Reasons to be Cheerful - 1,2,3...



I live with two of the most brilliant comedians in Rugby, or maybe even England.  The thing is - they are my children, and sometimes they're not aware of how funny they are.  I love the fact that they make me laugh every single day, and here are some of the reasons why:

1. Joel playing the guitar (attempting flamenco music!) - talking to Nathan playing the ukulele: "That's not rock music - that's just LOUD!"
2. Nathan's occasional mis-pronunciation of words: "Come on Mrs Harrington" (See previous post - Words)
3. In the garden recently - Joel comes running - "Mummy, Mummy - I've found a spider - his name is Henry!"
4. The way Nathan will not come and brush his teeth if you ask him too, but if you go into the bathroom without him, and start saying "Where's my Nathan - I can't find him - He must have gone missing" etc. He'll come running...
5. The way neither of the boys have realised the fact that the nightly 'Pyjama Race' isn't an exciting competition, it's just a cunning ruse to get them ready for bed.
6. The sound of them laughing
7. The stick game - How many sticks can you find to put in the green bin?  Current record: 164 (Otherwise known as a cunning plan to tidy up the garden...  I know, parenting requires an awful lot of cunning!)  This may turn into the leaf game over the next few months...
8. The simple joy of jumping - it just makes Nathan so happy. ("I'm jumping on the kitchen!"...)
9. Sweet Caroline (see previous post...)
10. Joel and Nathan's never ending encouragement - there's nothing more brilliant than being told you're doing well by someone too young to fudge the truth...

Fancy A Brew?

Over the weekend I was having a cup of tea with some friends, and they were surprised to hear that I only started drinking tea at university. 


I did my midwifery degree at the University of Central Lancashire.  Up until this point I'd lived in Buckinghamshire, so moving to Preston was a bit of a shock to the system...


We spent a lot of our first year doing placements with community midwives.  It was at this point that I discovered how truly devoted people from Lancashire are to drinking tea.  After being asked: "Fancy a brew?" in every house we visited at least ten times every day, I realised I was going to have to start drinking tea if I was ever going to fit in! 
I only discovered the Lancashire Hotpots today, thanks to my friend Sarah - this song is a homage to the tea drinkers of Lancashire...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aM1jQ8cIFuU&feature=related


I'm off to make a cuppa xx

Dance like a kid

I was feeling a bit glum earlier on having heard some sad news...  (Nothing major - so don't panic!)

It was then that I heard some exceedingly raucous laughter coming from my lounge.  Both my children have brilliant laughs - especially when they're uninhibited, and not being watched - It's one of the best sounds in the world.  I walk in, to discover the boys are having a silly dancing competition - taking turns to dance, and being awarded points for their efforts.  They are laughing and laughing - and (for once) it actually doesn't matter who has the most points.

Then the inevitable happens.  Nathan loses interest, and so Joel asks me to take Nathan's turn.  Well, what could I do? 

I give it my best shot.  Somewhere between the twist and the hand jive, with bonus points for pulling a silly face at the same time.  These things are less embarrassing if you throw yourself in whole-heartedly.  In fact, I discover that I'm really quite good at it.  So good that Nathan decides to join in - and so Joel gives us the best score so far: 9 out of 10...  Bruno Tonioni would be proud. 

And actually, I guess I win really.  As there's no room for being sad when you're dancing like a kid.  I think I knew this before - but sometimes you just need the encouragement to give it a try.  Go on, I dare you.
As Chris and Pui would say: "Show me show me your groovy moves!"

Words

I spent some time looking after my beautiful God daughter yesterday.  (I think any mother of boys should endeavour to have a God daughter; endless excuse for girly behaviour and pink purchases...) Anyway, it all went well, and I was pleased to discover that she mastered some new words whilst she was with us - namely, apple (or 'bapple'), monkey ('dunkey') and sheep (OK - actually 'beep'!).

I'd semi-forgotten how much I like this phase.  Amelia is 21 months old now, and she's pretty much learning a new word every day.  How cool is that? I love the way you start to get an insight into what's going on in their amazing little heads.  Amelia has always had plenty of personality - but now she gets the chance to express it so much more.  I like the way they babble on, mostly unintelligibly, but just throwing in the odd understandable word.

It's not that long since my own children were doing a similar thing; but it's amazing to me how quickly it fades in your memory.  Joel used to call butterflies 'numenies', and Nathan mispronounced all sorts of things, but I'm starting to forget the details. My favourite of Nathan's is actually pretty recent:  We were all watching the Grand Prix together, and he was playing with some toy F1 cars and shouting; 'Come on Jenson Bottom!' (easy enough to guess who he meant there), and 'Come on Mrs Harrington!'  It took us a while to realise he meant Lewis Hamilton.  I laughed so much I thought I might burst.  I'm kind of hoping to keep these as an on-going family joke to be honest.

'Come on Mrs Harrington!'