Duvet day

Quick pic.

My day went something like this:

At home with Reuben as he wasn't 100%. Signing in the morning teaching him the days of the week which he masters pretty beautifully pretty quickly. (I had to relearn them myself first). Sign the Rainy Day song with Reu as the torrential rain buckets down outside. Yummy!
Quick Blip peek - whoosh comments and stars and hearts - thank you!
Put some fun kid music on and sing
Callum back from school and lunch round the tiny red plastic table
Watch Signing Time and learn a few new signs myself (why didn't I know the sign for "do" before)
A table full of puzzles we all do together, letters, numbers, farmyard animals, trains
Colouring together, lines and circles, big and small, and dots
Video Reuben signing and saying his ABCs over and over again
Take apart Reuben's bed with a view to him moving upstairs
Clean the floor in the new bedroom with eco lavendar oil and pack away my studio gear which was lusting over the new space (ah well). Had the lights up even though I've only used them once in 6 months - I tried, but just not my thing
Throw all the home made ABC signing cards up in the air and Reuben meticulously collects them all in order signing and speaking their names as he goes. We love to play this great-for-clean-up game. He's deliriously happy and giggly as we play
Move wardrobe upstairs (with help) and dent new stairwell wall
Dance around the kitchen with the boys with a toy train from Mum and Dad trailing behind me on a piece of string Dad had attached to it
Can't interest Callum in signing but listen to him reciting his numbers up to 10 and most of his alphabet
Book a portrait shoot and think about the wedding I'm second shooting for Sunday
Have a beer whilst putting the bed together, no power tools mind (Mamas & Papas crib-to-bed dragged over by my parents from the UK - crazy I know) so Reuben tonight will have a toddler bed!
Watch a little Toy Story 2 and thrill Callum in the same old scene when Buzz appears.

Realise how great it is to spend time learning with Reuben. I can put hours and hours into it and he'll never tire or want to run away. This is how our lives used to be and I feel a little nostalgia for those days when he was wee and non ambulatory, yet glad he's grown to be such a beautiful, bright and well adjusted boy with barely a toddler tantrum in sight.

It's nice having a little sick day, isn't it Reuben, when it's really more of a lazy duvet day...

And tonight Reuben you have a surprise. I'm not entirely sure you'll be as excited as I am, but we'll try. So I carry you up the stairs into your new bedroom and you laugh because this is the "bubble room" where we blow bubbles and Callum runs around excited. Except it isn't anymore. It's your bedroom and you sign "bedroom" to me and you laugh and rub your nose as you do when something overwhelms you in a lovely way and then you see your little bed made up in the corner of the room with all your softie toys lined up even though I don't yet have any curtains on the patio doors and 5 windows. And I lie down in the tiny bed beside you as I used to do when it was a half crib, one side taken down except now both sides are gone and that makes you all grown up. And your eyes are heavy and flicker open and shut and I point to where Callum will soon be sleeping beside you, that is if I can get him out of "Mama's bed".

PS everyone was so kind with their comments yesterday and most unexpected and delightful to read. Whoosh.. when you see a huge number of comments you get a real buzz. Quick Blip this so may change it out later. And it's of Callum as all the video today was of Reuben. I'm so bad at remembering to make videos let alone do anything with the 1000s of clips I have on pc and iMac.