December 31, 2013, admin, Family, , 1
One of my favourite parts of blogging is being able to look back at what we have done as a family. 2013 has been a very busy year and the children have grown up so much. We started 2013 with a baby and a little boy and have ended it with a full blown toddler and a young man.
We have had lots of great days out be that blog related or with family and friends and had a fantastic holiday in Derbyshire in the summer.
On a personal level the blog has been doing really well and I decided to take the step into full time Motherhood. I’ve met some great people through my blog and made lots of new friends. I attended my first blogging conference, Blog On in Manchester and am looking forward to going again in 2014 as well as attending Brit Mums Live.
January
2013 started in Edinburgh with a trip to see family. There was lots of fun with soft play, shopping, a visit to the museum and lots of playtime with the Little A’s cousins.
January saw lots of snow and Little Mr A and I had lots of fun building snowmen, tea tray sledging and making snow angels.
After experiencing some feeding troubles with Little Miss A in January, at the end of the month we went to the hospital to have her tongue tie snipped. Unfortunately this was not the easy experience we had hoped for as this post explains.
In January I was also questioning the amount of homework Little Mr A was receiving from school…
February
Come February and Little Mr A was going great guns at school and received his first Star of the Day award. He was over the moon with it and couldn’t wait to tell me as soon as he left school. Although Little Mr A was doing great at school I was still struggling to let go. Reading this post back seems so long ago and we have come a very long way since then. I have definitely begun to accept that he is growing up and have learnt to let go a little more.
Little Miss A tasted her first food – some fruity porridge – weaning was not quite so easy with Little Miss A, however, we have come a long way from those early days and now she will eat pretty much anything we give her! Also in February Little Miss A rolled over for the first time.
Half term arrived and it was the first time I had spent any length of time with both of the Little A’s by myself. I was very nervous and thought I would struggle to keep them both entertained for the week, however, we kept ourselves busy with crafts, baking, LEGO and a family day out at Magna. Although Little Mr A’s behaviour was somewhat challenging, it was still a great week.
March
At the beginning of March a letter came home from school which got me in a panic – it was World Book Day and Little Mr A needed an outfit! After wracking my brains and the craft cupboard he went as a pirate inspired by the book The Troll. I best get thinking about this year’s outfit!
On the subject of school, March was a very up and down month. We had Little Mr A’s second ‘Wow Week‘ where we helped decorate some gingerbread men and got to see all of the exciting things Little Mr A had been up to. On the downside we also had the big escape which left me feeling very nervous leaving Little Mr A in the mornings.
March also saw my first Mother’s Day as a Mummy of Two. I had a lovely relaxing day being spoilt and also included a Costa and a meal out with my Mum.
Little Miss A and I started to do lots of messy play activities including her first painting and playing with rainbow spaghetti. Since we started there is no stopping her! She loves to get messy!
At the end of March we had the first week of the Easter holidays. We did lots of baking and crafts and we also got a few days peace as Little Mr A went to stay with his Grandparents.
April
The second week of the Easter Holidays and Big Mr A had some much needed time off work. We had a lovely day out at Sewerby Hall and stopped in Bridlington on the way home for fish and chips.
Another big day out in April saw us going on the steam train on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. Although it was freezing and we were all full of cold we had a great time.
Little Mr A began to get excited about his birthday after attending a few of his friends’ parties and had an imaginary party in the garden for us all. As the weather got warmer we also started making much more use of the garden and Little Mr A set up an obstacle course.
April also saw me make a huge decision personally – to become a full time Stay at Home Mum. I handed in my notice and, although I’ve struggled along the way, I am now settling into my new role and enjoying being there for the Little A’s full time.
May
Messy play continued in full force in May with Little Miss A playing with edible finger paints, jelly and also, Little Mr A getting involved when we created a beach in the garden.
At the end of the month we had a scorching bank holiday so we made the most of the weather and had a lovely afternoon, just the four of us, in the back garden, playing, eating and sleeping in Little Miss A’s case!
Days out this month included our first trip of the year to The Deep in Hull arranged by Blogs Up North and we also discovered a new park in our village which we have been making a lot of use of since!
Little Miss A came on lots in May beginning her crawling attempts and, just two weeks later, managing it at just 7 months old. For Little Mr A we had a big breakthrough at the hairdressers. Up until then he had been a complete pain every time we visited, however, since May he has been fantastic and actually really enjoys having his hair cut now – much to my relief!
June
June seemed to be full of water related activities! Little Miss A went swimming for the first time, we visited the newly opened Sealife Centre in Manchester thanks to Blogs Up North. Little Mr A got to meet Alex from CBeebies there and I got to meet up with some lovely people I had been chatting to online for a while.
The water theme continued when I took the Little A’s to the Sealife Centre in Scarborough and for a play on the beach whilst Big Mr A was working there. It was Little Miss A’s first time on the beach and she loved it. Little Mr A also had a great time building sandcastles and digging a large trench to the sea.
Trips out this month included a trip to Lincolnshire visiting family and friends and going to Sundown. Big Mr A and I also got a much needed day out on our own at the Download festival.
Messy play this month included playing with water and ice and the incredibly messy but great fun, ‘Muddy Worms‘.
Also in June a new arrival joined the family as Little Mr A found ‘Cyril’ the Snail.
July
At the start of July Little Miss A found the balance she had been searching for and managed to stand all by herself – it was only a few weeks later that she started to walk at 9 1/2 months.
Little Mr A had his first sports day and although there was a little disappointment his team didn’t win, he really enjoyed taking part – although the same can’t be said for Big Mr A who was made to take part in the parent’s race!
July saw us do a few things close to home and on my birthday weekend I took the Little A’s out to look at the Scarecrow Hunt in the village and we had a lovely (and very hot!) barbecue with family. We also visited a local village fete with a very grumpy Little Mr A!
In July I also attended my first blogging conference, Blog On in Manchester. I got to meet some more of my blogging friends and it really helped with my confidence.
August
August came and Little Mr A finally got what he had been waiting for for months – he turned 5! We had a great party at home for all his friends and despite Little Mr A’s reservations (he wanted to go to soft play) a great time was had by all.
Little Miss A got her first pair of big girl shoes in August and was walking (and climbing!) everywhere.
In August we also had a fantastic holiday staying in a cottage in Derbyshire. Our week was packed full of days out including Gullivers at Matlock, Legoland Discovery Centre, our second visit to the Sealife Centre in Manchester, Heights of Abraham, The Chestnut Centre and Chatsworth House.
September
The arrival of September saw Little Miss A’s speech coming on and she learnt some new words including ‘hiya’ and ‘yeah’. I also took Little Miss A to her first toddler group and, although we have been struggling to fit in, we will keep persevering!
As far as Little Mr A was concerned, September did not get off to a good start when I was called over by the teacher for an alleged ‘spitting’ incident which, in the end didn’t turn out to be quite as it seemed!
September also saw us visiting The Deep again where Little Miss A took much more notice of the fish and, quite possibly our favourite day out of 2013 – The Little Fun Fest at York Maze. It was truly a great day out for the whole family, topped off by getting to meet all of the stars. It is definitely high on our list of things to do again in 2014!
October
Little Miss A continued to develop her speech with new words including ‘balloon’, ‘ball’ and ‘doggy’.
Little Mr A began to get excited about Christmas and wrote his extremely extensive letter to Santa! After a shaky start to the school year, Little Mr A seemed to settle quickly and we were really pleased when he brought home an achievement award for his super attitude and we were so proud at the glowing report we got on parent’s evening.
The biggest event of October was Little Miss A’s first birthday. The year seemed to fly by so quickly and she doesn’t seem to have been a baby for 5 minutes! We had a great little party at home for her with family and friends and she seemed to have a lovely time.
At the end of October, just before half term we also managed to get a night away in Scarborough before Big Mr A jetted off to the USA and Canada on a work trip – and so would begin a very stressful week!
November
October ended and November began with a week in Scotland for me and the Little A’s whilst their Dad was away. It was a very stressful week with Little Mr A playing up, a lot! However, we also had a lot of fun – Little Miss A met her Great Grandad for the first time, we visited soft play and a farm and the Little A’s had lots of fun playing with their cousins. I was however very relieved when Big Mr A returned home – particularly as the Little A’s had been incredibly poorly after we returned from Scotland and I had spent a few days mopping up sick and running around after them!
On a more positive note Little Miss A went into a big girl’s bed this month to try and help with her sleeping problems – although it has helped a little, she is still not sleeping great – maybe by the end of 2014 we will have two children that sleep, although I am not counting on it!
December
The start of December put us in a very festive mood with a trip to see Santa at the National Railway Museum in York.
The festive theme continued when Little Mr A played the part of King 3 in his school’s Sparkly Nativity. He was a natural on stage and we loved watching it.
Big Mr A and I also got another night out in December when we went to see The Darkness in Scunthorpe!
December has finished for us with a great family Christmas, back where we began 2013 – in Edinburgh!
My hopes for 2014 are that the Little A’s continue to progress as well as they are doing and I would love another fun packed year full of adventures. We have our Butlins holiday planned in April which we are all very much looking forward to!
By the end of 2014 we will also be back in Lincolnshire which both Big Mr A and I are very excited about and, who knows, with any luck we will be well on our way to adding to the A family!
Happy New Year to all of my fantastic readers – you have helped make 2013 a fantastic year!
