For a few weeks now The Boy has been asking us to take the stabilisers from his bike. At first I almost ignored him and distracted him with something else to hand. Knowing how tentative he was with the metal balance bike that he used to have, I thought there would be no way he's cope with the weight of a bike. Combine that with his inability to stop looking at everything else around him, apart from the direction in which he should be cycling, I thought there would be no way he'd be able to cycle without stabilisers.
Days 124 – 130 of Project 365
A Bicycle Made For Two
In the Spring of last year, my husband started a new job seven minutes walk from our house. Having spent the previous seven years commuting to work with anything from a fifteen minute to an hour long drive, this was a massive novelty for him. Therefore, when after three months he realised that he'd used his car three times, he decided to sell his car as it was no longer needed.
A month later his boss moved the office to Cardiff Bay.
And Mr. TBaM was left without any way of getting to the new office!
However, as he has The Best Boss In The Entire World™, this wasn't a problem because his boss just bought him a (rather expensive actually) new bike to use. When he was placing the order he also purchased a tag-along bike seat for The Boy. At the time The Boy was too young to use it as he'd only just started cycling on his own bike with stabilisers, but recently TBBITEW™ threatened to sell it due to lack of use, so we decided The Boy was old enough!
The best place in the area to try out something like this is the barrage in Cardiff Bay; no cars are allowed on it (except authorised vehicles) and it has a long, fairly straight and flat road which sees very little pedestrian or cycling traffic. We took Mr. TBaM's bike down as well as the tag-along, in the boot of my car, not telling The Boy what the plan was. At first, he was concerned as he thought it was a new bicycle for him without a front wheel, but he was overjoyed when he saw what it was!
They cycled back and forth across the barrage about eight times in the half an hour we were there and every time The Boy passed me, he had the biggest grin and sense of achievement on his face. There were several times when Mr. TBaM actually stopped cycling and The Boy continued peddling, he was so strong that he was pushing them both along. We'll need to adjust his seat a little as it was slightly too high, but he managed brilliantly, and we're also hoping that it will teach him a little bit more about balance so we can build up to removing his stabilisers!
I'm going to be ticking this one off for the National Trust's 50 Things: Go on a long bike ride (it was very long for him!)
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Days 313 – 320 of Project 365
314. Perfect (This was the morning after the night before, as we explored Highcliffe beach in the most glorious autumn sunshine.)
315. Exhaustion (When I went to pick The Boy up today from school, I found him holding the teacher's hand and looking very pale. He'd been unhappy most of the afternoon, had a slight temperature and complained of a headache. As soon as he saw me, he started sobbing and I had to carry him home with a very soggy neck. A temperature of 38.4°C saw a dose of the magic pink stuff and cuddles on the sofa. Here he's quietly playing with a new toy called Plus Plus.)
316. Botanist (We were in the garden examining the leaves while The Boy tried out his new Pink Lining satchel.)
317. Scooter (A quick scoot after school on a local pedastrianised street.)
318. Angry Birds (A birthday party for someone who seems to be his school best friend in a fab play centre to the north of Cardiff. These Angry Birds cakes were the ones given out in the party bags, aren't they awesome?)
319. Puntsey (Dressed up for school for Children in Need day, he can't say Pudsey and it's so cute that I don't correct him.)
320. Wiggins Junior (Last year, Mr. TBaM was bought a bicycle by his boss who also bought a tag-along bike which attaches from the back. It's sat in his boss' garage until now as we didn't think The Boy was ready for it, that was until his boss threatened to sell it! We took The Boy down to the barrage earlier and he tried it out for the first time; he was so excited it was amazing to see. I'm hoping that it will help him learn a little more about balance on a bike as at the moment he still had the stabilisers on his normal bike.)
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Days 174-180 of Project 365
174. Spiderman (We were fortunate enough to have a day sightseeing in London following the Britmums conference, and managed a trip on the London Eye for The Boy to locate the places he'd seen with Mr. TBaM the day before. Afterwards we were able to finally visit the Jubilee Gardens at its base, which we'd seen being built last year.)
175. Digging for Treasure (A simple day playing in the house and garden after an exhausting weekend. Nothing is better at the moment than digging for treasure. Especially with Toy Story sunglasses and a genuine pirate hat.)
176. Speedy (An absolutely beautiful evening meant that we were able to nip down to the local nature reserve, feed the swans and practice bike-riding amongst the bullrushes and bamboo.)
177. Playmobil World (More pirates, I know. What can I say? He's loving the hat at the moment. However, I returned home from work today to discover nearly every single piece of Playmobil he owns all spread out in the dining room, and 'pirate caves' created in the Ikea shelving. I love that his imagination is starting to kick in.)
178. Pavement artist (A simple activity which I often forget about; chalk drawing and writing on the patio, focusing on over-writing letters.)
179. On Target (We created a reward chart for The Boy this week, focusing not on behavioural issues, but on time and personal management. Having been for his Reception induction last week I'm very aware that he needs to speed up the rate at which he eats his meals – apart from anything else, the hour is driving us mad – as he won't have time in his lunch break to be chivied along. We've set him the target of eating within thirty minutes, and he's managed it at every mealtime! Other targets are getting dressed by himself – preparing for PE lessons – and tidying up. As a reward he was able to go to soft play with daddy while I was at the Summer Fayre this morning.)
180. Me and My Shadow (After the Summer Fayre, where I painted eleventy billion pink butterflies, we went for a long walk across Cardiff Bay Barrage to the pirate park, and scooted back. The sun was amazing and I love this shadow.)
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Days 118-124 of Project 365
118. Zoom! (We went back to Hotham Park next to Butlin's today, this time taking Laura and her family from Tired Mummy of Two. The Boy had a great time playing with Alison and Elizabeth, especially showing Alison exactly how much fun a zipwire is!)
119. Every Drop Counts (We called into The Vyne, a National Trust venue, on the way home from Butlin's today. More about that in my Country Kids post!)
120. Builders' Yard (I set up another small-world play scene for The Boy today in his water table which he spent quite some time playing with, before we headed off to gymnastics and shopping.)
121. Green Fingers (Wednesday today = first day at work of the week. However, this is not a sleeping photo which is a bonus. The Boy was determined to water the plants in the garden, something tells me this could take some time!)
122. Turning Point (After a good day in work, where I was more than happy to be on playground duty due to the glorious weather – so much so I took my classes out on the playground to do ICT that afternoon – mum and I took The Boy down the pier for an ice-cream and cycle ride. The sun casts such amazing shadows at this time of year. The Boy was having an amazing time racing up and down the pier, until he fell off and ended up with more than fifteen splinters in his right hand!)
123. New Glasses (After picking The Boy up at lunchtime from nursery, we nipped over to a small park in Cardiff Bay which I found a month or two back. It's next to the busy area of the Bay, but because it's behind a high wall and in a residential street, it's usually empty and so we get a chance to play in peace and quiet. I love this snap today for the comedic value.)
124. #22 Explore Inside A Tree! (We went to Tredegar House in Newport for the first time today. I vaguely remember going there once as a child with my parents and sister, but didn't think there would be much for children aside from a play park. It transpires that the National Trust had done a huge amount of work to make it interactive for children and they were also having a launch weekend for the '50 Things To Do Before You're 11&¾' campaign. We actually spent so much time having fun exploring the house – more on that later – that we almost missed the opportunity to cross off about eight of the fifty things. In the end we saw them and got ideas of how to fulfill them, but we didn't actually do any apart from #22 with the help of daddy.)
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Days 62-68 of Project 365
62. Shoot! (These are the seeds we planted a week ago in our gardening play table. They've really shot up, which means that I now have to find somewhere to move them to so they can acclimatise to the outside temperature. However, look to the back, the middle seed label was written by The Boy.)
63. The Sands of Time (We went for a long walk and cycle along Cardiff Bay Barrage today and played in the pirate play park there. We were the only people in the park for quite some time, which meant that The Boy had free rein over the sandy, sunken, pirate ship.)
64. Lick! (The first ice-cream of the year down the beach! The Boy had an eye-test today and he was meant to have eyedrops to test for a stigmatism, however because he held so still and was compliant during the test, he didn't need the drops which I was very relieved about. As a result it meant we were able to nip down to the beach and enjoy an ice-cream on the pier with nana.)
65. Bed Fellows (The Boy looked so peaceful when I went to check on him at midnight, so calm and serene. Oliver Monkey is never far away, and the week wouldn't be complete without a sleeping photo!)
66. Bubbles at Bathtime! (We had an extra long bathtime tonight where we had the bubble machine out, a pot of bubbles and the underwater light – all to remember a special little girl who loved bubbles.)
67. Catch The Pigeon! (Remember the Wacky Races song? Our weekly cycle ride along the pier was just like a scene from that today. The pier was deserted aside from a few elderly couples having their 'daily constitutional' and one or two brave pigeons. I say brave because once The Boy saw them he was determined to scare them away, something that made the grannies and grandads chuckle at!)
68.Splat! (We've been to Nymans for a National Trust event today as we are helping to promote the 50 Things To Do Before You're 11 and ¾ campaign. More to follow on this, and I've had to add this photo in at the last minute so please forgive any editing errors in this post!)
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Country Kids: Park Explorer
We're well into the pattern of getting our minimum of 15 minutes of outdoor play a day now, striding past week two and entering week three. It's been significantly helped by the fact that the past week has been half-term and so I didn't have the stumbling block of my work days getting in the way and effecting our fun and games.
The beach is a top, and easy, venue for us as there aren't enough hours in the day to explore every pebble there, but for a bit of variety we've been going to the parks as well. Turns out my council is a bit unimaginative when it comes to playgrounds in parks and we're bored of them already; there seems to be a set template of poxy climbing frame, baby and junior swing, one slide and a wobbly roundabout. A far cry from the treasures I see other people visiting!
However, we have enjoyed the one decent one in our town which is just around the corner from where I grew up and as such is one I frequented a lot as a child.
I used to climb that tree as a child, so proud of him for learning how to do it too! I'm sure it used to be bigger though?
We've also been to Victoria Park in Cardiff, which is a brilliant park with plenty of money thrown at it; different authorities have different priorities I guess? In the Summer, the paddling/swimming pool is packed with children splashing each other and shrieking with laughter. Winter turns the pool into a curiosity for young children. The Boy managed to find himself a friend in the shape of four year old Phoebe who took his hand and guided him around the playground.
Today we've been down the beach front (again) on The Boy's bike and I have had to tell Mr. TBaM to stop wrapping him up in cotton wool; he's more capable on his bike than his father gave him credit for! If we can just get him to keep his speed up then those stabilisers will be off in no time!
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Days 41-47 of Project 365
41: 'The Terrific Trio' (We were fortunate enough to be able to visit Mummy Mishaps and her boys today, and true to form we dragged them outside into the fresh air for their minimum of 15 minutes outdoor play a day. Hoods up, wellies on, find an old hoop and some puddles, and what more could you want? Really enjoyed our day, thank you Jenny!)
42: '3D' (Today I took The Boy to the cinema with Nana and his cousins, to see 'Sammy's Great Escape'. It's only the second time he's been to the cinema, the first time to see a 3D film. I'll confess that I wasn't sure how well he'd see it, I wasn't sure on the development of vision in tiddlers. However the moment he put them on, he reached out to touch the fish swimming towards him and he repeated this at least a dozen times throughout the film, before then lowering his glasses to try and understand why it looked like he could touch the images. It was really very magical and endearing.)
43: 'Zoomy paint' (Hugely productive day today: playdough, painting with cars and a themed waterplay – more on that another day, gymnastics, and outdoor play again. The Boy loved exploring the different way of mark-making with the paint.)
44: 'Solitary' (After nursery we went down the beach for a blast of fresh air to the system. 'Blast' and 'fresh' are both understatements here. It was freezing and windy. Oh and raining that irritating fine precipitation that gets everywhere! We managed a scoot to the end of the pier and back before collapsing into the warmth of the car. It is worth noting that we were the only people on the seafront!)
45: 'Shake and fizz' (A little science experiment today with some frozen vinegar blocks and coloured ice cubes, liquid vinegar, salt, bicarbonate of soda and a pinch of inquisitiveness.)
46: 'Morning scoot' (I took him for his eye test only to discover he needs a more complex one involving dilating drops to check for a stigmatism, so we had to rebook. As it was 9.30 and we were dressed and out, we headed to Victoria Park in Cardiff which we last went to when he was too young to appreciate. He befriended a four year old little girl and they spent an hour happily racing around, holding hands, zooming down the zipwire, slipping on the ice, helping each other onto the equipment, and having a marvellous time.)
47: 'Hello up there!' (A bike ride through the foggy parks overlooking the beach and back along the seafront to the car, interspersed with some pebble 'plopping' down on the beach. 15 minutes? CHECK!)
I can't choose a favourite this week because I'm very pleased with all of them; they show a mummy and her son who have had a brilliant half-term together.
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Days 34-40 of Project 365
34: 'Swinging' (The Boy learnt to pull himself up into his swing and then swing himself! All by himself! I'm so proud of him. He sat there happily swinging along while Mr. TBaM and I watched from our respective paused activities.)
35: 'Not Quite So Roar-y' (Quite possibly the most useless ride-on ever; cost £1 for a minute and barely moved. I'm not sure who was more unimpressed; me, mum or The Boy.)
36: 'The Paradise' (I had great fun creating this small world play beach for The Boy and he had great fun plopping the mummy and daddy into the sea. We made a miniature sandcastle and had a mini game of football with the Playmobil figures.)
37: 'Hopeful!' (We've been sent a Groclock for review and we started using it on the weekend after quite frankly the most ridiculous fortnight of early morning wake-ups. He's absolutely taken with it and loves watching it go to sleep. It does seem to be working because the morning after this photo was taken he woke at 5am and when he saw it was still night-time he went straight back to sleep until 7.35am!)
38: 'Sailing on the sea' (Grandad comes over to play with The Boy on a Thursday while I'm in work and Nana is looking after him, today they made this picture together with The Boy's tap-tap set.)
39: 'Pedal Power' (A quick trip to the beachfront after I picked him up from nursery and time to practise his bike riding. He's doing really well with it, steering well and staying steadily upright in his seat. The stabilisers are at the highest position they can be before removing them but he's not quite ready because he pedals too slowly. He's capable of pedalling faster but his problem is that he's too busy looking at the world around him and taking it all in to concentrate on the speed. And who can blame him?)
40: 'Wishing Well' (We've come away for the weekend to Weston-Super-Mare because I just need to get away from it all, we all do. It's not quite been the day I envisaged because it's über grey and drizzly, but we've had such fun! Off to see Mummy Mishaps and crew tomorrow!)
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and with A Kilt and a Camera
