Dressing up for World Book Day

Sir Thomas and Lady(?)/Squire(?) Poppy!  We couldn't find his sword anywhere, but that's probably for the best! ;)

Thomas made his own lunchtime snack...

...on Saturday, a warm tortilla wrap face, composed of Cheddar hair, Camembert eyebrows, Chorizo eyes (with BBQ sauce pupils), cherry tomato ears, a pickled gherkin nose, crispy bacon mouth and a Halloumi tongue...!

Very artistic -and- tasty... ;)

Salfords School Nativity Play!

By Order - No pictures of the kids on Social Media (of course)...!  But no harm in putting up a picture of the incredible hard work that obviously went into making the stage - and of course Thomas in his amazing star costume - The "star" of the show (geddit?)... ;)

He even had a speaking part - delivering it perfectly (and nice and loudly too)...quite how the staff managed to teach the kids all those songs and dances I will never know!  Amazing! :)

Back from "Holiday"...

Oh well, so much for our (planned) nice week in Cornwall!  As of Friday before last Thomas took a bit of a turn for the worse, unfortunately ending up back in hospital with some sort of infection (and on intravenous antibiotics/antivirals)...so our happy holiday turned (mostly) into juggling childminding for Poppy and trying to get Thomas to eat and drink (through a very swollen and painful throat) in front of the nurses so they would consider letting him come home...Doesn't really matter, as it rained pretty much continuously all the time we were over there anyway (meaning camping would have been a bit of a damp and cold affair even had we managed to get away)...When he was finally discharged from hospital we had a few duvet/PJ days on the sofa with movies and treaty food and by the end of the week he was sufficiently well for us to get away Friday and Saturday for a surprise (double) trip to (the looooong promised) Peppa Pig World at Paultons Park (with an overnight stay in a nearby Hilton hotel in the middle)...

More on that, however, when I've had a chance to go through the pictures...now to see how many emails I have waiting for me to read in my inbox! ;)

Tonsillectomy at East Surrey Hospital

So on Monday, after repeated episodes of tonsillitis, Thomas had finally been scheduled in to have the offending tissue sliced out...(this is after -sometimes almost weekly- doctors appointments, gallons of precious antibiotics, dozens of duvet days, painful periods refusing to eat and too-frequent amounts of time off from pre-school, followed by specialist appointments, consultant appointments, follow up appointments, pre-op appointments and eventually -the official decree that maybe it was in his best interest)...

Put it this way - to get the go ahead to perform a tonsillectomy is not a decision that is taken lightly in this day and age...

The weekend before the fateful Monday we made sure Thomas had a -super- good time, eating and drinking (pretty much) what he wanted (including a McDonalds cheeseburger happy meal with Fanta - *gasp*), going out on a few fun trips -

- including (first ever trip out to the movies!) Disney's Planes in 3D (which shouldn't be mistaken for a Pixar film (it's not in the same league) but Thomas totally loved - which was the point of the exercise) and making sure to fill him up on Sunday night with his favourite food - a hearty home-made roast chicken dinner with all the trimmings to help him get through the pre-operative fast to come with minimum discomfort...

Monday morning we were up at the crack of dawn (well, about 6am) to give Thomas his last drink of water before the operation and to pack up all the electronic entertainment bits (DVD player, Kindle, Innotab and Nexus 7 plus associated chargers - it could be a long wait!) and handed baby-sitting duty for Poppy over to our kind neighbours (until my folks arrived to take over - thank you everyone!)...and then we headed over to the hospital (only 5 minutes away) and up to Outwood ward...

We were second to arrive and Thomas was told by the lovely nurse who greeted us that he could choose whichever bed he would like (which was great), he ran straight in and grabbed the bed next to the window opposite the entrance and made himself right at home (quickly finding the controls that moved the bed all over the place - to great delight)...fairly quickly the nurse came in with an instrument trolley needing to get a pulse, O2 and temperature check (which he sat perfectly still for), we then had to answer a list of questions - "Any wobbly teeth?", "Any allergies?", "Is he diabetic?", "Has he had a general anaesthetic before?", etc.) and then were told we had a bit of a wait ahead for the surgeons to come and see us.

Thomas used this time productively - first finding a huge box of Lego and building an incredibly detailed "Water Maze - with *TRAPS* that squirt you, Daddy!"-

- then a kind lady (apparently appointed by the hospital purely to help the kids enjoy themselves) paid a visit and (quite unbelievably) suggested Thomas might like to do some painting - in bed - which (of course) he agreed to wholeheartedly (Flyingpops and myself exchanging "Urm, do-they-know-what-they-are-letting-themselves-in-for?"-type looks) - before long he was wearing waterproofs, merrily slapping too much paint all over page after page of A4 (and into his hair, and onto the sheets, and onto the table) - while we were trying to carefully transfer sopping, dripping bits of rainbow coloured paper to the windowsill without causing too much additional mess and attempting vainly to suggest he switch to a smaller brush)...oh and at some stage in the middle of all this, Thomas decided that (as long as he was going to be required to lay in bed) he may as well be wearing his pyjamas...fair enough!

The doctors arrived (almost before we knew it), asked *exactly* the same stream of questions as the nurse before them, asked us if we had any questions for them (bit late for that now, I thought), asked me to sign the bright yellow-"Yes, it's okay to slice up my child" waiver sheet, smiled encouragingly, told Thomas he was being very good (and that they liked his pyjamas) and left...Next up was the anaesthetist, who asked us all the same questions *again*, told us he was happy for both of us to come and watch Thomas being drugged, told Thomas he was being very good (and that he liked his pyjamas) and then also left.  Lastly, the nurse came back, checked Thomas' O2 and pulse rate again, told Thomas she liked his pyjamas and told us we were second in the queue for Theatre (cue - "No-it's not that kind of Theatre, Thomas" - conversation)...

We waited, painted, drew, played a bit of Tiny Thief (Thomas cackling at his skill stealing some butterflies all by himself) and the new Cbeebies Android game (which is amazingly good) and then the nurse appeared to lead us (on foot) around to surgery...so far so good...

When we were called through to the anaesthetist, Thomas took the trip on his surgical bed...the crowded, tiny room was crammed with equipment and cables, just barely big enough for the bed (and all the adults involved in the process), we were asked to chat to Thomas briefly while they managed to slip the cannula into his hand totally without him noticing (which I know from experience would have taken an incredible amount of skill - so thank you to the anaesthetist for that!  He actually gazed at it in astonishment when he got his hand back) and then they put a little see-through sticker over the top to hold it in place (with a couple of teddy bear pictures on it)...a little flush with some saline and then a *huge* syringe of white goo was being pushed into his arm, the anaesthetist talking quietly to him about "sleepy cow milk making him drowsy" and in a -heartbeat- he was fast asleep, just twitching a couple of times before total unconsciousness...not even enough time for us to say "Sleep tight"...we weren't prepared for that...

It was just under two hours later that we were being called to the recovery suite to find Thomas curled up asleep, clutching his Steiff and Chick, a tiny Oxygen mask tucked over his nose and his cannula bandaged up - matching bandages, as we only noticed a little later on, having appeared during surgery both on Steiff's wrist and ear and on Chick's wing (a *very* nice touch)... ;)

When we rolled back into Outwood ward lots of nervous parents looked up and (judging by the looks on their faces) took comfort from how content Thomas looked...he was only allowed about ten minutes sleep though, before we were being told to wake him up and make sure he was able to take a drink of water okay (poor little thing - but he must have been terribly dehydrated by that point)...he came round, very floppy and heavy limbed...we managed to get some water into him okay (I had to physically hoist him up and hold him upright) and one of the doctors came and managed to get him to mutter "yes" in answer to "Are you feeling okay Thomas?"...twenty minutes later he was running up and down the ward, glugging blackcurrant squash and eating biscuits, asking the nurses for jelly and ice cream and fighting other kids for toys...

It was, quite simply, a redefinition of the phrase "he took it in his stride"...

We were allowed to leave right on (estimated departure) time (once he had satisfactorily demonstrated to the staff that he could eat, drink and go to the toilet) which annoyingly fell in the middle of him enjoying a nice macaroni cheese dinner with (further) strawberry ice cream desert (which predictably he didn't want to leave behind)...

The only complaint of the *day* from Thomas...?  About half past seven at night, chewing on some cold cuts - "Daddy, the thing is...my throat hurts a bit eating...that's the problem with this chicken leg"...we gave him a dose of paracetamol (he's up to 4 year old dose size now, which is *twice* his 3 year old amount) and popped him into bed (for the night after his operation - a snug camp with loads of cushions, on the floor in Mummy and Daddies room)...and he didn't wake up once... ;)

Off to the Science Museum...

...someone is *rather* excited!!

Thomas' Pirate Party...

...(the start of his several-day-long *third* birthday celebrations) was yesterday at Godstone Farm, slightly exhausting, but very fun indeed...lots and lots of pictures from the day on the flickr stream over here or as a slideshow here (if you prefer)... ;)

Poppy is 8 weeks old

Our beautiful little girl is already 8 weeks old..! Wow...! Where did that go? She has changed so much already and is gaining weight at an incredible rate...Last week, she weighed in at 13lb and has grown so much that I've had to pack away the 0-3 month clothes and move onto the 3-6 month outfits that don't look too big either!

It's hard to remember a time when Poppy wasn't in our life and she is such a good little girl slotting straight into family life. We are so lucky that she has been sleeping well, down at 8/9 - up again at 4 for a quick 5 minute feed then down till 6.30/7 so I feel fairly 'normal' ... Thomas has grown to love her and accepted that she is here to stay... OK, she gets cuddled a bit too tightly sometimes, but his heart is in the right place. I simply melted after a "nearly new" sale where he was bought a new toy, when asked what he chose for Poppy, his reply (after an awkward moment's thought) was 'Oh dear - nothing - can she share my new toy mummy?'

It's absolutely wonderful to watch Poppy grow and start to communicate with us...I had a 5 minute conversation with her earlier, just cooing/smiling and watching the birds in the garden...

I'm so happy and proud to be a mummy to my perfect, beautiful children, Thomas and Poppy :o)

Happy Mothering Sunday!

Happy Mothering Sunday Flyingpops! Lots of love from Poppy and Thomas, thank you for being such a good mummy! We chose all these presents ourselves (and made the rest, including a couple that came home from pre-school)... ;)

We're off to Brighton later for chips (Mummy's choice) and it's home-made cottage pie for tea (assuming all goes according to plan)...! ;)

Duplo Pyramid...

...complete with (cowboy mummy) resident and honour guard...

...topped off (with one small mistake I missed before taking the picture)...

...and then Thomas played giant Indiana Jones to help me open it up and find the treasure... ;)

Thomas has a chest infection...

Poor old Thomas - for (I suppose) the last week, as I've been going in to collect him from his bedroom early in the morning, instead of leaping up out of bed yelling "Oh it's YOU Daddy! Let's go DOWNSTAIRS!!!" he's been all curled up in his blankets and has lifted his head up just a little bit and (in his best quiet moany voice) muttered "I'm not wewwy well daaddy, I need one-nice-green-leaf" *massive pout*... :( So we've come downstairs, I've taken his temperature (which was typically a little up, but not terrible) humored him by plucking him a nice fresh basil leaf from the plant in the kitchen (it's a very hungry caterpillar thing)...

...perhaps given him a little dose of paracetamol suspension or nurofen, watched his temperature trickle back to normal(ish) and just got on with things. This was until 2 days ago when he started to go off his food and drink, developed a nasty cough and (most worryingly) started complaining that it felt "Spicy" when he needed to use the potty for a number one...when we checked his temperature after this it was shockingly just below 40 degrees! So (because of the hour) we had to go back to our favorite place! Yay! :(

Thomas, after spending an hour an a half laying on our coats on the floor in the *boiling* temperatures (just in his nappy) of the Children's emergency unit - in all that time provided with just two small glasses of warm water between the four of us - we were finally allocated a bed, at which point all the nurses suddenly panicked that Thomas should be drinking 5 mil of water every five minutes(!) and was far too hot...so we just carried on what we had been doing all along - offering him drinks which he refused, wetting his skin and using books to waft cool air over him and after around 40 minutes we were transferred to the (much cooler) Outwood ward where we were showered with drinks (including tea and coffee for Flyingpops and I) and Thomas even got given jam on toast!

We saw a doctor fairly quickly, but not before Thomas had discovered (and had to be yanked away from) a blu-ray player, a Nintendo Wii, a PS2 (with all their interesting disks inside various cupboards), a sea-plane, the doctors sink and taps, some Duplo that stuck to the wall, some fold out screens and a box of (lolly stick) medical tongue depressors (that Daddy had to tidy back up again)...and after nearly 3 hours were told he *probably* had an infection (swollen tonsils and "up" glands) and were sent home to keep an eye on him and monitor his temperature (which we had been doing all along anyway)...it was just past midnight when we all crawled into bed (more dehydrated and stressed than we had been to start with, and equally worried)...

The next day (thankfully) his temperature was completely normal in the morning, but he was still very chesty and obviously off his food and drink, he barely ate any breakfast or lunch (apart from ice cream that he was allowed due to his swollen tonsils)-

-but after missing his lunchtime nap his temperature was back at 39 degrees! Rather than go back to the hospital Flyingpops thought she would (on the off-chance) try out our new doctors, called them up, was answered right away and was offered an appointment in 15 minutes time, meaning we all had to rush back out to the car and up to the surgery!

Anyway, suffice it to say it took the new doctor all of 2 minutes to diagnose a chest infection and prescribe some Amoxicillin suspension (after two doses of which Thomas has been back to his usual self - apart from the ice cream dinners)...if only we could have gone there in the first place!

The potty is the place!

Okay, so we've sat quietly for about 6 weeks and not said anything at all on this subject, as we didn't want to jinx anything, and with the new baby due any day now, it perhaps isn't the best timing...but Thomas seems to have has decided that the 'Potty is the place' (to quote one of our little toddler books)!

Cast your mind back to before Christmas when quite spontaneously, Thomas got up from breakfast sat down on the potty and had a wee...I was so genuinely pleased (prior to this he point point blank refused to even sit on the potty) that my smile, clap and cheers dancing around the room were enough for him to realise how clever he was. This went on for the next hour or so as he continued to get a round of applause for every tiny wee, no matter how small was the amount he squeezed out. Poor Fink was on his way into London and got a text message every time and must have had about 10 when he finally finished his commute (as I was slightly impressed to say the least)!

Anyway, we didn't *really* want to be potty -training- so just sat back and followed Thomas' lead putting him in pants whenever we were home and nappies to go out. Initially, we introduced a small bribe (a single raisin or sultana) for a wee along with a 'big clap' and (no joke) he just seemed to get it (only taking a couple of days)...we've had a (very) few accidents, but you can count the number on a single hand...so I then stalled - our next step was to decide when to put him in pants going out (eek!)...This bit, I've been dreading...I'm heavily pregnant, its hard enough going out and about chasing a toddler around without having to worry about carrying potties/pants/shoes/changes of trousers etc.

When in the home, Thomas now automatically takes himself off to find the potty each time he needs a wee so I finally decided that I needed to be brave...and to my astonishment, he has taken to it like a duck to water! The novelty of going on another potty is so great, that we seemed to spend more time in various toilets than enjoying toddler groups or visiting friends houses!

Mummy and Daddy are very impressed with the progress so far, we do (admittedly) still have to tackle number twos (he desperately spins around demanding a nappy to be put on immediately) and getting through the night is still a long way off...but for now I'm just so very proud of my little boy...

If anyone is reading this and thinking, when should I potty train? I would honestly say it's right to follow your child's lead and start to watch carefully for their signals...Thomas really did show us he was ready and if he regresses a bit when the new baby comes along, then so be it! All children get there eventually and by exerting no pressure what-so-ever we have a very happy little boy, wearing some pretty cool Lightening McQueen pants and weeing on some very impressive VW Beetle potties (even if we find ourselves caught short in the middle of the countryside)! :O)

Thomas sings ABC

Aw, not much more to add to that really! Clever boy... ;)

Guess who got a new scooter from Father Christmas!

Thomas had a lovely boxing day playing with Auntie Dawn and Uncle Dan, followed by more present unwrapping with Nanny & Grandad later in the afternoon. Mummy also found Thomas'solitary brussel sprout under the table, so looks like he lobbed it when we were not looking (probably the only thing we've found he won't eat!)

Yesterday, we decided it was time to get out, let Thomas burn off some energy and test drive the new scooter... Our destination - Priory Park, Reigate (which was completely rammed with lots of parents pushing children on new bikes or scooters)

Lots more pictures added to our Christmas set, so click here if you want to enjoy them! ...

Merry Christmas!!

...MADE IT! Thomas *loved* every second, didn't get completely out of control with excitement and played very nicely...also had a good chance to play around with the new camera a bit (a *very* welcome Christmas gift, but more on that later)... ;)

Absolutely loads of pictures from the day here...or a slideshow if you prefer... ;)

Thanks Auntie Alan and Uncle Ruth

Ok, so Thomas is a little confused with your names, but you know who you are!

After a frantic hunt and a very long wait, Thomas was given his birthday present.. everyone was excited as it was a really 'cool, thoughtful gift' and .... he cried and it had to be put back in the box! ... Yes, I know, how ungrateful but kids are kids and can be silly sometimes!

So, we left it a few weeks and this morning Thomas woke up to find it on the play mat... such a treat! Daddy spent a few minutes demonstrating it and he hasn't stopped playing with it since! No joke, he loves it and I would highly recommend it to anyone out there! He's always had a fascination with rubbish trucks as we watch them every Friday and he announced this morning that he wanted to be a rubbish truck driver!

Thank you so much... he loves it and we've loved the peace and quiet whilst he's played!

Thomas the Donkey!

Thomas is going to be a donkey in the preschool play and we've just convinced him to try on his costume... How cute does he look? and plenty of growing room for him!! He was crawling up and down the living room, saying 'eeyore eeyore' ... Love him to bits!

Our morning went something like this...

6.30 am... Mummy gets up, rather sleepily and gives Thomas his new lamp in an attempt to get 5 more minutes in bed!

6.35... Thomas wanders into our bedroom to show it to Daddy for the first time.

6.40 ... Daddy to Thomas ... 'Whats that, your new Christmas lamp?'

6.41 ... 'No Daddy, it's my fiber optic lamp!'

6.41 ... Mummy can't stop laughing, out smarted by a 2 year old and it's not even 7am! Love it! ;o)

Day 1 Maternity Leave

Ok .. so day 1 of maternity leave is here... a little earlier than anticipated but it just sort of happened that way. Thomas and I are going to spend some lovely time together before the baby arrives although it is very quiet in our house at the moment and he keeps asking when his friends are going to arrive and play.

Right, duty calls... we are going to build Canary Wharf out of bricks and a train set! ;o)

Happy Halloween everyone!

Happy Halloween everyone... I've just got back from Nanjans house where Pops didn't even recognise me when I knocked on the front door (I did have my mask on and I was a day early!)... Mummy and I had practised 'trick or treat please' and when Pops realised who I was, he let me in and I was very lucky to get some cake, pear and a satsuma... nothing made it into my my bucket as I ate them all... nom nom nom!