Silent Sunday

Saturday is Caption Day

What does this photo say to you?

I am joining in with the fun today over at Mammasaurus. Why don't you go and have some more?

The Friday Song Choice

There is one good thing about this flat...finally hubby can play his records without worrying about vibrations causing any scratches (it's a long story I guess). If you don't know music is a huge part of hubby's life and well it is a huge part of our household really. The only rule for the wee man is not to touch! Listen but do not touch! He can get his groove on when he is ready. Anyway recently he bought some records which I must say I absolutely love...this week if you don't know her I would like to introduce you to Lavern Baker....

A romping good time

Rainy evenings stuck at home usually end in tickles, hugs and a romping good time!

I'm linking up with Fun Photo Fun over at the Crumby Mummy 

Animal noises and action songs

So I'm not really worrying about it but I know the wee man is probably not saying as much as he should do. He is getting into it now mind you as he is obviously trying to repeat a lot of what we are saying which you can tell by his intonation and we even have a few new words like apple, car, cracker, aqua, hellooo,  and bye bye. Where his strength really lies though is in his animal sounds and dancing to action songs. 

It all started when I bought him one of these small box of books "my first animal books" from the early learning centre which were on sale. They were great for travelling to Italy to use in the airport and during the flights and he found my version of animal sounds hilarious! Before you knew it he had the animal sounds down pat  and he started doing it with the other books he was reading. The best is when you catch him reading them to himself! I have tried to capture it on film but he always seems to notice and gets a bit shy. If you listen carefully you can hear a dog go bau, a truck go beep beep and the last bit is of him going cock-a-doodle-doo over and over. 

As for the action songs well that started with twinkle twinkle little star when mummy almost cried when he was not just doing the stars but making his fingers do the diamond shape as well (So I can be a bit of a softie).  It seemed then that you could teach him anything. Every Thursday now we go to a book bug group and he loves it and does all the actions to the songs such as "little green frog" "a leopard has lots of spots" and "pop a little pancake". He will spin round and round over and over again to "ring a ring a rosie" if you let him! He has favourites as well and will show you the action for a song to get you to start singing it. At dinner times now he starts waving his arm like a trunk so mummy will go "An elephant goes like this and like that....". If you can't tell mummy is very excited about it all!

Our Weekly Walk: Kinlochard

Phew finally we had some sunshine this weekend. Saturday was such a beautiful day we were up and out that door early. It was just over an hours drive to Kinlochard and the wee man had a sneaky nap which meant he was rearing to go once we arrived. 

He was actually very quietly observant during the walk, he pointed when we saw some horses and shouted "aqua" (water) when we walked by Loch Ard. He loved to hold the leaves and tall grass in his hands and mummy was very cheeky and got him to tickle daddy's ears.  

                                       

We stopped to watch the boats on the water and we got comments such as "beep beep" and "vroom". We stopped a lot during our walk actually as there were lots of beautiful views to enjoy and mummy had to take some pictures,okay lots of pictures.

The whole walk took us about two and a half hours. Further details of the walk can be found here. He got a bit grumpy at the end of the walk as he was obviously very hungry but we managed to make it to Aberfoyle where he had a huge plate of fish fingers and chips which disappeared rather quickly. As an additional bonus on the way back to the car we also managed to spot some sheep and birds of prey at the Scottish Woollen Mill! 

It was a lovely morning and afternoon. When the sun shines in Scotland it really is a beautiful place.

Silent Sunday

Generations

In the early hours of this morning my Grandma passed away. I think it is safe to say that at 102 she has lived her life to the fullest. Though needing 24 hour support while living with my aunt she still had all her faculties.  I know though that she was tired and ready to go but you can't ever prepare for someone's passing really and we are all sad in our hearts at this moment. My mum is part of a big family and as she says my Grandma was the thread that kept us all together. I am so proud that my wee man was able to meet her last Christmas. He is one of a lot of great grandchildren! I remember the afternoon well. He was a bit wary to go to her at first and she was not surprised as she explained most of the young ones are too scared to go to her as she is so old. We all sat on the balcony chatting and relaxing and then the wee man chose his moment and went and sat on her knee. He sat there so quietly smiling at her playing with his toys like he knew he had to treat her maybe a bit more gently than he would his mum or dad. It sure did sweet her and she loved that I sent her a copy of a picture of the two of them together "her baby".

Lots of families have generations and history with stories to tell. I want my wee man to know where he comes from. He might have been born in Glasgow but he has family in Italy and Jamaica. We have lots of photos and recently he has taken a liking to looking at them pointing at the faces while we explain who they are. It is so important because so much of his extended family are far away and he only gets to see them in person maybe once a year.

We have now printed off hundreds of photos and made a little album. So we point and look together and share and laugh so he knows a little of where he comes from and of great women like Great Grandma.

I'm joining in with Sticky Fingers: The Gallery where the theme is old

The Friday Song Choice

A little bit of bubbly sparkle!

I'm linking up with See it Snap it Love it over at Dear Beautiful Boy

Where little hands venture

So I did some ironing today (very rare and could be a whole discussion in itself) and then it came to putting the iron away while it cooled down. With the wee man about it takes a bit of consideration. It's explained to you that you need to start house proofing from when the little ones start wondering about. It became apparent that we quickly had to buffer our living room table to prevent serious head injuries. Eventually he found his way into the kitchen and into the cupboards. There was only one cupboard of interest so it was easy to put lots of different plastic containers in there and that seemed to work to keep him entertained. Then he started climbing and we had to think about where we left things as suddenly everything seemed to be in reach. He was also fascinated with buttons and the washing machine became one of his new favourite toys.

Now he is suddenly taller and even more ambitious to get things where it seems nothing is out of reach. He will climb onto the dining room chairs and onto the dining table if there is something of interest lying in the middle. All kitchen cupboards and draws are now fair game and his favourite sport is taking everything out and then placing them on the counter. He used to be allowed freely into the kitchen as he likes to play on the floor in there until he brought me back a potato peeler the other day. We have tried to teach him that certain things are definitely a "no" and he will say "aiee, aiee" and reach out and then quickly take his hand away if he sees us cooking or turning on the oven and even towards a cup of coffee. That did not prevent the spilt coffee the other day when he won the battle of being able to touch the cup. Everything is interesting and if it's really out of reach he says "up" and puts his hands in the air waiting.

So that's me off to the store to buy some child resistant catches for the real "no" drawers in the kitchen.... until he figures them out!

NO!

The wee man is a man of few words but one he has learnt very well is no! actually it's "No, no, no,no!". If there is something he is after, something he wants to do, something he does not want to stop doing, if you interfere you get a very firm no. If you continue to tell him no you get lots of no's and probably some screaming. If you insist he can't have or do it then there are the tears. I believe these are generally described as tantrums.  They can often be a bit hard to bear and my response to them depending on the situation varies. 

I have had a conversation with my mum previously about children and tantrums. She was describing a tantrum by a young child at Church who could not have her way and my mother was a bit surprised at her determination and the mother's determination to ignore it. I said well every child has tantrums. Then she said....myself or my sisters never had tantrums when we were small! Seriously? I think she may have forgotten surely. 

The thing is I don't mind that my wee man has tantrums. Over all he is a really good boy, happy and easy going. So when he is having one he is showing his independence, determination and will power which to me must be in some ways a good thing. I don't want him to feel scared to show his emotions because in the end that's what tantrums are right? A means of expression for a young boy that does not have the maturity just yet to know how to properly express the anger and frustrations. That means mind you when he gets older the tantrums will be less tolerated!

What do you think about tantrums? 

Round and round the merry-go-round

Our trip to Italy included a lot of firsts for my wee man. Our last afternoon was spent with the Nonni at the park. Spotted while having our afternoon ice-cream was a merry-go-round. The Nonni and I were eager to give it a go. The wee man at first was not too sure until he discovered the very pink Barbie car where he could beep the horn and turn the steering wheel and practise his driving skills. He did eventually have a go on the alien ship but he was right back to the Barbie car for his final spin! He took Nonno along for the first few rides but by his fourth spin he was on his own occasionally giving us his royal waves and did not take too kindly when it was time to come off. It's fair to say that I think he had a lot of fun!

I'm linking up with Fun Photo Fun over at the Crumby Mummy

A Special Relationship

I felt really guilty leaving Italy, leaving the Nonni behind, separating my wee man from the really special relationship he has built with them. I guess every parent develops their own feelings for grandparents. They often can be a really useful help to a family happily sharing the care needs of their grandchildren. Grandparents are supposed to dote on and spoil their grandchildren. Trust me the wee man's Nonni are great at doing all of that. Hubby can't help but feel a little hard done by when he was a child as he does not remember getting away with half the things the wee man did. It is harder for them though being so far away. Skype makes things a lot easier because at least they can see him grow even if from a distance. Seeing them together this summer it has not just been about caring for, doting on or spoiling him though. Something a lot deeper runs through their relationship. So deep that its not fair to put it into words the only one I could really find was special.

The Friday "night" Song Choice

So today has been a mixed bag of entertaining the wee man and unpacking the bags. The house to say the least is in a bit of a mess and we have only really just got the wee man into bed. To say that I'm not really settled back into the reality of Glasgow life is an understatement. So hear I am already "reminiscing" about our family seaside holiday. The Italian night entertainment in the evenings was probably better described as hilarious rather than entertaining. The song of the summer probably highlights this. Needless to say that it is now stuck in my head!

Let them eat cake

The wee man was invited to his proper first birthday party. For tea that evening he had cake, more cake, watermelon, crisps and then he was caught helping himself to the left over cake that was left on the table. Let's just say that he had some proper fun!

I'm linking up with Fun Photo Fun over at the Crumby Mummy