Freddie you are Five!

How is it your fifth birthday already gorgeous boy!

It really seems like yesterday that James was in reception and we were celebrating your first birthday and now it's you in reception! 

This last year has seen you attempt the soya ladder and pass steps one and two! You then sadly failed at step three twice! 

You are now sharing a bedroom with James, or well you are meant to. You still find your way in to mummy's bed or mummy into yours most nights!

You still love you cow Moo and sleep with it every night! 

You absolutely love going to school and have some lovely little friends. Two of which have siblings in James class. 

It's been a strange year with the Coronavirus lockdown, this gave us so much time together as a family safely locked away in our house. 

During this time you developed a love of the Red Arrows and you like nothing more than watching them on YouTube and telling us you are going to be Red 10! 

Happy birthday our gorgeous Freddie Bear

We love you so much xx

Freddie you are Four!

Freddie Bear today you are four years old! And you are actually in nursery for three hours as well! I hope you are having a great day with all your little friends!

Its so crazy that you are four years old already! You started the primary school nursery at the start of September and you have settled in so well. We already have your school reception place application in for next year and we know you will love the school as much as your big brother does!

You get so excited to go into nursery every day and you are already leaving me at the classroom door to go in to play with all your new friends. That is something James never did at all when he was in nursery! Your two best friends at Nursery are actually the little brothers of two of James classmates. You three are as thick as thieves and get so excited when you see each other on a morning! You do not like coming home from nursery and someday's you get quiet upset about coming home. I wonder if you will still think the same next year when you are in reception!!

This last year has gone so fast, you are now fully potty trained in the day time and are dry quite often overnight as well! Once you were reaction clear with your allergies potty training was easy. You will use both the toilet and the potty and when we are out you will confidently stand up to wee at a big toilet!

We will be starting to think about reintroducing milk into your diet soon and mummy is pretty on edge about it, but this time its going to hopefully be more closely monitored. Taking wheat out of your diet at the beginning of this year really helped your stomach. 

You are so stubborn and will always answer us back and argue with James! If you do not get your own way boy do you let us know. You absolutely adore your big brother and you get so excited when the alarm goes off on mummy's phone when its time to go and collect him although there have been a few times when you have wanted to leave him at school!

Happy Birthday our gorgeous little man, we love you so much
Love
Mummy, Daddy and James 
xxxx

Newborn

One

Two

Three

Four

Freddie at Three

Happy 3rd birthday our darling little bear!

I know I always say it does not seem five minutes since your last birthday but it really feels like this last year has flown by!

Your speech has come on so much this last year! Especially since you started playgroup back in January! Come this January you will get your free 15 hours so you will be spending more time away from mummy at playgroup with your little friends!

You are still wearing a size 4 pull up in the day and a size 6+ nappy at night. You have been wearing 3-4 clothing since the middle of the summer and you are definitely so much taller at 3 than James was! Next September you will start the nursery at James school which we are all excited for! 

You hate your bedroom so you are currently crashing in mummy and daddy's room while we start getting James bedroom ready for you to move in there with him. You always share a room at Nana and Gaga's house with James so we think it will do you good to share with him at home!

You had the best time when we went on holiday to Majorca! You loved the pool and the beach so much and well you had the best suntan out of the whole family even when you were wearing a factor 50 suntan lotion!

You were a little monkey on the flight over to Majorca when you wouldnt sit in your seat for landing but on the way home you actually fell asleep and slept through landing!

You definitely love your food and literally never stop eating when you are at home! Sadly we discovered you are intolerant to bananas which is a shame as you love them, you cry your eyes out when mummy says no to having them!

You are definitely our little monkey and you love to answer back when we ask you something! You and James are best friends and you love nothing more than driving mummy potty together.

We love you so much Freddie Bear 
All our love
Mummy Daddy and James xxx

James you are six

Happy 6th Birthday 

James

My darling James today you are six years old!!

It really does not seem possible that my tiny baby is already six years old and just like the year you were born, this year your birthday falls on August Bank Holiday Sunday!

We are spending your birthday at Nana and Gaga's house and then you are having your birthday party next weekend with five of your school friends at our house with pizza and a movie!

Your are definitely very stubborn like mummy and Gaga and are still very much a daddy's boy!

You have grown up so much this year and have turned into an even more amazing boy than you were before! You absolutely adore your little brother and you have so much fun together even if mummy and daddy have to sometimes tell you to calm down as you are getting him a little bit too hyper especially just before bed!

Your have absolutely flourished at school this year! Your reading and writing has come on so much! You were so pleased when you moved up two reading levels in year one! I hope you enjoy year two as much as you have year one! We have loved being able to see you and your friends on a Thursday morning when we have been at sure start and will really miss it next year since our group is not going to be running anymore.

Today we are telling you about our holiday for October! I really hope you are excited! It will be your first time out the country and on a plane! Mummy is excited as it means we can finally bring out all the stuff we have been buying and putting away for you and Freddie since November last year!!

You still love Spiderman, Go Jetters and all things Cbeebies and Milkshake! You have even got Freddie loving Swashbuckle!! We are hoping to go back to Alton Towers and Cbeebies land again next year now that Freddie is tall enough for all the rides! You are desperate to take him onto the Go Jetters Vroomster and the Octonauts rollercoaster!!

I hope you have a brilliant day!

All my love

Mummy

xxx

Happy Birthday Blog!

Happy Birthday 

Mummy To My Little Cheeky Monkey!

Four years ago today I set this place up to record memories of James growing up and what a four years it has been!

I have now gone self hosted and will eventually phase out the Mummy To My Little Cheeky Monkey as my boys get older.

Here's to the next four years!

Birthday Wish List!

So it's the 1st of April and no this is not an April Fools joke! It's my birthday this month so I thought I would do a little wish list of things I would love to get!

Lamb and Bear sweatshirt £35 – I love the products by Lamb and Bear and Freddie looks adorable in the Leggings, The adult range has just launched a few weeks ago. I totally fell in love with this Tea and Triumph sweatshirt. There are a number of colour combinations and a few slogans (Coffee and Conquer, Tea and Triumph and Wine and Winning) to choose from! I adore my cups of tea so it has to be Tea and Triumph for my slogan but I still have no idea which colour combination! 

      

A Klean Kanteen – I’ve been looking at these for ages. I would love to have a bottle that could keep my drinks cold in the summer and warm in the winter, and with going abroad later in the year I am wanting to invest in a decent bottle to take with me. 

     I am also looking at the kid Kanteen for James for school as he has been complaining that his water has been getting too warm in his classroom and therefore he is hardly drinking anything when he is in school! I would be getting both James bottle and mine with a sports cap. The reason I like the Klean Kanteen is the fact you can purchase different caps for the bottles. You can even buy a sippy cup cap for the Kid Kanteen which would be ideal for Freddie. 

       Handbag– When I normally go out I just shove my keys in my pocket and my purse into the changing bag, but with having a holiday booked for later this year I am looking to get a handbag I can keep all the documents and passports in, but is also big enough to shove a couple of nappies and wipes in for when we are in resort and so I don’t have to drag the whole changing bag out if we are just going to go for a walk. I have seen these two on Amazon, But I have also seen something similar in a local bag shop in the Grainger Market in Newcastle.

     

Silver Earrings – I have been looking for some new earrings for a while and these from Argos look lovely. I don’t really like wearing drop earrings too much and I actually broke a set of my studs a couple of months ago, so these would be the ideal replacement. Freddie is always messing around with my earrings so this pair would be awesome as it does not have a butterfly back, it just has the stem which then clips over to stop the earring falling out.

     So these are just a few of the things that are on my birthday wishlist, I'm also looking for a few case for my phone and also a bigger memory card for my phone so I have more room for photographs when we are away! 

    **I wasn't asked to post any of the products in this wish list, These are just things I would quite like for my birthday!**

Happy 2nd Birthday Freddie

Happy second birthday our darling boy.

Today you turn two years old and it has literally been the fastest two years of my life!

It really does not seem five minutes since you were this tiny newborn sleeping on my chest and now you are this tall, blonde haired, blue eyed, cheeky little boy.

Your speech is not as good at two as James was, but then you spend a lot of time with kids where as James was around adults a lot more!

Your favourite words to shout are up there and look! If you see a dog you will shout dog and the same if you are a cat! You adore our neighbours dog Archie and you try your best to say his name when you see him!

You are starting to wear some 2-3 clothes, but the majority are 18-24. You wear a size 4 pull up and a size 6+ nappy at night. 

You absolutely adore your big brother and you hate taking him to school as you miss him so much. You got to go in and see him last week and boy did you enjoy it! As soon as you saw him you went running over to cuddle him. Your favourite part of the day has to be when James comes home from school as you have your partner in crime back and you have someone to play with!

We have also taken the side off your cot and turned it into a bed, and so far you have taken to it pretty well! The first couple of nights it did take a few hours to get you to settle but you seem to have cracked it and you are definitely sleeping so much better which means so are mummy and daddy!

We have so many plans for the next year. We are going to Surrey in February to see Nanny and Pappy, we are also hoping to spend a day in London sightseeing with you and James as James has been doing about the Great fire of London at school so he is desperate to go and see all the sights! and then our first family holiday later in the year which I know you and James will love!!

You were the jigsaw piece which completed our family Freddie Bear and we all love you so much.

Happy birthday my gorgeous boy

Love always 

Mummy 

xxx

Fifth Birthday Wishlist

So in just under nine weeks time, my big boy James turns FIVE!! I mean seriously it does not seem five minutes since he was turning one and now he’s a big school boy turning five! James is the last of his school friends to turn five with his birthday being the 26^th August.

We have been asking James what he would like for his birthday and the following are things that he has asked for!

A Volcano – now this is something of an odd one, I can only assume he saw something on YouTube about volcano’s and it stuck in his mind as something he wanted to get!

This is the first one we have been looking at. This is £10.99 and available from Toys r Us.

These next two are from www.amazon.co.uk and are priced at 5.99 each. 

 

The second thing James has asked for is an orchard toys game called Crazy Chef. We bought this for one of his little school pals and well James just loves orchard toys games! He already has a few of them and they really capture his imagination!

We found this game on www.amazon.co.uk for £5.61and £7.99 at Toys r Us.

The third thing James has asked for is an ice dragon. Now we have had no luck online finding an ice dragon so I think he might be disappointed with this one!

As James is turning five mummy has been looking to see if she can find anything she wants to get him online.  Nana and Gaga are looking at getting him a bike, so mummy and daddy will be getting the safety equipment.

As James loves Spiderman I saw this set on Toys r us website and though James would love it for his new bike!

I think James would totally love this set, as its a basket, bell and bottle all Spiderman branded. This retails for £12.99 at toys r us.

We also found this Spiderman branded helmet also from toys r us retailing for £14.99

So this is our wish list for James turning five! If anyone has any other good ideas please let me know!

** All images from Amazon and Toys r Us**

James is Turning Five - The Party Haul

So with every party, you need a good party haul on stuff for the party! So this is our first haul for the Spiderman Party to celebrate James turning five!

First off we have the Spiderman party bags! These were £1.50 for eight at Tesco, who also have all their party stuff on offer for 5 for the price of 4! So four packets of party bags were purchased.

Next we have the Spiderman happy birthday banner. This was also from Tesco in the 5 for the price of 4 offer.

We have the number 5 candle for James cake! Last year we had candles spelling our James on the cake and they were such a pain to light so this year we have gone with just the number!

We also have some mini sparklers for the cake! James had sparklers on his first birthday cake so when I saw these at Tesco I knew I had to get them!

James is after a pinata so I'm on the hunt for a Spiderman one!! If you know where I can get one from please email or leave a comment below!

The next haul will be on the party bags and what is in them!

5th Birthday Plans for James!

So my baby is turning five! Like seriously it does not seem five minutes since he was this tiny helpless puking newborn and now he's this handsome, grown up little boy about to turn five!

James birthday is actually bank holiday Saturday in August so we knew trying to have a party then would be a no go. 

Last year we had his party the week before his birthday and to be honest it was not too good as hardly any of his pals were there due to holidays. I think there was about ten kids there including James and Freddie!

So this year we have decided to have the party the weekend after his birthday, so that will be the first Sunday in September right before he goes back to school. So hopefully more of his friends will be able to come! 

So what sort of party are we planning? First off we have a lovely little sports centre five minutes walk from our house with a fantastic soft play that all his pals love, so for second year running we booked it!

James is absolutely Spiderman daft at the moment so I think most of the table wear will be Spiderman themed! 

So Pinterest has become my best friend! I have a whole board dedicated to Spiderman parties! 

First off mummy has designed some cool Spiderman invites! I had been looking online for weeks for some Spiderman invitations but none of the ones we saw were all that nice, so I decided to take the plunge and design some myself on Paint Shop Pro. By doing this I have been able to put all the information for the party i.e. date, time, venue and of course the all important RSVP information on so all I will need to do once we have them printed is actually put them into envelopes and put the names on!

James has had one request - a Spiderman Pinata! EEK mummy is going to have to embrace the inner hidden artist to make it haha!

I cannot wait to post more nearer the time about things we have done for his party and what we do on the actual day!

Freddie One Year Old

Our darling Freddie Bear Happy birthday! Today you are a whole year old and what a year it's been!

You slotted into our family and completed us. Mummy daddy and James love you so much!

You have such a cheeky personality and a gorgeous smile! You love nothing more than getting attention from your big brother! You have blue eyes and light brown hair, nothing like James who has the blonde hair and blue eyes! 

So you are in a mixture of 9-12 and 12-18 clothes and size 5+ nappies! You are a speedy crawler and we definitely need eyes in the back of our heads with your! We take our eyes of you for a second and you are off! Either under daddy's desk, out an open door or climbing something!

You sleep has been pretty bad since u had the sickness bug. You simply refuse to sleep in your cot! The only places you will sleep are your pushchair, mummy and daddy's bed or mummy's arms! Poor mummy has spent many nights curled up on the sofa with you in my arms!

You absolutely love watching milkshake on a morning with James! You love Thomas and friends just like your brother! Sadly you also like Peppa Pig and have been known to say Peppa!

You can say a few words mama, dada, mum mum, gaga. Nana is most upset you haven't said nana yet! 

You love your food! Three meals a day plus deserts and snacks, but you are still having four bottles most days. Mummy is not worried about that as your brother was the same. He didn't drop down his milk intake till he was 14 months. Although now at four James is still a milk monster! 

It really does not seem five minutes since you were the tiny newborn lying on my chest, the last year has gone so fast! You are very much a mummy's boy and love nothing more than being snuggled up on my lap. You love cuddles of anyone who will give them! You quite often crawl off to your friends mums and give them cuddles at baby group. 

We love you so much Freddie Bear and I cannot wait to watch you grow into a wonderful little boy.

All my love 

Mummy

xxx

First birthday gifts!

So our little Freddie Bear turn one four weeks today, so I thought I would do a little post on what we have bought him!

With his birthday being so close to Christmas it's been really difficult to decide what to buy him for his birthday and what to give him for Christmas! Plus with him being the second child and second boy things we would have got him we already have from James!

So for his birthday, this is what we have actually got him:

Vtech Singing Alfie. 

We purchased this from Argos, Their website says "The VTech Little Singing Alfie is an adorable cuddly bear with fun and educational interactive features. This soft polyester toy features 3 chunky, coloured light-up buttons for your child to discover. It promotes recognition and accelerates learning through fun phrases, sound effects and sing-a-long songs"

Fisher price Chatter Telephone 

Again we purchased this from Argos, as both items were in the two for £15 offer. Their website says "This classic baby toy has been dialing up fun since 1961. The Fisher-Price Chatter Telephone is a pull along toy with a friendly face, spinning dial and fun ringing-phone sounds. It introduces role play when baby chats on the phone and dials numbers. 

A new look to this classic pull toy 2 ways for baby to play: sit & play and stand & pull.

Fun ringing sounds & eyes that move up & down when phone is pulled along. 

Dial introduces numbers 0-9. Receiver and dial encourage early role play. 

Pulling the phone along helps strengthen gross motor skills. 

Helps stimulate baby's visual & auditory senses."

I especially like the telephone as I had one when I was a child, and it's been relaunched since James was born so sadly we were not able to get him one, so I have a feeling he may be stealing this from Freddie.

Beatbo 

I have heard a lot of fantastic things about it, so Im really happy we managed to get this! We had been shopping around on the Internet and had found it for £30, days before we ordered it we popped to our local Tesco and they had it for  £28.49! Needless to say we bought it there and then!   

The Tesco website says "Get baby moving with Fisher-Price Dance & Move BeatBo! Colourful and cute with a friendly face and rainbow-coloured light-up tummy, this futuristic dancing buddy will have your little one jigging along to cheerful tunes as they learn the alphabet, colours and much more. 

Press Beatbo's tummy or the buttons on his feet to activate 3 fun modes - Dance & Move, Learning & Games and Record & Remix. Also a customizable function lets parents or children record a phrase or song for Beatbo to remix into an original melody. This mode is particularly useful for growing children who are learning to be more independent and interactive, making Beatbo an entertaining companion for years to come.

Designed to be fun and educational, Fisher-Price Dance & Move Beatbo helps to develop gross motor skills as well as increasing curiosity and discovery."

If you can suggest anything else please do as I'm totally stumped!

James at Four!

James, how can you be four years old! I feel like I have blinked and you have gone from this tiny baby to this big handsome boy who is about to start full time school!

You have experienced so much since you turned three with starting nursery and of course becoming a super duper big brother to Freddie. 

You are stubborn and very opinionated. You definitely know your own mind about what you want and when you want it. You are still very much a daddy's boy, but you do love a mummy cuddle but only on your terms! 

You are wearing a mixture of 3-4 & 4-5 clothes. You hate wearing shorts which is going to make pe at school interesting!

You love watching the most random videos on you tube. Normally of people unboxing toys or opening kinder eggs.

You still love watching Thomas and Friends, but have got into Paw Patrol, Team Umizoomi, Bubble guppies & Dino Trux. Daddy invested in Netflix which means you can sit and watch your shows to wind down.

You have absolutely loved this last year in nursery, so I'm hoping you are going to love your time in reception class. It is so strange to think this time last year we were getting you ready for nursery and now we are getting you ready to start school full time!

It's going to be really odd for mummy and Freddie not having to pick you up at lunch time. I really hope you are going to be OK staying at school and having your lunch with your little friends. 

You had your birthday party last Sunday and you had a brilliant time. We had hired the soft play room at the local sports centre for you and your friends. You were worn out after and slept for eleven hours that night!

Love you so much my little man

Mummy

xxx

James you are Three!

1634pm on August 26th 2012 is ingrained on my mind as the time and date you were born, Where did the time go little legs? 

I feel like I have blinked and you have gone from a tiny helpless baby who would sleep on me, to this feisty, independent, inquisitive little boy.

This last year you have grown up so much. Your speech amazes me. We can sit and have a lovely little conversation. You are still crazy about diggers, trains, cars, ok any type of transport. 

You have moved house again this year, but this time it's our house! The house mummy and daddy chose to buy for our family! You love your new bedroom and especially love our garden! 

You adore spending time with your nana and gaga, although you can wrap them round your little finger, especially your gaga when it comes to Pringles! You can spot them a mile away in the supermarket.

You have learned how to use an iPad and android tablet. You really are an expert in YouTube! Your favourite shows are Tayo the little bus, Robocar & Heroes of the City! But you also love old shows like Fireman Sam and of course good old Peppa Pig and Ben and Holly's little Kingdom.

You start nursery in a few weeks and boy are you ready for it! You have been desperate to go since we had your taster visit back in July! We walk past the school on our way to the shops and you get so excited telling me that's your new nursery! 

By Christmas you will be a big brother! I cannot wait to watch your relationship with your little brother grow and develop. He's going to be a lucky boy having you as his brilliant big brother.

I hope you enjoy your special day my gorgeous boy

Lots of love Jamesy bugs

Mummy xxx

My little baby is two.

If you follow me on twitter you will know my gorgeous little boy turned two yesterday (26/08).

What a day we had. It started pretty early as we were going out for the day with my parents and we wanted to give James his presents before we went off for the day.

We got him a children's Henry Hoover as he is totally obsessed with our Henry or as he says daddies Henry. Hen there was a peppa pig noisy book, a new Thomas backpack, some building blocks and a trunki snoozy head for when he's in the car or on the bus. We also took him to see milkshake live party party the day before (25/08).

 

So for James actual big day we decided to take him to York as he is mad on trains and Andy has never been there so we thought a nice wander round the streets trip to the Minster then up to railway museum before heading back up home for tea and cake.

First off the park and ride system York has is amazing. We parked at Poppelton Bar which is a new site for 2014 and what a site it is. Beautiful waiting room with toilets and baby changing, a massive car park and even electric buses. It runs every ten minutes into the city centre and drops off by Clifford's Tower, round the corner from the Hilton hotel and next to old fire station. From there is was a short walk into the city centre past Jorvik. We took James to change his bum and by time we got out of Marks and Spencer's he was so tired he asked for his dummy and blankie and swiftly passed out.

So onto York Minster. Now I haven't been to York for about six years and neither have my parents and what a change, they now charge £10 per person to get in, which means it would have cost our family £40 to visit. Needless to say we swiftly left and paid a quick visit to the shop but again didn't actually buy anything.

James had been given £10 from a neighbour of mum and dad for his birthday so we brought this along for him. James woke up literally just after we arrived at the railway museum which he absolutely loved. We did have a few tantrums when he had to get off certain things or couldn't touch things but mostly he was a really good boy. He got a new teddy with his birthday money.

We then took a nice walk back into the city centre and went and got frozen yoghurt at yogi which was so nice. I had strawberry and mum had mango and yes James sampled and loved both. 

The day was rounded off by stopping at tesco to grab a small birthday cake and a number two candle.

 The birthday boy was bathed and fast asleep on mummies shoulder by half past seven.