Hello Summer.

Things have been a little bit quiet here on Diddle Diddle Dumpling. Life has gotten a bit mad recently and at the end of the day, I've been too exhausted to entertain the idea of sitting in front of a computer screen and instead have been trying to catch up on house work & spending some time in front of the TV with Iain. But despite not having much to say, life has been by no means quiet. In fact, lots has been going on...

Lets start with John. The all singing, all dancing, refusing to nap at all, toddler. He can now count to 10 although he's still a little young to really understand what a number is. He often disappears to play in his room where you'll then hear a chorus of, "ba-ba back sheep, shedder wool." (I know, I know - but he's only 2...) Other songs include Twinkle Twinkle, Incy Wincy Spider & the Fireman Sam theme tune.
He's also completely potty trained now, only wearing nappies at night time and he's even dry for naps. However, his naps have become non-existent of late, much to my dismay...
In typical toddler fashion, he's also starting to push boundaries - majorly! After a bit of consideration we've decided to implement "Time Out" à la Supernanny Naughty Step (we're in a flat & don't have steps). At the moment it's being used in situations such as biting, hitting, upsetting David (he's developed this high pitched screech which he uses to make David cry when he doesn't want him to do something...) & refusing to help tidy up. And so far it's been pretty positive! He has grasped the concept and even remembers certain things will lead to Time Out; like picking the neighbours flowers. (NB. These aren't our neighbours flowers - this was the park!).

Then there's David - the biggest thing in David's life right now is starting nursery! He's still doing his settling in days but so far he seems to be enjoying it. I was a little worried as despite him being the happiest, most laid back baby in existence, he's never really spent any time away from me but thankfully he's taken it in his stride.
He's now mastered the sniper crawl and gets around our house with ease but hopefully seeing the other babies at nursery crawling will be enough to be him up onto his knees. He's also loving solid food - particular favourites being nectarines, sausages, pizza & ice cream (thanks, Granny...). And he has two teeth now to help him discover even more foodie delights. David's also taken to babbling away to himself, telling some great wee stories - he particularly loves when John repeats them back to him.
Sleep however? What is 'sleep'? Naps are great for David - he has at least 3 decent ones a day but he's still up at least 3 times a night. Thankfully he settles right after a quick breastfeed but it doesn't make it any less exhausting. He have taken the plunge and pop him right into his cot & ended full-time co-sleeping. But he won't be joining John in the other room until he starts sleeping a little better.

As for me? Well, I've been feeling a little lost lately; not sure who I am, other than "Mummy". It has come at a practical time however, as I'll be heading back to the world of work in a few weeks time, meaning I can have my 'days off' from being Mum and spend some time being Amy; talking to actual adults, who don't bite & who talk about things other than Fireman Sam (because no matter how great Sam is, sometimes I've just got to talk about something else...).

To try & help with my rut I've decided to start buying myself some new pieces of clothing and I've also been trying to give my straighteners a rest & embrace my natural hair. I've discovered the Curly Girl Method and I'm slowly having some success with it, although it's still very much trial & error. My skin on the other hand is absolutely atrocious. I have horrendous cystic acne that is not only affecting my confidence in my appearance but is agony too. It's getting me so down that I've made an appointment with the doctor later this week in hopes that they'll be able to help somehow, although I'm not holding my breath as I don't think there's much hope as long as I'm breastfeeding. 
And I finally finished the Couch to 5K a couple of weeks ago! (Whoop!) I'm now aiming to run at least 5k, a minimum of least twice a week, with hopefully upping the ante once this heat wave passes. Oh and it was my birthday on Tuesday! We celebrated with a trip to the park for a picnic & to feed the ducks, camera in hand to practice some new skills I've recently learnt (more on that later...). So here we are & Hello to 24.

So now you know what's been going on with us... How're you?

Happy summertime,

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