Days Out {Flashback Friday}

It's Lucas' 2nd birthday in August and we are going to take him to Chester Zoo for the day; this will be his first trip to the zoo and I hope he will really enjoy it. While I am already starting to plan our visit I had a look back some of the old photos I've got from Chester Zoo. I went there throughout my childhood (starting from a young age as you can see!) and when me and my husband lived in Chester we were regular visitors; he even sponsored a Red Panda there for one of my birthdays. 

It's has changed a lot from when I went first went and now has a massive focus on conservation and education. I remember loving the monkey house when I was younger, probably because my Grandad always took us in there; it was his favourite! I also liked the penguins and sea lions which are still there and they used to have a petting zoo where the goats would nibble on your coats. I'm really looking forward to our visit and making some more Chester Zoo memories. I've hunted out a photo from what I imagine was my first visit, wearing some glamorous knitwear!

Chester Zoo 1985
Me, my Mum, Nana & Grandad

The Toddlebike

Last month we were lucky enough to win a competition that the lovely Fiona was running on her Coombe Mill blog for a Toddlebike. I was so excited to win this prize as we don't have anything like this for Lucas and the Toddlebike looked like a lot of fun! The Toddlebike is designed to be a pre-balance bike for ages 1-3 and helps to develop cycling skills for your little one; Lucas is 21 months so it is perfect for him. 

It arrived all ready made and it is incredibly lightweight; we just opened the box and it was ready to go. We chose the primary coloured Toddlebike; it's very sturdy but light enough for Lucas to be able to move it himself. It's so easy to take out and about with you and even fits in the bottom of our pushchair  He immediately spotted it, quickly investigated and it wasn't long before he was scooting around the house. He hasn't quite got the hang of sitting on the seat yet and prefers to sit further forward but I'm sure we will get there. He has learnt to dismount it properly as at first he just leant over to put his hands on the floor and tumble off! 

Sadly I haven't been able to get a good picture of him on it indoors and he hasn't quite got the hang of using it outdoors yet, preferring to just push it along but I'm hoping to be able to update you with some photos of him actually on it! 

I would definitely recommend this to anyone with a toddler; they cost £23.95 and are avaiable from the Toddlebike website I love that Lucas will be able to use it for a while yet and he will learn, as he grows, to get about on it. 

I won the Toddlebike for a competition but I decided to write about it as we think it is fantastic!

A Little Bit Lately

You many have noticed that I've had a little impromptu break; my husband has been on holiday for a couple of weeks and although we didn't go away we did a lot of work on the house and garden and had plenty of family time so I didn't feel like firing up the laptop every night. We just enjoyed spending some quality time together and now I'm back ready to blog having missed it for a week.

You can see my first, A Little Bit Lately post here to find out more about it. These have been inspired by Sometimes Sweet's Currently posts so check her out if you like it!

Reading
I'm still reading The Book Thief and I have started Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence in an attempt to stick to my planned reading resolution which has gone terribly so far! I have succumbed to re-reading another book in the meantime which I really need to stop doing so I get through my new books.

Watching
Rubbish television; I have to confess that I have many guilty pleasures and most of them are crap American shows. At the moment I can't get enough of the stuff; Hart of Dixie, Keeping Up With The Kardashians, Real Housewives, 90210. I know it's cheesy but some nights all I want to watch is something mindless and entertaining. My husband will sit playing Football Manger and rolling his eyes at my shows when secretly, I know he loves them! Please reassure me that you also watch some crap TV! 

Listening To
My husband makes lots of mix CD's for in the car; a step up from when he used to make me mix tapes, and he has made a summer CD full of pop punk, indie and ska. It's perfect for when the sun is shining and I am still listening to it now to keep in the summer spirit. So it's been plenty of bands from my teenage years; No Doubt, Blink 182, Sublime, Ash, Less Than Jake, Incubus and it's been brilliant!

Loving
Of course I am loving the sunshine and I just hope that wasn't our summer done and dusted. Also loving BBQ's, family walks, chocolate digestives, seeing the flowers growing in our garden, sandals, ice lollies, Lucas in shorts and especially loving that my 70 year old parents-in-law have just made their first trip to Canada to visit family, I think it's amazing and they have the Skype ready to go to keep in touch.

Thinking About
As Lucas is getting older I find myself reflecting on my childhood; the ups and downs and all the memories. I think a lot about how I was brought up and how it's impacted on me as a parent; I think of my happy memories and the things I want to do with Lucas. I don't think I really appreciated my upbringing until I became a parent and realised how tough it all is. I sometimes obsess over the littlest decisions wondering whether it is right or wrong. I know I won't always get everything right, far from it, but I hope Lucas has happy childhood memories.

Raising Our Child

My husband and I had been together for nearly 11 years when we had Lucas and inevitably we had discussed having children and how we would want to bring them up. One of the things that I worried the most about before Lucas was born was being a good mother, not only being kind and loving but also being aware of the responsibility of raising another human being! I wouldn't want my child to grow up rude or disrespectful; I wouldn't like for him to be insecure or afraid and my greatest hope for the future is that he will always be able to talk to me. 

Luckily me and James had always agreed with parenting because we in turn were both raised very similarly. I would never call my parents strict but they expected certain things of me and my brother; that we would say please and thank you, that we would eat our meals at the table as a family, that we would tell them the truth (even when they didn't like it) and that we would be respectful to our family. Other than those expectations they did little things that I think are important for us to do with Lucas; they always, always read a bedtime story, baked and cooked with us, let us put up a tent in the living room; there were carpet picnics, board games and outdoor dens. We had a lot of family time and most of our birthdays and special occasions were spent with Grandparents, Aunties and Uncles; we loved it all. Our friends were always welcome too and right up until I was in sixth form the house could be full of kids. My Mum was always happier that we were in the house up to mischief than out wandering streets.

I have always confided in my Mum; all the way through my childhood she has been there as a shoulder to cry on with some motherly wisdom to impart. Of course I told her silly lies and I will never forget her catching me on my first day of high school and telling me off for rolling my skirt up. I swore blind to her that I hadn't as a sneakily unrolled the top of my skirt so it fell back to my knees! However, with the important things she knew everything, I was never afraid to talk to her and even now she knows when something is bothering me. I know it will possibly be different with a boy but I hope he will always come to either me or his Dad if he is worried. I hope I can hold back my motherly fear and help to comfort and advise him.

It's only now that I am a parent I am so much more appreciative of all these little things they did, how they expected me to behave and how my Mum was always there to talk to me. I always try to remember that I should behave how I would want Lucas to behave, he should see kindness, respect and good manners in us but we also want him to be imaginative and silly. So we will carry on telling him 'no' when he is doing something wrong (even if the tantrum shakes the house), we will fit in our family meals when we can, we will ask him to say please and thank you but we will also make bedtime his time and read a story together, we will go outside and get mucky whatever the weather, we will have film nights and cook pizza, we will play games together and spend time as a family. Then hopefully one day he will look back at his childhood and think that maybe we got something right.

A Toddler Garden {Phase One}

We have been working hard to make our garden a nice environment for Lucas this summer rather than the patch of dirt and weeds it was last year. Whenever time and funds allow my husband has been out there transforming it patch by patch. This week I asked him to make a little space for a toddler garden, a little area for Lucas to garden, play and explore in. Luckily he has done all the hard labour for me and I hope to be able to build it up over the summer.

So far we have only got a log border, a garden sign and a rather sad looking sunflower plant which we are hoping will rejuvenate now it is in the ground. The log roll was on offer in Asda, three strips for £10 and I also picked up a cheap bag of compost soil from there. I want to get some plant pots and ornaments to brighten it up. I'm not much of a gardener but I'm hoping we can manage to keep some herbs and lavender alive in there. 

As soon as Lucas spotted his garden he hopped right in and had a dance around it, sat down and checked out the soil and spent quite some time watching a worm borrowing out of sight. I'm hoping this will keep us busy outdoors this summer and encourage us both the learn some new things about gardening. He doesn't seem to be discouraged by the sparse soil but I'm sure he will enjoy it more as we add to it.

Thanks to Pinterest I have lots of ideas for us to work on over summer and make it a really exciting outdoor space for Lucas; I keep adding to my board so if you have a similar one going let me know as I'd love to follow it. If you have made a toddler garden I would love to hear what plants you put in it as I really am a beginner when it comes to flora and fauna! We hope to keep you updated with our outdoor space.

For our outdoor fun I'm linking up to the amazing Coombe Mill Country Kids.

Big Art For A Little Boy

I should probably confess that I don't do a lot of arty things with Lucas. I know I should and I would like to but it always seems a bit daunting to let him loose with a paintbrush, our house is only little and he could cover a lot of surfaces very quickly! 

Luckily for Mums like me, The Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool will do the job for you. Big Art is an amazing room within the gallery especially for your little ones; I cannot tell you how excited I was to find this room. It is chock full of all sorts of exciting things, colouring in, crafty bits, sensory baskets, puppet theatre. There is a little dressing up corner with mirrors and all sort of historical outfits. I loved the little mood room where you can sit in cocoon like seats and change the lighting...Mummy spent quite a while in there! For older children there are explorer backpacks and treasure hunts to go round the gallery with. So, so many books and plenty about art all laid out on display for little hands to reach. It was a total overload for Lucas and he spent most of the time excitedly running up and down looking at everything. They change the crafty activities in there and have a some information about what you are making. The only thing I would fault it on is that the baby change is upstairs when Big Art is on the ground floor just as you walk in, 

The very greatest thing about all this is that it is free, you can make a donation and we usually have a snack in the cafe to help support it (the cafe has some great cake!) It is open from 10am - 4 30pm but check the website for when you want to go because some sessions will be dedicated to schools or parent and baby groups. It really is a marvellous way to spend an hour or two in the city centre and I would definitely recommend it to anyone.

I haven't received anything for writing about Big Art; we visited the Walker Art Gallery and very much enjoyed it so I thought I would share.

The Funny Things You Do {20 Months}

Dear Lucas

In a few short months it will be your 2nd birthday and I have taken so many photos or you this month and wondered where my baby boy has gone. You are starting to look older and grow tall; you understand more and more of the world around you and fight for your independence.

Right from when you were little you have been determined to do things for yourself and now you are a fully-fledged toddler things are no different. This month has seen some tantrums and tears as you try and push the boundaries  Even though I know that it is normal for you to do this at your age I can't help but feel guilty when some days all I seem to say is no. Some days are tough for both of us but every night we still read a story together and kiss each other goodnight and I am thankful for that. I know as you get older we will have days when nothing seems to go right but I hope we can always have a happy bedtime together.

One of the things I love the most about seeing you getting older is how amazingly you interact with others. You love your family and your face lights up when you see Nanny or Grandma and Grandad. It makes me smile to see how happy you are around others and I hope that you will continue to be so outgoing and full of chuckles.

You are saying so many new words now, my absolute favourite being 'cake' which you can spot a mile off! I can't help but treat you to some cake when you say it so beautifully and look at me with such a hopeful expression. Words are coming quickly and you are starting to mimic what we say; you love to name animals and make their noises. 

You still enjoy looking at your books and playing with cars and trains. You have started to do some colouring in; you will sit at your little desk and put a cuddly bear in the opposite seat while you colour. I love to see you doing this with all the effort that goes into sitting on the chair then your happiness in the achievement. Our cat still holds a special place in you heart and all you want to do is cuddle her, unfortunately when you want to cuddle her tail she isn't too keen! 

Every month I can see a little more of your personality shining through; so happy and playful but stubborn and assertive. I love seeing every new thing that is making you become the boy you will be; you have brought so much joy into our lives Lucas and we will always remember these early years.

All My Love

Mummy

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