William meets the farm animals

William and I had a GREAT day today. We went to Farmer Gow’s which is a farm set up for kids to visit a little way out of Oxford. It was such fun. Just after we walked in, there were some 1 day old chicks that we could pick up and hold. William was very interested in the light (it went up to a plug in the ceiling – very exciting when you are into plugs and wires as much as William is) and the sawdust in their container, but soon was quite fascinated by their cheeping and little wings flapping. He gently stroked them, and enjoyed watching them play in their container. After having fun outside climbing on a 6 m high pile of bales of hay (which also had a secret tunnel running underneath them) and riding the toy tractors we went to meet the animals. William was pretty brave, I thought, leaving my lap to feed hay to the 10 adult goats who stuck their heads through the railing. He helped me feed a bottle to the 5 day old lambs, and then fed pellets to the sheep and adult goats all by himself. By this stage he was happy to feed a bottle of milk to an adult goat, and wasn’t bothered as they all trotted about him, going from person to person to get food and milk. I didn't quite manage to stop William from trying some of the milk from the goats bottle - after the goat had had some. Oh well, I'm sure it is good good for his immune system! We then helped collect eggs in the hen house, and lead a goat on a lead back to the barn. It was such an action packed day and he was so interested and keen throughout. I think that we’ll be going back to Farmer Gow’s again.

This evening William had a bath....lit just by the light of a duck! It was fun! Nana bought William a duck that lights up (different colours) when wet, so each evening as we choose toys for the bath we enjoy throwing it in with the lights off, so that we can get the full spectacle when it turns on. Instead of the usual bath of 20 toys (if you count each individual milk carton lid as a toy…) we just had one bottle and the duck this evening. And William was perfectly entertained....

Pictures from last weekend

Last weekend we took William to a community run drop in centre for toddlers, called Donnington Doorstep. He loved it. He showed us how he can climb a ladder all by himself (eeek!) and drove a little sit-inside plastic car around the garden.


Then we went to Oxford Castle Unlocked, where we learnt lots about Oxford Castle and the prison. William seemed to love running around the inside of the prison shouting 'Raaaa". Daddy put us in the stocks, but we didn't mind!

Then we went to Carluccios for lunch, were William was very well behaved.

Finally, we came home and William helped out with the cooking. William really enjoys standing on a chair by the kitchen bench and helping out. On the weekend he always helps us to prepare breakfast by taking the peg off the bag of oats, then helping to pour some oats into the saucepan, the undoing the lid of the milk (currently each of his hands can only undo in on direction, so you need to offer the milk to the hand that can undo in the appropriate direction!), pouring some milk on the oats, then stirring the porridge with our wooden spurtle (bought at Towersery Folk Festival). He loves eating porridge!

CDs are the new plugs

William LOVES playing with plugs. When he sees one (across the room) he points at it and says a loud "Ooooohh", then toddles over and tries to unplug whatever is in it. After catching him a few times chewing the cords, we've tried to 'de-plug' the house and now they are almost all out of site and reach. So, his favourite toy has been denied him. Ever inventive and ingenious, he has come up with a new favourite toy - CDs. In an attempt to save most of our CDs from grubby fingers we have given him 3 of his own to play with. These three get put in and out of plastic pockets for tens of minutes on end. Then he'll poke his finger through the hole in the middle. Then put them back in a plastic pocket again.

Another new trick this week is opening his mouth wide when it is full of food and 'showing' you what he is eating. I guess he picked it up at nursery. We are trying not to react (or laugh). Here is a picture taken the week before he started this new trick, so is more uvulartastic than a food visual. He is being particularly cute these days though, so it is such fun to play with him.

I've been a bad blogger recently. Although not updating the blog regularly, I have been writing down notes and milestones on a scrap of paper...which I now can't find. Sorry. I'll be back when I find it.

Note the great scarf knitted by Aunty Alice! And the cute wellies with dinosaurs from Nana and Grandad.

Christmas 2008

A few pics on Christmas Eve

Here is some Christmas spirit! This is a recent picture (taken last weekend by a friend of ours, Aaron). We had a lovely lunch with friends (Dawn, Aaron, and little Violet, Clare and Jen) a The Fishes Pub. They gave us all Santa Hats - William loved all the comments that he received when he put his on.

Auntie Alice arrived safely in Oxford this morning, after a long journey. She and William met for the first time, and had fun playing together. Auntie Alice helped William add windows with curtains to the 'house' he has, which is made from cardboard boxes.

Here are some pics, the first one must have been taken in the Summer, as it is of William and I in the Botanic Gardens at Oxford. All three of us when for a picnic there one day. William was in a pretty good mood, playing on a rug while we listened to some live music - and was even happy for a little cuddle, which Andrew captured here.


Then, for contrast, some of William taken a rainy Autumn day, when we were scrumping apples (mentioned in an earlier blog).



And, for contrast - this is another face that we are beginning to see more of - here come the terrible twos!

I'm just sitting at the computer planning the logstics of the first ever Christmas lunch that I shall cook tomorrow. I'm gaining appreciation for the 35 Christmas meals that I've eaten to date, without having this pressure of actually cooking it all! How long do I need to cook a 5kg (=11lbs) duck for???? Does anyone know?

A more recent movie

These clips were taken in November, and the second bit was last weekend.

Uh-oh

Busy, busy, busy. Life is always very busy.

I just want to quickly put up some movies from the last couple of months. They aren't very good (going in and out of focus alot) and haven't been edited either, but they show William doing some of the ordinary things that he does each day. Firstly, taken in August I think, is a short piece showing how well William can feed himself.



Next, is a little movie of William on the swing at the local park.



He continues to do lots of new things every week. In October he said his first word "Uh-oh" and in the last week of November, he said his second "car". I'm not sure why he decided to choose "car" as his second word, as we don't take him in the car much (he rides on the bike to nursery each day) and he only has one toy car. Andrew thinks that he may have said his third word just today, which was "cat", but I haven't heard that one yet - I guess that we'll be visitng every cat we know to see whether he uses it again! He is also getting better and better at his overarm throwing, so will probably be bowling for the Australian cricket team in the next Ashes series.

We've been doing some DIY and recently put up a new coat rack in the hallway:

I got my act into gear last month and made some Plum Puddings, using the same recipe that I use every single year (because it is the best!), from my Grannie Olive. I made a couple of big ones and lots of little ones, that I plan to give away as gifts:


In November Andrew, William and I took a long weekend off work and stayed in a Landmark Trust house near Cambridge, in a little village called Clare. I have been wanting to stay in a Landmark Trust house for the last 6 years, and it was great to finally do it - the excuse being our second wedding anniversary. The house had loads of character, including a huge fireplace and lots of sloaping floors. The drop in height across the bathroom, for example, was over a foot! I like the carved plasterwork on the front of the house (see pic below) - pretty impressive. We tootled about Clare and visited some local attractions, including a minature steam railway that William loved.