Party in the Park

As Debbie's special Birthday treat on Friday afternoon, we took a stroll down the road to Abbey Fields. First we fed the ducks (frozen bread - we'll be watching the Kenilworth Weekly News for news of an outbreak of indigestion amongst the local duck and swan population). Then we took Ben on the swings and see-saw for the very first time. He's a little bit small, but seemed to have a good time. Thanks to our friend Clare babysitting we were able to enjoy a celebratory meal out in Leamington on Friday night. We don't know what she did to Ben, but he had the best night's sleep in months - definitely Mummy's favourite birthday present!

Monkey Business

A slight delay in posting this to the blog, but last Saturday we took Ben to meet his cousins the monkeys at Woburn Safari Park and to introduce him to Tim and David. Actually Ben slept most of the way on the drive around the park, even whilst said monkeys were clambering all over the car, but he was a bit more interested when the elephants walked by, just captured in this photo. Later we fed him to the lions (not really). The day had the added advantage that it meant we missed what was by all accounts a pretty dire FA Cup Final!

London Calling

Last Saturday we travelled down to London to celebrate Rich's birthday. We spent the afternoon with Stephen and Lucy and introduced Ben to his "cousins" Henry, George and Ellie, before heading into central London to meet Rich and Clare. We left Ben in the capable hands of his Uncle and Aunty and we're told he was on his best behaviour. Ben particularly seemed to enjoy playing with the dogs. Here he is pulling Henry's ear. What fun! He's braver than his Mummy!

We enjoyed our night on the town, recalling our lives "Before Ben" with a trip to Belgo's - reminiscent of our courting days in Brussels all those years ago. It was good to be back in London again and to catch up with friends there on Sunday.

Holidays

We're just settling back into normal life after a lovely week or so of holiday. Bank Holiday weekend we headed up to Broughton-in-Furness in the Lake District with some Kenilworth friends - Josh, Heather and one-year old Jamie, and Rich, Clare and Morris the dog! Josh et al return to Canada at the end of the month, so we really valued the time with them before they leave.

We stayed on for the rest of the week when our friends left on Monday and spent a nice few days pottering around the lakes and introducing Ben to his Great Great Uncle. Long walks weren't really viable with a heavy baby who doesn't yet fit into a back pack baby carrier, but we managed a bit of 'off road' pushchair driving at Keswick, Elterwater and Tarn Hows - feeling slightly silly not having an 'all-terrain pushchair'. We had the perfect excuse to spend lots of time in tea shops eating cake. Ben was very excited at the sight of Daddy's chocolate cake at Chesters in Skelwith Bridge - much more inviting than the root vegetables he is living off at the moment.

Solids!

At five months old, and a whopping 17lb 10oz (8kg exactly) Ben has now entered the wonderful world of weaning. We're taking it slowly - so far his diet has included baby rice, apple, pear and sweet potato. The latter is featured in the photo and has the splendid effect of creating genuine orange vomit! It's another steep learning curve for Mummy as well as Ben, but we're having plenty of fun so far.

Anniversary

Our seventh wedding anniversary was slightly different to the previous six, with a little boy to occupy. However, we enjoyed a lovely afternoon in Warwick where we had tea and cakes in the afternoon sunshine and visited the beautiful Mill Garden overlooking the castle. Actually, thanks to our long-suffering friends Josh and Heather, we were able to go out for a lovely meal too, leaving Ben sleeping soundly in a travel cot in their bedroom. Thanks guys!
Here's a photo of Ben on the same day enjoying playing in his play nest which was our first "win" on e-bay. It's a hit with Ben, and is great, apart from needing to be topped up with air every morning... Is it common for e-bay items to come with these little quirks?