5 o'clock grumbles

the sweet expression on his face belies his five o'clock grumpies. Around this time he decides he actually wants to go to sleep, but not enough to REALLY go to sleep, just enough to grumble about being tired and make me become kind of creative about how to distract him from all-out grumps, and going to be waaay to early to stay happily asleep. So far so good, at a pub by the river where the sound of dogs madly chasing (poor) ducks, small children for some inane reason going INTO the -5 degree water on old tyres, and old devon types swilling thier cider.

(note butterfly shirt sent all the way from australia by jax! you will be very pleased to hear that this was twinned with the infamous red velour shorts. what a guy.)

dartmoor flying

FINALLY the sun comes out. My sis had previously been borrowing all my winter clothes for the scorching english summer. haaaruumph.

So we flew up to the moors, and found Sheeps Tor (a big pile of rocks with sheep, hairy cows and wild ponies all around). Little one slept through most of it, but I'm sure the fresh air, and kicking around on the grass (and sheep poo) and sunshine was just what he craved. Or dreamt of as he was bounced around. We feasted on our baked goods - a fantastic curry and mini quiches. mmmmm.

Oh, and tiny man in the too-small white hat learnt to fly (see the video!).

"YES they are...

... red velour shorts I'm wearing"

The story of the shorts -

Adrian has gotten into the fantastic habit of getting up early when little one starts grunting and fussing too much - this can be as early as 5 but if he's lucky, closer to 6.30am. And then he hangs out with little one while he has breakfast and gets ready for work (not too hard to guess what waking-4-times-in-the-night to feed mama is doing..) And THEN he dresses little man.

The red shorts morning though, he dressed him in all warm clothes, but the sun (after a months holiday where the rain took over all weather duties) decided to come out - so I got to choose what our handsome friend wore. Hence, the classy shorts. So of course we had to go to a cafe and celebrate with cake.

waiting, waiting

He is doing his almost-most-favourite thing - looking out the window (perhaps we should get out more!).


"where IS she? When is my short haired auntie getting here?"

She made it!

At the front door!


All the way from Beijing by train (absent-mindedly missing the Olympics by a couple of weeks), my fave sis arrives on the doorstop.

somebody's coming

I told him that there was a surprise coming. He said 'what - more milk?' I said nooooo,
Catriona's coming! Best Australian Auntie ever is coming! Can you believe it? She's on the train now (just texted it's delayed, and that, amazingly for English public transport, it appears very disorganised!) and she'll be here soon!!

stylish sister-in-law

Best English Auntie ever is teaching him about accessories (note necklace in his lap). He likes these more than horses. He also likes her big cuddles and her stripy picnic blanket (he told me).

handsome and the horses

Grandpa Colin explaining what a horse is. He is not entirely convinced.

babe and babes

remember way back when our fella met a bella?

here she is again, with little faith who lives across the road. amazingly, faith was born just a few hours after our little one, across the road. It was Sophie's first baby too, and we somehow seem to share our name, our age, time and place of our first child being born (both at home), our address and probably some more uncanny traits if we explored it deeply enough! It is good to wander across the road sometimes and see if she is up for a walk or - the ubiquitious -
english cup of tea.

ambertippy

He is a lucky babe indeed, to have all these loving arms
around him.

Here is cousin Amber (on a rare sunny day in Devon) and grandma Tippy. And happy sleeping purple bottom-ed babe. Amber and her family came down for 2 weeks in August, and we went to all sorts of great places that baby happily slept through (the moors, horseriding, pony farms, beaches, walks, feasts)...

And Great Auntie Dorcas, who whispered a whole lot of good advice in his ear.

industrious hoodie

He still doesn't show any inclination to roll anywhere, but he is more and more interested in toys, and everything gets slooowly directed to his mouth! where, he is very pleased to point to (making all sorts of aaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrr ggggggggggggaaaaaaaa sounds) there is a TOOTH !

I have asking him lately 'where are your teeth?', as it has struck me that babies are born with all their parts in complete order, except they are lacking these little white gates. so now he is pushing them out (middle bottom gum, for granny's notes!) very happily.

grrrrrr

This morning he was looking out the window watching for Nagyapa and Gran to come back... then I told him we'd see them at christmas so he cheered up.

lonesome

Someone is missing his favourite australian grandparents. Lonesome in the garden.

welcome little man

River, trees, family - welcoming little man into our lives.

At four months old, we asked our family to join us by the River Dart to offer our thoughts, celebrate and share our blessings for him.

We wrote our wishes for him on bunting that mum and I made (clarity, contentment, courage...).

We also pressed his little feet into clay (making what dad said was a perfect ashtray). His fairy god-parents (Jax and Julia) also sent their blessings. Cream tea by the river, poems, and kicking in the grass (something for everyone!)

Two Moors Way

small man sleeps through another sunny walk on dartmoor. This track runs from Dartmoor through to Exmoor in the the north of Devon (we didn't go quite that far).

We walked for a few hours before meeting A and his parents for a little welcome ceremony for our little man on the moors.

griz

If I'm honest, every second photo should really be like this...

His nickname is becoming griz, for his steady grizzles, and pud, for his ever-growing rolls and dimples.

But the smiling photos are very hard to resist!

turkish delight

when I forget his hat...

we had set out in the morning to explore agatha christie's old house, Greenway on the Dart Estuary. But the house and gardens were closed, and so we headed for the coast - stunning views from Berry Head (looking out for whales and seals and all sorts), then lunch in sparkling dartmouth. The sun stayed shining, and we explored slapton ley and walked up and over cliffs and along slate and pebble beaches. I think Slapton is my favourite place here - A and I have gone there in rain and hail, sun and wind, and the chips are always good, and the coast is always stunning.

just checking

Waiting for the ferry between Dartmouth and Kingswear, Nagyapa and little man kept a keen watch.

swashbuckling

sea faring joke telling hat wearing finger licking little man

feeding on the job

on mondays I volunteer at a scrap store (a bit like a tip shop) that is full of art/craft material and all sorts of recycled treasures. Mum and dad took our man for a walk while I spent time here, otherwise (as you can see), sometimes I don't get much done.

the competition

this was a peeing competition between our little man and himself. how many times can he pee in one hour. a lot. all over everything. and it makes him very happy.

we have a silly video as well but only a demented mother would enjoy it.

near milkwood

We explored the coast of Pembrokshire National Park, on the s/west coast of Wales. Blue sky! Real summer! This is different to mum and dad's last trip, where it rained every day and they were genuinely wondering why so many people crowded onto this island where you need wellies to get your milk from the shop. Little slept through yet more gorgeous scenery.

We stayed near dylan thomas's boathouse, and slept a few rooms away from his favourite watering hole.

sun the road

And then we hit the road (imagine good road movie music and extended shots of North Devon and Welsh countryside). Little fella (here in his carseat) slept through some stunning coast, mountains and twisting lanes).

Me and his gran in the backseat did our best to play, but this sunflower given by Jax was more popular. He loops it through his legs and arms.

straight to work

First things first - mum and dad went straight to the garden to sort us out. Mum pointed out that a big weedy patch could (with dad's sweat and spade) become a veggie patch - and sure enough, we got to work and now it is all planted out with lettuces, rocket, chard and other green stuff. (The garden isn't so interesting as this photo of dad trying to keep little fella amused.

From listening to dad with our little one, now I know what kind of stories he spun for us when we were little. The one he was telling here involved nightclubs, cocktails and things that he whispered while I was out of earshot. hmmm...

The Great Meeting

the great arrival at last! At Totnes train station, little man met his far-away grandparents. A grand re-union with tears and smiles and gurgles. It is hard to express how wonderful it was that mum and dad could finally meet our little man. They said they didn't expect him to be so....pudding-like (fat). And their stay has been the reason why this blog has been so spectacularly ignored - who else needs daily updates into the smiles and farts of this particular collection of bones?