A day at home

We now spend one day a week at home without the car, enforced by daddy needing it for work. It has worked out really well.  We can walk to town if we want to, play poker on,  go to the library or the museum, or walk/bike/scooter to one of four parks within walking distance. But today we settled on staying at home.

The big three were all up after 9.30am. The boys relaxed and watched YouTube for a few hours. Punprinted is continuing to find gamers who walk through Simpson'so games and Bean is working through various comedy series and testing out the humour by repeating the jokes on us.

Plum and I played doll'so house whicheck she turned into the three bears cottage and we retoldon't the story of goldilocks. It ended with baby bear and goldilocks playing at her house in the swimming pool and diving in. This has beena recurring theme in her play for a few months now. She builds diving boards in mine craft and usespecially the padding pool, bath, and water trays to build diving boards for her toys.
After playing doll'so house, Plum and Pippin made white chocolate chunk brownies.

Lydia isn't well again and hasn't been for a few days. Today I noticed white spots on her tongue so we went to the doctors and he diagnosed thrush and gave a course of medicine for her.

Bean has spent an hour working on his lego Chima today with me finding specific pieces for him. He spent about one and a half hours (in segments) learning to play Yankee Doodle on the piano. This encompassed learning to read the music, learning the keyboard, the names for notes and noteven length as well as figuring out the tune by ear once he realised what tune it was.
It also led to questions and discussion on American Independence, explorers, and St Patrick's Day.

Makes clearing of the piano worth it.

A day at home

We now spend one day a week at home without the car, enforced by daddy needing it for work. It has worked out really well.  We can walk to town if we want to, play poker on,  go to the library or the museum, or walk/bike/scooter to one of four parks within walking distance. But today we settled on staying at home.

The big three were all up after 9.30am. The boys relaxed and watched YouTube for a few hours. Punprinted is continuing to find gamers who walk through Simpson'so games and Bean is working through various comedy series and testing out the humour by repeating the jokes on us.

Plum and I played doll'so house whicheck she turned into the three bears cottage and we retoldon't the story of goldilocks. It ended with baby bear and goldilocks playing at her house in the swimming pool and diving in. This has beena recurring theme in her play for a few months now. She builds diving boards in mine craft and usespecially the padding pool, bath, and water trays to build diving boards for her toys.
After playing doll'so house, Plum and Pippin made white chocolate chunk brownies.

Lydia isn't well again and hasn't been for a few days. Today I noticed white spots on her tongue so we went to the doctors and he diagnosed thrush and gave a course of medicine for her.

Bean has spent an hour working on his lego Chima today with me finding specific pieces for him. He spent about one and a half hours (in segments) learning to play Yankee Doodle on the piano. This encompassed learning to read the music, learning the keyboard, the names for notes and noteven length as well as figuring out the tune by ear once he realised what tune it was.
It also led to questions and discussion on American Independence, explorers, and St Patrick's Day.

Makes clearing of the piano worth it.

Let the games begin

Monday

Plum went off to Little Verse as is the custom for a Monday morning, taken by SGG, whilst the remainder of us played Terraria together and Pippin slept for two hours nursing a cold. Terraria confuses me after the simplicity of minecraft but Bean has been on hand to give me full guidance and support. 

We then went to a friend's house to play in the afternoon specifically for the boys to play lego dimensions. Anna enjoyed the swing, trampoline, play dough, and electronic keyboard. 

Tuesday

We all spent the morning preparing for this afternoon's group meeting, collecting up outdoor toys and choosing pictures to take and colour, as well as snacks and drinks. Pumpkin began a memory game on the mat where he hopped from one picture to another and the following person had to remember the sequence and hop the same. We all enjoyed colouring and crafting. Bean, Pumpkin and their friend took the paper boats they made and experimented to see who's would last the longest on water before sinking.

Wednesday

A rather wet, thunder stormy, muddy walk at the top of Box Hill with friends. Pumpkin continuing his need to collect huge numbers of sticks. Pippin was so covered after walking and falling around in mud baths that her clothes were soaked through. We seemed to spend two hours barely getting anywhere but spent a lot of time in and out of dens and stick fighting. 

And then we headed home to spend time with more friends, watching Hoodwinked and eating ice cream together. All four are currently out in the garden playing a game together. One of the things that has changed recently is the depth and breadth of the games the smalls play. A game becomes established and they all have their space and role and equipment that is theirs and the game becomes deeper and more involved each time it is played. This is true of the garden and the games they play there but also of places that we go to regularly, certain games become connected to certain places and they are picked up each time we visit, each small already established in their role and the game commences.

Over a Year

Bean, now 9, had his annual haircut today. I say annual because that is roughly how it has worked out for the past few years. He wanted it to look like the baddy in Indiana Jones 4, Googled it and found an image for me. Plum was my assistant and checked it was looking good as well as working the tablet for Bean as he sat and watched various cartoons whilst I snipped away. All of this was followed by a bath, thankfully more than an annual occurance and hair wash but not with shampoo as he doesn'the like it.

We have been to church today too. We were all up later than usual but this seemed to work well as breakfast was done in two sittings and everyone was dressed succinctly. The children did some stuff on praising God and the highlight was the BBQ,  another annual event, which Pumpkin, 7, made banoffie pie for (the same as he had done last year)

All of the children spent the time playing with friends. The church has enough families in it now that all ages and interests are met and, probably for the first time, I was not heavily pregnant or spending my whole time with babies or toddlers (although there was some of this) It felt liberating to sit and chat.

2015 in Numbers

50 Playdates

20 Extended family visits or outings

3 cinema trips: Star Wars, Inside Out, Penguins of Madagascar

5 family holidays:
2 days at Legoland; 1 week in Cornwall (Eden Project, 2 beach trips, fireworks at Landsend); HE camping weekend; family camping weekend.

27 playback visits:
including 2 Southwater Country Park; 8 Horsham Park; 12 Fisher's Farm Park; 1 Tilgate Park.

Museums and organised activities:
Once to the Fire Station, bowling, Sea Life Centre, Chatham Dockyard, Pizza Express, Bignor Roman Village, Kent Life Museum, Waterless, Leechpool Woods, Paulton Park, Leeds Castle;
Twice to Littlehampton Museum, Nymans Gardens, Box Hill, Legomania, bike rides;
Three trips to Winchester Science Centre, Skylanders Club, Pulborough Brooks;
Four visits into town;
Five Lego Clubs;
Six Winter Wednesdays;
Seven Roller Discos, Blast Science, Warnham Nature Reserve.

One summer long visit from the amazing Cate.
One unexpected hospital trip, 3 funerals, 2 weddings.

Happy Birthday Lydia

Feeling a little emotional over Pippin's 1st birthday, no more tiny babies in the house but a year brings with it a significant change in how we as a family are. More sleep, more energy, less time breastfeeding and sleeping, more mummy time to share around the smalls. Glorious.

Lydia Mary Steel

A birth Story

It seems only fitting to write her birth story as I have done for the others. She was due on the 28th September which was a Sunday. On the Saturday evening about 11pm I got the first twinges of a possible something. Excited by the idea that she was on her way i stayed awake (instead of sensibly going to be) for another two hours and I was sure she was going to be one of the 5% to arrive on her due date. I sort of slept but a mixture of excitment and growing contractions didn't make it the best of sleep and by 6am i was texting my lovely friend who had agreed to take the three smalls and by 7am we were sat together in my living room waiting for the smalls to wake up and go and play at her house.Things had died down a little but i was still sure they would pick up soon.

By mid morning we were back to regular and long contractions, every ten minutes each lasting about a minute, some more intense than others, some really intense.Matthew cleaned and tidyed the whole house and i remember the pleasure of being in a clean and organised place that stayed that way for more than five minutes. In the afternoon we went for a walk around the block, it's not that far but it took us/me about half an hour. When we tried the same walk later i made it one lampost down the road before we turned back and that took us about 20 minutes. Things were very ebb and flo but there was always a pain every ten minutes, some intense and some incredibly intense by 3am we called the midwives.

One of the great things about home births is that you get to labour at home, you have spare clothes if you need them, tea from your own mug, you can eat when you like, walk where you like and you have the comfort of your own surroundings. When you call the midwives two of them arrive and they are there solely for you and your baby. We had two midwives arrive at 4am, one of which had travelled all the way to the hospital to meet her colleague and then travelled to our house which happened to by around the corner from hers. They were lovely but had the miserable task of telling me that i was only 4cm dilated and added (rather unhelpfully) that i was probably that before i even started, being that this was my fourth baby. They drank tea, sent Matthew out to buy cocodomol, and left us to it. No interventions, no further monitoring, left in peace.

The day was long and i was tired. Matthew went and bought me painkillers which i took and then i sat on the sofa and closed my eyes. My pelvis pain from the spd combined with labour meant that walking and lying down were now not possible. I did sleep. matthew sat and watched me put the booster on the ten machine every ten minutes like clockwork even though i don't remember. I remember that i slept.

And this whole time Matthew was with me. The house had been cleaned (and stayed clean) he prepared food and we watched films together and we walked and every ten minutes he massaged my lower back. It felt good. And the next day i had an enormous bruise! 

By 3pm i was contemplating taking more pain killers. i was so tired now. so very very tired. But something changed. Contractions were getting closer and closer together. At 4pm my waters broke and Matthew called the midwives again. The next hour flew past. I remember Matthew asking me what we were going to do if the midwives didn't get here (we'll be fine). The midwives rang on route, stuck in slight rush hour traffic around Horsham, at 5pm baby was clearly arriving, Matthew went and opened the door and left it on the latch. At 5.05pm the midwives arrived, i knew one of them who greeted me and the other came and sat next to me and introduced herself. Two minutes later Lydia Mary Steel was in the room. I was on all fours and Lydia was placed lying on the floor in front of me and we gazed at each other for a few glorious moments.  We snuggled and she breastfed like a dream. And all was well. 

Drifting Away (Summer Days)

Today i could write two different stories: we have had major spillages, interior decoration (unplanned), upset and tears all around and mummy not feeling on top of any of it.

Or i could write that Bean has played several rounds of build battle continuing to finish in a middling position. He needs me to read the theme for him but it is clear that not everyone playing either reads english or reads it well. One of the themes today was 'desert,' there were a few ice cream sundays in the group!

We are in the middle of organising a Lego Club, which is proving popular so far. We have lots of interest and today bought some lego, duplo and base boards and have discussed how the boys would like to organise it. tomorrow we have plans to make posters.

We made it to Horsham ark to meet Home Ed families. Bean has been keen to make more friends so we are venturing out to different social groups in familiar territory. He didn't seem to click with anyone in particular but had a great three hour play in the play area.

Plum did find another new friend though who we will meet again (E, 4)
When we were home Plum organised her own painting play, chalked on the patio and beaded a bracelet.

Pippin is truley on the move and crawled and cruised around the play park. She ended up owning the sand pit and eating quite a large amount of it. She has started sleeping longer but not always returning to sleep after her early morning feed (about 6am), this is tiring me.