The Waterbaby And The Threenager

Swimming for Charley this morning went very well again! It nearly didn't happen, I got to the bus stop and realised I'd only forgotten a swim nappy this time. Hopefully we'll reach a point over the next few weeks where the things I'm forgetting aren't quite as essential as nappies or towels. There were a few tears but only when things happened that he wasn't expecting. He dived and swam (sort of, he glides with guidance) (kind of like Bud Lightbeer does his falling with style), chattered to his new friends, had a piggyback, did rolls, back floating. He also did his first "free swim" today, as in, underwater, not being held by anyone, propelled towards someone else. And back again. Brilliant. He's the youngest in both classes by three months as well. Ahhhh my little swimbaby. Your teacher was very proud of you! (So was mama!)

Steve and I are tired today. But Ben is exhausted, you can see the bags under his eyes. Too much excitement over the last 8 or 9 days seeing various relatives, and evidently not enough sleep. No wonder it's getting to half past three and all he wants to do is cosy up on the sofa and read books. Last night he must've woken up nearly every hour, in a weird state of unawakeness, eyes open, in a panic, mumbling something about got to get away, or crying out, blindly feeling for me, for the nipple, lunging for it and then finally relaxing. Nightmares stemming from some part of Cars 2, about giant waves coming to get him. (Which, on a slightly unrelated note, is in my opinion a film totally unsuitable for a three year old to watch. If it wasn't a cartoon would you let a child that young watch it? I can't believe it's supposedly aimed at kids. It's more suitable for 8 or 9 upwards, and totally aimed at adults with all the nods towards Austin Powers and James Bond. We have a lot of talking through this film to do with Ben as, predictably, he is utterly obsessed.)

Charley, by contrast, I think woke for a quick drink twice last night. He seemed a bit unsettled as well though, even if all that was needed was my arm around him and all was ok again.

The big news today however is that our shower is finally installed and working!!! Since we moved to the south coast and left Manchester behind we have had bathrooms in our houses but no showers. This shower has been a long time coming. I was so excited to step into it after swimming. Excited like you would not believe :) Ahhhhh. It feels so good to be shower-clean!!

Headed out to the park this afternoon for some fresh air and sunshine. Charley slept, and Ben made a beeline for the Big Slide, as pictured a few days ago. I had fun doing sunflare shots, and Ben decided he was going to learn how to climb up a different, trickier, ladder. Needless to say, he managed... Lots of things were played on and climbed and jumped on, until he tried out the firemans pole again, and let go. Bump. Right onto his bottom. Not a happy boy. But, credit to him, he allowed Steve to help him down the firemans pole another few times, each time with less and less assistance, so that at the very least he didn't leave the park with a fear of going down it!

Home again for dinner. Ben has the Threenager form of verbal diarrhoea. Loudly. Quietly. Incessantly. He has to make noise, almost all the time. I'm sure I read a blog post about this three-year-old need for incessant noise-making a while ago, I may have to find it again! Charley sat and watched us eat until he'd had enough of the din, and a tired-to-the-point-of-utter-crazed-hyperactivity Ben was coerced into pyjamas. He came downstairs having cleaned his teeth speaking in a squeaky "baby" voice. And as he came to say that he loved Charley, his voice started "breaking" between squeaks and normal voice!

Poor Ben. The testosterone has hit with a vengeance since turning three. So much energy that he can barely contain, inability to concentrate, shouts at everything, short fuse - actually that might all be exacerbated by the extreme tiredness...

So yet again I'm tucked up in bed with the boys writing my blip. I read this blog by The Mule yesterday, which says incredibly eloquently how I feel about nursing either/both of my boys to sleep. It almost had me in tears reading it, it was so close to the bone at times.

Hopefully I'll get a few minutes downstairs before bedtime proper, to blip, have my insulin, have something to eat and a drink, and say 'bye to Ruth (as I doubt I'll be out of bed when she goes for her train back to London in the morning).