Ten on Tuesday: Cat Rescues & Custard

Back with a Ten, after a couple of weeks of blog silence....

1. I've read reviews & interviews promoting this book, and think it sounds utterly WONDERFUL. Before Westboy was born, I had a certain set of ideas about how I'd look after him: routines, feeding, activities, sleep (ha!), ...that kind of thing. I was pretty sold on The Baby Whisperer's techniques (which anyone who knows me now may find hard to believe). Once he was born and didn't seem to have read the same books as me(!) or fit in with anyone else's ideas of what he "should" do, I realised that I was going to have to work things out for myself. And for him. Over time I've grown more confident in doing that, but I've found it a much bigger challenge than the kind of parenting I'd envisaged. This looks like the book I wish I'd had throughout that process.

2. Last week we tried giving Westbaby dairy, to see whether he's grown out of the milk protein problems. The first step is giving cooked milk. Custard would be a good option, we thought. And then found that in our cupboard were FOUR tubs of custard powder, of which the most recent was a couple of years out of date. So the dairy-fast was broken with rice pudding instead. (I also had some chocolate, which is presumably made with cooked milk? I may have undermined the whole process. but it was nice). Unfortunately it made him more unsettled & a bit sick, so we're back to being dairy-free. 

3. So school allocation happened, Westboy got into our first choice of school, which is great.....Ummmm.... Now we probably need to decline that offer and give him an extra year of preschool for his speech and development to catch up. And then go through the application process again next year with a different set of priorities. I feel pretty peaceful about it all, but would've liked to enjoy the happy-excited feeling of him getting into a lovely school today.

4. Photo of a daring cat rescue operation, which ended with the firefighter needing to be rescued by Mummy cos he couldn't get down :-)

5. Last week, Westboy asked to play the Shopping List and Tummy Ache games, and got through a round of each before he lost interest, which is a complete breakthrough in terms of his attention span. So wonderful! (It did degenerate into an imaginary food fight, with us cracking eggs over each others' heads, throwing tomatoes, and getting wrapped up with toilet roll, which was also pretty awesome).

6. For the times when I am most aware of everything I am not, this is a reminder that my children want ME, not some fictional super-mum. And a warning that I should never ever look at Pinterest.

7. This TED talk by Susan Cain is great. I feel like I'm beginning to understand why being an introvert might not actually be a bad thing (and could actually be good!)

8. I love that all these mundane things that make up my life at the moment are training & equipping me for whatever's next. I sometimes feel like I catch a glimpse of what that might be & how it makes sense of the stuff that's so hard at the moment. I might be way-off, but it's still exciting to watch it unfold. 

9. I've been listening to the Real Marriage series by Pastor Mark Driscoll, and highly recommend it. Really good stuff.

10. Aaw! (taken by my lovely husband)

There are more great ten-on-tuesdays here: Sarah, Jo, Lucy, Hannah, & Laura.

Have a great week!

Ten on Tuesday: puddle-jumping, pants & playdough

Here's a late ten...

1. Westboy's off nursery for Easter holidays this week, and for the first time since we entered the world of school terms (admittedly only last summer) there is no pressure to do potty training. Because it's done. Hurray!!! (I've been a little wary to say it, but Westboy's doing brilliantly, so I'm daring to put it on here).

2. Westbaby's celebration of his big brother's success.... (clean pants, I assure you!)

3. I imagine that dinosaur-shaped sandwiches must be the 3-year-old equivalent to a beautifully presented plate of gourmet food.

4. Westbaby has started interrupting his bedtime feed, putting his hands either side of my face, and kissing me. It's adorable. Sometimes it doesn't quite work out and he burps in my face instead. Boys eh?!

5. The littlest West cousins on a Skype call to Granny & Gramps.

6. I'm wondering what rest & 'sabbath' look like when you're running round after small children?

7. This article described something they've labeled "Nature Deficit Disorder". I wholeheartedly agree that children should experience and learn about nature. How that plays out in our current environment isn't entirely straightforward... Our outside space is 3x5 metres of concrete, with a few pots. I recently found that a rat had curled up and died in one pot (luckily it'd decomposed to a skeleton by the time I found it. I considered including a photo, but am resisting). Is this what they mean by nature??? We go to a park most days, but I sometimes feel that we're more likely to discover dog poo & broken glass than nature, so that's only marginally a better option. So, um, any suggestions?!

8. Puddle-jumping in Sefton Park (maybe this counts?)

9. I made chocolate playdough to create 'gardens' in creche on Sunday (the theme was Gethsemane, so it kind of fitted...). We enjoyed playing with the leftovers at home. Admittedly it looks a bit gross, but it smells AMAZING.

10. My husband had the awesome privilege of filming this life-changing moment. Such a lovely couple, such a romantic proposal, Congratulations Mike & Danielle!!!

Linking up with the other ten-on-tuesday-ers: Sarah, Jo, Lucy, Hannah, & Laura.

Have a great week!