Thank you for my shoes, Nanny and Grandad!

Today we were celebrating our niece N's 2nd birthday. This is my blog post and some pictures from two years ago! Here she is playing nicely with P; they have a lovely mutual-admiration society going on. Plans to hit the beach were shelved as it was pretty dreich, but we still had a good time.

Especially for Ms Hedgehog, who has not been well - P standing up. He does this quite a lot now, especially when he has something in his hands to take his mind off it. In this case, we are at a sling meet at a friend's house, and he has just pinched another friend's half-eaten apple.

We all went to Battle yesterday. Despite this sign claiming that they serve Peters, the pie shop was closed, so we had to settle for visiting the abbey and battlefield walk instead. M is trying out a soft carrier lent to us by a friend; I prefer my wrap still, but the back carries are more complicated I'll admit. P is teething hard just now, needing lots of calpol and getting up before six, bleargh. Meanwhile, I'm going back to work a bit (two days this week) and M is doing some talks and trying to find a peaceful place to write, the local library leaving a lot to be desired in that respect.

In a deli osteria in Hampstead with Aunty Gunny, where P dug into the bread, olives, pasta, clams, pesto, and the slice of lime in the fingerbowl. I was there doing a filmed interview about accessing NHS antenatal care, and it was a glorious day. This week we've also tried out Musical Bumps, been discharged by the paediatrician (and pronounced "healthy as a horse"), caught up with NCT friends in an Ealing picnic and other friends over pizza in Tonbridge, swum in the outside pool, and bought a baby bike seat at a nearly new sale.

Co-sleeping boys today, about 9 a.m., after a not-great night. Ahhhh.

Helped organise a slingmeet this week in the castle bailey, we had gorgeous weather and met lots of other babywearing mamas, one of whom took some photos. I learned a new back carry and tried out someone else's toddler-size Patapum, which is a soft structured carrier like a rucksack. I will look out for one second-hand I think, as Marc might like to use it too - but I still think my Moby and Didymos wraps are the most versatile and comfy for me.
In that general alternative hippy sandal-wearing parenting vein, here's P enjoying some free-and-easy exploration that day...

 

A splendid weekend. Sarah came on Saturday and we had a pub lunch - sitting outside, hooray - and then visited a NT property called Ightham Mote. Sunday was another sunny day, so we drove around a bit to practise in our new car (!) and then took P to the swings for a bit. We're all really tired as P is still teething and tending to wake frequently in the latter half of the night. I'm having another day back at work this week.