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.

My 10 Answers

This is the famous "Ten Questions" as popularized by James Lipton on "Inside the Actor's Studio," originated by French television personality Bernard Pivot, after the Proust Questionnaire..

1. What is your favourite word? Onomatopoeia- it’s fun to say. I also like Albuquerque, probably because it was the first word that I used a cognitive technique to memorise the spelling of- I am normally a terrible speller.
2. What is your least favourite word? Scab- it used to be moist, but I love baking and moist is always a positive word in the world of baking/cooking. I used to really hate the phrase moist scab. Eeww.
3. What turns you on? Humour, wit, passion, humility, chivalry
4. What turns you off? Pretentiousness, dullness, close-mindedness and ignorance
5. What sound do you love? I cannot lie and I don't care if it's cliche... my favourite truly is the sound of Liam’s laugh. Sometimes I will tickle him until my fingertips are sore just to hear him giggle. It is utterly infectious and totally heart melting. I also love the sound of the tide coming in gently over the stones and rocks on the seashore, but I am so infrequently by the sea that it exists merely as a memory these days.
6. What sound do you hate? 5 Sports live- I have begun to loathe sports because I have a sport obsessed husband who watches sports, reads about sports on our satellite TV, listens to sports and sports talk every second he gets. Who cares what Bob the Builder from Coventry thinks about Alex Ferguson’s comments on the Chelsea match?!?! Not me. Every Tom, Dick and Harry has something to stand up on their soap box and comment about- it’s just noise to me, annoying never-ending noise.
7. What is your favourite curse word? I wouldn’t say I have a ‘favourite’ curse word, but I do use the f word way too much. I need to curb that habit before Liam’s next word is a nasty one!
8. What profession other than yours would you like to attempt? I would love to be a luxury holiday television presenter/ travel journalist. Exotic locations, sumptuous suites… now that’s what I call work!
9. What profession would you not like to do? A podiatrist or chiropodist, anything with feet really. I don’t mind mine or Liam’s, but the rest of you have gross feet with the toe jam and the hard skin and the weird looking pinky toe… barf!
10. If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the pearly gate? I would love to hear God say “excellent, the entertainment is here,” but I fear he will say “I think we both know you got the wrong bus” and I’ll say “ Oh sorry, I’m always getting my 6s and my 9s mixed up, but since I’m already here…”
    
    Did I tell you that for my friend’s Halloween hen night (bachelorette party) I dressed up as a pregnant nun (I was 36 weeks pregnant)? I think I booked my ticket then and there.

Cute pics

A few cute pictures from the past few days. My friend Kerry at work got Liam a super cute little outfit from Next. He looks like a train conductor. We don't have him in overalls very often- he's usually a little too long, but these fit him perfectly and he looks so cute! I took a ton of pictures at granny's house, but I just couldn't resist.Ollie and I took a little sneaky break up to Donegal yesterday. Susan minded Liam for the night and we stayed in a lovely 4 star hotel. We had a beautiful dinner, lovely wine and a gorgeous breakfast this morning. It was restful, relaxing and allowed us some well deserved time alone together. We headed back home to pick Liam up from daycare a little early. The weather was cold, but dry so we went quickly to the park. Liam is all about the slide. He gets miffed if we even suggest another apparatus.After watching the Ireland 6 nations Rugby match on TV with his daddy 2 weeks ago, Liam has enjoyed cheering whenever he gets excited. He scrunches his fists up and shakes his whole body. It's super cute.

Random

Well since everyone else is doing it...

My band name would be: Magnolia Grandiflora

Our first album would be called: Depart, be lost, but climb

And our album cover:

If you want to do this, you can follow the instructions below.Go to “wikipedia.” Hit “random” and the first article you get is the name of your band. Then go to “Random quotations” and the last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album. Then, go to flickr and click on “explore the last seven days” and the third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

Just a few pictures from the past week...

Liam enjoying his dinner. He loves feeding himself (well, attempting to anyway). He's still a great eater and hasn't gotten fussy yet. He actually had some olives last night- proper Spanish olives with some sundried tomatoes. He was licking his lips and wanting more! He won't get them very frequently though, they are full of salt.

Last weekend while the sun was up and the day was dry, we headed to the park for a playdate with Oliver. Here's little Oliver giving me a partial smile for the camera.
Liam was more interested in his cheerios!
Oliver acting bashful.
Liam on the swings...

I let him try the medium slide in the park- until now, we mostly stuck to the swings. He loved it! I couldn't get any photos, because I was holding onto him. Next time, I'll get an action shot.

Yesterday we visited St George's Market in the city centre. The Ark Farm had a few animals for the children. Liam thought the sheep and lambs were very cute.

He was trying to feed them some of his cheerios.

They also had little day old chicks and 2 week puppies. Liam is still a little young to fully understand how to be gentle, so we had to be very careful when he tried to pet them. He really loved it and was doing little screeches of excitement.

Cute new PJs