Home » Posts tagged 'Twin toddlers'
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Have I mentioned that our house is too small? Also, it’s possible that I may be a little disorganised, sometimes.
Although, to be fair, the ‘Bella’ magazine isn’t mine. Nor are the drawings, the clock puzzle & the pot of hairslides. And I don’t even know what that other pot is doing there: it’s empty. And the toy xylophone: also not mine. Although I do play it; quite well, actually.
We hope to be moving soon…
We crammed in so much over the Easter weekend that I’ve been struggling to keep up with posting about it!
The plan was to go out somewhere great, all four of us, every day.
On Friday it was the country park we love, Saturday we went swimming for the first time in ages & Sunday was a place we’d only recently discovered when we went to a birthday party there for Jake & Ellie’s friend.
It’s a ‘Fun Farm’: it has a playground & farm animals outside, & a big indoor space to run around in with an adventure playground & nifty little cars with a little racetrack to zooom on, as well as money-sucking coin-op rides.
We have an excellent soft-play place near us but, even though they’re well below the maximum age for it, we think they may be starting to outgrow it. They seem to prefer the bigger stuff here! You have to go early though as from late morning it seems to get increasingly busy & can become almost dangerously crowded. Unlike the soft-play place there’s no staff supervision at all, & it can get a little rough.
They love it though:
click any image to enlarge
And we had a first: Ellie & Jake’s first go on a ‘grown-up’ swing! Ellie was first: she’s a little thrill-seeker, & still kept shouting “Bigger!” to me. Jake had a go too, but he’s a bit more cautious; he may have inherited his Daddy’s dislike of heights!
That reminds me: I really must buy a new jacket…
And I nearly launched her into space:
Another great outing at Easter!
A conversation, just now:
“Daddy, are we eating on the sofa or the table today?”
“The sofa”
“But we’ll make a mess”
“We’re eating in bowls, & you’ll be careful”
“No we won’t”
I give up…
Click me
Back in our old family home near Brum, in what now almost seems like a different life, we used to take Jake & Ellie to loads of really good regular activities; particularly in their 2nd year. There were playgroups at a local nursery, each slightly different, with arts & crafts, messy play, reading, puppets, musical instruments & singing + signing. They were excellent, & it was a great shame when they had to stop due to budget cuts just before we moved. There was also a great church-run playgroup, Tumble Tots, & a home & away playdate.
Since moving to Wales & their spending much of Mondays – Thursdays with Karen’s little group, as a preparation for Nursery, we haven’t done that so much. Karen takes them to a church playgroup but, apart from Tumble Tots until the local franchise went belly-up, that was about it.
Just recently though we’ve found a couple of brilliant activities for them. I think it’s partly that they’re old enough now that they’re able to take on more mentally & physically demanding activities. They’re both on a Friday, which may account for why I’m often so tired on that day!
In the morning – after grocery shopping, which is always fun* – we do Monkey Music. There they learn rhythm, playing percussion, associating actions with sounds & music and some basic dance skills. It’s great, & they really enjoy it.
We’ve also discovered a children’s gym, where we go after they’ve had a nap. It’s huge! It caters for all levels, from the casual user (us) to serious competitive & successful gymnasts. It’s a real find: there’s everything you could imagine there & more: a big central space with soft things to roll or jump on, in or over. Things to throw & kick. A bouncy castle with a climbing wall & slide. A trampoline, a little running track, vaults, parallel & non-parallel bars, beams, rings, a rope swing. Not only all that but the apparatus available seems to vary each week.
What they are brave enough & physically able to do has been a real eye-opener for us, & they seem to be able to do more each time.
And do they enjoy it?
They seem to…
*Sarcasm, yes
We were at Monkey Music on Friday. It was noisy, but then it’s supposed to be.
Ellie said something to the Mummy, & they then started to make their way out of the room together.
As she headed out Ellie went up to the group leader & in her piercing little voice, loud enough to be heard clearly over the singing, music & various assorted percussion, shouted “I NEED A POO!”.
To her great credit the group leader managed to keep on singing while trying not to fall about laughing.
You may laugh – I did – but actually she was just excusing herself. Walking out on a group without a word? That’s just rude isn’t it?
She was just being polite!
Makes me kind of proud.
This afternoon the Mummy suggested: “Why don’t you take them out for a S-C-O-O-T while I’m cooking dinner?”.
Ellie, in a quiet little voice: “Scooting?”
The Mummy & I look at each other, fear etched into every pore.
I try to whisper “How did she know that?! Maybe it was just a good guess?”
“Jake & Ellie, do you know what S-C-O-O-T-I-N-G is?”.
“Scooters”.
Both of them.
This could change the world as we know it.
What if we can no longer spell I-C-E C-R-E-A-M?! Or C-H-O-C-O-L-A-T-E?!
I’m really hoping it was just a good guess.
But we could be in very serious trouble here…
I did take them scooting. But it was a bit cold & wet so we didn’t get very far & went back inside after not too long.
“The kids are alright”: you see what I did there? The Who? Mods? Quadrophenia? Scooting around Brighton? No?
This:
Jake & Ellie turned 3 today!
I don’t know where the time has gone. It doesn’t seem so long ago that they were gurgling, cute little babies. Now they’re running, jumping, talking, pants-wearing, sociable, smart little people. In a few weeks they’ll be in uniform when they start Nursery at a local school.
School! They’re growing up.
They had a junior knees-up on the weekend with friends so today we wanted to celebrate at home with family: me, the Mummy & her Mum & Dad. I think that’s just how they like it.
We went for a scoot to the playground but didn’t last long as the wind was bitingly cold, & they had a bit of a grizzly journey back. After that I had hoped they would have a nap, especially as Ellie woke early this morning, but they didn’t.
So after lunch when the Mummy got home early from her work & it was Party Time they were a little tired, but it didn’t stop them enjoying themselves!
They had a fantastic array of cards & presents. I was hoping to save what I thought was the best until last, but…
MINE, ALL MINE! Vis zis my new Leap-Pad I vill CONQUER ZA VORLD! (In a really terrible German accent)
We couldn’t stop her in time. And of course, no Judy without Punch…
Jake is delighted to finally have an ‘iPad’ while Ellie continues to formulate her plans for World Domination.
I was glad to see though that life didn’t suddenly grind to a halt with the advent of a fancy screen: there were still more exciting discoveries ahead!
Ooh, what’s this?!
I’m three!
And actually we may have saved the best ’til last:
This is a 3 1/2 foot-high chalkboard / magnetic whiteboard double easel with coloured chalks & pens & magnetic letters. Fantastic! A great present from my in-laws, but suggested by the Mummy. They loved it! Unfortunately I didn’t get pictures of them enjoying it as I was busy rushing around trying to get replacement batteries for the Leap-pads!
Enjoying some new toys: throwing & catching a talking ball
Then…The Cake!
After much cake was ate we did manage to get them down for a much-needed nap, using the excuse of driving off to buy more batteries!
Then it was dinner out, a rare treat; but not before Jake had a good ‘getting to know you’ session with his new techy toy
They were almost well-behaved! A lot of sausages, chips, sundaes & cheekiness later we said fond farewells to the Mummy’s parents & headed home.
The helium balloons Jake & Ellie blagged on the way out provided a lot of entertainment before everyone collapsed in a tired heap, Ellie somehow managing to fall asleep while still clutching her balloon!
A great day all round!
3!
Still can’t get used to it…
Saturday’s & Sunday’s ’photo posts’ were both from a 3rd birthday party for Jake & Ellie’s good friend. It’s their 3rd birthday as well tomorrow, but we’re planing a more low-key family day.
They had a great time there, & I was going to do a general post just about the party.
But then looking through the photos it seemed that there might be something going on there that I hadn’t picked up on!
They say “a picture paints a thousand words”, so I’ll just let these pictures tell their story…
Jake, Ellie & I all had haircuts yesterday. The Mummy had hers done a couple of weeks ago.
While I was having mine done Ellie came up to me & said “Daddy, you look gorgeous!”
Later it was “We all look gorgeous!”
Jake’s had been floppy for a while & he really suits a short smart cut, especially with a side parting.
I badly needed hair that accessorises with my bald spot.
Ellie looked great with long hair but it was getting hard to brush & untangle & kept getting in her eyes.
She was happy with her new haircut initially but in bed last night she became really upset! More to do with tiredness than anything else I think.
For a solid 5 minutes at least she cried horribly, shouting repeatedly “I WANT MY HAIR BACK!”
(She was fine this morning & we haven’t heard a word about it since).
Jake was a little star! He was casting magic spells to help, trying to swap Ellie’s hair with Mummy’s. Using a large pot of skin cream as a wand.
“Abra-dabra, MUMMY HAIR GO!”
And when there no obvious result he would try a variation, like “Abra-dabra, HAIR BACK!”
He was brilliant. He made us laugh &, more importantly, helped calm Ellie.
After quite a few tries he got quite discouraged when his magic didn’t seem to be working, so I had to tell him that I was sure that I’d seen some of Mummy’s & Ellie’s hair swap over.
He seemed happy with that; soon Ellie was too, then they fell asleep.
