Friday, February 28, 2014

"Mama, I...."

Raf can be rather fickle. He is remarkably loving and sweet, and, sometimes, he is not.... ! For example, last night, as we were lying in bed, he said, 'mum, I've got something to tell you. Sometimes I love you and sometimes I don't. When you give me vegetables and carrots, I don't love you. When you give me big kisses and juice, I love you'. This morning he was telling me that, 'mummy, you're the best'! Over and over again. And then a few minutes later, when I said he had to wait to watch a new Thomas film (i.e. until tomorrow's movie night) he said that I actually was not the best.

I'm often referred to as 'rubbish' when I say that it's not time for the telly. And when I've pressed him on what he prefers, me or the telly, I usually wish I hadn't. 

At other times (and thankfully, at least for now, these moments are more often than the above ones), he will say, 'mummy, guess who I love the most?' and he'll respond in some cryptic way, for instance, 'she's in this room, next to me, and he's a girl in the house'. Little monkey. 



Sunday, February 23, 2014

Spring-Like

Nana departed for the UK yesterday. We're all so sad and it's been a lovely, lovely trip. This morning Charlie was looking for her, and was very sad when she didn't materialize. I'll write a post about the remainder of her stay. But for now, a quick blog about a little bit of spring like weather! It almost hit 50 so we took advantage by taking the boys outside. On Saturday Raf and I got out on his bike, and he had fun doing some 'tricks'.




When Charlie woke up from his nap we all headed outside for a jaunt around the neighbourhood. I put Charlie in the carrier but he was desperate to get down and walk. Usually, when in his snow boots, he collapses to the ground when he attempts to walk but fortunately he's gotten the hang of them and, much to our surprise, he walked around the almost entire block. He had such a fun time.

A quick kiss before leaving... 






Monday, February 17, 2014

16 Months old!


Charlie is 16 months old today. He is an absolute spitfire! He adores trains (go gos), books, and getting into general mischief. He bangs his head at least 15 times a day, drives his brother a little bit bonkers, at times, and is incredibly affectionate and sweet. This weekend Rich had the delight of taking both boys to a party at a bouncy castle place. Rich came back withered and aged and described how Charlie had been relentless in his desire to get into things he shouldn't. I've had that experience myself when I've had to take him to gym class with me.

He's usually very outgoing, though sometimes he's a little shy around new people and when he's just waking up. Every morning, as soon as it's a little light, he points to the trains and then to the light, and once I've turned on the light off he toddles, usually in his wearable blanket, bleary eyed and half asleep to play with his beloved trains.

He's fairly petite in person. He's 30.5 inches (25th percentile) and just under 22 pounds (10th). His head is holding steady in the 75th,... He's just not interested in eating. And when he does, he keeps the food in his cheeks for a long while and either eventually swallows it or spits it out. He otherwise makes up for it by nursing all night long. He is such a cuddler so I shouldn't complain that Charlie has not even been close to sleeping through the night once in his life. I keep remembering that Raf was like this, too, and now he sleeps through the night virtually every night.

Happy 16 months, Charlie, or Charves, as Raf sometimes calls him. You are a funny, feisty, lovely boy.

Saturday, February 15, 2014

Fun with Nana

The boys are having a blast with nana. They love spending time with her - cooking, playing, reading...  She's only here for another week. We're going to be very sad to see her go.







Saturday, February 8, 2014

Silly Rafi

Rafi has a really lovely silly side. Indeed he's silly a lot of the time. He likes move his body in silly way, while making silly sounds, and saying silly things. Last week during a birthday party, where Raf was basically the only kiddo being super silly, I saw myself urging him to rein it in, to be a little less silly, thus not to be too conspicuous.

I regretted all of this immediately.

He is the kind of kiddo that asks his friends to watch him be silly; he asks them for hugs, and as I watch on I sometimes feel such anxiety that his friends will say 'no', that they'll look on disapprovingly. And of course sometimes they DO say 'no' when he wants a hug (heartbreak), and he's completely fine! And sometimes they're not terribly excited to watch him in his silliness, and other times they laugh and join in. Raf has lots of friends at school. He has his best friend, Rowan, who's in another class, but he has lots of buddies in his own class. He's a bit of a butterfly, flitting from group to group (just like his mama), and his teachers tell us that he can play with anyone depending on his mood and his friends' moods.

Sometimes he's grumpy and cross, too. This past Thursday he woke up in a grumpy mood. He argued with Charlie, got cross, and sort of thumped him on the back (not quite a thump but his little fist was close to whacking Charlie on the back, driven by frustration that was clearly coursing through Raf's little body. When I picked him up from school I asked his teachers how his day had gone and Ms. Jesse said, 'um, okay'. Not the usual glowing report we ordinarily receive.

She explained that as she called the children to come inside, Raf shouted, 'NO'. Ms. Jesse said she had to look twice to see who had said it as it's really not like Raf. Apparently he agreed fairly quickly to come in. There were a few more episodes throughout the day, and more when he was in car... having a breakdown that Charlie had eaten a bit of his snack sandwich I bring with me in the car.

That night, as we were all trying to get to sleep, he said, "Mummy, sorry I wasn't kind earlier. My body just woke up in a naughty way".

This morning he said he woke up with his body feeling "kind". I have to say it was a much better day!

Saturday, February 1, 2014

Sledding Party!

Last week the boys were invited to a sledding party. This was actually my first time sledding! Growing up in the South West of England doesn't afford a lot of opportunities for snow fun. It was also Charlie's first time. It was a lot of fun, except neither boy liked the end part when the snow blew into their faces. Raf's solution was to go down the hill with his hat over his eyes... he couldn't understand why we vetoed his plan to go down on his own with his eyes covered....