Summer Daze

Days that end leaving you feeling sunkissed and happy, if exhausted, are a perfect antidote to feeling poorly!

The morning passed by in a haze of aches and breakfast and deliberate disobedience and showers and baths, but after lunch (a sticky mess of pears, jaffa cakes, sausages and brie to attempt and fail to clean off Charley after that) we gave up on the house and headed into the garden.

I did a load of weeding. Ben dug. Steve and I chatted. The paddling pool was filled and there was lots of splashing. The raspberries were tended to. Then Charley decided the water was a bit too cold for his tired little self and elected to have a sleep in the wrap, at which point Ben had a meltdown because HE wanted mama cuddles too.

I eventually left him screaming indoors with Steve and took Charley down the garden for some peace to let him fall asleep, and got a text from Steve to say that he'd "put his arm through the letterbox flap..." but the text alert only showed that much of it. I nearly had a heart attack thinking he'd got stuck, we'd need to take the letterbox off, aaargh - then read the rest of the message. He'd stuck his arm through the letterbox opening to try and reach me! He wasn't stuck.... he does the cutest things sometimes :)

Later on Ben announced we had to have dinner in the garden. More specifically, he and daddy had to eat in the (tiny) playtent. So we did! And they did. Steve did not last very long although he was very gallant in his attempt. We moved to the swingseat for a pudding of chocolate cake and custard.

Charley, in his bumbo on a muslin covered mat on the floor, looked like he'd been hit by a pudding bomb. It got EVERYWHERE. He even had a chocolate earring and chocolate eyeshadow.

So, his shower this morning was really rather pointless. But his bath this evening brought an unexpected delight - he pulled himself up to standing for the first time. All by himself! What is it with him and water?! He started learning to sit unaided in the paddling pool. And now we have this new trick, discovered in the bath!

On the crawling front, he is more determined than ever. Whereas yesterday he was just doing pushups, today he has been lunging forwards and properly rocking on his hands and knees.

Hopefully this week I'll start feeling a bit better and can get me and the boys out of the house so Steve can finish the wiring. It's suddenly become more urgent than ever. Charley has an immediate 5' radius of reach, with his bum shuffling and lunging. Already the living room floor is not safe!

Now then, where's the paracetamol, my FACE hurts from this wretched sinusitis.....