Gethin Henley's Blogorama

2:06AM. Saturday, 5th July 2008

Gethin, Cole and Peta — 1970-01-01T00:00:00+01:00

t-minus 2 days...

gethin will be whisked away by uma and oompa on sunday and being his first prolonged trip away from his parents, our original feelings of joy and liberation are slowly getting replaced by nervousness and trepidation. To be honest, we are missing him already - even though he hasn't gone yet.

gethin has been in our lives pretty much 24-7 since the day he was born, 27 months ago, and whilst i would be the first to say we probably do deserve a break it is hard to imagine what to do of an evening without the wee one (let alone how we will ever manage getting out of bed for work in the mornings!).

we have always strived to raise gethin in a close and loving environment and have worked very hard at being parents first and ourselves second.
parenting books such as the dreaded gina - 'it puts the lotion in the basket' - ford adorn the libraries of parents throughout the land but the approach of working children around the lives of their parents is one that has never appealed to us, even if it means that our social life is near non-existent.

what then will we do? cinema? fancy meal? nothing?
so many options and we have forgotten them all.

the funny thing about packing bairn off for the first time has been compiling the list.

the list outlines the dos, donts and needs; the user manual; the rules for our 2006 model bairn. a guide for the modern grandparent in maintaining and entertaining this little thing that has dominated our lives for so long....for seven whole days.

we have always felt we were quite liberal parents but my god, the list makes us seem quite stringent. 3 pages of favourite toys, agendas, meal suggestions, bedtime protocol and the like. all that's left to do is compile the bairn phrase book with phoenetic translation of all the gethisms that are elusive to all but the most trained ear.

no doubt both gethin and the grandparents will be fine - it will be great for them all to spend some quality time together and also for gethin to spend some time away from his parents (and us from him). but can't help but feel that as soon as he is in that foreign land called england we will miss him greatly.

12:35AM. Wednesday, 2nd July 2008

Gethin, Cole and Peta — 1970-01-01T00:00:00+01:00

what a fun few days and it has been lovely to see gethin back to his normal self after a week plus of grumpiness. we had a fun saturday, although peta was feeling poorly, so with ryan and shelley visiting we (all but P) headed into Falkirk to the cinema for National Treasure 2. much popcorn was eaten and fizzy drinks quaffed - to the point where cole and G had to run out midway for a pee. G rather comically decided he wanted to use the urinal like daddy does (despite still being in nappies) so cole had to hold him over the urinal, nappies round ankles, whilst much gurning ensued.

after flicks we headed back into linlithgow for softplay - slightly diverted by the orange marches in grangemouth which were quite intimidating. never quite understood the need to overtly display ones religion so aggressively in the face of anyone who happens to pass.

anyway, after breaking through the amassed ranks of grangemouth, we headed off for Gethin to brave the soft play area whilst cole, ryan and shelley braved some lunch and coffee before dropping our visitors off at the train station to return home to edinburgh. saturday evening saw the christening of Ben and Ruthie's daughter, Poppy. it was a lovely event and after a brief downpour, the rain held off for the outdoor baptism and subsequent sheep roast. gethin had fun with his compadres in crime - wren and casper - and cole had fun drinking Ben's home brew, meeting all the lovely people and supping on some rather tasty baked bean wraps.

sunday was stay-at-home-dad day again for cole with G before an evening at friends watching the euro 2008 final. after 22 years of hurt as a spanish supporter it was great to see them finally win something and to do it playing so well - plus had a sneaky bet on them to win the tournament so now a few quid better off. also, it is great to see the baton of perennial underachiever pass on to england. muhawhawhaw

gethin's childminder has gone on holiday for a few weeks so cole and peta are having to juggle childminding duties with friend denise (or 'deese' as Gethin says) at moment although, drum roll please, uma and oompa are taking G away for a week next Sunday. with the exception of 2 days when we moved house (which, to be honest, wasn't really all that relaxing) this will be the first time G has been away from cole and peta for more than a day so nervous and exciting times ahead. what to do with out evenings? how will we cope? can we cope a day without changing nappies? might put that money from the football towards a meal out for me and P - something we've done once since gethin was born. let's hope G is on his best behaviour for the grandparents!!

the young boy has been really good fun this week - he is enjoying dancing and particularly breakdancing and moshes along to his favoured tunes like a true punk (daft punk and the white stripes have turned out to be some of his favourites). after a fortnight or so of him being quite a pain (he has had yet another ear infection) he is back to his old loving, caring and fun self, full of hugs and kisses and inquisitiveness. he continues to enjoy jumping off tall things (no injuries yet) and is particularly fixated with cars and tractors. a junior mechanic in the making me thinks. sadly for all of us he's not been sleeping too well this last week or so which we finally discovered is because he thinks there are monsters in his bedroom. poor wee guy - it's almost like a rite of passage to think that evil things lurk under the bed/in the wardrobe.

elsewhere, our garden is coming along nicely. the wet summer we have been 'enjoying' has brought the best out of all the flora - good and bad - and our courgettes and potatoes are now flowering which i think means they're ready for the picking. cole made 8 jars of gooseberry jam with all the fruit we culled the other week (and some lovely gooseberry jam turnovers) and the raspberries have had to be tamed as they seem about to take over the whole garden. some ruthless pruning and tying was required on sunday. we may even have our first strawberry before the week is through.

sorry still no snaps. will instruct peta to get on the case as soon as possible!

11:48PM. Monday, 23rd June 2008

Gethin, Cole and Peta — 1970-01-01T00:00:00+01:00

well, cole has badgered and felt the burn, hit the wall and lots of other endurance type speak after the mile stroll around the meadows at work - the weather was lovely and had good companionship as well as raised a fair few quid for the badgers. thanks everyone who chipped in for a good cause.

it has been a fun couple of weeks in the henley household where, as usual, it feels like we haven't stood still. last weekend we hit linlithgow fair where a very tired and grumpy gethin wasn't at all impressed by the police car and fire engine (though daddy was - quite glad to report have never been in a police car before).

it was a packed weekend of outdoor activities with sunday seeing us head into edinburgh for the treefest, a weekend-long festival at Inverleith park celebrating trees, wood and sustainable living.

It reminded Cole of the peace festival that his parents used to organise back in Leamington many moons ago. A lovely atmosphere for all ages, although there were a few too many trustafarians for my liking. Gethin was utterly transfixed by the age old Scottish pursuit of axe throwing, much more than by the hippy drumming or wood craft, plus proved an able climber and clamberer at the play park, although he had to contend with plenty of feral children clambering over the swings and slides with scant regard for the toddlers that were using them.

elsewhere we have just enjoyed a lovely weekend with the elmores up visiting. Peta's folks and brother arrived on friday and the weather just about held for cole to take charge of his first ever bbq. the sausages were a bit black but good tucker and a few beverages was had by all

on saturday we had a lazy day as moomin and gramps headed off to glasgow for a wedding, so the henleys and martin headed into lintlithgow for a spot of coffee and cake, some goodies for an evenings fancy dress (more of that later) and catching the tail end of the linlithgow marches (consisting of a mdf castle in the palace grounds). denise popped over from edinburgh to babysit bairn whilst cole, peta and marting headed off to edinburgh for an evening's fancy dress to honour friend shelley's 30th birthday. cole donned a top hat and some finely cultivated whiskers as daniel day lewis in gangs of new york. p hit the mak-up and retro garb as andy warhol's muse, edie sedgwick and martin wore a toilet seat and book as lou reed (boom boom).

we had a great night and it was lovely to go out together - something we have only done a couple of times since gethin was born. sunday was quite slow and we headed off into livingston for lunch and bowling at deer park. gethin took to his first time bowling admirably, getting a full strike on his second ever go (allbeit with a bowling aid) before being distracted (and completely transfixed) by the outrun 2 arcade game there. we headed back and settled down to watch a film (whilst cole hit the headphones to listen to the spain quarter final).

gethin has been quite introverted and clingy lately but he is coming on in leaps and bounds with ever hilarious comentary and Gethinisms. this evening i asked "son, who is your favourite person in the whole wide world?". His reply, excitedly: "Me!"

11:55PM. Saturday, 14th June 2008

Gethin, Cole and Peta — 1970-01-01T00:00:00+01:00

PS if any of you are charitable sorts, Cole shall be partaking of a sponsored mile long walk (that's almost 4% of a marathon ladies and gentlemen) in aid of the Badger Trust next Wednesday 18th June.

So if you feel the need to give and in awe of this selfless piece of exertion, then do please pledge a donation at www.justgiving.com/colehenley

11:49PM. Saturday, 14th June 2008

Gethin, Cole and Peta — 1970-01-01T00:00:00+01:00

Well, it has been far too long and after a few nagging emails from friends and family thought had better let you know what we have been up to.

The Henleys 3 have all been faring well but o so increadibly busy these past couple of months. So, a potted history of the Henley's since early april:

G is doing really well. He is fiercely stubborn and free-willed but delights in the simplest of things like reading, putting a bucket on his head, dancing (or boogy woogying as he calls it), having his hair scuplted by the vacuum cleaner, mowing hte lawn (more of that later) and playing with his toy cars. He is quite the chatter box and enjoys pointing out all that he sees and knows, especially if it has wheels and an engine. There have been a few gems along the way too. G thought double yelllow lines were 'baby roads' and upon seeing a house being built thought it was a 'broken house'.

Lately, he has developed an unhealthy yearning for chocolate and cake which is a bit worrysome. He even uttered the word "cake" aloud in his sleep one night.

The poor fella has been unwell quite a lot lately. He has had a perpetual cold since spring and recently ear infections in both ears which a double dose of antibiotics doesn't seem to have shifted. all leading to a sporadically grumpy child.

G likes his routine which is a good job as our weeks are pretty structured now. P has been working Sundays the last few months to bring some extra cash in (much needed since jumping on the property ladder) so Sundays are Daddy day, always starting with the weekly shop at Asda. It's strangely surreal going shopping at 9am on a Sunday morning but nice and quiet - the only down side being the inability to buy booze (actually, probably a good thing).

Most Sundays are spent at home although the last month cole and G have tried to go into Edinburgh to lap up the summery vibes before it gets too busy with the fringe. Cole took G to a bairn disco the other week, as part of the imaginate festival. Sadly, boy did not enjoy the fab hour or so of dance music for the babies and toddlers, complete with dancers and chill-out room. Oh well, dad had fun.

Saturday's are lazy days, although with the (relatively) good weather we and the longer days we have been spending a lot of our time in the garden. P has been a diva with the seeds and compost and we have a healthy crop of courgettes, carrots, beetroots, potatos, beans, tomatoes and peppers on the way, plus gooseberries, strawberries and more raspberries than we know what to do with. Half of today was spent harvesting the gooseberry bush and now have 3kg of the blighters. Fool and jam galore this summer me thinks!

The house, and garden are beginning to feel really homely and, having moved in to the house late summer last year, it has been lovely to see the place in prolonged periods of sunshine. The previous owner obviously took good care of the garden and we seem to have been constantly treated to new flora with the passing Seasons.

With such lovely surrounds then it is great that we are going to be having a few visitors over the coming summer months. Can't believe we have been here for 9 months now - time has flown by and there never seems to be enough time (not money) to do what we want to the place.

Anyway, that should be enough to keep you in the loop for now. Any more and won't have anything else to write for the next couple of months. Will try to stick some snaps up over the next couple of days and maybe even a video or two.

11:32AM. Wednesday, 14th May 2008

Gethin, Cole and Peta — 1970-01-01T00:00:00+01:00

well, at long last P has managed to get some snaps up on the blog from the past few weeks or so have a peruse of the 41 or so snaps in the snaps gallery
also we have once again added RSS goodness to the site so that you can keep up to date with our infrequent updates. if RSS to you sounds like a painful condition you might need some cream for then cole has written an article on his own blog helping you distinguish your rss from your elbow

P will be posting a textual update in the next couple of days for those that crave more than eye candy from the bairn blog.

11:40PM. Monday, 28th April 2008

Gethin, Cole and Peta — 1970-01-01T00:00:00+01:00

it's been over a week away for the Henley's 3 and 2 weeks since we posted a blog entry so time for a catch up.

cole headed off for a conference in londinium on the 16th april before heading up to leamington spa to spend a week with uma and oompa. this sadly meant that P had to do the dreaded drive south all on her ownsome with mister G in the panda. but made it she did and all in good time too.

on sunday we had a manic but fun day as we all got together to celebrate cousin samuel's 2nd birthday but also gethin's recent 2nd and oompa's imminent 60th. a great day was had, added to by the visits of oompapa, great-gramps ken, great-aunt lynne, cousin (once removed) stefan and their respective partners david and lucy. presents, fodder and cake galore ensued followed by some playage on oompa's 60th birthday treat from the family: a nintendo wii. the highlight though was seeing Leiske - feel so far away being in Scotland since she had her second stroke last December. She is doing so well but it will be a long haul recovery for her and those around her. Just wish we could be closer to help her along.

on monday we visited oompapa in warwick, playing with G whilst cole tried to fix his computer/telly before a stroll through the historic town, baulking at the small fortune required to visit warwick castle. bah humbug!

tuesday was the birthday treat day for the boys with a trip to west midlands safari park. a great time was had on safari and the subsequent trips round the animals and on the choo choo. snaps will ensue! we all returned after a lovely, sunny day for fish and chips before Leiske had to get back to hospital and we all crashed on the sofa, shattered from our fun day out.

on wednesday P disappeared for a few days to visit friend Kate in Cambridge. this meant some quality bonding time between dad and bairn with trips to the town, soft play, the park, getting caught out in the hail, shopping and other malarkey. on friday peta returned for our last day in the midlands. heading over to warwick again, G hung out with oompapa whilst cole made the final touches to pc/telly issues.

friday night we all settled down to watch some telly (a treat for Cole and Peta who are without such luxury in Scotland), avoiding the packing, before a long journey back home on Saturday. In the morning we paid a quick visit to Lorraine and Abdul, the parents of one of Cole's school friends, for a blether and beverages before setting off and negotiating the rabid panic buying petrol consumers of leamington spa, out in their chelsea tractors to sniff up the last fumes of diesel before the country ran out with grangemouth going on strike. idiots.

the jounrey back was eventless and getting back on saturday meant we could enjoy a day at home before the shock of returning to work after so long an absence. to boot, the weather was gorgeous leading to a spontaneous and unprecedented outbreak of gardening from the henley's 3, with weeding, planting and general mischief to be had with any tool that came to hand in the warm april sun. hopefully this will be the shape of things to come this summertime!

anyways, by way of apology for so long an absence here is one of a couple of videos that we took in the garden this evening of peta taking gethin for a spin. the other video can be viewed here.

10:46PM. Monday, 14th April 2008

Gethin, Cole and Peta — 1970-01-01T00:00:00+01:00

what a perfect weekend for the henley's three.

saturday morning we headed off for some steam train action at the bo'ness and kinneil railway. C + P hadn't been since their wedding day and it was the first time G got to see a proper choo choo. we got there early after getting the times wrong and had to negotiate our way through the shop - replete with thomas goodies - on our way to a couple of cups of coffee. a short while later the choo choo arrived and we all set aboard for an exciting seven minute train ride to kinneil halt. we set upon a stroll, complete with multiple puddles (and ensuing splashes), before catching the train back. all told a fantastic trip and gethin was absolutely agog during the whole experience.

on sunday we headed to the farm to catch up with ruthie, ben and the kids, feed the animals and follow ben and casper as they tagged and tailed some newborn lambs, awwwww. the kids get on so well together and shortly P had to dash for another sunday stint at work. as the day was nice c + g stuck around before strolling home, G catching a mammoth snooze en route and after before cooking up some bangers and mash with daddy for P's return.

to cap the weekend off today has been a lovely day. the sun was still shining when we got back from work/childminder so G set about making some messy mud pies in the garden whilst C + P cleaned up the car, Cole doing a spot of gardening. I kid you not - a spot of gardening - dusting off the old trowel to clean up the overgrown paving slabs out front.

What a super weekend

11:12PM. Thursday, 10th April 2008

Gethin, Cole and Peta — 1970-01-01T00:00:00+01:00

We are now officially a week into Gethin's terrible twos after a hectic week for the Henley's. Last Thursday was Gethin's birthday so after an early start and much present unwrapping (the highlight being a pink toy buggy from our childminder) we headed into Edinburgh for songs at Granton library with Peta's bookstart colleagues.

Many songs were sung, beverages quaffed and cakes eaten. Then all off to North Queensferry for an aquatic encounter with sharks and the like, stopping off to pick up our friend Denise and a lunchtime treat from Maccy Ds. At Deep Sea World we met up with Ben, Casper, Wren, Poppy and Merce. Gethin really loved it, particularly the underwater tunnel, and had fun on the Black Pig.

We had a lovely day and G got loads of presents from his adoring friends and family. Sadly Cole had to dash off before the day was through to head south for his gran's funeral in Warrington. It was a sad day but a fond farewell and it was good to catch up with the extended family that haven't seen in ages. The trip had a positive side though and Cole headed south after the funeral to Leamington to catch up with his sister - the first time since Christmas when she was still in hospital having suffered her stroke. It was great to catch up and really looking forward to spending some more time down in Leamington later in the month.

The next day was a first class trip by train back up to Scotland, complete with complementary refreshments.

The last few days have flown by. On Sunday P was back at work so Cole and G hung out and did manly things like defrosting the freezer iceberg and made pizzas for supper - though Gethin seemed more intent on stuffing the olives in his mouth than atop the pizza bases. Sunday night saw a bout of the pukes for wee G in the middle of the night where he crawled into bed with us to vomit :(

On Monday G was still ill so P lost out on her planned home alone day to care for him - he has certainly inherited Cole's "I am dying" mood when poorly. Since then he has been excelling at this terrible two's malarkey with regular tantrums and early morning/late evening screamage. I will never understand how someone can both want and not want something at exactly the same time. A complete mystery and catalyst for a few more grey hairs...

12:57AM. Thursday, 3rd April 2008

Gethin, Cole and Peta — 1970-01-01T00:00:00+01:00

well, just finished priming G's room for his second birthday tomorrow. P has been busy baking a cake whilst we stealthily pinned a garland of balloons to his new bunk bed and sprinkled the multitude of gifts and cards that have steadily been arriving by post across his floor.

bright and early tomorrow - off to see sharks and other aquatic gubbins in south queensferry. think me and P are probably more excited about the wee ones bianniversary more than he is!

12:10AM. Monday, 31st March 2008

Gethin, Cole and Peta — 1970-01-01T00:00:00+01:00

Well, tonight young Gethin spends his first night in a proper, grown-up bed. Au Revoir and schlaft gut cot - you served us well - and a big hello to Mr Bunk Bed.

Some fraught flat-packing later (the most stressful bit was trying to fit the ruddy thing into our Fiat Panda after baulking at the £50 Ikea wanted to charge for delivery) and wee G has a not-so-wee bed to call his own and commandeer the majority of floorspace in his bedroom. He took to it well and went to sleep soundly. Looking forward to the not-having-to-get-out-of-bed-to-get-G-out-of-bed first thing tomorrow morning although that will almost certainly just mean him coming in to wake us both up. Well, at least it won't be the sounds of his head hitting floor that wakes us up as happened when he tried to clamber out of the cot.

Getting set for a manic week. Sadly, Cole's gran Blanche passed away on Tuesday so Cole is heading down south for the funeral on Thursday after a day spent celebrating Gethin's second birthday. Wish us luck and let's hope it's not too early a start in the morning...

9:54PM. Monday, 24th March 2008

Gethin, Cole and Peta — 1970-01-01T00:00:00+01:00

At the end of a quality long weekend for the three Henleys. After some moments of satanic behaviour last week wee G has been on his best for dad's extended weekend for the Easter break.

Friday saw a trip to soft play for G with friends Casper and Wren before lunch and energy-burning activities at Henley towers. Cole headed off to Alloa to see friend Dan on their latest web project - mum's the word at present.

Saturday we all headed into Edinburgh for some pampered chef action - a bit like Tupperware but with a touch of class - at P's friend Elspeth, as well as Easter related goodies for the bairns. It was great to hang out with lots of other parents and wee yins and probably the first time Cole has been around other dad's and kids for socialising.
Sadly the pampered chef goodies were outwith our budgetry range (even the bamboo toaster tongs) so settled for some free nibbles and a quality time with the bairns.

Easter Sunday we awoke with some hot cross buns before Gethin's first Easter Hunt. Peta The Easter Bunny had done a good job stashing various ovoid chocaltey things around the garden which Gethin promptly found and less promptly ate. Scrambled eggs (not the chocolate kind) for lunch to continue the Easter theme (stopped short of some Crown of Thorns soup for dinner) before Peta had to head to work for her occasional Sunday shifts and a night out with her work mates bowling (P succeeded in retaining her title of Muirhouse library bowling queen).

In the meantime, Cole and G spent some quality time together in which G did his first poo on the loo (perhaps too much information for some of you). We did lots of running around, playing football, listening to the footy on the radio and bouncing around on the bed. Good quality father-son stuff.

On Monday we embarked on G's first trip to the cinema to see Horton hears a Who, a thoroughly entertaining film for all three Henleys although G fell asleep on Cole for the end of the film after eating his body weight in salty popcorn.

All round a stirling weekend for us all. Great to spend more than the usual 2 days a week with G for Cole, particularly just the two of us on Sunday. It is reassuring to see that Gethin's moments of terror are blips in an otherwise upwards trajectory.

10:29PM. Wednesday, 19th March 2008

Gethin, Cole and Peta — 1970-01-01T00:00:00+01:00

what the blazes is going on? wee yin has been a right terror this week. up at 6 monday and tuesday, screaming hab-dabs from sunrise to sunset. where has out little fella gone?

1:12PM. Tuesday, 18th March 2008

Gethin, Cole and Peta — 1970-01-01T00:00:00+01:00

In the past two weeks we have had a busy ol' time @ Henley towers. Time is moving so swiftly at the moment it seems hard to catch up sometimes. Gethin is at once being angelic and demonic - a raving 2-hour long tantrum commencing at 6 this morning being a good example. At the same time he is providing many moments of hilarity. He has perfected a true villainous streak - cackling evilly when he knows he has done something naughty - and has the funniest affected walk when he wants to move swiftly, much like something from Benny Hill.

Last weekend we went over to Livingston for some shopping, only for Cole to be offered a last minute freebie to watch Scotland against England at Murrayfield. A great game (and a great result) as the Scots triumphed and suffice to say a fair few alcoholic beverages were imbibed. On Sunday, as the sun was shining, we three went on our almost weekly stroll down to Carriden House to espy the flora and fauna of springtime. The Highland Coo was quite elusive at first but turned up in time to see Gethin jump into increasingly deeper puddles.

Sunday also saw P start to work occasional Sundays to help with the coffers, much needed after ongoing boiler issues and the lost slates (and subsequent water damage) caused by the howling gales. Sadly it was a stressful day and one which put P in two minds of doing again - no one should have to put up with verbal or physical abuse at work but it seems par for the course at the library, as testified by this recent article in the Edinburgh Evening News. Anyways, before P returned from her tour of duty at Muirhouse we were paid a visit by Denise, a lovely treat as her first trip from home since she was rushed to hospital in January. She is making a wonderful recovery and it is great to see her out and about again.

That evening Cole also embarked on his first Filmhouse film quiz with friend Neil. Suffice to say on the grounds of only making it to the flicks biannually (and then only usually seeing popcorn fodder) and the quiz being quite arty felt a complete thicko but it was fun and think got one question right that the others in the team didn't manage :)

The last week saw a visit from Moomin and some fun-filled shopping was had by all with a couple of trips to Edinburgh and our gazillionth trip to Ikea since we moved house last September. Finally got round to putting some pictures up which have been lying around and am happy to say that the living room is at long last looking the way we want it.

Anyway, back to Gethin. The wee lad is doing well. He can quite happily entertain himself and loves his books and building blocks/bricks, although he is developing a perhaps unhealthy obsession with Pingu. He is proving quite stubborn at times (mmm, a trait he has got from both his parents) and is also the master of some quite quality strops. Yet he is beginning to show that he knows right from wrong and quite often apologises unprompted if he has been naughty. Still doesn't stop him having a raging fit if he doesn't get his way sometimes though. As all bairns his age he has become quite possessive and most things are 'mine'.

Well, the terrible twos have definitely onset (and we did witness our first official Ikea tantrum on Sunday - we're so proud) and we are still a few weeks away from the birthday. Not sure what plans are afoot to celebrate the wee ones anniversary but no doubt cake and candles will feature, and hopefully a new bed for bairn as he is outgrowing his cot (physically and metaphorically).

2:57PM. Monday, 3rd March 2008

Gethin, Cole and Peta — 1970-01-01T00:00:00+01:00

Profound apologies for the relatively quiet state of 2008 on the bairn blog. things have been quite stressful and hectic in the henley household this year so blogging opportunities have been quite rare. the last few weeks we have seen a few visitors to Henley towers with aunty jo coming up from Londinium before P meeting up with Kate and a visitation of Uma and Oompa from deepest, darkest Leamington Spa.

Aunty Jo ventured up a couple of weeks ago and we all had a fun-filled weekend with trips to Five Sisters zoo in Livingston before a spot of shopping and the obligatory Sunday trip to South Queensferry for coffee, cake and chilled coastal vibes. Last Thursday Peta headed up to Perthshire with G to meet up with friend Kate and pay a visit to their old school master from CH, the Mundells.

This weekend Uma & Oompa ventured north and after the long drive we all set about an action-packed weekend. We made a couple of trips to Ikea to resolve our lack of book storage at home (care of some lovely new bookcases). The highlight of the weekend was a trip to East Links Farm - http://www.eastlinks.co.uk/ - where there was fun galore to be had for both adults and bairns. Cole and P delighted in some of the swings and slides - whilst G was content with the tractors, trains and small furry creatures.

It has been quite a tough weekend with Gethin who has been fairly challenging of late, particularly for Peta who has him for over half the week and does more than her share over the weekend. His last few teeth are coming through (much drooling ensues) which is clearly upsetting him but everything is now becoming a battleground for negotation. Dressing, eating, bathing, going to bed, leaving the house and getting in the car seat are all becoming a battle of wills. It is really draining and whilst there have been massive highs with G's behaviour - he is really empathetic and quite a considerate wee child - there have been many moments of exasperation and frustration.

I suppose the frustation is as much his as he struggles to come to terms with new words and new abilities (this week he has perfected the art of jumping) as well as the physical and mental limits that come with being a proto-2 year old. Anyway, he is definitely going to hit the terrible twos running and whilst - as everyone tells us - this is all quite normal it is really difficult to manage on a daily basis so any suggestions/tips/hints through the comments are more than welcome....