all this exciting progress though Toby has still got a cold (he’s had it a full two weeks now). Not only is he still very snotty but he’s now got a cough too and has had a temperature all weekend. I kept him home from nursery on Friday and had him checked out at the doctors but his chest and his ears are clear so there’s not much we can do except keep him dosed up on Calpol and ride it out. On top of all that the last of his first molars is still coming through and so that’s been bothering him too! I feel so sorry for him, it must be miserable being ill and not really knowing what’s going on. Fingers crossed he manages to shake it off next week.

Anyway, this has been a bit of a long update for what is supposed to be a photography post so I’ll leave it there and share this milestone photo with you – here’s Toby standing all by himself! (And wearing his first proper shoes too – I know he isn’t walking yet but he kept getting wet feet in the garden at nursery).

Another week gone, and the second week at work and nursery for me and Toby. My second week at work wasn’t quite as bad as the first (but I’m still counting down the days to the holidays!) and Toby has settled in so well at nursery. There is one downside to all the fun and freedom he’s having at nursery though – Toby really doesn’t like being in his play pen any more and would much rather be crawling around the living room and kitchen causing chaos! His favourite things at the moment seem to be turning the PlayStation on, pulling all his books off the shelves and trying to get his hands on all the remote controls, phones and anything else with buttons or wires! I love that he’s so inquisitive and always exploring but it isn’t half tiring trying to keep up with him.

I had the camera out for about fifteen minutes the other day and got so many photos of Toby that I couldn’t choose just one, so here’s a few of my favourites…