Daddy made buttermilk pancakes :)

Allister's 18 month well check.

Tuesday Allister had his 18 month well check at his pediatrician.

Here are his stats.

Height. 34 1/4 inches 91st percentile
Weight 28lb 2oz 76 percentile
Head 19 inches 62nd percentile

He's doing great! He's tall, but not quiet as tall as Harrison. But things can change quickly :)

He's talking up a storm! He will copy pretty much anything you say! He knows all of his super heroes, important stuff! Spiderman and Batman are his favorites. He can run, jump a little and climb a lot!

He figured out how to climb out of his crib this week. That's been fun! If he's super tired he will thankfully lay down and sleep, but we've had a lot of frustration this week with a tired boy who just won't lay down. I've tried laying next to him and that has helped a little. I'm so not ready to have him in a big boy bed, but I guess we don't have a choice! I'm sure it's. It safe to have a toddler scaling his crib, he could slip and hurt himself.

Mummy and me time

Allister and I went to the mall Today and he enjoyed his lunch at panera!

Allister is 18 months.

This little cutie turned one and a half this month!! He is at the funnest age ever! Seriously, it's adorable. I remember Harrison being this age and you just want to eat them up there so sweet :)

Allister is saying sentences now, and all sorts of words! He says things Harrison never said. That's having a 3 year old brother for you!

Batman, superman, bad guy, and green lantern are a regular part of his vocabulary. Along with teem umizoomi, bubble guppies and "Die!! Die!!". Yup, I know. But what's a mum to do! I have no idea how he learned that.

He is getting his canines so this will be the last of the baby teeth apart from his 2 year molars. Yay! He got his left top and bottom this last weekend and the others are working their way in.

He's running around after Harrison all day long. He idolizes his big brother it's so so sweet. "hanon hanon" are some of his favorite words. I love to see their friendship blossom as Allister becomes more able to relate to his older brother.

I took these cute photos today, as soon as you get the camera out Allister says cheeeeese and puts on his best smile!

First day of school.

Harrison started back at Moms Day Out today. He had an awesome day, and his teacher Ms Debbie said he had a great day! When I congratulated him on his effort, she said he didn't need to put in any effort as he was having so much fun! He loves school, and I notice he is more well behaved when he is in his school routine. I think he likes to keep busy and loves to play with other kids.

Poor little Allister was like a lost lamb though. "Hannon! Hannon!?" he said all morning, which is how he says Harrison.

We're excited for a great year :)

So this photo won't turn round!! So I'll edit it later so just turn your head. Lol.

English vacation: Monday.

After a relaxing morning we spent a day in Brighton! These photos are from a few different days we spent in Brighton. Oh how I miss this city!

During our Brighton visits, we wondered around the laines and made our way through some yummy cakes! English donuts, ice buns, bakewell tarts! Lots of the yummy cakes you can't get from the US. This is an old school photo of the laines, as I didn't take one. I was too busy eating cake.

We went to the Palace Pier. Is it still called that! I think it may just be Brighton Pier now? It's fun being a tourist in your own town. It's been years since I had fun on the pier.

The boys loved all the games and lights and rides!

No visit to the pier would be complete without a cheesy photo!

Taking in the view.

An English telephone box and an English post box. You don't see so many of these now as they've all been replaced with modern alternatives. Harrison thought they were cool, and if he'd seen an episode of superman, changing in his phone box, he'd have loved them even more!

cheeky boy :)

We went to Wagamamas. One if the restaurants I miss so much! They have one in Boston, but it's a long way to go for a Katsu Curry! The boys loved the food there, and I got my fix.

We spent some time walking the boulevard, this didn't really exist when I was growing up in Brighton. It's improved a great deal and there's lots to see and do and it's very well kept. We spent some time on the beach throwing pebbles and running around. The boys, and I, love the beach.

An English tourist bus.

Harrison asked to go on this little kid roller coaster for days and days! We let him ride it on our second trip into Brighton and he loved it! As you can see he's grinning form ear to ear! The other boy with him was a Harrison also. It's a much more popular named there.

We we very lucky with our weather. England is beautiful in the sun and rain though. I had forgotten how much cooler English summers are, I've acclimatized so much to the Ohio heat now. This is the Royal Pavilion in Brighton. A palace where the Prince Regent lived. He was very extravagant and the inside is decked in gold and more elaborate than the outside. It's worth a visit if your in England ever.

Chilly and wrapped up from the rain on a typical English summers day!

Positive Parenting. Who's a natural now?

When Harrison was born I had the normal worries of any new parent. Am I doing this right? Is he hungry or tired? Is he gassy or sick? It's so hard to be a first time mummy. You may remember we ended up in the ER one day because Harrison was crying for so long we just thought something was wrong. And of course he stopped as soon as we got there.
But, for a first time parent, I think I did pretty well. I heard many times over "your a natural!" and, other than the lack of sleep, i found it pretty easy. I think it did come pretty natural. Nursing was super easy for me, Harrison slept like a champ, he barely cried, and was easy to calm. Allister was even easier, other than he didn't sleep as well. So long as you give a new born what they want, they're pretty happy chappies! Now of course, parents with colic or whinny fussy babies may disagree with me on that one, but that was my experience with my babies. I was lucky, or a natural, who knows which!

Fast forward to Harrison turning two. That's when things start to get tough! I always said of my easy babies that I'm going to pay later! And boy was I right! I'm not Trying to label my boys, though it's hard to not do that. But I do think Harrison is far more spirited than the average boy. And we love him dearly for it, but it can be hard to know how to tame, or direct his behavior in a positive way. Very recently it's been very hard. Like most things with kids, you have a month or two when they are little angels, everything is going great, you have patience and it's all fun and easy. Then, just as you think you've tuned a corner, BAM, something upsets the apple cart, like a vacation, and everything changes. I've certainly noticed my boys behavior is directly related to a few things. Firstly my patience. Watching too much tv is another, and just being too busy to devote the attention my kids needs. lack of sleep, on everyone's part, is another big one. Many of these things seem like they are easy fixes for the most part. Patience is the hardest.

I've been wondering where to turn for parenting advice. Specific parenting advice. For instance, I'm in the car, on the way to Dayton. Harrison starts to kick the seat. He then starts throwing his water, and hitting Allister. All the time perfecting his eeeeeevil villain laugh! Bwahahahaha! His cheeky grin just makes it worse. So what to do? I'm in the car, on my own driving 75 on the freeway. How do you discipline that? It's so hard! So, I end up pulling over on the hard shoulder, remove Harrison's shoes, waster bottle and tell him how dangerous his behavior is, and give his his binky and bunny and hope he takes a nap! Take 20 or so deep breathes and continue on our way. The joy of the terrible twos and threes!

So, after searching online I found a book called positive parenting. I got it for kindle today, I can read it on my iPad. And iPhone. It has rave reviews, and I'm hoping it will help me, and Matt, be better parents. Calmer parents. And therefore give us happier kids! I'll let you know how the book is.

Jules, Harrison, Matt and Gary star in "The Green Knight".

Here are some more photos and video of the Arundel Castle story time.

Here is Auntie Jules as a Nun, her job was to punish any cheaters in the hat game!

Gary here in the Hat game.

And two videos, the hilarious hat game, which I think would go down at any Christmas party! For any age! And Harrison as Robin hood. It's so cute :)

don't forget to click on over to the blog Web site watch the videos! Enjoy!

England Vacation: Sunday

Advance notice: I have many many photos of our english vacation, and we were very very busy bees while in England. This means I have a lot of photos and stories to tell! You should enjoy them, but maybe it will all just be too much for you ;)

Also, I'm still trying to figure out how to move photos correctly on this Blogsy app. So sorry if they look a little wonky!

Sunday:

Sunday morning, after Emma's wedding, we stayed in a wonderful B & B in Worthing. We enjoyed a delicious English breakfast with real sausages and bacon! Num num num how I missed you!

After breakfast we played in a local park with the boys. It's funny, but because I never had children when I lived in England I didn't know where any parks were!

Allister enjoying the park, this zip line was super fun!

Harrison loved this spiny see-saw!

After the park we headed to Arundel Castle. One of England's prettiest little castles, and a favorite of mine. Arundel is such a charming town, and is surrounded by beautiful countryside.

When Matt and I were dating, he took a photo of me, stood here by these steps. One of our favorite days out was to Arundel. I'll have to dig up the photo and post a then and now. Here we are 6 or so years later, married with two wonderful boys! By those same steps, having taken many many more steps to get here!

Once at the castle, we stumbled across a special story time they were doing for the kids! They were looking for actors, and half our family were picked! Harrison had the time of his life playing a knight, who turned out to be none other than Robin Hood! Daddy Matt got to be his horse, Uncle Gary was some weird hat guy, and Auntie Jules a Nun! I'll post the videos in a second, they are very cute and funny :)

The boys below thoroughly enjoying the story!

The story was so wonderful, and Harrison and Allister grinned from ear to ear the whole time! It really was the highlight of our holiday.

Sir Harrison the Green knight!

On his daddy's shoulders, daddy was asked to be the horse!

The big reveal! Harrison AKA the Green Knight is Robin Hood !

A stunning view over Arundel.

Through the arrow hole.

A rare peaceful moment with my little whirlwind.

He's such a big handsome boy!

After the castle we met up with Auntie Linda and Uncle David (Nana's twin brother ) At The Black Rabbit. It was so nice to catch up with family after so many years of being away. Isn't this a great photo of everyone! Gary had disappeared to hide from the many wasps, we all ended up moving seats away from them. I forgot how many horrid bees and wasps there are in England! Ohio is relatively bug free!

It was such a fun long day, Harrison, who barely napped the whole vacation, was so pooped he fell asleep on Pooh-bash lap. Bless him, he is such an angel Sometimes!