For the love of cat...

Life has been kind to me. I have a home, a family, my health and I love and am loved. I also have a cat - he is old and sleeps a lot, but he is affectionate and adorable.

It wasn't always like this. At one point I was pretty sure I would be alone and childless and loveless. A bit dramatic ? Well maybe, but it was pretty much how I felt at the time. I had left a marriage with someone who was controlling and manipulative. My confidence was at it's lowest point. I was in debt, back living with my parents and so very sad. In a desperate attempt to get myself out of this funk I started internet dating. I moved in with my lovely friend and put myself 'out there' as they say. I had never dated in my teens or at uni so it was all new to me.

There are so many life lessons I could share from this period of my life, but I'm pretty sure that for everyone else the experience of going on dates (or just 'going out' as we call it here - dating seems to be a peculiarly American phenomenon) is just a normal part of growing up. In my family we didn't do that kind of thing. My parents didn't approve of having girlfriends or boyfriends and the idea that we might go out with someone with no intention of marrying them was anathema. I pretty much married the first guy I dated. It didn't work out so that tells you all you need to know doesn't it ?

When I was going on dates I realised that there was a whole other language of relationships that I was unaware of and that I just was not versed in. It was a world away from the friendships I had and the honesty of being with people who you trust. I have always had male friends and it was perfectly normal for me to talk to them and spend time socialising with them. It didn't prepare me for the idiocy of dating though. I couldn't stand the really brash guys who would try to impress by showing off, they were just too much. I was a bit Shania Twain about it all really.

Then there were the men who had been married or living with someone, had broken up and were now looking for a replacement. To be honest so was I so it's not exactly a criticism. I think I was being a bit fairer than they were though. I was prepared to see how it went and to give them the benefit of the doubt. Oh so you own CDs by the Dixie Chicks ? It's ok I'm sure you're ok otherwise. Nope I was wrong. I found myself trying so hard to convince them that I was worth their while that I wasn't even considering if they were worth mine. In a lot of cases we just weren't well matched at all. A lot of these guys in their mid to late 30s were looking to settle down and in most cases did not long after. I think straight men have a 'use by date' and if they don't get married by it then they remain resolutely single. Of course Warren Beatty is they exception to this rule. And pretty much all rules I guess.

I went out on dates with men who I would never under any circumstances have come into contact with otherwise. The chap who lived upstairs from the Conservative Club and whose parents were lifelong Tories. Sorry Chris I could have called that one before we met if I'd known. The one who looked like a young Elton John (no disrespect to you Reg, but you're just not my type and I know I'm not yours !) and who told me about how he had a row with his neighbour and practised Tai Chi on public transport. It wasn't destined to be a great love affair.

It is easy to be cynical about internet dating, but I know people who have gone on to have very successful relationships with someone they met online. It cuts out some of the stuff that you just don't get if your eyes meet across a crowded room. It can take ages to realise that this person will always be late to meet you, or that they have smelly feet, or they chew really loudly, or talk through movies, etc. (all punishable offences by the way). What you have with meeting in real life though is the taking time to get to know someone. I have had a crush on someone then when I got to know them realised they weren't for me, but it could be a great friendship.

Plenty of people meet in every day situations, maybe working together and seeing each other every day which eventually leads to a relationship - possibly due to proximity. I worked with a woman who was dating the director of the charity and it was blindingly obvious to everyone despite their protestations to the contrary. It is frowned upon in some firms, but to be honest if you work long hours or in a stressful profession it's hardly surprising.

Of course I haven't even mentioned the whole concept of love at first sight. Oh yes fireworks and stars in the eyes . I mean proper wobbly legs and flustered speech. The whole nine yards. Thankfully it was mutual - it's rotten when you have all the feelings and they aren't returned. What it does mean - however - is that all common sense goes straight out of the window. You are entirely blindsided by the hormone response and forget to think. Well I did anyway.

So what have I learned since the heady days of singledom ? Well, being alone means not having to make food if you don't want to. It means only having to clean up after yourself. It also means going some weekends without talking to anyone - which I now consider to be blissful. I wouldn't give up cuddles with my cat though. Or going in to check on my boys when they are asleep. Coming home and knowing that I can have a hug (with or without white fur dressing) doesn't suck.

On balance I think I've done ok.

What's white, furry and purrs a lot ?

It's hardly news that I love my cat. From the day we met him at Battersea Cats and Dogs home and he decided he was going to live with us we've been very close. When he first came to live with us I would rush home from work to see him as he wasn't allowed out for a few weeks and didn't like being inside. He's always been affectionate and friendly and when I was pregnant he used to lie down with me. As my belly grew bigger, Neo became more protective of me and the baby. Until the day Neo got an unexpected boot from the unknown family member while he was snoozing on my belly. It was very funny.

His relationship with us as a family has developed to include first one baby - who grew into a handsy toddler - then a new child who he has also taught to give him biscuits. He loves company and often sleeps on Brown Bear's bed. They are such great pals it's wonderful to see. When I'm home he comes to sit next to me and keeps me company. I will admit I do spoil him. He has a soft bed in most rooms in the house and I have a special fleece blanket for him to lie down on the sofa. Recently he started to drink from my glass of water so I now leave bowls of water all over the house for  him. It's just the decent thing to do isn't it ?

People are asking me how old Neo is now and when I tell them they reply with remarks like, "well that's a good age,' or "Oh he's an old man now." None of these comments inspire me to want to talk to them much further. According to the vet if he was a human he would be around 75 years old. He's doing far better than any human I know of that age range. In reality - of course - he is an ageing cat and that means he is becoming an old man. He is on medication and when I take him to the vet these days they take his blood pressure and check his heart rate. If you have never seen a cat having it's blood pressure taken it is definitely worth it. I'm not sure that Neo would agree.

Of course the unspoken part of all this is that he won't always be with us. It's not a thought I want to consider so when anyone asks me, "will you get another cat when he's gone ?" I swiftly end the conversation and move onto something else. After all at this point he is like any old man, he is grumpy, short tempered, often loses his temper and likes to sleep a lot. As I type this he is lying with his head against me and is purring. I like to think this is his retirement and he's making the most of it.

Top cat - he's the boss cat.

You know how you don't notice people close to you getting older ? One day the kids are tiny and then seemingly in the blink of an eye all their trousers are too short and their shoes are too tight. I remember going to the funeral of an elderly aunt and as I parked up at the crematoriam I spotted my Mum with an old man sitting in her car. I asked my sister who the old guy was and she said, "That's Dad." I hadn't seen him for a few months since he'd stopped dying his beard hair and with his turban covering his hair I just didn't recognise him. It was a bit of a shock.

Up on the roof

Recently a few people have remarked on Neo's advancing years and have asked what we have planned for when he's no longer with us. Now I know there is no intention to be unkind, but I just don't think of him as an old cat. In my mind he's practically kitten-like in his leaping onto the neighbour's wall to sunbathe all day and his plaintive miaowing for food hits decibels previously only heard at a Metallica gig.

I know people make comments about pets being part of the family, but Neo really is. He sleeps on Brown Bear's bed and is an excellent childminder, giving the boy hard stares if he doesn't settle down to sleep without fuss. He always used to check on the boys when they were small and gave them a wide berth when they were at tail-pulling age. He's no fool that feline.

Relaxing on my beanbag

Then I noticed he's not grooming himself as fastidiously as he used to. His claws are longer and he gets them caught in the carpet sometimes. His fur is looking distinctly yellower and while he was always a champion sleeper he's really snoozy now. The vet told me the other day that he's the cat equivalent of a human 75 year old and considering how inactive my father and father-in-law are at the same age I think he's doing pretty well in comparison.

He helps Brown Bear with homework:

He's still able to supervise train track building:

And his skills at hide and seek are legendary:

So, yes my cat is a senior now. He is showing signs of old age and does need some help to keep him comfortable. He is still, however, my first boy. I have never lost a pet by conventional means. My first dog - Tiger - was given away with the shop when my parents sold it. Yes it was a corner shop - let's not dwell on that for too long shall we ? We were assured the new owners were animal lovers, but I would have rather he came with us. My first cat Tibby was run over on the main road and my Mum told me when I got home from school. My parents aren't emotional about pets so they just don't get why I am so attached to Neo. I don't want to consider a life without him in it. I hope I don't have to for a while yet.

It's a cat's life. Lucky thing !

Neo has lived with us for 9 years. He has welcomed a baby into the family, moved house, seen off random other felines and managed to deal with yet another child joining the family. His life has not been without incident, but as I watched him today lying in the sun relaxed and purring I appreciated that he has a happy life with us. 

He gets to sunbathe (indoors or outdoors) relatively free of interruption. 

Relaxed - and long - cat 

He is free to check his email and social media as he wishes and while his typing speed is still pretty slow at least he now dribbles far less on keys.

This does not look like a mouse to me ! 

Neo has trained the boys to come and say hello and goodnight to him and to feed him on demand. He's a smart cookie ! 

Playing with the track before school

Yesterday we decided to take Brown Bear's high loft bed down and put him back in an average height bed. This way Neo can lie with him and they both love to sleep together. It is funny to try and work out where the cat is among all the soft toys !

Sleeping beauties

This morning Neo was staunchly sticking by Brown Bear's side. He followed his boy around the house and decided to sit close by on the table. I think he makes a cute - if a bit fluffy - paperweight.

Still life 

I love seeing my oldest boys getting along. Neo and Brown Bear are a great team and they do love each other very much indeed. It's a wonderful thing to witness.

Cat and boy in perfect harmony.

Happy Anniversary Neo

The other night Brown Bear came into our bedroom in the early hours crying because he'd had a bad dream. In the morning when he woke up next to me he explained that in his dream Neo had run away and we couldn't find him and it was the worst thing that had ever happened because he loves Neo so much. They do have a special bond my boy and my cat. 

When we were childless and desperate Neo was our much loved boy and we lavished him with the attention and fuss that we wanted to give to children. Then when I was pregnant Neo was so protective of me and the bump. I'd come home from work and put up my swollen feet and he'd lie on my bump and protect the baby. I'm sure that the purring must have been heard inside and one day the baby gave a big kick and Neo looked horrified. 

Once the baby was here Neo was careful not to get too close, but also used to check on him before going to bed. He'd go into the room to look into the cot and see if he was asleep before settling down himself. As Neo negotiated the difficult toddler years with tail pulling, shouting, running around and generally being loud and annoying he then enjoyed a calmer period when he could lie on Brown Bear's bed with him and they would go to sleep together. He also trained the boys to give him biscuits so his motives aren't entirely altruistic. 

Blue Bear was a whole other proposition as he came to us older so Neo didn't get to see him grow from a baby. He's getting the boy into his ways now, but he's still a bit unpredicable, noisy and doesn't sit still as much as Brown Bear. It is a cause of great consternation to Blue Bear that after school Neo will head for Brown Bear's lap and not his. His older brother is teaching him how to be kind and careful with our old man cat, but he's often too excited to listen. 

It was 9 years ago today that Neo came to live with us. We brought him home from Battersea cats and dogs home in a basket I'd bought from the PDSA and he got so many compliments on the train ride home from passengers cooing about how beautiful he is. He still get lots of attention for his good looks.

                                     

Since Neo joined our family we've had a baby, moved house, adopted a toddler and he's taken it all in his stride. I can completely understand why Brown Bear was so upset about his dream. As Neo gets older he isn't quite as nimble getting up the stairs or seems reluctant to jump without a long think about whether he can make the height. He still loves the sun and on a sunny day you will find him in the sunniest spot in the garden.

Neo is the best. 

I'm obviously too cool for my scooter

In a vain attempt to look cool to my kids I chose to scooter to school with Brown Bear last week. It was all fine getting there and I even stopped for a cuppa with the other mums at the school cafe before scootering home for yoga class. However, as I slowed to a stop at the top of the very steep hill that we live on it all went into slow motion as I fell and managed to cause a pretty painful and bloody injury to my knee. As I hobbled back home carrying the scooter I shrugged off how bad it was and carried on with teaching. It was only afterwards that I checked and noticed how badly I had cut and scraped myself. Since then I've been recovering slowly - I think it's an age thing. This evening I fell asleep on the sofa and woke up in time for the final episode of The Good Wife with the cat asleep on top of me.

Enforced slowing down doesn't agree with me really. I prefer to be at full pelt the whole time so it's surprised me that doing so little can be this tiring. On the flip side I've also had time to stop and look around a bit more. Earlier in the week I spotted that a neighbour was having some trees cut down in their garden so I asked the guys doing the work if they could spare some of the logs they had cut. One of them kindly dropped off these for me and I'm looking forward to creating a fun play area in the garden for the boys. I have big plans for the garden which makes the current wet weather all the more frustrating.

My Fitbit doesn't know what is going on as a I'm struggling to reach my daily steps goal before bedtime and I usually hit the magic number by lunchtime. I was considering putting it on Neo this week, as he has four paws I thought I'd get more steps, but his level of activity is second only to a sloth at the moment. I'll be honest the main reason I exercise so much is because I don't want to be fat (that ship has sailed unfortunately), but the second reason is so that I can have treats and not feel too guilty. At the weekend we took Hubbie out for an afternoon tea for Father's Day. It was Brown Bear's first time and he absolutely loved the fresh scones. This bodes well for our holiday in Cornwall in a few weeks.

I'm off to Britmums Live this weekend and am looking forward to seeing blogging friends and enjoying wine, cakes and delicious food. I'm going to walk around a lot to try and get my steps up for the week. If you're going to be at Britmums please do come and say hello. I'm a greeter this year and can't wait. Before then I'll be recording a radio show with a lovely guy who's been on my show before a few times. It's a busy few days.

Lessons I learned from my cat.

This evening I saw the cat lying on the sofa sleeping on a particularly fluffy blanket. He looked so relaxed and I had a few minutes to spare so I went over and rested my head softly on his body. I felt the warmth on the side of my face, the softness of his fur and the vibrations from his purring. It was a moment that I fully experienced and I don't often do that.

In the last few weeks I've been unwell. Firstly it was a bit of a cold and it was annoying, but not especially debilitating. Then it was a bit more full on and I was a bit flattened, but the boys got sick too so I parked it and took care of them instead. There's nothing guaranteed to make you get well faster than having to deal with children who are ill, grizzly and climbing into your bed at night because they don't want to be left alone.

So after a week or so of this it seemed we were all getting better. Then on the last week before school broke up for Easter I found I had tightness in my chest. Then the next day I felt really wiped out. Finally on the last day of school we all met up for an Easter egg hunt after school. We stood in the cold and drizzle waiting for the other kids, my boys were miserable and I was starting to realise that I wasn't quite well. Afterwards as we walked to the car park I banged my head on a low metal beam and the sound like an animal wailing in pain must have been heard for quite a distance. It wasn't a good sign.

On Good Friday I woke up ready to collapse. As we'd planned to visit my parents then Hubbie's we set off in the car. I went upstairs to lie down when we got to my Mum's house. I did the same when we got to the in-laws. Essentially I spent the entire Easter weekend sleeping. I couldn't stay awake for long and kept coughing too. It was pretty rubbish. During all of this I couldn't even enjoy any chocolate as I had given up for charity. As it was I couldn't eat much or taste anything so it was a moot point really.

It was so lucky that Hubbie was off work as I couldn't have handled the boys by myself. I stayed in bed and coughed a lot and slept a lot. Hubbie took the boys to the park, fed them and played with them. It's been the longest time I've rested since Big Boy was born. For the last year I've not stopped long enough to let myself get ill so this was a long time coming. The enforced rest gave me time to just give in to my body. I didn't swim for over a week. My fitbit recorded less activity than my cat achieves. In fact I took my cues from him and lay down and rested when and where I felt like it.

By last weekend I had completely lost my voice. The kids loved it as they could get away with so much knowing I couldn't say anything to them. Again I felt liberated. I didn't have to speak. I could just observe and listen. I noticed how much Baby Boy is chattering away to himself now. The mindless humming and singing that Big Boy indulges in all day became background noise and as he chunters away I realise that his Baby brother copies this and is finding his voice.

Like so many of us I don't take time to stop. I don't let myself take a break or let myself off the hook for daily chores or other things I tell myself I need to do. I'm not able to switch off easily. Giving in and accepting that I had to slow down gave me the chance to see how far my boys have come. It also allowed me to appreciate what I have in Hubbie who took care of everything while I collapsed in a heap of tiredness.

I've no doubt that things will return to normal before long. The school run, the swimming and daily fitness challenges on the fitbit. Scheduling decluttering time to get the house in order and meticulous meal planning. Just for now though I've enjoyed the slackness of it all. Taking my foot off the pedals is curiously satisfying.

Yes my cat has an advent calendar - what of it ?

At the moment every single day is a futile attempt to complete my to do list. Instead I just add the unfinished items to the one I write the next day. I mention this by way of apology for the infrequent posts at the moment. However, I don't want you to think I've forgotten you so here is a smattering of my thoughts over the last few days.

As it's Baby Boy's first Christmas with us I went a little overboard making sure both boys (and Hubbie) had plenty of advent calendars to enjoy. Hubbie even bought one for the cat - it is possible we've gone too far !

We always have the first daffodils in our front garden, but this was something of a shock to me. We have our first daffodil already in early December !!

I am now an aunty and it is possible I may have gone a little overboard on baby gifts for Christmas. This is only a small sample of what I've got for him. I'm not even sorry.

Before you judge I think I should mention that our cat loves us and we love him. He's so patient with us that when we decided to play Cataroo (like Buckaroo, but with a cat) he just went along with it.

I was popping some mince pies, teabags and a few chocolate treats into the food bank donation point at Waitrose this morning (everyone deserves a treat) when I spotted these tins already in there. I'm still baffled.

I promise to do better and will keep putting, 'write blog post' to the top of my list every day :)

A long walk, a newborn and part lego child: my week in photos.

Survival kit for walkers

At the start of the week I was recovering from the Shine Walk for Cancer Research UK. It was great to take part and I'm delighted that me and my walking pal Carole did it in such a fantastic time of just over 4 hours. I did feel it for a few days afterwards though !

Oi, Legohead !!

This week Big Boy turned 5 years old and he had so many presents it took ages to open them all. He is so very lucky to have so many people who love him so much. I bet you'll never guess what his favourite toys are ?

Teeny tiny baby 

By far my best moment this week was having baby cuddles with my first nephew. He's so adorable and I could quite easily have spent all day fussing him, but I gave him back to my sister - albeit reluctantly.

A rose between, well many thorns 

I'm often embarrassed by our front garden as all the neighbours have such neat and tidy lawns and borders and ours is such a jungle in comparison. Then I noticed this beautiful rose and it made me forget all the straggly plants around it and appreciate the beauty in one single bloom instead. 

Nose to nose - fur to fur

Tonight I'm typing this while sitting up in bed and Neo is lying at my feet with his new friend. I'd say that's a pretty good way to end the week.

What is my authentic self anyway ?

A different kind of Mummy

I've seen a lot being written about the 'authentic self' recently. I've been impressed to see others living their dreams or ambitions. Taking risks and making brave decisions that might not even be clear when they start out on those plans. Some of these friends have decided to travel for a year - with kids - or to pack in jobs and start a business from scratch. My personal favourite has been the friends who decided to move to Cornwall and make a new start.

I often have feelings of envy when I hear about such plans, but then I think I'm just piggy-backing onto someone else's dreams instead of thinking about my own. You see I don't actually know what or who my authentic self even is.

Is it the shouty overwhelmed Mummy ?

Is it the barely managing to do the required hours working Mum ?

Is it the fitting in as much as possible every single day multi-tasking (out of necessity rather than choice) character ?

Rare photo of me and my boys

Is it the me who swims like nothing else matters 5-6 times a week ?

The me who loves animals and is so delighted that Baby Boy does too ?

Cat time

Who teaches yoga with a genuine love and passion for making a difference for the people who trust me with their practice ?

The me that presents on the radio and doesn't mind if no one is listening so long as I get to do this one thing ?

Or maybe it's the me that I've rediscovered lately  - the one who will do anything silly or fun to make my kids laugh ?

Hubbie always jokes that I'm a real life Miss Rabbit because I've done so many different things in my life. I'm not entirely sure if that is true - I can't fly a helicopter for a start ! I am working on becoming part of the Mummy's Fire Service though.

Firemum

I think my cat is a criminal mastermind

Since Baby Boy came to live with us we've been talking to him constantly to encourage him to speak.  It's a tactic I used with Big Boy - I used to copy all the sounds he made until he did the same to me and started using actual words. Of course now he is articulate enough to use sarcasm and I wish I'd been a little more circumspect in my approach.

Baby Boy finds it so funny when I do this and he tries to catch me out with more and more sounds then an elaborate pattern of speech that eventually beats me. It is hilarious fun and I don't even notice I'm doing it any more. We were staying with the in-laws when I heard Baby Boy chuntering away upstairs and without thinking I repeated the gabble not realising that Father-in-law was standing behind me in the kitchen giving me a very odd look.

An unlikely partnership

Well, however strange it may seem there is method to my madness and it appears to be working. Baby Boy has gone from grunting, shouting, pointing at things (and a combination of all three) to making recognisable sounds. Some of them are pretty distinct like:

• Standing at the top of the stairs waving at Hubbie as he leaves for work and saying "Bye bye Daddy." 

• Whenever Big Boy annoys / pushes / hits him he shouts, "Mummy !!"

• He is known in Waitrose now for waving and saying, "Baa Baa" to everyone - that is bye bye to anyone else.

• When we go to our favourite park he calls out "Wack wack" at the ducks, geese and pigeons and his current favourite book is the Ladybird book of Ducks and Swans.

Talkng to the 'wack wacks'

• Our holiday at Coombe Mill Family Farm gave him a whole new range of animal noises to practise including "Baaaaa" and "Oof Oof" which is now what we call sheep and dogs.

• The best is that he's gone from chasing the cat screaming at high pitch to actually calling him by name. Ok it's almost his name, he calls out "Neeya" which is pretty close.

What we noticed while staying with Granny and Grandpa was that Baby Boy was calling out "Neeya" to their current feline resident Missy. So it's pretty clear that rather than realising that Neo is his name he thinks that's what he is.

So, he has Big Boy giving him biscuits on demand and Baby Boy renaming all cats after him.

Neo's plan for world domination is taking shape.

He looks like butter wouldn't melt doesn't he ? 

He can't say Mum, but he can call the cat - pah !

I was dreading the week just gone as it was the only week of the school holidays that I didn't have Big Boy booked into play schemes. He did a swimming crash course every day, but that was only half an hour a day and I had whole days to fill and two boys to keep occupied. I sent an email to the other mums from Big Boy's class and made plans to do things to keep us all from going bonkers with our kids at home. The response was heartening as they all seemed to be in the same boat as me and jumped at the chance to get out and do stuff with us.

In the end we did something every day and I spent more time with the mums than I have since he started at school and it was great. We spent drizzly mornings in the park, a spectacular sunny afternoon at the fire station (more of which in my country kids post later this week) and I had conversations with adults every day. It was brilliant ! As a result I learned some stuff I didn't know before which I thought I'd share.

Samuel's mum told me on Monday that she spends one hour every evening gardening. I thought this was such a genius idea I immediately decided to do the same, so this week I've spent up to an hour in the garden most evenings which means I've already spent more time in one week than in all of the previous months this year. It also means I can do manageable chunks without getting the chronic backache that is inevitable from the 'binge gardening' I usually practice. It has been nothing short of a revelation !

You probably already know I love Waitrose and this week gave me a concrete example of why. I took Big Boy to Asda with me - it was close to where we were at the time, it wasn't my first choice - and as I parked in a parent and child space the women in the car next to me threw a McDonalds bag at the back of my car. I looked at the bag with the remains of a milkshake and various containers in it and looked at them and for a moment considered throwing it back, but decided it wasn't worth the fight that would ensue if I did. The next day I needed to cleanse myself of the experience and while pushing Baby boy in the trolley at Waitrose a man politely pointed out to me that Big Boy had dropped the plastic lid from his disposable coffee cup on the floor. Now I have to explain he wasn't actually drinking a coffee, but he flutters his eyelashes at the ladies on the counter and they always let him have a cup to play with. I smiled and said thank you to the nice man who proceeded to apologise for his presumptuousness in trying to tell a parent how to parent. I told him it wasn't a problem and we went about our shopping trip with Baby Boy pointing at everything in the store and Big Boy going loopy in the aisles. I love that in Waitrose someone would be kind enough to worry about my boy dropping something on the floor and putting it in his mouth that they would tell me.

It was while we were driving to Asda that I heard one of my favourite of Big Boy's latest malapropisms. He is usually a pretty eloquent conversationalist, but he does say some funny words. There's the usual lellow for yellow of course, but when he asked, "why are we going to Asbo ?" I had to laugh. Others that I've spotted include, Teenage Newton Ninja Turtles and when he finished watching Cinderella he told me that it was the garden mother who sorted out her dress for the ball. In fairness to both boys I should also point out that Baby Boy is now saying a few intelligible sounds. His clearest word to date is Neo (of course, they always learn the cat's name first !) and he is also saying something like Hello and Bye Bye, both of which make him sound like a Minion. It's hilarious, but also really cute.

So I'm not saying it's rocket science, but what I've learned this week has given me a laugh and my garden looks a little bit nicer as a result. I call that a win.

The highlights of my holiday now I'm a Mum.

We're back from our holiday and had a lovely time. Being away with two boys under 5 has been a lot of fun and lot of work and I'll share some of the adventures we had in a later post, but for now here are a few highlights of what being on holiday means for me these days:

Taking a walk in the evening and bumping into an alpaca:

Drinking wine in the evening - outdoors :)

Visiting the Eden Project - which the kids have absolutely no interest in, but I love.

And finally coming home to snuggles with this guy:

Skateboarding, sunshine and searching for dinosaurs...

I've mentioned before that big boy really wants a skateboard. Ever since he watched Firehouse Dog the first time and he saw Shane (Josh Hutcherson) riding on one he has asked if he can have one when he's older. When we were staying at Coombe Mill he saw skateboards belonging to the bigger children and desperately wanted to have a go on them. I've always said he has to be at least 8 before we'd consider it, but I may reconsider this previous decision. 

On Saturday there was a skate demo in a local park where children were invited to try out skateboarding and to have a go at doing some tricks. The idea was to introduce them safely to the skills, but also to show them how to use the facilities in the park including ramps and jumps. 

Scooterboy

As our boy is more used to his scooter he tried that first then had a tutorial on the much longed for skateboard. He did really well and continues to amaze me with how incredibly brave and daring he is, trying new things without fear. I think he really looks the part doesn't he ? 

My little skateboarder

What a professional !

Then on Monday I took both boys to Crystal Palace park to see the dinosaur trail. Big boy has been to the park before, but he hasn't seen the dinosaurs so he was quite surprised to see so many of them lurking around the park. Little boy was less impressed, but he still enjoyed being outdoors on a sunny day with his brother. 

Dinosaurs in the water 

Dinosaurs hiding amongst the trees

As you will know from previous outdoor kids posts big boy is really into climbing trees right now so he made an attempt to climb onto this one, but it was too high up for him to reach.  He still enjoyed trying and I suspect it won't be long before he is tall enough to reach. 

Big boy - bigger tree

It's not only the boys who have been enjoying the sunshine this week - Neo has also been making the most of the weather and taken to sunbathing on the front doorstep most of the day. Here is a rare image of him awake and communing with nature.

Nature cat

This post is being shared with the fab #countrykids linky hosted by the lovely Fiona of Coombe Mill