Last Weekend

Aw the holidays..a bit of breathing space and time to get things done... like upload the photos onto the blog. I must ask Bertie to show me how to do video. We have tons of good footage of our boy doing a bit of this and that.

These photos are primarily from last weekend. Bertie and Alf went to the zoo on Saturday while I cooked and got some housework done. On Sunday we met up with some old friends at Westonbirt Arborteum and had a nice walk on a beautiful day. Alf and Lottie in the willow and playing in the explorer park.

The stray photos are
a)Alf making ginger cookies with me a few weeks ago. He was quite good, in spite of a slightly dodgy recipe, just a bit too sticky but the end product was fine and loved by Alfie.
b)Alf doing a bit of DIY with his trusty hammer and golf tees

Alfie turns 2

Alfie turned 2 years old on the 17th of November. We celebrated on the weekend before, Bert's parents came to Bristol to visit. We had cake and a great time hanging out together. On the Monday, Alfie slept through the snack time so didn't have his cake at school until the Tuesday. It was a very long birthday celebration! Alfie certainly got used to the cake and the attention.
He is talking incessantly and is particularly concerned about crocodiles, wolves and trolls. Bertie and i, along with Alfie's toys, are constantly being told to hurry and run and hide, quick or risk being something by these creatures. Alfie doesn't specify but one can easily interpret their naughtiness.
On the subject of naughtiness...Alfie is cranking it up a bit of late. He had his first laying down in a store crying tantrum over the weekend...in ASDA (our Wal-Mart). Amazingly, given that Bristol is such a large place and that we have only lived here 4 years and some and don't know that many people, an acquaintance happened upon us..Alfie wailing and me crouching next to him, fearful that he might get run over by a frantic Christmas shopper. It's so cliche that it's painful, but the lady said no her child never had done that and told me what she would do. I smiled and nodded and thought of killing her and then peeled my son off of the floor and frog marched him off to find his dad.
The staff at Alf's nursery asked me yesterday if we had a lot of crying at home. I said it had just begun and they said that at school he has started crying for more food. They give more food out if there is any when the children are eating but that Alf is crying even when they show him that there simply is no more food. I assured them that Alfie's father and I feed him and are not concerned by his shedding of tears.
Twice this week, I have had to use the phone in the evening when we get back from nursery but before Bert arrives home from work. The first time, I was speaking to a customer service rep at a company trying to sort a Christmas order mix-up. Predictably, Alf did not appreciate his mom's attention being directed away from him or her use of the phone (an object he is seriously interested in but not allowed to use), so, he expressed his displeasure by screaming, not as if he was in pain but in short intervals, at different pitches and following me around until I had to surrender and hang up the phone after making many apologies. Today he did it again when I was speaking to a friend. She was very understanding, having a small child herself but I did tell Alf off ( he said sorry) and told him that next time he'd have to go sit in time out on the steps for a couple of minutes. I can only imagine how that is going to go.
He's still a wonderful, funny, smart little boy and if you haven't seen him recently, you'd be amazed at how fast he's growing up. Bert and i certainly are and we see him every day.

Half-term Holiday

We just had a half-term holiday. It started on the 24th of October and ends tomorrow, the 6th of November which is fortunate...meant I could stay up ridiculously late to see the election results come in. Yeah, Obama!!!
I took Alf up to see his Gran and Papaw and to spend time with his cousins, Ede and Henry and their parents. We also got a few days with his Auntie Katie and Great Aunt Lucy and second cousin, Maddie. There was a mix up with the court scheduling so Bert managed to come up and join us for a few days. We all had a great time, eventhough it was very cold and damp. We had a day of snow flurries and although it didn't stick where we were, you can see it in a few of the photos. We went to Chester Zoo one day to stave off the stir craziness; we also carved pumpkins and made soup and fairy cakes.
Alf became obsessed with talking about bears while away. We still have endless conversations that go a bit like this:
'Look, bear! Come on! Quick! Run! Hide! Oh no!'
Over and over again.
He has a very active imagination and unfortunately a snotty nose in a a few of the photos.
Needless to say, Alfie is full of things to say and is very clearly not going to get quiet any time soon.

Art

Alf decided to do a bit of painting this morning, he enjoys having a big canvas to work with.

Lately

A few new pictures and videos

Autumn has definitely arrived and we have had some Asheville like sunny autumn days after a very wet summer.

Alfie spent his first night away from his mum and dad as they went off to Brighton for a night. He stayed with his cousins Edie and Henry and was not in the least bothered.

Alfie is into colours, counting and commands at the moment. He will say to Johanna or myself "sit", "walk", "dance", "up", "song" and so on.

A Morning out in Clevedon

Clevedon is a seaside town about 10 minutes down the motorway from our house. It wasn't exactly the most beautiful Saturday but it was warm enough to wear shorts and be out and about. Clevedon has a nice promenade down the seafront and the amusements where Alfie discovered Postman Pat and Jess. We have a video of him on the Postman Pat ride. Bertie showed it to him today and then Alf wanted to watch it over and over again. He just kept saying 'gain' until we made him stop to come and eat his lunch. He cried and cried but wolfed down that scrambled egg once he was told he could watch it one more time if he finished his food. We didn't pay the £1.50 per adult to walk the length of the pier but you can see it in the background. Alf enjoyed sorting through the pebbles on the beach.

It's been a good weekend. Today we went to church and Alfie lost his bouncy ball just before communion. I had to take him out until I could get him calmed back down. However, just about everyone was really kind and afterwards at least three people came to tell me he had been really well behaved. They obviously missed the part where we were kneeling for communion and the lay minister attempted to give Alfie a lovely blessing while touching his arm and Alfie just wailed and squirmed away.

Anyway, I'll ask Bert to upload the Pat video because it is very sweet.