Getting the hang of it...

I'm going to regret saying this, but I think I'm finally getting to grips with two babies. Obviously, we still have our tough moments, well, tough days. But I finally look forward to getting up and spending the day with my little offspring. Alba seems much more settled, although she is still being sick for England. Jacob wasn't a sicky baby at all, I think he was only ever sick about 3 times and they were during chemotherapy. Alba, however, likes to be sick ALOT. And it comes out of her nose nearly every time. And her little face when she panics about it breaks my heart. My mum tells me I was exactly the same, every single time I was sick. As a child with a sickness bug, she would have to hold my head in the toilet otherwise it was like the fountains at the Bellagio in Vegas. I would decorate everywhere with sick. And to be completely honest, I'm still terrible now. I absolutely freak out every time I'm sick and cry like a baby. Which is why I have so much sympathy for my little doll. She seems happy enough otherwise though, which is brilliant. She sleeps so well at night and has slowly started to go longer between her bedtime bottle and night feed. So hopefully she will drop it soon enough and sleep through! Which would be AMAZING as Jacob didn't sleep through until Alba was born, which is weird. But I'll take it!

 Co-sleeping. Again. 

Night Monkey Day Monkey is by far my most favourite book of Jacob's at the moment. 

Today was a day of achievements for me, I braved going into town with both children by myself. We never bought a double pram as they're so huge and Jacob likes to walk alot anyway. Instead we got a buggyboard for Alba's pram. They're brilliant! Jacob thinks it's a ride so is happy stand on it when we go out. He does get off and walk a bit, but I bought reins for him so I don't have to leave the pram in the middle of the street to chase him if he tries to run away. I know a lot of people don't like kids wearing reins, but when you have a boisterous little boy like mine, they're necessary. I actually had a girl of about twelve point to Jacob and say to her little friend (in the most chavtastic voice) "I think that's disgusting!" She had to settle with a glare and me asking her "what did you say?!" as she was only 12. Had she been older I may have ran her over with the pram. Her friend then tried to fix it by saying "oh no he looks cute!!!" Damage done my friend. Yet another reason to dislike the youth of today. So, we managed to get round the whole town centre, actually go in about five shops, browse, queue and purchase things and then get home without any hiccups. I felt so pleased with not only myself, but so pleased with Jacob for behaving the whole time. The first time I went on my own, I ended up calling Rich to come and save me in Asda as I was on the brink of a meltdown.
Second achievement of the day; both babies are napping at the same time. I'm sure any parent of two little sleep stealers know how amazing this feels. So, I've taken the opportunity to write this, and to drink a HOT cup of tea. Most of the time, my tea is of a dodgy, lukewarm temperature. Or just cold. So a nice hot cup is just fabulous.
And the final achievement of the day; we went out to dinner! With the kids! It's my brother's birthday so we all went to dinner, which was lovely. I fed Jacob before we left as he normally has dinner around 5.30 and we wasn't going out until 6.30, plus, I knew he wouldn't eat out as they have a play area where we were going so getting him to sit still would be troublesome. But Rich and me both managed to eat our dinner without running for a muslin, or chasing Jacob back to the table, or chasing the dog out of the room so Jacob doesn't throw all of his food at him! It was bloody lovely! I even had a glass of wine. As Charlie Sheen would say, winning!

Jacob was so emotional on Thursday after his hospital appointment. Every little thing made him cry, and his eye was so sore and swollen, it looked like he'd been punched. It's gone down now, but getting him to have his eye drops was an absolute nightmare. I have never tried to bribe a child so much in my life. 

Bribery has been a theme of the last week, after the news that Jacob hasn't gained weight in about six months, I've been experimenting in kitchen a bit more. And trying to get him to eat more foods. More meals mainly. I've been adding cream to mash, cheese to pasta dishes, cream to scrambled eggs. Some of it works, some of it doesn't. Which is where I start bribing. Mainly with these Peppa Pig chocolate lollies that he is obsessed with. But it doesn't work. We've been good though, despite the total meltdowns, he doesn't get the lolly if he doesn't eat his dinner. As he is still young, I don't leave him to go hungry of course. Although I have been told he is old enough to not get  anything else if he doesn't eat dinner. I won't let him go to bed hungry, so he can still have fruit and yogurt for desert. Just no naughty treats.
I made cheese and broccoli savoury muffins yesterday. Silly me thought that because they looked like cakes, he would eat them. So when Jacob asked for "cakey", I took the opportunity and gave him one of the muffins I'd slaved over. He looked at it, licked it, then looked at me and said "No mummy, cakey!" Handing it back to me. Fail. The kid isn't silly. To be honest, I am so unbelievably crap at baking, (I actually forgot to put the milk in the muffin mix, but they still looked okay so served them up anyway.) So I'm not surprised he didn't want them. Next time!

Quarantined!

So its been a bit of a crazy week in the Wright/Williams household. Jacobs last few teeth are trying to fight their way through his gums since the beginning of last week so when he got unbelievably grumpy, tearful, hot and just plain miserable on Thursday, we just thought he was really having a tough time with them. Friday he was very up and down again, and we had his appointment at Great Ormond Street Hospital in the afternoon for his ultrasound to check his bowels and kidneys, which was all clear and his six month oncology check up with the amazing Dr. Kingston. When I say amazing, that doesn't even cover it. She is just unbelievable. She knows everything there is to know about Jacobs condition and actually was part of the team that created the chemotherapy drug combination they now use to treat Rb. She is just amazing. She was very happy with Jacobs weight gain and as I thought, he's shot up just under ten centimetres in six months. That explains the super shrinking trouser legs!! He was not his happy self and just stood at the door crying to leave. The journey home was hideous. My step dad Steve usually takes us to GOSH as he knows his way round London pretty well, and even with his cut throughs and side street knowledge, the hour journey took two! And Jacob screamed for the last 40 minutes. He had refused to eat all day, again thinking it was just teething we just carried on with the Calpol and Anbesol liquid. Come the evening, he was still not stop crying and refused to sleep, at which point I said to Rich "I'm not sure this is just teething." He has never suffered like this with his teeth, so Saturday morning when he was no better, we went to A&E as his tongue looked swollen which obviously set alarm bells ringing. We were seen quickly and as soon as then nurse picked his hand up to check his obs, I saw the little white spots. Before the nurse could even say anything, I said "He's got hand, foot and mouth!" She just said "yep, home and rest!" There's nothing you can do for it. But as soon as I saw the spots on his hands it made sense. His little mouth was filled with ulcers. I honestly felt like the worst mother in the world. I was shoving my fingers in his mouth, running Anbesol round his gums when it must have been so painful! So since Saturday we have been battling eating, drinking and sleeping with an arsenal of Calpol, Nurofen and me cooking/making a hundred different things to hopefully entice Jacob to eat. The only thing we managed on Saturday was a spoonful of porridge. And yesterday, he ate two bananas and some cheerios. We've been looking for anything plain! Milk has been quite a life saver too. He's not normally much of a milk drinker but I think the cold helps and the milk soothes the ulcers. I'm pretty sure he's got lots of spots down the back of his throat too as he has a terrible sore throat now and didn't swallow for a few days. We went through every T-shirt and every bib in the house over the course of Friday to Sunday I think! He seems a tiny bit better today, sleep has been tough and he's had hardly any which obviously doesn't help. But he's sat next to me watching Frozen while I've been writing this which is better than the constant tears we've had the last few days. Rich and me have been tag teaming sleep, eating and trying to keep Jacob entertained. It has been quite tough. Rich is so laid back and has so much patience and can manage on next to no sleep, but I am a nightmare. My patience is nonexistent when I'm tired, and paired with these pregnancy hormones, I have not been very nice to live with this weekend. I've been sent off to sleep a fair few times! I obviously try not to be a monster in front of Jacob and I think he knows Rich is the more patient of the two of us as he has been a total daddy's boy this weekend!! I've been the wicked witch thats pinned him down and forced him to take his medicine and laying him back down in the middle of the night instead of getting up to party at two, three, four and five AM to party. I'm sure he will understand when he's better! I wish they understood when you're trying to explain the medicine will make them feel better, and sleep will make them feel better. It's been a tough few days indeed! Jacob is contagious for about a week after symptoms start, and his fever started Weds/Thurs so I'm really hoping he's better for his trip to see Santa on Wednesday! He's taken a dummy again today which is a good sign. Although he has gone without it for the last few days which I hoped would be when he gave it up. But no such luck!

 I didn't let Jacob have chocolate this time last year, so he's got two calendars this year!

 Wild & Wacky Mondays, before the dreaded virus hit!

 Checking out the fish tank floor at GOSH

 Tackling "teething."

We put the tree up! Jacob has so far broken 3 decorations! 

I've finally started Christmas shopping and we decided that we are Santa is going to get him the Toot Toot drivers train station to go with the stuff he already has. He sits for ages just pushing the cars around and down the ramps. We are going to get him one of the rugs which have the roads on too. And then he's got lots of paints, pencils and stuff like that as he likes to do that kind of thing, and draw on the walls in the process obviously.

I've spent the last week trying to hunt down the "Hulk Smash Hands" for Teddy. Nowhere has them in stock and the nearest Toys R Us that has them is Edinburgh!! And it can take weeks for them to be transfered store to store. They finally came into stock on Amazon so managed to get some this morning, but straight after I placed the order, I had a number from New York call me then straight after that, a number from Malaysia. I didn't answer and I called Amazon and they said all seems fine on the order so I really hope its a coincidence and someone from far away just wanted a chat with me! Knowing my luck, I finally found them but they're actually some dodgy knock offs! Let's hope not!!

A little bump update...

The sickness seems to have gone altogether now which is amazing! But I now have the nasty headaches I got with Jacob, and nothing helps them! They've been a brilliant addition to this weekend I must say!
All I've wanted to eat is the McDonalds cheesy dippers from their festive menu, and cakes and chocolate! I was exactly the same with Jacob around this point of pregancy. I've also absolutely loved the smell of Rich's Red Bull and have snuck a sip or two. I would drink the whole can if I could!!! I'm also at that stage where I just feel like a fat wildebeest! Nothing fits but its my birthday on Sunday so I think I may treat myself to a few new pieces!

I have an 18 month old!!!

I cannot believe I have an 18 month old, I also cannot believe that he is going to be a big brother next summer.
Jacob has become more and more of a little character over the last few months, and although still not saying many words, he does not stop waffling away.
His favourite things to say and that we will understand is "no", " what's that?", "Lex" (our dog), and he makes "mmm" sounds for food he likes. Which is everything. After a wobbly beginning of not wanting any of my homemade purees, he has always been a brilliant eater, I took a really relaxed approach to weaning. I did a mixture of baby led and purées, although he totally refused my purees, he loved the Ella's Kitchen ones. I was so excited to start weaning so when he was about five months, I spent a whole Sunday in the kitchen making every puree you could think of. They all went in the bin eventually as he hated them all. But to be honest, why would anyone want just broccoli or cauliflower? (Although one of his favourite foods is actually broccoli now!) I tried some with apple, sweet potato, parsnip, you name it. He wasn't having any of it. So it was Ella's Kitchen to the rescue. And then at lunchtime, it was always finger foods. Sandwiches, pasta, fruit, veggie sticks, those Organix carrot wotsit things which he loved. And if he didn't eat it, we'd leave it a couple days and try again. He always had lots of variety. My sister used to say "there's too much choice, he won't eat anything!" But he would always clear his tray. We were really lucky through chemo as he never really went off food. I'm guessing he's going to be like me and shove anything away. I won the egg battle last week. I have been trying for weeks to get him to eat some scrambled eggs. And he did it. I was so excited, I put it all on Facebook and rang Rich all excited. So yes, in regards to food, Jacob is a little piglet. 

He has become quite the tantrum thrower. I'm hoping he's getting the terrible twos out of the way before his sibling arrives. He is currently chasing the dog around with his Henry Hoover and trying to hit him over the head. All fun and games!

Spaghetti Bolognese?

Since announcing that we are expecting baby number two, a lot of people have asked about Jacobs condition and what the chances are of this baby having it. Rich and me were both tested for the gene mutation which Jacob has and we are clear, so aren't carriers. So this baby has the same chance as any other baby of having Retinoblastoma. We will be having the cord blood tested when the baby is born, just to be sure. The chances are very small, but at the same time, they were with Jacob too.

The sickness has finally started to pass and I have actually had energy to do housework this week which has been nice. I'd been doing the absolute minimal I could get away with for the last two months and I'm a big believer in "clean house, clean mind!" More like "clean house, happy Char." We've started to go for a walk again most days too, and if not, Jacob has been getting wrapped up and playing in the garden. He just loves to be outside which isn't ideal in the British winter time!

 Showing off his little brother or sister!

Adventuring.

Rich and me have been trying to decide what to get Jacob for Christmas, (I've bought about 3 little things!) The only thing He's really into at the moment is cars, and balls (still!) And he likes Toy Story and Monsters Inc. Actually he likes anything on TV. Could be a cooking programme, documentary on paint drying, he'll watch it! I think we are going to go for a trainset of some kind and just books, puzzles and crafty stuff. I bought him (me) some play-doh last week which he (I) really enjoyed playing with. To be honest at this age, they're more interested in the wrapping paper than what's actually inside!!

Jacob has a birthday party at Wild & Wacky tomorrow evening, and I have my work Christmas party so Rich is taking him alone. Its his first proper birthday party at a play place so I'm a bit gutted not to be going but I'm sure Rich will take lots of photos and I can feel like I was there!!

4am is the new 7am.

Oh my gosh, I don't think I've been this tired since Jacob was first born. We've recently decided that afternoon naps are no longer necessary (again) and that its completely normal to get up for the day at 4am. He's just gone down for a nap and it's only 8.30, which is going to ruin his whole day now. Yes, I am a routine drill Sargent. Jacob has always had the same sort of routine so if anything changes, it just messes up his whole day. So the 8.30am nap means he will be an absolute grotbag by around 1pm. And if he skips his afternoon nap again, he will be a total sleep deprived monster by bedtime and then we can do it all over again. We have been very lucky with Jacob going down to bed. From around six weeks old, he had a bath, bottle then bed. At first, he went in his Moses basket in our room and we'd leave him to go off on his own, although for the first few nights, I would sit outside our room or peer round the door until he went to sleep. Then he went into his own room at 3 and a half months as he filled his Moses basket and we wanted him to be used to it before his chemo started as we didn't want an upheaval when he would be feeling rubbish anyway. The times obviously changed as he got older and settled more into a routine with feeding and daily naps and bedtime slowly dropped from 10pm to 7pm which it is now. Although last night he went to bed at 6pm as he was so tired. I wish babies understood when you explained to them that if they slept, they wouldn't feel so pooped. Jacob just looks at me like I'm mad when he's throwing a wobbly and I'm stood there going "well Jacob, if you'd have slept or gotten up at a normal time this would be happening right now would it." I just get another scream as a response.
So right now, with the first bit of quiet I've had since 4.45am, I am torn between having a nap, washing my hair or having a cup of tea (as I couldn't drink the first one I made due to my insane little monster refusing to allow me to sit still.)

...So, I opted for all three, and managed to squeeze them all in! Well I didn't really have a nap, just laid on the bed revelling in the silence. And I don't think I've ever enjoyed a cup of tea more in my life. Jacob slept for around two hours, and woke up in a reasonably good mood! We've started going for a walk after his morning nap, just to kill some time really because he normally is quite miserable between his morning nap and lunch. Plus it builds up his appetite a bit! We've had some trouble with him eating since we've been letting him sit at his little table and chairs to eat, he gets up and looses interest quite quickly. He still eats, but just takes a lot longer and then he gets bored. So I think we may go back to the booster seat at the table.
My dad and step mum came over with my little sister this afternoon, and for the first time, I saw Jacob being a bit of a monkey with sharing his toys. My little sister is nearly 3 so she's still learning about sharing too. But Jacob was trying to take everything Katie picked up. And he was not happy when I took it back to Katie. This age is definitely living up to its reputation as "the hard stage." My happy, independent boy has become a miserable clingbot. He woke up from his afternoon nap extremely unhappy and sat on my lap eating his rice cakes through groans and moans. Rich played some ball with him when he got home from work so I could cook dinner, which probably would have proved a mission with Jacob hanging off my leg! I feel like I constantly repeat myself, but I really hope he sleeps better tonight!

We went to Wild & Wacky as usual on Monday and to Jo Jingles. Jacob really enjoyed himself. He climbed around all of the soft play and went up to the slide all by himself which he never normally does. And he stood up and participated in most of Jo Jingles. He was hilarious, just wandering around like he owned the place. 

 The troublesome twosome...

 "Participate" also means "eat the instruments."

 Walking.

 We went to the park on Tuesday to try and burn some energy so Jacob had an afternoon nap. It failed.

 Jacob is obsessed with this tree stump in the woods behind our house. 

Cruising in Jacob's car.

I am arranging a fundraiser for The Childhood Eye Cancer Trust as I couldn't make the Carrots Night walk this year, which we did last year and raised an unbelievable £7000! In all honesty, I just totally forgot to sign up this year which is a bummer because I really wanted to do it as it was quite good fun and I met some amazing people last year. So, to ease my guilt for being useless and forgetting, I have decided to throw a children's Halloween Disco. Originally, I was going to just have a Halloween party at home for my friends and their children, but my friend suggested we turn it into a fundraiser. So since last week, I have been planning that! It's quite stressful but people have been so generous with raffle prizes and donations. Its so lovely to know there are people out there who want to help. I'm sure it will be worth all the stress and worry on the day! And I cannot wait to dress Jacob up in some crazy costume!

Seaside Saturday

We have had a busy weekend! We spent Saturday at Clacton-on-sea as my mums side of the family (which is huge) all hired caravans for the weekend, so we gatecrashed for the day on Saturday. Jacob slept absolutely terribly on Friday night, he was up at 3am and that was it. Awake for the day. The drive to Clacton was about an hour and a half so we'd arranged to leave at ten which is Jacobs nap time and hoped he would sleep the whole way. He managed to hold out until ten which really surprised me seeing as he was up at 3. Although he was extremely grumpy! He's totally gone off cereal for breakfast too and will only eat his toast or chocolate chip brioche. I bought some of those Innocent Kids smoothies on sunday so hopefully he will like those so I know he's at least getting something good in him in the mornings! I think he's still teething as he has been extra dribbly and the bibbles have come out again! They ruin all of his nice outfits as they don't really match and I don't want to buy loads more as he has so many. Just none seem to match!
We took Jacob to the seafront in Clacton. Its mostly a pebble beach but he absolutely loved it! He kept trying to go into the sea, and loved the water running up over his feet. He was so excited and actually managed to run around on the sand and pebbles. Not bad considering he's only been walking a few weeks! Although he does think he's some kind of Olympic sprinter now so we've had lots of bumps and bruises recently!
We spent most of the afternoon at my mums caravan with all the family and Jacob seemed to really enjoy himself, which was quite surprising with so many people there. He had quite a late night too by the time we left so was quite unsettled most of the night, but he stayed in his own bed all night which was brilliant.

Lou and Aaron asked if they could take Jacob out for a couple of hours on Sunday afternoon. They've looked after him before so I wasn't worried at all. And he loves them so was more than happy to go! Rich and me went to Tesco on our own which was really weird! Jacob came back all ready for a nap after Lou's dad played football with him and he was running around her garden but he decided sleep was not on the cards! He has been so funny with sleeping still and his naps are all over the place. Any tips would be greatly appreciated!!! 

Food nightmares and fundraising events.

We have had an absolute nightmare with food this week. Jacob hasn't wanted to eat hardly a thing, and he's redecorated our living room almost everyday with the food he's thrown up the walls. He's eaten his toast for breakfast most mornings, then won't touch hardly a thing the rest of the day unless it's a digestive from the biscuit tin or fruit, yoghurt or cucumber. Which is normally a tell tale sign of teething with him. And we've also continued with the horrendous nights and getting him into our bed just to get some sleep. So after checking today, there's a nice big molar on its way through! Hopefully it won't last too long. Why can't every single tooth come at once then it's all done and dusted?! 

We went to Wild & Wacky on Tuesday for the first time in ages, Jo Jingles doesn't run during the school holidays and we've just not ended up going there to be honest. Jo Jingles starts again on Monday so we will back to our weekly trips. It was the first time I'd taken Jacob since he has started walking too and he seemed to enjoy himself much more. A little boy got a bit heavy handed with him and was basically dragging Jacob around by the back of his tshirt and I went into full on crazy protective mum mode. I didn't enjoy it but I think my crazed glare at the little boy did the trick as he didn't go near him again. I know kids mean no harm most of the time but it's so easy to get all crazy lioness when you see your little ones taking a pasting from another kid. I am like it with Teddy too. When I was pregnant, this kid that was about 5 years older than Teddy, who wasn't even 2 at the time, shoved him out of one of those ride ons that every parent tries to avoid outside the supermarket. Teddy literally came out of it backwards and landed on his back. So I got up thinking I was all brave (pregnancy hormones trick you into thinking you're tough. And I am not tough.) and started shouting about how people should be watching their children, only to find the parents were sitting on the table next to me with far too many empty wine glasses on. Awkward. I thought I was going to be killed by a table of tanked up women. Anyways, other than the little boy carrying Jacob around like a ragdoll, it was quite good fun. He slept well in the afternoon! Somehow we are back to two naps a day, but I'm not complaining at the moment because with the sleepless nights, I quite appreciate the extra break.

Finally climbing things at Wild & Wacky.

Jacob is slowly starting to fit into some of his 9-12 months clothing. I love this outfit. The tshirt is from Next, the joggers are H&M, his bibble is from It's A Bibble and his trainers are Converse.

We were asked by CHECT if we would go to a fundraising event on Friday. It was to meet a group of 32 cyclists that are doing the Ride4Sight in order to raise money for The Childhood Eye Cancer Trust. Its a 150 mile bike ride from Stratford to Nottingham over two days. CHECT have done so much for us, so we were more than happy to go and talk to people and thank the cyclists for what they're doing for the charity. So far they've raised over £25k which is unbelievable. We met a few other families which was lovely as it is always nice to talk to other people going through what we are. The hotel where the meeting was was lovely. We had tea and cake and everyone knows I love some free food. We met Darren Harris who had Rb as a child and has been left with almost no sight at all and he is now a paralympian, playing football for Great Britain. Meeting him was such a pleasure and he is such an inspiration. It really made me see that Jacob will still be able to do almost anything he wants to. Jacob was a bit overwhelmed by all the new faces and everyone chatting to him but he did really well. We hadn't planned anything for dinner as we thought we'd just grab something on the way home, but not all the cyclists arrived at once and we didn't want to seem rude and leave but the charity arranged for the hotel to cook Jacob some dinner which was so kind of them. I was quite apprehensive about going to the event as I get so emotional at things like that but I am so glad we went. It was a really lovely afternoon and Jacob had a fab time running around like he owned the place! 

Strolling around like he owns the place.

Rocking his oversized CHECT tshirt.

Some of the cyclists arriving.

 Picnic! 

Cousins and heatwaves.

After the amazing news on Wednesday, I woke up still smiling Thursday morning. I work Thursdays for a few hours every week. Just so I have some grown up time really. I absolutely hate leaving Jacob, even if it is only for 4 hours. I just love being at home with him. I dread going into work. Once I'm there, I'm fine. There's still a few of the team that were there before I went on mat leave, and it's like old times when I work with them so I feel like me again for a little while. Not mummy Char. Getting out the door for work is always chaos, no matter what time I start. I have always been a bit of a flapper and need to pee ten million times before I leave the house. My mum said when I was a kid, if the house was on fire she's sure I would have to pee before getting out. I like to make sure everything is sorted for Jacob for the day, no matter who is looking after him. It's normally Rich but now and again my sister Sophie will have him. She's got my nephew, Teddy who's 3 so I really love it when she has him because it's more kid time for Jacob. They're hilarious together. We are currently battling "learning to share." When we found out we were having a boy, my brother in law Ross was so excited for Teddy to be getting a little boy cousin. So they'd grow up more like friends. There's 2 years and 2 days between them. We all lived in fear around Teddy's birthday party that I was going to go into labour, but he held off for 3 days. Luckily! I don't think Sophie would have let me live it down if I'd had him on Teddys birthday! We were all a bit nervous when Teddy was to meet Jacob as he had always had all of my attention, and to be honest, I did love to spoil him. I'd get in trouble all the time for buying him presents. It's obviously slowed down since Jacob was born as maternity leave didn't pay quite as well as full time work! Teddy looked so confused when he came to meet Jacob in hospital. And I think it was a little bit tough for him to have to "share" me. But because Jacob is now interacting more, Teddy enjoys him so much. We can leave them to play together now. He really looks after him and I absolutely love it. He knows about Jacobs eye too. We didn't really teach him, but it shows how much kids take in. He used to say "Jacob's eye poorly." And point to him. And if I show him one of Jacobs artificial eyes and ask him what it is, he goes "Jacobs eye!" And then puts it over his own eye. Which he finds absolutely hilarious. I'm really glad they've got each other growing up. And because we see each other so often, they'll probably be more like brothers, causing havoc as little rogue teenagers!!! I'm sure I'll have parents knocking at the door when they're a bit older telling me they've done something or another. I really hope that doesn't happen though!

Teddy & Jacob, Day 5. 💙

Yes, we dress them in matching outfits!

Feeding the duckies. 

Like most parents, I absolutely dread it being this hot. I love it but it just makes normally happy babies turn into miserable, sleepy little bags of grumpiness. And sleep normally goes out the window. It was nearly 35 degrees where we live yesterday. And it was so uncomfortable. Even for a heat fiend like me. I had everything out in the garden, paddling pool, water table, tunnels, slides, the lot. Half of my garden stays shaded for most of the day so Jacob can still enjoy being outside. I'm a bit obsessive with the sun cream though, reapplying his factor 50 every half an hour. Which was a massive fail as it made his eczema flare up like crazy. Excellent parenting choice! Although I'd rather he wasn't at risk of getting burnt. Jacob wasn't too bad in the heat yesterday, although he has a massive fear of his paddling pool. Which is weird as he absolutely loves the bath! Towards the end of the day, the water in his water table was so warm, I turned round to find him trying to climb into it. The kid obviously needs a hot tub! 

I don't know about anyone else, but eating seems to go out the window when it's this hot too. He is normally a brilliant eater, but yesterday it seemed food was not his friend. The only thing he seemed to really want was these "Suckies" yoghurt pouches. I think he ate about 4 by the end of the day! Everything else he fed to the dog. Naturally, I dreaded bedtime. His room was nearly 30 degrees (thanks Gro-Egg!) and he's a very warm baby anyway. Someone said the best thing is a cool bath before bed and put him to bed in just a nappy. So I did this, expecting an extreme kick up once he was in the cot. But no, straight to sleep he went. Thinking it was too good to be true, I clock watched for about 3 hours, no wake ups. He slept through until 5.30am! Could not believe it. He rarely sleeps through anyway, so I really expected a bad night with the heat. Saturday is my lay in day too, Rich gets up with him on a Saturday morning, so today I feel much more refreshed than normal. So I recommend a cool bath, just a nappy and clock watching on a night like last night! Seems to do the trick. (I'm sure I won't be saying this tomorrow morning because it was actually just a coincidence!) It is still so muggy today but I'm hoping Jacob isn't too much of a grump today. He is napping at the moment and after last nights storm, the garden is soaked so it looks like a Frozen marathon is happening today. Again. 

 Homemade hot tub.

Have a good weekend!