Mommy Mondays

So today was our first Movement with Mummy class at the leisure centre. It was pretty fun...though E wasn't really fussed about paying attention. He did enjoy getting to run around, and he sat still long enough to do the toe-pointing exercise, and even hugged a cuddly stuffed baby penguin for a while. It seems like a good forum to let him get some wriggles out while still learning to follow a few more instructions and pay attention to things for more than 30 seconds. (To be fair, he will sit through a book that it takes 3 minutes to read and do it happily.) I don't know how often we'll go, but I enjoyed the excuse to get myself out of bed earlier and to make sure E had some proper exercise before his nap.

Yesterday, I took that new top from White Stuff out for a spin. We were having a family gathering over in Newbury so that the aunts, uncles, and cousins could say a big 'Welcome Home' to the Husband's youngest brother, Robin, now that he's back from doing 2 years of missionary work in France. We had a great time getting to see everyone and hanging out...and the Cornish pasties and vanilla-almond cupcakes we made went over a treat.

It's nice to know that I can dress up this shirt for church (or the office if I was working at the moment), and still dress it down with jeans and flats or leggings and boots just for running errands, or going to baby group. (Yes, I'm definitely wearing it to baby group tomorrow.) The really lovely thing about having a nice button-down top is that, as a mum, it's great for breastfeeding, but you still look smart and put-together. Plus, this is a half-button tunic top, so I have the extra length that I prefer in most shirts. It's just nice to be able to do all of the bending, lifting, reaching, and cross-legged sitting on floors that mothering a toddler requires without having to worry about flashing a bit of bum-cleavage to anyone else in the room. Because, let's be honest: no one really wants to be reminded of what knickers you have on every time your kid wants to be picked up.

Continuing on the theme of colourful new things: I have new measuring spoons! Lovely Auntie Vanessa (my mother-in-law's sister) bought Rachel a set of adorable measuring spoons as a Christmas present. Another aunt and I loved them so much, we asked Vanessa where she found them; so she promised to grab us each a set and bring it to the homecoming reunion for Robin. Tell me these are not the cutest things you've ever seen?

I want to do so much more baking now.

And now, on the mommy front: I've been loving the books we're able to find for E at the library. It seemed like a bit of a dud at first (I know I did my fair share of complaining), but this library is really beginning to deliver.

Mon Chat le Plus Bête du Monde is an adorable book about a child's slightly odd pet cat. At least...he seems pretty sure that his pet is a cat: naughty and oddly behaved though it may be.
The Snail and the Whale by Julia Donaldson is brilliant. I love the way she rhymes throughout a book (check out One Ted Falls Out of Bed and The Gruffalo for more good examples of this), and Axel Sheffler's illustrations are darling.
Earnest is an extremely large moose. E really loves the last page of this book when Earnest finally overcomes his struggle to fit into his own picture book. Catherine Rayner hit the jackpot with this concept: it's really fun to read.

That's everything for now. I've got a little man who needs help getting back to sleep and then it's time to keep digging into Is That A Fish in Your Ear? I'm enjoying myself so far.