Still around...

Well, I haven't got myself packed into a box yet! ;-) In fact, we don't really have anything in boxes yet - and only like 10 days till we sign papers and get the house! :-O But I've been doing lots of major decluttering - lots of bags gone to charity shops (or out at the door for the charity bag collectors - which means I don't have to haul them anywhere!). So I think we're accomplishing something - and I cleared out 6 pushchairs, which is progress for sure! Hopefully once we're ready to start boxing things up it won't take too much effort to sort things out - or at least that's the idea. But we hope to move and reassemble the shelving and books (as in, the multiple thousands of books that are for sale!) first, since that's not connected with what we need for eating/sleeping!

I think I'll just post these photos and then get to bed, as I never seem to get near enough sleep. We all ended up with a nasty cold/flu type thing - apparently connected with the virus that gave Benjamin the croup over 2 weeks ago. Abigail, Clement and I still have rather noisy/wheezy breathing from it, but hopefully that won't last too much longer.These first three photos are from today

"We don't do baby rice here - big boy food all the way - pass the baguettes, please!" :-) He loves to teethe on big bits of bread, especially the "crusts" from homemade pizza!

Smiling at his mummy, of course!

Making a funny face, and thinking about where he might be able to go

"Mummy says I must wear shoes when I'm outside .... so does that mean her shoes will do?" ;-)

Watching mummy in the kitchen

Again, watching his mummy in the kitchen (you might think I live in there! ;-) ) - he's quite enjoying the baby walker which we got when Benjamin was about his age!

Chewing a biscuit (cracker), but I had to soon take it from him, as he bit off a huge piece and looked in danger of choking!

Yep, he's one of us ... he loves books! ... tho eating them is even better!

Benjamin playing in a big box

Cooking a pretend meal

Soaking up the sunshine

A close up of Benjamin's face! lol

And Abigail too, as she didn't want to be left out

On Wednesday we went to see my friend Ruth, who's just had a lovely little baby girl! :-) She's called Lois and we went over to meet her, which was nice! Made Clement look like he's not a baby anymore to see a newborn!

Afterwards we went for a walk near Tore. The above photo shows Abigail and her work of art (she's got a big creative streak!). She and Benjamin collected lots of interesting objects - pine cones, acorns, hay, feathers, leaves, etc and when we got home Abigail arranged them all in her trainers, which looked quite clever really!

And this is what I collected during our walk:

19 of the 22 cooking apples we picked/collected! We were walking along a path where a old railway once was and we found a lone apple tree there! No idea how it got there, but I made a *lovely* apple crumble with 3 of the apples that evening! Now I must make sure I make something else with some of them tomorrow, as Abigail was rather disappointed that I didn't make a pie or cake today!

Ok, I'm off to bed now - I hope! :-)

Photos of all sorts

I'm falling asleep at the computer - well, I feel a bit like it! Clement is having his midnight top up! He always likes a feed before I go to sleep for the night. But I'm feeling rather exhausted just now - probably due to always staying up too late! And added to that, last week & this week were a bit more hectic with Peter being out most of the 2 weeks for jury duty at the High Court. So I had all the normal things to do, as well as trying to get book orders out and posted on the normal days, etc. But he's finished the jury duty today, so we're hopefully back to normal, in that regard.

Brothers having a cuddle!

Lying in the kitchen floor, all dressed for bed it seems!

Yummy fingers

My 3 precious children, with Clement trying to look like he's as big as the others!

Big sister and littlest brother

Clement's legs are actually strong enough to stand up at something, though at 4.5 months he can't actually do it - but he does have the strength in his legs to stand and support his weight for quite a long time!

In the high chair with a cup of water. Clement has decided he wants food early. And I guess the idea of "baby led weaning" means the baby gets to decide?! LOL In any case, he's made it very clear that he's ready for it and able to eat too! The first time I finally gave in to let him taste something (a cooked carrot stick) he bit a piece off, chewed it up (like a pro!) and promptly swallowed it! :-O I was shocked! I was sure that babies had to learn to swallow things, and their gag reflex (I think that's what it's called) has to be lost, meaning they start by spitting the food out again, before learning to swallow. But he chewed & swallowed the *first* time, at only 4 months! I was always of the mind to delay giving solids as long as possible, and since Clement is nearly 19lbs (several pounds heavier than lots of 1 year olds!!), and almost on the 98th centile for his weight, it's clear he's getting plenty to eat. But I guess he had different ideas, and is a natural male ... likes his food! LOL So we're exploring all sorts of fruits & veggies, which is fun. And he likes everything he's given - so far!

Chewing his toys - everything goes in mouth

My latest pushchair [blush] ! I've always wanted to try a Phil & Teds - and at long last, I've got one! And I think it's fantastic - it is so easy to push, and soooo compact. So I've been having a mega clearout and trying to downsize my pushchair collection (I think I had 5 singles and 3 doubles). So far only 1 single has left the house, meaning there are 4 doubles currently here! But most of them are on the way out the door - either ending soon on ebay, or to be picked up by people, etc. I'll really miss the big shoping basket on my Kolcraft Contours Options Tandem, as the P&T has a very small basket compared to the other, but I think I'll be happy with the switch. And glad to have less clutter when we move house!

Isn't he cute?!

2 boys with tongues! Doesn't Benjamin look grown up here? I don't think he looks like just a 2.5yo!

Teething on a raw carrot!

Benjamin and his lovely soft "Very Hungry Caterpillar", which we won in a lovely giveaway from Leah (not my sister, on this occasion!). It arrived in the post this morning, on just the perfect day to cheer Benjamin up! :-) He's feeling quite poorly just now - I think he's got Croup! :-( He's got awful barking cough, slight fever, and bad sounds with his breathing - meaning he's getting rather breathless at times, which can be a bit scary. But I'm just trying to keep him calm and not let him get upset about things, and that helps him to not get out of breath. Hopefully he'll get over it soon and be OK. Though I worry about him at times, as he seems to be always catching something or poorly in one way or another. Thankfully we've been keeping the eczema fairly under control lately. I think the manuka honey cream is helping in that regard. Last week I had forgotten to order another tub in time, so we ran out over the weekend and he had a bit of a flareup, with it coming back worse. But it's calmed down since we got the cream again. So just have to make sure I don't forget again and let us run out of it! Obviously his skin isn't perfect, but it doesn't seem so out of control as before.

Clement's first time on Mummy's back, today. But I think I tied the straps wrong (so don't anyone follow the photo! lol), since I usually wear him on the front. But I think I'll be having him on my back a lot more now that he's bigger!

A happy little boy - and mummy's hands are free to cook dinner!

and 20 minutes later, a peacefully sleeping baby! :-) Amazing!

Ok, off to bed at last. If I don't post anything for a while, I might have accidentally packed myself away in a moving box! ;-) We're closing on the house a week earlier, so should start moving before the end of the month!!