Weaning weeny.

We are now in about the third week of weaning, giving Joel a savoury lunch and then a pudding for his tea. He's not very experimental, which is fair enough given he has only had milk for all his life so far, but enjoys his lunch of butternut squash and sweet potato and his tea of strawberry and apple pudding.
He sits in a Bumbo seat and wears a bib, now a sleeved one (I soon realised sleeves, and possibly legs, were needed) It's all very messy, as he enjoys feeding himself (or trying to). Here he is making a lunge for the spoon.

and he got it! He likes to chomp on the spoon so most times we end up with a spoon each. We tried bluberries, which he quite liked, but not the skins. No they came right back out!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Last month it was Mr B's birthday, his first as a daddy. So I planned an extra special birthday present for him from Joel and I.
A year or so ago we saw a fantastic textile artists work at a contemporary art fair in Manchester. Debbie Smythe draws with pins and thread, her creations are amazing and unlike anything we had seen before. As Mr B is a hard one to buy for I thought a piece of Debbies work would be the perfect special present for him. Through our communications about the piece she was going to create for us I found that Debbie has the same birthday as Mr B, now that's fate saying we must have a piece of her work.

Joel and I wrapped the presents in OS maps which I bought from Oxfam, we'd searched all over town for a nice design but on a roll of wrapping (as the parcels were large) but these old maps were perfect for the job and a bargain to boot! I cut the illustrations off the covers to use as tags too.

I got Joel up early so he could see his daddy open up his cards and presents before he had to go to work. Here he is, still in his pyjamas and sleeping bag, with the triptych Debbie made for Mr B.

We love the illustrative quality of her work, and the use of perspective. Here's some close ups.

Whilst I made breakfast Joel had a good look at his daddys cards. With his mouth that is.

And Joey made further use of the OS maps.

Even though Mr B had to go to work it was a lovely start to a day for us all.

Adventure Lane

We live in the country, which is lovely, but doesn't afford you many pram friendly walks. People tend to drive a bit crazy down country lanes, and then have the cheek to pip their horn or shake their heads at me, a pedestrian walking with a pram at the side of the road. All they have to do is slow down but that doesn't seem to be on their agenda in life. Anyway my bad driver rant is over now as the back lane to town is closed off to vehicles (all be it temporarily) which has meant a new lease of life for Joel and I.

The last couple of weeks we have done a fair few miles along this lane and seen lots of exciting things like....

A field full of gee gees (horses) which Joel was fascinated by and kept laughing at them as I fed them grass.

I think it was the way their lips curled back to reveal their massive teeth that kept him amused. The supply of carefully selected juicy grasses made up for being the but of the joke for the horses.

 

We also saw a bit of the hedgerow which was keeping warm by wearing a mossy jumper. Looks a bit like a Koala reclining backwards don't you think? Or maybe a Sloth?

Really interesting lichen, the most amasing shade of blue/green. It was all spikey and looked like it should be underwater.

Part of our walk goes alongside an industrial estate and we saw the funniest thing hanging over a wall there!

The shiniest fungus, it looked like it was made from gemstones.

We love our wanders, long may the road ahead stay closed (open)