Easter Holiday

We had a lovely time off for the Easter Holidays. The weather was nice and sunny (not very warm, but nice and sunny) and we spent loads of time together as a family. Here's Liam enjoying his little Easter basket. They don't do baskets here, so it was only by luck that I got this one. I also had to cut up a bunch of green napkins to make the little Easter grass- apparently they don't do the grass here either (or at least, I couldn't find any). He got a few stuffed toys and bunny cookies and chocolate (plus some new clothes and money from the family).

Liam in his nice little Easter outfit. I think he looks really tall in this photo, but I also think it's the angle it was taken at. He was fairly well behaved at mass- thankfully our chapel has a 'crying chapel' which is an enclosed room for parents with young children. There are some toys in there and at least the screaming and crying won't interrupt the mass! We enjoyed Easter Sunday dinner at Ollie's mum's house. Aunt Susan and Uncle Gerard were there as well. Liam loved his Turkey dinner and the chocolates after! The turkey was massive and Ollie's enjoyed turkey and stuffing sandwiches nearly all week!
Cutest little Bob the Builder pyjamas! Look at the hair- it's wild first thing in the morning.

We went to the Belfast Zoo on Monday. We were wise to have arrived before 10am as we only had to wait in the queue for 1/2 an hour. Had we left it any later, we would have waited up to 1 1/2 hours! The traffic and parking looked a complete nightmare when we left the zoo around 1pm.

Here's the wee man with a cute bear in the parking lot. He was so excited by the bear and was screeching in enjoyment. It was super cute! He's not much for still shots these days, so it was very difficult to get many shots of him enjoying the animals.

They have a small petting zoo area with farm animals - Liam liked the wee donkey. I was close at hand with anti-bacterial wipes.
The Belfast Zoo, for those of you that have never been, is set on 55 acres of what is essentially a huge hill. We were walking at a near 90 degree angle in some points- talk about a butt workout! I allowed myself a little chocolate Easter egg because of the workout. Most of the animals were out enjoying the sun and the influx of people- they must make all of their money on Easter Monday because there were probably 1-2 thousand people in there throughout the day. Liam enjoyed the penguins and sea lions. He also loved the lion and lionesses and the monkeys of course. We got him a cute red panda and a zoo cutlery and plate set.

We then flew up to the house for a quick change and then onto Annie's house for Easter Monday dinner. Ollie's Aunt Margaret and Uncle Pat are in town from Pennsylvania. It was there first time meeting little Liam and he was, for the most part, very well behaved. He enjoyed the cooked lamb and I tried not to gag at the smell (I think the smell of lamb is so gross).

I worked a bit on the garden and planted a few new flowers in pots at the front of the house. We still need to finish the fence and erect a shed and make my organic veg planters, but we have this weekend and next for that. I took a few extra days off to run about and hit the gym (burning off the few Easter chocolates I allowed myself).

Liam's routine was a little thrown off and the sugar rushes from the chocolate made for difficult naps and evening bed routines. He slept much better last night and hopefully will sleep okay today at daycare.

Springtime

I realise it has been a while since my last post. My Internet connection at home is painfully slow at the minute. Not much has been going on round the Reynolds household. We're starting to do some spring cleaning and planning what we will be doing with the garden. I'm thinking decking and some raised beds for organic vegetables. I need to get started on that over Easter break. We're also starting to fill in the settlement cracks around the house and repaint. I'm going to try and do one room at a time rather than do bits here and there and never fully finish a room.

Here's Liam looking cute in some of his left over US clothes. I went a little crazy last Autumn and bought like mad. He's in 18-24 US and some 2 Ts and 24ms. I'm going to have to stock up on 2-3 years during our trip back home in June. We had our 15 month check up last week and his MMR shot. He was a very brave boy, but not at all impressed with the shots. I had to give him extra hugs and kisses. Next time, I'm sending Ollie to do it. It just breaks my heart to see him upset. He weighed in at a healthy 11.9kg (26.25lbs- 75th percentile) and a long 83 cms (32.6 ins-90th percentile)
His vocabulary is coming along really well and I notice a new word each week. He's saying around 18-20 words and is able to say a few phrases (all gone, all done, the ball). He's very active and would rather walk and run about than be pushed in the buggy (stroller). He's still sleeping very well for us- 7pm - 7/7:30 am with a 1-2 1/2 hour nap in the afternoon. His appetite is as ferocious as ever and he loves to try new foods. His favourite is sausages, mashed potatoes and peas.
The Phillies hoodie that Jake and Lora sent over is still a little long in the arms, but he loves it. How cute and curly is his hair! It's a lovely light to medium brown at the minute. He's so cute.

I just thought he looked cute in these pictures. It's so hard to get a photo of him these days- he's no longer a ham for the camera like his mommy.

My basil plant is thriving in the background of this photo. I also have a coriander plant (cilantro), but it's not doing as well. I normally kill off my plants, so I'm happy to see at least one surviving.

We headed to the park this weekend for a playdate with Jacqui's wee girl, Isabella.

Can you believe that she is only 27 months!!!! She is in 3-4 year clothing and could easily pass for a 4 year old. I'm not sure what she's feeding her, but she's certainly changed from the 5lb premature little baby that came home with Jacqui in 2007!

Liam looking adorable.

And another big smile for mommy. He loves the swings and the slides. I'll have to put pictures up of my lovely mother's day present (mother's day in the UK is in March). I had a wonderful day full of flowers and homemade dinner (Ollie made a great meal for us all) and a cute mug and pictures and a card Liam made a daycare. Very cute.