Happy 6th Birthday James!

On Sunday 11th October my little man James turned 6!!

I cant believe he is 6 already, when did my teeny tiny baby boy turn in to this confident little man.

Over the last 6 years I feel like we have been on a journey together I have brought him up as best as I can and he has taught me how to be the best mum I can be!

Over the weekend we celebrated James birthday with bowling and arcades with some friends on Saturday and then swimming at the Splash zone and a birthday meal out on Sunday. He seemed to have a fantastic time and smiled all day.

In this short 6 years James has taught me that life is amazing, that love is endless and that motherhood whilst hard is the best job in the world. He makes me smile when I think its not possible, he makes me proud when I don't think I could be any prouder, he makes me want to push myself that little bit harder the be the best person I can be because he is the best person he can be! He makes the dark days seem lighter, the hard days seem easier and my smiles even bigger. At just 6 years old he has shown we what real untainted, undamaged, eternal love really is. 

Happy 6th Birthday James!!

xXx

Evelyn - 14 Months Old.

Evelyn is now 14 months old and when describing her one word spring to mind.... DIVA!

This little lady knows what she wants and she wants it NOW!

Im pretty sure having James and him being such a calm, chilled out and relaxed baby set me up for a serious fall when Evelyn came along. It was like sitting on a calm beach where you had spent the last 5 years just chilling out, enjoying the sun and living life at your own pace them BAM a massive tornado just sweeps in and shakes your whole world around, yep that was Evelyn arriving lol.

Ok Ok so I may be exaggerating a little above but she is so much harder than James was, Evelyn is in to everything and I mean everything well everything except her toys and things she is actually allowed to touch. Her particular favourites include pulling out TV cables, attempting to eat her brothers LEGO, opening every cupboard in the kitchen and dangling off the stair gate!

Evelyn recently had her 1 year check (at 13months old) with the health visitor and they were very happy with her progress. She is right on target with her development and they had no concerns or need to see her again unless I wanted to get her weighed at clinic. She weighed in at a huge 26lbs but also measured in at a rather tall 81.5cm and so is apparently perfectly proportioned.

Oh and did I mention we now have a WALKER!!! Yes this past month Evelyn has been growing in confidence and initially with a little help from us began to stand alone and then take a few shaky steps between me and her dad. Fast forward a few weeks and she was doing it all by herself and now you can stop her, the first sign of trouble to be had or an escape to be made and she is on her feet and off she goes.

Her vocabulary is still quite limited as she only really says dada, mama and dog but she has her own ways of communicating with us through pointing etc so she still certainly knows how to get what she wants. .

The last 14 months has gone by so quickly and I cant believe my little baby isn't really a baby anymore, more a confident independent toddler with a total diva attitude. I am loving watching her grow and she seems to learn something new every day at the moment. Her relationship with her brother James is still just as strong as the day she came home and they still sit and play together most days. James really enjoyed reading to her and Evelyn is always the first one to get a hug and kiss when James come out of school each day!

(Jumping over the waves on holiday last week!)

I am feeling truly lucky to be able to watch these to grow even if they do drive me up the wall sometimes!

xXx

Moving into Year 1!

It only seems like yesterday that I headed through the school gates with James for his first day at school with the nerves whirling in my stomach and the grin on James face so wide he couldn't contain his excitement!

(James on his first day at school in Reception class) 

However yesterday James moved into Year 1! Due to James' school rolling out a new plan where existing pupils move into their new year groups 1 month early James moved from his reception class into his new year 1 class on Wednesday.

I was a little undecided how I felt about it at first but seeing the excitement on James face sold it for me, he couldn't wait to explore his new class room and meet his new teacher. I am hoping that this early move will mean he will have chance to get used to the change and avoid any unnecessary worry over the summer holidays about the change. Of course Tuesday was a bit of an emotional day saying goodbye to his reception class teacher who has taught him so much and both myself and James had formed a bond with over the past year. James took in leaving gifts and had a photo with his teacher which he now has on his wall and we both said goodbye.

(James with his teacher on his last day in Reception!)

I still can't believe its been a year since he started school but he has learnt so much in that time, not just on the education side but he has grown so much as a person! James is so much more confident now and has a much better understanding of rules and boundaries that school has really helped him with. James started school last September not being able to read and after almost a year at school sat down with me yesterday and read The Gruffalo to be unaided! I really cannot thank the teachers enough for all the time and effort they have put in to giving James the best start to school.

So as we wave goodbye to the past year and James reception class we are saying hello to a new class, a new teacher and a new school year ahead of us. James is excited to learn and loves being in school which can only be a good thing and we can only hope the next year will be as successful as the last!

xXx

James Update!

Its been a while since I shared an update on my little boy James and so today I thought I would share a little with you.

James is growing, so quickly! He is very tall and taller than most of the children in his class at school. Coupled with this and his ever growing feet (size 13 already!) I think he may be tall when he grows up. Here is James dressed as Batman for a themed day at school. 

James is absolutely loving school. I must admit before he started school I was so nervous but seeing how happy he is there just made me so much happier. He has grown to be a very confident and often independent little man, waving me off in the school playground and taking himself in to school. His teachers say he is doing really well and is always happy. The last month or so he seems to have learnt so much and each day comes home filling us in with all the information he has learnt that day, yesterday he came home reciting vowels that he had learnt! James recently received a certificate in assembly for writing great sentences!

James also attends weekly swimming lessons as well as a once a month one to one swimming lesson at our local leisure centre. He loves swimming and you would never have guessed that just over a year ago he hated even splashing water on his face. Nowadays you can't get him above the water and I am pretty sure he's half fish! He recently received his alpha 3 badge and his 10m badge which he is so proud of as are we.

I am so proud of how well James has settled in to school and how well he is doing in his swimming lessons, he seems to just take it all in his stride. He is also a fantastic big brother and this can be seen every time he is with Evelyn. My heart just melts seeing them together!

xXx

Evelyn 9 Month update!

9 Months seemed like forever whilst I was pregnant but it seems like the 9 months Evelyn has been here has flown by!

My baby girl turned 9 months old today and if I am honest it doesn't seem real! How did this happen I can still remember the night I brought her home yet it seems like all her milestones have gone by in the blink of an eye. 

Evelyn is now a confident, smiley, happy little lady who is most definitely a mummy's girl. She loves cuddles and especially loves her weekly classes at Jolly Babies. She is a little lazy though and still doesn't crawl or pull her self to standing. She has mastered some sort of backwards worm/ army crawl and can move at speed backwards, although this does result in her getting frustrated when the object she is trying to reach gets further away! 

James and Evelyn are still just as close which is lovely to watch. James will quite happily sit on the floor and play and sing to her whilst she relishes in sitting and watching him and giggling away. I really cannot wait until Evelyn is toddling along and they can enjoy some adventures outside together. 

As far as eating is concerned Evelyn is the equivalent to the human hoover she will eat anything and everything as we are now just down to 2 bottles (1 morning, 1 bedtime). She has her 3 meals during the day plus snacks and is getting on really well with eating what we eat. Her favourite snacks at the moment are the Organix crisps and the Kiddilicious wafers and of course the occasional rusk! She also now has 5 teeth so chomping has been made much easier by the addition of these! 

Oh and Evelyn's latest cheeky games involve her ripping of her sock and shimmying around with it in her mouth if you attempt to remove the sock she results to full diva tantrum mode....

and impersonating a Koala when in her door bouncer (yes she even tries to shimmy up the door frame lol!)

Everyday I appreciate how lucky I am to have 2 happy (well when there aren't throwing a tantrum lol) and healthy babies even if they are cheeky. I consider myself one very lucky mummy!

xXx