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Just a box please

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‘They’d be happy with just a cardboard box’.

Something my grandma would say and I’m sure we’ve all heard it. Freds playroom sometimes looks like somebody has robbed toys r us with the sole purpose of finding the most eclectic mix of items possible, and although I don’t particularly like it when people tell me my son just needs a square brown box to stimulate his mind they are one hundred percent correct. What starts out as an empty box can so quickly evolve into a mission to recreate half of pontypandy.

If you fancy making your own there’s just a few things you’ll need..

• Alot more time than you initially thought it would take
• A poor sense of architectural design (I forgot what a lighthouse even looked like and yes the doors open the wrong way)
• Any crayon you can find strewn across the floor
• Some Amazon delivery boxes you should have put in the recycling last week
• And last but not least a three year old who is happy to put up with dads wonky fire station doors, packing tape strapped across the front of the buildings and Amazon branding all over the cafe

Luckily for us we have the last one..

Baby number two

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We haven’t even taken time to check wether the baby’s an avocado or a peach yet.

In fact sometimes I’m so laid back I forget we’ve got another baby on the way. With another scan around the corner I’m sure it’ll sink in soon. Maybe when we know if we’re having another boisterous boy faceplanting the floor every five seconds or a beautiful baby girl faceplanting the floor every five seconds..

I didn’t realise how different the second pregnancy would be, there’s just not time to spend every waking minute thinking about it and poor mummy is having a tough one this time around, looking around the house you can tell our supermum isn’t feeling so super. We just don’t function as well without mummy at the helm, we probably take for granted that we can spend most of our time leaving a trail of destruction behind us as the mummy fairy looks after us both.

I’m sure we’ll be back to normal soon though and then an exciting Christmas ahead. This is one present we can’t return though so I hope Fred likes it..

Potty talk..

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Potty training hasn’t gone that well for us so far. If I’m being completely honest sometimes we get lazy. Fred’s pretty good, he has plenty of ‘no nappy time’ and we’ve pretty much got number 1 down but number 2 hasn’t been so straight forward.

I’ve tried to encourage him to copy me whenever he bursts into the bathroom asking me what I’m doing as I sit startled like a deer in headlights, but instead he’ll just stand next to me waiting to push the magic button on the top of the toilet. Even pretending to use his potty for my own needs doesn’t entise him to try, merely to look at me smiling as if to dare me to follow through with my actions. Then there’s the bribery option but enevitably this often ends in a quick ‘windy pop’ and then an immediate request for the reward.

That was until a sudden breakthrough the other night, unfortunately for us this breakthrough did begin on the sofa. As I whisked him away to continue his venture on the potty and poor mummy to deal with the sofa we suddenly found ourselves cheering on our 3 year old from the sidelines, not something they tell you about in the books.. I swear I could hear the fan fares.

One thing I wasn’t prepared for however was what at the time I could only describe as the supermodel poo. This technique involved both hands on the ground behind him, arched back and his best blue steel look.

He does get something from his dad after all..

Swimming with Red Rum

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Saturday morning swimming is one of my favourite times, away from all the electronic distractions of the house and what has become modern life. It’s amazing how much you can enjoy being drowned for two minutes straight by a watering can. As I ride around on a float that has now been drafted in as red rum jumping the national Fred chuckles with laughter and its those little moments that you hold onto.

Fred loves swimming and most the time it’s get up and go but sometimes he just knows how to play the game. We enter into some sort of business transaction to establish whether we are going swimming or not. Apparently Michael Phelps also needed a kinder egg at 8 o’clock in the morning in order to be at his best.

And of course each egg must be checked before deciding which one is most suited for this particular occasion, and thus give him the strength to keep lifting that watering can..

An Introduction

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Let’s start with an introduction, there’s me, mummy and our little man Fred. Not to mention another baby on the way, and a whole lot of noisy toys and midnight explosions ahead. I’d say I feel ready for the second child but I’m not sure I ever will be really, it’s what we wanted don’t get me wrong it’s just strange to imagine another little one rolling around the playroom floor.

We’ve grown into our little family over the last three years and Fred is our world, although i can’t wait for the next chapter in our lives I can’t hide I’m nervous. I’m just getting used to spending my day breaking figure after figure with what feels like my size sixteen feet as I stomp around the playroom like Godzilla on the loose, all in the vague hope that I can get our three year old boy to put down Fireman Sam and eat some broccoli. Finding the sanctuary of the sofa isn’t even a sure thing anymore as I sit down and find Marshall all fired up where he shouldn’t be and half my spaghetti Bolognese down my shirt.

But I’m excited our family is growing and to see my boy teaching our baby all the best ways to wind up mummy is something i can’t wait for, his current favourite seems to be the wrestling move known as the mummy bomb! (No mummies are hurt in the process and delivery of the mummy bomb).

This blog really is just a way for me to show the kids one day what life was like when we started this journey. We’re just a normal young couple navigating life and children and as I write this I can’t help but get distracted by every little piece of play dough I can see stuck in the rug below my feet.

I hope somebody at least got to enjoy that play dough pizza with sprinkles..