Well, hello! I hope you’re enjoying the sunshine as much as we are!

We’ve been to Lullababy Easter Special, featuring the Easter Bunny. Soph came too, and considering what trouble we had with Father Christmas, I was very impressed that she actually waved at him, albeit at a distance. Afterwards, we walked down to the sea where we ate our cakes from Berries and Bakes and had a drink. Friday was Tappy Toes and Saturday involved a trip to The Ice Cream Farm with Daddy. Sunday was the fifth Sunday of Lent, when I usually like to do the big annual church meeting. Naturally, I saw the forecast, hopped in the car, and went to the zoo for the day with the kids! We met Grandpa there and had a fab time. Yesterday we went to the park. Today, we went for a walk to make a Dandelion Lion (photo below) and to a friend’s for an impromptu playdate in the garden.

We’ve also done facepainting (a giraffe and a lion so far), made a model of Aintree out of blocks, and Sophia and I have both tried on my wedding dress! Sophia seems to be my shadow at the moment, mirroring so much of what I’m doing with Aidan with her dolly who is pretty much the same size. She has called this dolly ‘Poppy’, and Poppy refers to me as ‘Granny’ and Nathan as ‘Bubba’, which is all very confusing.

Milestones: Aidan is officially 7 months old and he is now in his 9-12 month wardrobe! As much as I feel so sad every time I put the small clothes away (like waking Nathan up from his nap with my crying), I do love the clothes in this size!

Food: Aidan loves gravy. If we’re friends on Facebook, you may have already seen that he face planted his plate trying to drink it! He’s also a fan of Nathan’s teriyaki beef, and today, he stole a piece of sausage off my fork as he was sat on my knee. I wonder if this is down to the very rare steak I had at the end of my pregnancy!

What Sophia said: You may have gathered that it’s been an interesting few weeks with regards to childcare (not to mention the BBC airing How Safe Are Our Nurseries, which has made me rethink a couple of my bigger parenting choices). Anyway, we now ask Sophia questions at the end of the day, such as, ‘what did you do with your hands today?’ ‘What made you happy today?’ ‘Who was kind to you today?’ ‘Did anything make you feel uncomfortable today?’. Questions like this are easier for them to answer than ‘how was your day?’ or ‘was everything OK today?’.

Anyway, after our trip to the zoo, I asked ‘Who was kind to you today?’.

She said: ‘Grandpa, when he gave me a tickle and called me a smasher’ which I thought was absolutely delightful!

Some other observations. I am trying to wring so much goodness and joy out of this year. It’s the holidays at the moment and I’ve got lists of activities for when we can be outside or when it’s raining, activities that are free and those that cost money. I’m holding loosely to the house stuff and just enjoying my time with my wonderful children. Don’t get me wrong, it’s overwhelming sometimes, and I still haven’t managed to get out on my own for my birthday haircut. But I am mostly incredibly fulfilled and at peace.

Another thing, how lovely is spring when you aren’t worrying about Holy Week?

More next time (when I may well be pulling my hair out because it’s week two of the holidays!)