An Expert Cleaner in the Making

First off- Happy Mother's Day to all you UK and Irish Moms, Mums and Mas. For some reason, this holiday is celebrated on a different day (sometime in May) in the US so lucky me, I get to celebrate two. Hey- you would too if you could! My mom treated me to an AMAZING massage at KnotStressed yesterday and this morning Freddie woke me up with a lovely bouquet of flowers and a homemade card. The best!

We had a busy day yesterday when we realized the new baby's due date is 3 weeks from Monday. YIKES! How did this happen???? So, the three of us spent the afternoon "nesting" (aka guilt-led dusting of the entire house for fear of the new baby hacking on a dustball). We also washed the windows which, literally, brightened our day. They've never looked better!

Freddie was a BIG help. He was very interested in the squeegee and handed it to William and I when we needed it. He also spent a longgggg time (45 minutes!) wiping down his own kitchen. Thanks for the help Fred!

That's right - he just doesn't wear bottoms anymore.

There's a new doc in town

Freddie and I had a great morning driving (yahooooo!) to story time at the library and back. It didn't even deter us when we had to park about a mile away. Still worth it!

Of course the box was a major hit, too!

We got back around noon and had only been in the door a few minutes when there was a knock. Freddie was sans trousers (and undies) - for the sake of toilet training purposes - but we rushed to open it anyway.

As usual, it was the postman. It's rarely anyone else during the day and even though we probably get packages weekly (love me some Amazon), it's still very exciting. He shoved a MASSIVE box into the flat while I signed for it and Freddie was instantly begging me to open it.

My bagel was in the toaster and his lunch was half made but how soon they were forgotten. We opened the box and, to our delight, found two costumes in it for Freddie.

One was a construction worker's outfit, complete with a hat, goggles, fluorescent vest, hammer and saw, and the other was a doctor's coat, stethoscope, surgical mask and that thing that doctors hit against your knee (anyone know what the heck those are called?). 

I had to tear Freddie away from them twenty minutes later so he could eat lunch (probably the fastest consumed sandwich in history) but managed to snap a few pics first. The great thing about a construction worker and doctor is they can apparently share gear. I guess you never know when a surgeon might need a hard hat!

THANK YOU NINA!!!

Happy Paddy's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! If you're Irish, or simply like any excuse for a par-tay (one of the reasons I'm proud to say I'm American), you're probably boozing it up and doing an Irish jig right now. If you're 22 months old, you celebrate by wearing green and rolling around in a bean bag chair. Here are some pics of Freddie, our little leprechaun, kicking up his heels for his Irish roots:

Big thanks to Nana for the outfit!!

Saved by the...

There's no other way to put it - Freddie and I had a wretched morning. Well, make that night and morning. I was up 3 times in the night, once from 3-415ish (couldn't get back to sleep for some reason!) and then he woke up at 5.

He's been doing this a lot lately, although usually it's more like 530 (but STILL), and we usually just try to get him back to sleep (doesn't work)/ignore him until 630. Supposedly if you do this enough (thank you online parent forums), they will remember to sleep in until that time and go back to doing it. We'll see.

So, I listened to him cry on and off (William's in Newcastle this weekend, living it up) for an hour and a half. Not a pleasant experience. Then, by 8am he was ready for a nap. The extreme tiredness was obvious, as he was throwing things and trying to hit me (both phases I thought we'd gotten past!) so by shortly after 830 he was back in bed.

Normally he goes down fine for naps, especially on early mornings, but no no, not today! He totally fought it and, after listening to him cry on and off for ANOTHER hour or so, I gave in, went in and sang him another round of the song (you all know it by now) and he laid down and went straight to sleep. His current obsession with me and needing repeated "goodnights" before bed are the subject of a whole other post.

Not wanting to throw off our whole day's schedule, I woke him up 20 minutes later (it was almost 1030!). Arrrrg. I quickly reworked our plans for the day (Meadows playground, Starbucks, Lunch out) and decided we'd head to the park to play football and try to spot some squirrels. Yes, that's right, I was too tired to even get myself to Starbucks.

And this is where it gets good. As we were both sleep walking through the park, we heard the roar of an emergency vehicle. Was it an ambulance? A police car? No, it was a fire engine. The best one! It was as if Freddie's books, puzzles and stickers all came to life. The fire engine zoomed into the park and over to the Education Centre. The firemen waved at Freddie and he waved back. He was in awe.

The truck parked, reversed, and headed back out. We figured it was a false alarm but then, 5 minutes later, it came roaring back. We were definitely awake at this point, and Freddie waved excitedly at the truck as it parked right in front of us. The firemen waved back and we watched them do the same routine again. Park, reverse, and squeal away.

Talk about an exciting turn of events! Usually the best we get out there (besides when the royal helicopter is in town) are some over-excited dogs and puddles to stomp in. We ended up having a great morning watching the truck come and go, both our moods considerably improved.

Look out Brits- there's a new driver in town!

Yes - it's true! I passed my UK driving test. HALLELUJAH. After failing my first attempt for going too slow (I know I know - I'm such a Mom!), I passed today on my second try. And though I'm drenched in sweat, it was all worth it.

Freddie and William hung out at the test center while I took the test and, even though Freddie can only string two or three words together at the moment, he more than understood it was good news when I got back. The whole way home he kept yelling "YAYYY MAMA YAYYY MAMA!" Great to have that kind of support!

Obligatory cute Freddie pic

Photo of the week (or month!) - Beach in the Winter

Even though it's March 1st and it was sunny, it was still fairly chilly and breezy at Portobello today. Lucky for Freddie, that didn't stop his parents and the three of us spent the afternoon building sand castles and burying our feet in the sand. A taste of Spring!