22 February , 201621 February , 2016 - Sarah 5 Comments

Living Arrows 8/52 (2016)

Apart from our trip to Dundee on Wednesday we’ve had a fairly quiet week here, recovering from our coughs and colds and trying to keep out of the still miserable weather.

This week’s Living Arrows photos were just taken in the house, and I’m still struggling to get any decent light, even during the day!

Gabe is developing so quickly…but it does mean he needs to be entertained all the time now. His sitting up still isn’t brilliant so he seems to enjoy playing in this Mamas & Papas seat that I got second hand off a local Facebook selling page. Saying that he only manages about 10 or 15 minutes at a push before he gets fed up of it. I did get some pictures of him smiling but I quite like the quizzical expression on his face in this one…

And as for Toby this week. Well he quite likes having his picture taken at the moment, especially if I’ve got the camera out to take photos of Gabe. He also seems to constantly have his tongue out at the moment, although I have no idea why! So anyway, that’s why we ended up with this picture…

18 February , 201618 February , 2016 - Sarah 5 Comments

My Wild Ones // Dundee Science Centre

When my friend Donna from What the Redhead said told me she was coming on holiday to Scotland I was hoping she would be staying near enough that we could meet up and I could get to meet her lovely kids (and husband), and she could meet Toby and Gabe. Even though Scotland is a pretty big place luckily they weren’t staying too far away so we arranged to meet for a day out at the Dundee Science Centre.

Dundee is just under an hour’s drive from where we live, which isn’t too far but this was the first time I was taking both boys out for the day on my own. I made sure we had everything we needed, plus plenty of things we probably wouldn’t, and off we went.

Even though it’s not half term in most places near us the science centre was still quite busy. It’s not that big but there was plenty for the kids to look at and play with. Because it was quite small it also meant that I didn’t have to hang on to Toby too tightly, as long as I kept an eye on him he couldn’t go far.

It was lovely to meet Donna’s kids LP and LM, especially having read so much about them over the last few years.

We had lunch at the science centre and Toby was very well behaved, in fact he was really good all day. Gabe was being a bit of a monkey and wouldn’t drink hardly any of his milk (which meant he ended up crying on the way home because he was hungry), but apart from that he was generally happy to hang out in the buggy.

The one downside to taking the boys without Barry was that although there was quite a lot for Toby to look at and do (like these robots with handles to turn and buttons to push) I couldn’t really help explain things to him as much as I might have been able to if Barry was there.

It didn’t matter too much anyway as I think Toby’s two favourite things of the whole day were this thing that lit up and played different notes when you stood on the different sections…

…and running up and down this walkway!

Aside from Gabe crying on the way home as I’ve already mentioned we really did have a lovely day out and it’s made me realise that taking both kids out on my own is certainly possible, even if it’s not actually easy yet!

It was fantastic to see Donna and her lovely family too – I love it when blogging and the real world collide.

15 February , 201614 February , 2016 - Sarah 3 Comments

Living Arrows 7/52 (2016)

It’s been a pretty awful week here with teething, colds, tonsillitis, croup, two visits to the out of hours GP and not an awful lot of sleep. However, we did manage a lovely morning out in the sun on Wednesday and it seems everyone is starting to feel better on the coughs and colds front so here’s hoping next week is a bit more settled!

Toby’s Living Arrows photo this week was taken when we were out on Wednesday. He loves pretending to be a tiger at the moment hence the pouncing hands in this shot…

Gabe’s photo was taken yesterday morning. He is six months old in a few days and so we decided we should probably start thinking about weaning. Unlike with Toby though I’m not in any huge rush so this was the first time Gabe has been in the high chair. Toby very kindly shared some of his cereal with him but he only really seemed interested in throwing it on the floor! He seemed to quite like being in the high chair anyway so my whole weaning plan is just to keep putting him in it when we’re eating, put a bit of whatever we’re eating (or Toby is eating) in front of him and leave him to it. I’m sure he’ll get the hang of it eventually…

15 February , 201614 February , 2016 - Sarah 8 Comments

Siblings // Toby and Gabe in February

The Siblings Project is curated by the lovely Lucy over at dear beautiful (the same Lucy who is behind Me & Mine). I have always enjoyed reading other people’s siblings posts and when Gabe was born last year I did think about joining in but… as usual life got in the way and I just never seemed to get round to it. Added to which there hasn’t been a huge amount to say about Toby and Gabe’s relationship up to this point.

For the last six months I have watched as Toby has gone from mostly just tolerating his little brother (with the odd flash of affection) to finding him quite interesting some of the time. He is actually now very loving and considerate towards Gabe; he especially likes bringing him toys or sharing food with him (even though Gabe isn’t actually eating anything yet); he sometimes gives him random kisses or holds his hand; and I think the big turning point came when he realised he could make Gabe smile and laugh.

Gabe absolutely adores his brother already. He always has a smile for Toby even when he’s suffering with teething and a cold like he has been this week. He watches him with such fascination as runs and jumps around the living room. He also likes to show his affection by trying to touch Toby’s face or grab his hair (although Toby’s not so keen on this part).

I managed to capture some lovely moments between my boys on camera this month so I decided it was time I joined in with the siblings project. I’m sure from now on the bond between them is only going to grow…

11 February , 201611 February , 2016 - Sarah 1 Comment

My Wild Ones // Swans, Stickmen & a very big pond

After last week’s success, and blessed with another sunny day, Claire and I decided to take the boys for another Wednesday morning walk. This time we headed to our local loch (the very big pond!) for a walk around – there’s a path all the way around which is just about the right distance for little legs to manage.

As you can see it was a beautiful day, although rather cold but there was plenty to keep the boys occupied as we made our way round.

Toby has only just started to enjoy listening to stories and we bought a copy of The Stickman at the weekend which I think I have read about twenty times already. It meant of course that every stick he picked up was a ‘Stickman’. Even after reading the book though he still took a bit of convincing that these swans weren’t ducks or geese.

He was fascinated by them though, I love this expression of on his face as he watched them swimming around.

Thomas and Toby were happy running backwards and forwards but after having carried Edward for most of last week’s trip to the park Claire had come prepared this week and he was happy on his mum’s back.

Although we’re happy to let the boys explore and stop to look at things we were on a bit of a schedule too as we had a doctor’s appointment to get to. Toby loves pretending to be a tiger at the moment and a bit of roaring soon got him and Thomas running off up the path.

They must have walked twice as far as us though as they would run off ahead, then run back to be roared at so they could run off again. They thought it was hilarious!

Of course Toby had to find a really big stick, I think we were lucky he didn’t have anyone’s eye out!

There was, of course, plenty of puddle splashing going on too…

And our walk ended with the now obligatory biscuit…

And Gabe? Well this week Gabe was awake at least but he actually spent most of the walk with the sunshade down on the buggy because the sun was right in his eyes so I don’t know that he saw much. Maybe next time I’ll put him in the carrier and then he’ll be able to see a bit more.

8 February , 20167 February , 2016 - Sarah 5 Comments

Living Arrows 6/52 (2016)

It’s been a bit of a mixed week here, we had a lovely morning at the park on Wednesday when I took this week’s picture of Toby but then Gabe has been teething and on Thursday night he wouldn’t settle at all, I even resorted to taking him out in the car at 11 pm which I never done before in my two and a half years of being a mum. I ended up on the sofa with him waking every hour through the night…and we still haven’t got a tooth to show for it!

Sometimes Toby can be quite shy and unsure of new places and new people but then other times he is quite happy just to go off exploring on his own. I took this picture at the park as he marched off up the hill on his own with not a care as to where I was! I hope he keeps his adventurous spirit as he gets older, it would be such a shame for him to lose it.

And as for Gabe, well despite his teething we’ve still had some smiles out of him this week. He’s really close to being able to sit up by himself but until he gets there he seems to enjoy sitting on the sofa surrounded by a mountain of cushions.

I’m hoping this tooth makes an appearance this week (I can feel a sharp corner right under the gum) and things settle down again for a bit. Although if Gabe is anything like his brother he’ll be teething pretty much constantly from now on!

4 February , 20163 February , 2016 - Sarah 11 Comments

My Wild Ones // Muddy puddles, trains & squirrels

If you read my post last week you’ll know there’s an awesome park where we live. Well, yesterday, as at last the rain and wind stopped and we got some sunshine, I met my friend Claire and her twins Thomas and Edward there so the boys could all get some fresh air and run off a bit of energy. [And I took a lot of pictures so this is going to be a very photo heavy post].

We were exploring a different part of the park to last week though. We started off at the old train engine that has recently been painted and re-sited in the park.

It’s not really for playing on but you can go up on the footplate, which all the boys managed to get up to but they needed a hand to come back down.

From the train we headed off to find some puddles. This one was a bit rubbish really but the boys happily spent 10 minutes throwing sticks and leaves into it.

And then we saw some squirrels. There are loads of them in the park and guess they’re pretty used to people. Toby and Thomas stood shouting ‘squirrel, squirrel’ at these two and they actually came right up to them instead of running away.

Down another path and we came to a bridge that was perfect for throwing sticks down into the water below. This bridge is actually the one we walked under last week.

And then it was time for some squirrel chasing. This time they did run away but Toby and Thomas spent ages chasing after them just shouting ‘squirrel’.

Toby got a bit stuck in the mud at one point and was a bit perturbed by his muddy boots, which weren’t even that muddy!

There really were loads of squirrels today. Some of them were brave enough to get pretty close too.

There was some great light, and Toby stayed still long enough for me to get this picture. It’s not quite what I was aiming for but photography whilst pushing a buggy and making sure a toddler doesn’t fall into a massive ravine isn’t that easy!

Then we walked back up the hill to the part of the park where the big open spaces are. Somewhere off in the distance there are the Forth bridges.

There was time for a bit more puddle wading…

Before a well-earned sit down and a biscuit.

Toby, Thomas and Edward had a great time in the park (we didn’t name them all after Tank Engines on purpose by the way). Looking at these photos makes me realise just how tall Toby is – he’s only three months older than the twins but he’s a full head and shoulders tall than them!

Oh, and Gabe? Gabe slept through the whole thing. I guess he can do his exploring another day.

1 February , 2016 - Sarah 2 Comments

Living Arrows 5/52 (2016)

It’s been another quiet week here – this horrible weather doesn’t really encourage us to get out and about much.

I often feel guilty that I don’t do enough with Toby when we’re at home. It’s hard to go out in the mornings because I like Gabe to have at least one nap at home in bed and it tends to be the morning one. Toby is quite good at playing independently but we do seem to watch an awful lot of CBeebies at the moment too. Anyway, I saw this activity on someone’s blog last week (and I’m really sorry but I can’t remember where I saw it – if it was you then please do let me know so I can link to your post) and I thought we would give it a try.

I think the sticks were supposed to be spaghetti but we didn’t have any so I used some wooden kebab sticks instead. Threading the Cheerios on to the sticks helps develop fine motor skills but to be honest Toby’s are really good already. He didn’t actually find this too difficult but it held his attention for a long time (in toddler terms anyway) and I think he only dropped about three Cheerios the whole time.

When the first two sticks were full he asked for another stick and more cereal, although he did finally get bored half way through that one. I think I was most impressed that he didn’t just eat all the cereal!

And so to Gabe. He has learnt a new trick this week – his blowing raspberries had me in hysterics yesterday. He’s so serious about it!

31 January , 201621 December , 2017 - Sarah 3 Comments

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

Wow! I can’t believe we’re heading into our third year of Me & Mine. In the first picture we took Toby was six and a half months old, and now we’ve got another baby almost the same age!

We haven’t done much this month, and when we have been outdoors like when Toby had his first experience of playing in the snow, or when we went exploring our local park, we didn’t have chance to get a picture of all four of us.

So once again we ended up trying to grab a photo in our living room on the last day of the month! I thought it would be cool to recreate the first Me & Mine photo that we did, but this time with extra added Gabe…

And here’s the original from January 2014…

I’m really hoping the weather is going to improve in February so we can out on a few adventures and hopefully get a family picture that isn’t taken in our living room!

Before I go though, here’s an out take from today – Gabe is a bit obsessed with pulling my glasses off at the moment!

See you next month…

28 January , 201628 January , 2016 - Sarah 6 Comments

My Wild Ones // Exploring the Glen

Where we live there is a big public park known locally as the Glen; it has three different play parks, a cafe, a museum, lots of open space and then down the side there runs a burn which leads through the woods to the Abbey and the walk back to the car takes us past the ruins of the old Abbey too.

When Barry first moved to Scotland we quite often would go for Sunday morning strolls alongside the burn and up to town to blow away the ~~cobwebs~~ hangover but since having the kids, although we go to other parts of the park sort of regularly, we haven’t really been down by the water.

This weekend though the rain stopped for the first time in what feels like months and we decided to get out of the house and go for a bit of an explore. (And that’s Toby doing his tiger impression in the photo above!)

It’s always a bit of a mission to get out and do anything with both kids but Toby doesn’t really care where we go as long as he gets to wear his wellies and pick up some good sticks, and Gabe was happy having a nap in the carrier.

We really enjoyed our walk looking at the water and watching the squirrels.

And there are a few different bridges to go over and under, and steps to climb.

Even though I’ve walked this way loads of times before, Toby hasn’t and it was so much fun to see him enjoying himself and seeing it all for the first time.

Toby can happily walk quite a long way these days so it does open up the possibilities for adventuring a bit more. Hopefully the weather will start to improve soon and we can get out and about a bit more. He’s definitely happier running about outside than he is cooped up in the house. And Gabe will always have a good sleep in the carrier, and it’s actually much easier than trying to get him to nap at home!

We just have to be really careful we don’t tire Toby out so much that he has a danger nap in the car on the way home – afternoon naps these days can put bedtime off by a good couple of hours so we can’t go too far away for now at least!

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