Christmas

We can hardly belive that our Christmas and New Year have come and gone so quickly. We've had a lovely time with family and friends - celebrating Christmas in Suffolk with Mark's family, and then playing host to Debbie's family for a few days.

Early on Christmas Day, Santa brought some presents for Ben. Rudolf was having a well-earned rest for this part of their gruelling night and so some Suffolk Punch horses stood in for the Hollesley leg.

Ben had a mixed Christmas Day. He loved the horses, but was a little overwhelmed by all the presents and the attention. He managed to open a few presents in the morning before retiring to his cot and then resurfaced to have some turkey dinner (well to throw it on the floor anyway). We did manage to capture him smiling with a cracker and he perked up a bit in the afternoon when he got to open some more of his presents. On Boxing Day he finished opening his presents, and thrilled us all by quite clearly asking for "cheese" (his first "proper" word?) which he had spied on the table while we were eating lunch.

Back home in Kenilworth after a relaxing few days being looked after by Mark's parents, we welcomed first Debbie's parents and then Val, Pete, Rob and Louise to visit. Ben had plenty more presents to open and sometimes just had to sit and rest from all the excitement!

He seems to have been going through another period of rapid development and his walking gets stronger every day, as you can see from the picture of him at Kenilworth castle with his Nan and Grandad. He's just about begun to stand by himself for a few seconds before he falls over, and he has also started saying more and more words in the last week or two - he points at the Christmas tree and says "tree", much to the amusement of his proud parents - again, again!

Christmas is Coming

It has now got to the middle of December and we haven't got our Christmas decorations up yet, we haven't written our cards (sorry to those of you who live abroad), we still haven't finished the Christmas shopping, and to date we haven't sung any carols. The Christmas spirit is lacking in the Dawson household we hear you cry.

But no. We have been indulging ourselves with visiting the world's Christmas markets and tasting mulled wine. Compare and contrast:

Above is Lille, below is Birmingham:

Carefully considered view was that the wine was better in Birmingham, the sausage in Lille. Not sure what that proves.

Lille was a pre-Christmas treat for us both but especially for Debbie as Mark had booked a day trip on the Eurostar as a surprise whilst Uncle Stephen and Aunty Lucy looked after Ben. We travelled from St Pancras International for the first time and were very impressed. Only 1hr 25m to Lille from London! It rained most of the day but we had a lovely time anyway wandering around the Old Town and visiting the Musee des Beaux Arts, frequently taking refuge in bars and cafes for a warming cup of chocolat chaud.

Birmingham was serious Christmas shopping whilst Ben was with the childminder, but after a long day we thought we deserved a cup of Gluwein at the German Christmas Market. Very festive!

One

It's been a while since we last updated our blog so forgive the long entry but there's lots to catch up on. Yesterday we celebrated Ben's first birthday with a family lunch and a lovely afternoon party for him and some of his friends. Our house is now crammed full with new toys and books - Ben is pictured above with his new rocker, Stanley Snail. It was a special day for all of us, and felt like a milestone for Mummy and Daddy too - we've survived the first year, spurred on by Ben's beaming smile and boundless energy! Our 'graduation' as parents was marked by the challenge of the first birthday cake, which we were pretty pleased with for a first attempt. Ben has been entertaining us by roaring like a lion on demand for a few months now (inspired by his favourite bathtime book), so a lion it had to be...


Following that theme, Mark took the afternoon off today, and we treated Ben to a birthday trip to Twycross Zoo. Here he got 'up close and personal' with his roaring friend - far from being frightened (as he was of the giraffe) he actually started giggling when the lion began to exercise his vocal chords, and then he had a go at roaring back!

Of course, we thought Ben looked more at home with the primates... this photo makes us laugh.

Our celebrations have been mixed with sadness, as we have been coming to terms with the loss of Debbie's Grandad, and Ben's only Great Grandparent, last weekend. We are so glad that he got to meet Ben and see him change over the last year. Ben may have had a bad day last time we visited, but he cheered up enough to roar like a lion, much to his Great Grandad’s amusement. Grandad was fantastic fun, a big tease, and had a great sense of humour, but he was also warm, generous and devoted to his family. We will miss him so much.

Snow?!

We were a bit surprised when it started snowing as we were driving back from Shropshire on Sunday and even more surprised when we looked out the window a bit later on to find a winter wonderland in our street. But as we wondered whether we ought to get that winter coat for Ben, the snow began to turn to rain and it was all gone by the morning.

Fireworks

Last year Ben enjoyed the Kenilworth Castle fireworks display bouncing around in his Mummy's tummy. This year he was able to see the fireworks in all their glory. He seemed to be enjoying himself despite being up well past his bedtime.

Walking and reading

Things never stagnate with a baby in the house. One moment they are sitting quietly, reading their books:
... the next moment, they are on the move!



At the grand old age of 11 months Ben is changing every day and looks more and more like a little boy and less and less like a baby as he practices standing against anything in sight at every opportunity, opens kitchen drawers and cupboards and has a go at climbing the stairs.

Come on England!

Ben followed the lead of the England rugby team by having some broccoli today - though he didn't manage it for breakfast as they seem to (Broccoli v foie gras)! Obviously we're hoping Ben will be cheering our boys on in his sleep tonight!

Baptism

This weekend was a very special time for us as a family, as we celebrated Ben's baptism at our church in Kenilworth, during the Harvest service. It was a lovely day, and a great opportunity to say thank you to God for the wonderful gift He's given us in Ben and to join with family and friends in praying for his future. Thanks to everyone who came and shared the day with us.

One of Ben's godparents, Kay, was unable to be with us in person as she's living in Ecuador, but we were able to share a beautiful letter she had written to Ben. This is part of her prayer for him:

"Daily, I ask God's richest blessings upon your life.
For your childhood years I pray that laughter and joy will be your constant companions.
That you will know such safety and security in your growing up
And will have that freedom to discover and delight
In all the beauty God has given you in this world."

On Saturday we also had the opportunity to get to know our beautfiul goddaughter Tabitha, who has grown up so much since we last saw her in April. We love the photo below of Ben and his 'God-sister', who he definitely took a shine to!

Big boy now

Last week Ben graduated to a foward facing car seat - here he is looking very pleased with himself. Now he is even more of a distraction to driver and passenger as we try to point things out to him as we go along! Seems a far cry from when we were first taking him out in the car:

Ben aged nine and three quarters

Ben has been crawling around "Commando-stlye" on his tummy since the beginning of August but in the past week or so has begun to crawl a few steps on all fours. This video clip captures him chasing after his robot, a favourite gift from his cousin Kayla. He's looking cheerful despite being poorly with the inevitable "back to school" cold and fever this week.

One of Ben's other favourite activities at the moment is exploring his "Treasure basket" of everyday household items and other interesting stuff, put together by his Mum.

He's growing up in so many ways - his new winter coat makes him look like a proper little boy - and is just so cute we thought it should have a mention!

Witley Court

Life has stepped up a gear in the last couple of weeks - with Debbie going back to work and Ben being at the childminder three days a week. We have also started leading a "Coaching Group" for some of the young people at church, with about fifteen 13 and 14 year-olds descending on our house every other Wednesday night from now on. We'll mostly be meeting as two separate groups, one for boys and one for girls, but we started off with everyone together this week for a social. Amazingly Ben slept soundly through their wild games - probably due to the Calpol.

Which all means we never put up a post from our visit to Witley Court in Worcestershire with Debbie's parents two weeks ago - on a sunny September Saturday. Witley Court was a very grand stately home which burnt down in the 1930s and has been preserved as a shell by English Heritage - and probably more interesting ("Romantic", in Debbie's eyes) for all that. Pat and Malcolm liked it so much they went back again the following week!

Cyprus

It's been a little while since we returned from our holiday in Cyprus but we have finally got our photos sorted and decided to put a few on the blog. We had a lovely week with all the grandparents in Pissouri, visiting old haunts and discovering some new ones. Here we are having an afternoon drink down at Pissouri Bay.

It was a holiday of firsts for Ben:

Ben's first flight (which wasn't quite as bad as we feared!)...

... Ben's first go on a childrens ride. His face was a picture when the horse started to move up and down!

... Ben's first swim in an outdoor pool, which he did every day of the holiday, with a variety of willing volunteers joining him

... Ben's first swim in the sea

... and Ben's first splash in a paddling pool

Cyprus with a nine-month old was very different from previous trips (including our honeymoon in 2000), but with grandparents always willing to share the load, we managed to snatch some moments of relaxation - like Debbie's blissful sunset swim one evening while others dealt with Ben's tea-time (hooray!)

For our last couple of days we were joined by Ben's Uncle Stephen and Aunty Lucy. Here we all are enjoying our last evening at the 'Bunch of Grapes'. Ben is sleeping soundly in his pushchair at the end of the table, which he did almost every night, to everyone's appreciation!

Happy Birthday Great Grandad!

Last weekend we had a lovely time celebrating Debbie's Grandad's 84th birthday with all the family. It was a special occasion bringing together the four generations, and as Ben's only surviving Great Grandparent he is an important person to us all. Ben's party clothes showed off his pink knees - the result of his new skill of pulling himself around the floor commando-style. It's surprising how effectively he can get around. We wonder if he'll bother with proper crawling.

Summer

Summer finally arrived last week as Ben turned eight months old. We've been doing our best to make the most of the sunshine, with trips to the park and bubbles in the garden. Debbie and Ben also spent a lovely afternoon at Hidcote Manor Garden with her parents and went for a walk around Draycote Water with some of her Kenilworth friends and their babies. At the weekend we all went off to Suffolk, taking in a trip to the theatre at Aldebrough with Mark's parents. The summer theatre at Aldebrough and Southwold is becoming a bit of a tradition for us and we thoroughly enjoyed Arsenic and Old Lace. On Sunday morning we went down to Ramsholt on the River Deben for a photo shoot with Ben (see above for results).

Baby Ben and his Nan enjoying the beautiful gardens at Hidcote Manor. Ben decided it would be fun to see if the gardens tasted as good as they looked. Luckily Nan noticed just in time to stop him!

Taking a break from the five-mile walk around around Draycote Water to enjoy the view and the sunshine (and feed the babies).

Harry Potter

Now that Mummy and Daddy have both finished the final Harry Potter book, it is Ben's turn at last. Neither of us have read so much since he was born - it was a real page-turner and finished the series in style. We shall miss Harry and his friends, but perhaps one day we will read the books to Ben.

Sunshine through the Rain

With Britain battling floods again we thought we would share a couple of photos of our recent experiences with the weather - first a gorgeous rainbow when we were on our way back from the Lakes on Thursday evening; and then the scene that we found by Kenilworth Castle on Saturday after our return home. Kenilworth seems to have got off fairly lightly compared to much of the rest of the Midlands, but who knows what the next few weeks will bring.

Hiking

Having invested in a back carrier for Ben, on Wednesday we tried it out on our first "proper" walk since he was born - a walk from Coniston to Tarn Hows and back that our friends Rich and Clare did on our last trip to the Lakes when Ben wasn't so portable.

When we set off it was raining steadily, but we hoped it was just a passing shower. Of course it wasn't, but we Dawsons are made of hardy stuff - and here in Guards Wood above Coniston there were trees to shelter under some of the time. Our map was suffering in the rain, when we made the serendipitous discovery of a map case in a tree, here modelled by Debbie. (We later handed it in at the Tourist Information having put it to good use on our journey!)

We were all feeling a bit soggy and grumpy but by the time we reached the top of the hill up to Tarn Hows Ben was sound asleep under the spacesuit cover of his backpack. Pack horse Mark made good use of the above gate to recover from the climb.

At Tarn Hows the rain relented and we found a bench where we could enjoy a much deserved picnic and Ben provided much entertainment to passing walkers and ducks.

We were quite impressed by Tom Gill Waterfall, on the way down into Yewdale from Tarn Hows.
By the time we reached Yew Tree Farm (which doubled as Beatrix Potter's farmhouse Hill Top in the recent film "Miss Potter") the sun was shining and the tea garden looked particularly inviting. A little while later, full of cream tea / chocolate ice cream / milk (can you guess who had what?) we headed onwards to complete our walk.
Everything looked so much nicer in the sunshine, including the whitewashed farm buildings of Low Yewdale Farm and the fells beyond.

It was around this point that Ben went to sleep again...

... and missed the best view of the walk - Coniston Water from the woods above the lake (a view we had also largely missed on the way up due to the rain).

When we returned to the car Ben was wide awake again and ready for another adventure.