31 May , 201631 May , 2016 - Sarah 5 Comments

Living Arrows 22/52 (2016)

If you read Gabe’s nine month update you’ll know he had got the chicken pox last week but only had a few spots. I was hoping it was going to be a mild case but by Friday he was covered and we had a couple of really bad days, and nights with him where Barry did lots of pushing him round the houses in the buggy and nobody got very much sleep.

Thankfully his spots seem to be all crusted over now and although he looks a mess he’s feeling much better. Last night he even managed to sleep from 6:30pm to 7am and only woke up once for milk at midnight then went straight back to sleep. Fingers crossed his scabs heal quickly and don’t cause him too much trouble…

And Toby is still just being Toby. He’s been really good when we’ve had to spend all our time looking after Gabe and hasn’t really complained at all.

His hair had been getting really long again the last few weeks and had got to the point where he could hardly see! I usually cut it while he’s stood in the bath but he’s always distracted by toys and getting him to stand still is a nightmare…leading to some very wonky haircuts! I decided I would try and actually cut it properly this time, I even got a hairdressing cape and some of those clips that hairdressers use to keep some sections out of the way.

Toby was really good and just sat still watching the Octonauts on my Kindle while I did it. I actually cut quite a lot off the back this time because it was getting a bit ridiculous (and always full of knots). The front still isn’t quite even but overall I’m pretty pleased with my efforts this time. And I might be biased but I reckon Toby looks awesome with his new haircut!

23 May , 201622 May , 2016 - Sarah 11 Comments

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.

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!

16 May , 201615 May , 2016 - Sarah 10 Comments

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.

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.

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!

15 May , 2016 - Sarah 3 Comments

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…

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!

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.

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 Goes Bananas

A family lifestyle blog

chicken pox

Living Arrows 22/52 (2016)

Living Arrows 21/52 (2016)

Living Arrows 20/52 (2016)

Siblings // Toby and Gabe in May