The Glow of the TV.

Head pounding, sore throat and Bryan in charge means that Roman has been enjoying the glow of the TV a little too much today ;). It's kind of embarrassing to tell you that every time I now try to turn off the TV Roman breaks down and asks for 'CBeebies back on' and for the TV remote. Next week it's all change and I'm seriously considering ditching the TV licence in light of this development. I do not want a TV addicted child!

Back to crafts, painting and play times once things go back to normal next week - I only hope that I'm back to normal by next week because if not I might have to rely on our trusty babysitter just a tiny bit longer.

"Want Gurga (Burger)!"

My stripey boy trying to mastermind a way to get to that plate of food to his left.

Seeing as the chesty sounding cough hadn't cleared up I decided to make a doctor's appointment for Roman yesterday. The receptionist awarded me with an appointment this afternoon which meant that Bryan could take Roman along without me having to trek all the way over to the surgery. 

It turned out Roman was absolutely fine (apart from a chesty cough) and Bryan was given a leaflet that the doctor undoubtedly hands out to every first time parent...but it's better to be safe than sorry. And I waited a good time between Ro developing the cough and taking him to the doctor so I don't feel there's any embarrassment to be felt on my part, it's what every good parent does; makes sure their child is safe, healthy and cared for. Plus if there was something more sinister under that awful wheezing? I'd never forget I'd caused damage to my child's health when there are doctors and medicine out there, free at the point of entry no less, for us to use. 

When he got home Roman demanded a slew of foods he wanted to eat, surprising me with his sudden appetite. When he realised that his veggie burger was cooked and waiting for him he wanted it immediately. "WANT GURGA!" he said, gluing his eyes to the burger. "Want sauce, want roll, want gurga." I told him it would have to cool down first, otherwise he'd hurt himself and he simply didn't care about my reasoning ;). So once the burger was cooled, it was served and promptly devoured as though it was the last morsel of food on the face of the earth. "All done, want biscuit, want jelly," Roman informed me very matter of factly. As a special treat he had ice cream...and when he was done with that? "Want cereal." I suppose after a few days of picking at meals and not eating very much his appetite was restored and it's safe to say that he's on the road to a speedy recovery ;).

Some Smell.

I love having a garden and so does Roman. I think wherever we go now, we'll have a garden, unless we're unable to afford a rented place with one, of course ;). Roman loves the weeds that grow in our garden. "Lubbly fwowers (lovely flowers)!" he'll declare, making a grab for a fistful of weeds. "Some smell," he'll say, stuffing his nose right into the 'flower.' 

And yeah this photo has nothing to do with a garden, flowers or weeds but I had to share it; we came in, he was angry and so he threw his water down on the ground in a protest. Shortly after this I threw down that dish towel and he started to mop it up without prompting. We're going through some funny phases right now with this boy and more than ever I feel I'm really getting to know and see his developing personality.

Growth Spurt.

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After a day filled with playing in sand, keeping up with cousins and stuffing his face full of food I decided to have a nice wind down with Roman in the garden - basically letting him loose out there to work off any extra energy he'd have kicking around.

I also really wanted to spend time with him; stealing cuddles and kisses where I could and making my observations. And, as you can well see, he's really stretching into a tall boy.

I can't quite remember what caught his interest here - probably me randomly shouting 'CAT!' at him from behind the camera just so he'd look my way and stand still for five minutes ;).

Shiny Happy.

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I was in two minds about this photo today. For a start it was one of those photos that looked spectacular in the camera and then very different on my computer. Still, it shows what today was full of; a happy sweaty little face smiling back at me.

And after the photo was taken? Well he saw I was a little unsteady in my crouched down position and decided to push me over - cheeky little thing ;).

Full of Cheek.

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It was hard choosing a photo today but this won because he was so proud of himself in nabbing this shower gel bottle before I had the chance to tell him to put it back ;).

I was running the shower when I took this photo and his favourite thing to do is push bottles of shower gel and shampoo into the bath as the water runs into it - I have no idea why but he kills himself with a giggle fit every time. I love the happiness he gets from simple pleasures.

Face Full of Crumbs.

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The theme seems to be food this week - and this little toddler eating it ;). I can't help it, I find it precious when he eats. I love that he loves food and has such a healthy appetite.

He was pretty ravenous today and made short work of every food stuff put in front of him - and these crumbs? They're the crumbs of the biscuits he stole ;). So full of cheek and charm.

Boy on a Box.

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We had a knock at the door just as Bryan was heading out this afternoon. "Are you expecting a parcel?" he asked me, knowing full well I might be. But for once I couldn't recall buying anything on-line. Of course no sooner had the question left his lips than it was answered by the delivery man, who was from a large chain store dropping off Roman's (early) birthday present from my mum. Some much needed storage for his room. 

As parents to the most lavished upon little boy ever it's hard to be creative about birthday present ideas - storage ranks pretty highly on 'he needs this for his room, but it's kinda boring.' 

Well, he didn't find it boring ;). He loved the fact it had a 'seat' for him and he loved lifting up the lid and putting it back on again. The box has two compartments so I told Roman 'your plastic things will go in here and your cloth/soft toys go in here' not expecting him to understand a word of what I said. I then later saw him putting a name brand plastic building block into the plastic compartment ;). I don't know if he understands or it's just coincidence but I was impressed either way.

Roman is also mighty curious. He used to love the windows in our old flat because they were quite low and with a toy box propped up against the window he could look out onto the street. Now it's a case of standing up on this new toy box, craning his neck a little and getting a good eyeful from his vantage point of the comings and goings of our neighbours. I think he's very pleased with this gift.

Although he loves to jump off the sofa, while B catches him. Well, today he said, 'jump! jump! jump!' which is usually a way of telling us he wants to jump but not necessarily a precursor to doing so. 

So it was his usual jump chant and all of a sudden he'd leaped off the box, we look round to see a little boy in a heap on the floor - laughing his head off, no less! 

Day one of the box and already it's multi-purpose ;).

Cheeky in Aisle 5.

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Almost as soon as I headed out today with the buggy it rained. Of course. Doing my hair and make-up was a pointless exercise - but it did make me feel more human, so maybe not a complete loss.

I had intended to take Roman to the park (on my own, yes, twice this year and this month) but because it was heavily raining we headed to a well known bargain basement shop instead. It recently opened in the summer here and I've only been there three times, including today. 

It was relatively empty which is the best kind of shop with a buggy in tow. After about an hour of looking around, Roman got fed up. And when he saw another little boy running around, giving his mum a nervous breakdown in the process no doubt, he got even more frustrated.

I would usually feel bad, but it's easier to contain him in the buggy and I will be keeping him in there as long as his legs and little body allow - it's my life saver. I do not have the energy, strength, speed or dexterity as other parents. I'd rather he learned not to run around in shops so that I don't have to chase around after him, disguising my annoyance in a chirpy tone. And I would rather store up the energy required to spend time with him at home. 

I need to do that often; store up energy from somewhere so I can do other things. And it's also a pain to get him back into the buggy once he's out - he hates going back in unless he's tired. 

So, with his frustration reaching a boiling point, I decided to take him to a quiet spot in the shop and pull some funny faces and take photographs. I was a bit paranoid about doing this but the shop is so big, and I purposely picked a quiet spot, that I was sure we wouldn't be interrupted by a member of staff kindly telling me to put my camera away - which has never happened, I'm just paranoid because Bryan keeps telling me it will happen every time I take a photograph in shops.

Well, he wasn't there to tell me that ;). So I snapped away and was quite surprised by how quickly Roman's mood improved. Just a little 'face time' with me and he was quite content to keep shopping - although I soon lost the will to live/shop and promptly paid for my things and got the hell out of there. Back into the freezing cold rainy weather.