school christmas play

It was a parenting milestone watching my little boy be a Christmas Tree in his first school play. It was completely darling. Oscar sang very well, although I think due to so many rehearsals the song had become a bit mundane for him, and so he occupied himself onstage by doing crazy facial expressions. I was very proud!

With strict instructions over photos etc, I had to make most of a moment to take his picture at the end (being careful to crop out any other children from the shot. I was hoping for a nice smile. No matter how many times I asked, he was being Mr Funny. Here is what I got...

I need to get his autograph. What a silly sausage!

mr 1 ★ the party

The family came over for Barney's little party. Nice and simple: a mixed CD with Barney's favourite songs*, a game of pass the parcel, and the birthday cake with the candle in the shape of a dinosaur. It was a winning formula for excited little Barney, surrounded by so many people who made him happy, and his favourite songs to get overwhelmed by! He never stopped smiling.

Barney's dance moves made us all laugh. A mixture of the 'Barney shoulder turn' move, walking close to the TV, bouncing up and down, waving his arms, and running up to someone. Here's some of his moves in action:

The cake and happy birthday song were quite eventful.

Other nice aspects of the afternoon were...
Uncle Dan blowing a party blower into Barney's face, and the gentle momentum nearly knocking him over.
Oscar's face when he won the pass the parcel prize.
Barney running up to Jenny to give her a hug, with his arms wide and a big smile... and then tailing away and leaving her hanging.
Spare icing from the cake ending up on my plate!
Barney enjoying the birthday cake, all over his face and up his sleeves.


It was a really lovely time. I can't believe he's 1! Happy Birthday Barney :)


*BARNEY'S PLAYLIST
1) Party Rock Anthem
2) The Cat in the Hat Theme Song
3) Curious George Theme Song
4) Horrid Henry Theme Song
5) The audio from Apple iPad2 TV Advert
6) Jungle Book - The Bare Necessities
7) Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - I Have You Two

mr 1 ★

Little baby chops - how did you grow up so fast?!

It's been a really sweet day together and Barney's had a lovely time. He seems to know he has an extra amount of tinker about him and he smiled and smiled.

Barney got a cutie tricycle for his birthday, here's Oscar pushing him around early this morning as a freshly woken-up Barney begins to realise what a trike is and how it will impact his life.

After lots of playing, cuddling and a trip out to Cheeky Monkeys, we came home for tea and little cakes for his birthday candle. Barney was made up. We're using the big cake for the big family party in a few days, but I don't even think the size of the cake matters to him, when he's so mesmorised by the ONE candle, tinker!!

Love you love you love you my little gorgeous peachy baby chops! Happy Birthday!

meeting santa

On a Saturday morning we wrapped up warm and went out as a family to see Santa, who was making a big arrival at Birkacre. We were all giddy when we joined the big crowd and listened to the brass band play Christmas songs as we waiting for the sleigh.

The boys both thought the reindeer were cool. The elf said it was Rudolf! Oscar asked, "Where's his red nose, then?". The elf said he gets his red nose on Christmas Eve. Crisis avoided.

Oscar was so excited to get near to Santa and meet him, that when it was finally his turn Oscar seemed a bit overcome. Santa said hello and asked for a high five. Oscar froze and didn't say a word, just nodded his head gently. Santa also asked Barney for a high five, and Barney just watched him placidly with a vague disinterest.

This Monday was Oscar's Christmas School Fair. He went to see Santa again, this time feeling a little more confident. We went into the grotto, and Oscar was still a bit star struck..He sat there gazing in awe, only finding the courage to talk when he had to tell Santa what he wanted for Christmas, then suddenly he was able to say a LONG list! Barney slept. He seems altogether underwhelmed over Santa.

After a pleasant visit with Santa we walked down the corridor back to the fair. Oscar was holding onto the selection box Santa had given him, with a thoughtful look on his face.
Then he asked, "Mummy, was that the REAL Santa?"
"Yes, he's very nice, isn't he!"
"But he wasn't wearing his glasses this time."
"Oh dear! It must be because he's been so busy in the workshop, that he had to hurry here and left his glasses at home by accident."
(silence as Oscar quietly considers)
"...Yeah I think you're right."

Second crisis avoided. He's due to meet Santa again this week at another party. Better start thinking of more ideas to explain small changes in his looks since the last time...

Nice to meet you Santa!

love water

Barney had spat his water out, and it made a nice heart shape on his t-shirt. It's the most adorable soggy top I've ever seen!

gift tag

This weekend has been the annual 'Festival of the Nativities' at our church. It's a wonderful event that gets everyone exited to start the Christmas season.

Daddy and Oscar went to the giant Christmas tree, where you could write a tag of what gift you were going to give to Jesus this year. I asked what Oscar wrote. He'd written:

"Help people to read and be kind to everyone."

What a darling!! I think reading must be at the forefront of his thoughts as he's learning sounds and letters at school himself. He got Daddy to lift him as high as he could to put his gift tag right near the top. The tree looked amazing with hundreds of tags hung from it, representing peoples' good intentions and things they would share with others. A really lovely idea.

Also from the Festival, here we have my best boys dressed up as a camel and... space man? Oh wait, a camel and a STAR! Tinkers!!

Grandma created an amazing craft room, a world of Nativity fun with lots of things to make and play with. We've spent hours and hours in there enjoying all the special things to do. Oscar LOVED it! And Barney had a great time exploring, sticking his hands in a tray of glitter, and crawling beneath the cookie table hunting for dropped sweeties.

red cap attack

Beautiful baby boy was giggling to himself round the side of the armchair. Then suddenly, crawling the fastest he could, he storms out into view towards us, grinning from ear to ear and laughing from sheer excitement, wearing a red cap he'd found. Mr tinker had (somehow?!) put it on in secret all by himself, thought it FELT brilliant so it must LOOK brilliant (which it did!) and then come out to show us all.

For a good 20 minutes he continued to speed round and round in an excited frenzy. The cap came down to his eyes, which made him laugh even more. Unfortunately this impaired his vision at times, and caused him to crash head first into the TV stand. Poor giddy Barney!