Saturday, January 31, 2009

The Balance of Life

Some sad news but also some happy news this week for the family. Sadly, Coby's great grandmother and my grandmother passed away last Sunday at the grand old age of 93 and my Uncle Charlie died three days before that after a long illness - he was 74. My grandmother was difficult for the last 5-10 years and our relationship suffered, mainly due to her dementia, but I have lovely memories of my childhood with her. The fondest being her love of Guinness and banging the end of the bottle to 'catch every last drop' she would say. And looking out for her mop of brilliant white hair, freshly lacquered from the hairdresser as she peered in at the school gates to bring me sweets and all my school friends dancing around shouting 'Sarah, your nan is here' in the hope they would get some sweets too!

On a happier note our good friends Darren and Beverley welcomed their daughter to the world on Tuesday morning. Paige Addison weighed in at 6lbs 13oz - many congratulations guys! And auntie Lorraine has returned from New Zealand - hoorah! The imminent arrival of her first grandchild sealed the deal - another baby on the horizon - we can't wait!

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Another week passes...

Well another week in the pleasurable company of the delightful Coby Zephyr has passed and much mirth has ensued...a few nuggets for you this week:

When we went swimming it was much easier this time and we just basically flung him in and got him wet and dunked, painful but it meant he got stuck in quicker. He gets scared some times and is quick to cling on...especially when the wave machine kicked in. Yes, I said wave machine.

Coby's response to the waves was: Wicked waves Dad! - not much makes me smile in life more than him saying something cute like that :)

Towards the end we were walking back to the towels and Coby dived at the Swan Slide and we could not drag him off. He was fearless. No wings needed. He loved it!

Tonight as I put him to bed he was stroking my beard and gazing in to my eyes, he drifted off towards sleepy town stroking my bread and chuckling...nice!

Over-dramatised phrase of the week: 'I NEEEEEED pink milk' aka strawberry milk, oh the humanity!

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Hanging with Hattie

I took Coby to see a familiar friend today - one of his nursery chums, Hattie. Her birthday is two days after Coby and they have known each other since Coby started nursery in October 2006. They get along so well and Hattie and her brother Charlie have a fabulous play room - Coby didn't know what to play with first. And in the garden there is a trampoline and tree-house.

Hattie is looked after during the day by her nanny, Sam, who used to work at nursery and has looked after Coby for us a few times too. She's lovely and made us all sandwiches for lunch...













Monday, January 19, 2009

The F Word

What a week its been...

MUZZ
Luckily for us Coby has become attached, in a security blanket kind of way, to his muslin cloths that he has been familiar with since birth, the cloths have come and gone of course, but as they are all identical, one is much the same as any other. This means two key things: we can never lose Muzz as he calls them and we can never run out. Perfect scenario!

FAVES
Coby has a few toys, so much so I am thinking of giving some of the lesser used ones away to various good causes. But here are his Fave5 (in reverse order of Coby's need to have it with him at all times) that we will not be giving away, no matter what:

5) His stuffed soft girl (very important point that Coby will not let anyway forget) rabbit, Willa
=3) His Woody toy
=3) His Buzz Lightyear toy
2) His Lego Mac from Cars (which also contains a Lego Lightning McQueen)

and his #1 toy that he will not be parted from is...

1) His Wall-E action figure - great film!

SWIMMING
We all went Swimming today and it was great fun. Well, when we finally got Cobes in the pool that is. 15 minutes to get him changed. 15 minutes to get him in the pool. 60 minutes to get him to leave once he started loving it. Will go every week now but he will be a good little swimmer we reckon.

AND FINALLY...
Saved the best for last. Coby utters many amusing phrases but the phrase of the week this time has to be when he dropped something (I think he dropped something, anyway, something went wrong somehow) and Coby exclaimed Ohhhh, Fffffffffffffor Gods Sake. As you can imagine we'll take a For over other potential F words anyday ;)

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Pond Dipping: Attempt No.1

SATURDAY! For our little brood it means a lie-in and a lazy morning followed by whatever the hell we like. Today, armed with a pond dipping kit that Al bought Coby for his birthday, we walked the mile and a half to the back of Standalone Farm where there is a stream and a neighbouring sewage works! We realised when we arrived that the stream is not even remotely accessible, so our attempt to capture pond life was thwarted - a big shame. Instead, Coby enjoyed throwing in some sticks on one side of the bridge and watching them drift upstream on the other side. The wind was chilly though and our tummys started to rumble so we headed home for tea and toasted muffins.

Lets go!




Coby spots a rabbit warren

Are we there yet?





Homeward bound

Coby actually asleep on his bike!

Put On Your Sunday Clothes

Coby loves this song from the 'Wall-E' soundtrack and bops along and attempts to sing every time. Originally, of course, its from 'Hello Dolly'. When I showed him this video he asked if they were all going to Wall-E Land! He was still transfixed by the dancing though and I adore Barbra Streisand, so this is on our list of favourites!










Wall-E

The Many Faces of Coby 2008

SPORTING

COSY

ENTERTAINING

LUNCHING

SNOOZING

ADORABLE

HEY HOWDY HEYING

CUDDLING

COMICAL

TRAVELLIN'

CONCERNED

COMING TO THE RESCUE

CUTE

Friday, January 16, 2009

The Road To Hell...

..is paved with good intention and it surely is. I packed swimming trunks, arm bands and water ring today and thought a stroll to the library before a few laps of the pool would get us back into the active action that we've been lacking since Winter set a place at the table. What did we do?

Waffle House in St. Albans: carrot and parsnip soup with mega waffle followed by Pecan Nut and Butterscotch sauce waffle AND ice-cream and a Non-alcohol Mulled wine with spiced fruits! Yum, yum, yum, more calories on the tum!

Eco Friendly

We recently visited our lovely friend Penney Poyzer, hubby Gil and daughter Jasmine in Nottingham. They live in a fabulous eco-home where their gas and electric bills are almost non-existent, the kitchen units are made from yoghurt pots and their cellar conceals a wood-burning boiler. Penney cooked us a gorgeous veggie curry while Coby & Jasmine snuggled in the lounge watching Madagascar...

Hmmm...someone hiding maybe?

Oh look its Coby

Lil' Jasmine

Watch TV? Ignore parent?

Watch TV!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NANNA

Birthday Girl


Cobyisms


"Oh for God's sake" - Coby's response when we dropped a yogurt lid on the carpet

"Its a dark, sunny day mummy" - Coby is as confused by the weather as the rest of us!

"Now play nice" - Coby quotes his hero, Woody from Toy Story

"I'll have 5 Kinder Eggs, I think" - chocaholic??



Thursday, January 15, 2009

Happy New Year!

A little late, but here is the unstoppable trio of Coby, Lola and Olly on New Year's Eve at the Angel's Reply. Olly will become a big brother in February as we excitedly await the arrival of Vicki and Simon's new baby. Roxann & Pep and Uncle Mark & Suzanne are all due imminently too - so many birthdays we will have to remember - phew!

Coby, Lola & Olly

Sunday, January 11, 2009

DVD Monster


Coby is obsessed with watching his favourite movies and has even started quoting from them! His special ones are Cars, Toy Story, Wall-E and Madagascar. We even had granny replace Toy Story 1 and 2 recently because the old ones were scratched and worn to bits.

In the car yesterday, Coby announced "I don't want to survive, I want to live!". We were astonished until we realised he was quoting a line from Wall-E. And as for the music - Coby loves dancing to the music and singing along, particularly 'You Got A Friend in Me' from Toy Story and 'I Like to Move It' from Madagascar...brilliant!

An Early Birthday

On Wednesday last week, Coby and I drove to East London to auntie Doreen's house. Nanna decided to stay with her sister for a few days and so grandad drove her all the way from Lincolnshire. Doreen had prepared some lovely food and invited two of nanna's very old friends to join us for an early birthday celebration. Nanna's birthday is on the 16th, but Doreen wanted to do something to coincide with her visit. Thank you to Jean and Sheila for spending a lovely afternoon with us - it was very special.