The Christening of Chloe-Lea

 Today we had the honour of attending the christening of the littlest member of our family, Chloe-Lea.

Snippets

 A lie in!

 

A trip to the local farmers market.

 Rocky Road bars made from lots of leftovers!

 Finally putting together the dinosaur.

How to Make Playdough

If there is one thing that everyone always asks me, it is 'How do you make your Playdough?'. And of course, my answer is always 'It is so easy!' !!

Yes, playdough is readily available from supermarkets and toy shops, but bother when you can make some yourself. It only takes 5 minutes to whip up and costs mere pennies. So here is how you can make your own batch of perfect playdough.

You Will Need:

1 Cup of Plain Flour
1 Cup of Warm Water
1/4 Cup of Salt
1 Tsp Oil
2 Tsp Cream of Tartar

All you need to do is pop all the ingredients in a medium saucepan and stir until combined. It should be a wet gloopy consistency. Then turn on the hob to a moderate heat and continue stirring gently. After 2-3 minutes, the mixture should begin to thicken. Once the mixture has lost all of its water and has come together you can take it off the heat and tip it out onto a surface.
Leave the playdough for a minute or two to cool (otherwise you will burn your hands!) and then you can begin to knead the dough to bring it together. This is where you can add your colouring.
Any food colouring will do the job, gels tend to be better than liquids but it doesn't really matter. Flatten the dough slightly and press your finger gently to make a slight well, then put the colouring in (a little at a time is advisable!) and then fold it all over and begin to knead. That way your hands wont turn orange or green ;)

Playdough is such great fun as it really sparks the imagination, as well as encouraging motor skills. I think I first made playdough for Mr Bee when he was a little over a year. Armed with cookie cutters and a butter knife, he explored the textures and practiced cutting. Now, he has a branded toy which he loves to play with, creating new textures and shapes with the moulds.

When you are done, just store in an airtight container and it will last for ages!

What Can Louie Do?

THREE!

Speak in full sentences. A proper little chatterbox, Louie will tell you what he likes, what he doesn't like and everything in between.

Dress himself. His stripes are his favourite, failing that his football strip is a popular choice. From the vest to the socks he can manage on his own.

Count to five. Never his strong point, it all goes to pot after 5. He more than makes up for it in other ways!

Make a Sandwich. Climbing to the breadbin, fetching butter and a filling and putting them together. With a little persuasion, he can fix himself a little lunch.

Walk, run, skip, hop, jump, climb, somersault. Very agile, Louie is confident with pretty much anything physical.

Eat with a knife, fork and spoon. Like a big boy, most of the time!
 
Cross a road. Look both ways, press the button and wait for the green man. Be careful not to fall!

Dance and sing in his own little way. Not one for singing proper songs, Louie likes to express himself in his own little way.
 
Help bake and cook. As soon as he sees anything on the counter he asks what is cooking and if he can help. He is happy to chop vegetables under some supervision and perfectly able to whip up some cakes with the help of the kitchen aid!
 
Write his name with dots. Following the dots, he loves to see his name written by himself!
 
Identify animals and cars. Peugeot, Volkswagen, Vauxhall and Ferrari cars are his favourite spotters, on top of the usual animals!
 
Navigate his way to Annas house, Grandads house and Sainsburys. Louie can easily direct you to any of these places and will quickly tell you if you are going the wrong way!
 
Draw faces, cars and balloons. Imagination is blooming, his drawing is becoming more recognisable.

Have a shower. Aside from turning the shower on (he isn't tall enough!), Louie can happily shower and wash himself (except washing his hair).
 
Pour himself a drink and serve his own food. Juice always tests better when you pour it yourself.

Make Friends. Wherever Louie goes he makes friends. Always polite, he is pretty irresistible!
 
Climb to the top of the tallest slides. No fear. Look away and he is at the top of a 7ft slide shouting 'Mummy, look!'.
 
Swim lengths with the aide of arm bands. Up and down and up and down. 
 
Use a toilet. Always, no prompting, no accidents. Sorted!
 
Talk confidently on the telephone. Ring ring, ring ring. "Hello!" The problem tends to lie with getting the phone back!


Okay so Louie is three and this is the first post that I have done like this, but I felt I needed to! It isn't a showy off kind of post, even if it seems that way. I just want to remember all the things that Louie can do, where he is right now. So here it is for reference!

Family

Saturday

 

This weekend we have been joined by family we don't see very often. Our cousin Mary from Ireland has stayed with us for a long weekend which has meant we have been lucky to spend lots of time with the extended family. Uncle Pat and Auntie Caroline, who came down from Northumberland, had the fantastic idea of getting the whole family out to Bradgate Park for an afternoon in the sun and fresh air.
The sun shone and we had a great walk, with plenty of stops for football, frisbee and baby feeding. Whoever thought playing football by the river was a good idea I don't know, but the ball ended up being lost at least three times! Passers by helped, and even with my wellies on, I couldn't salvage the ball from the deep rapids! We headed home after a cuppa at the tea room, to get ready for a big meal out with everyone. Pizzas all round (except for Uncle Gerard), yum yum! Mr Bee stayed up so late and was incredibly well behaved, despite being so sleepy.

Sunday

Papa and I had a little treat, a breakfast date just the two of us. We waved Mary off as Mom took her to the airport and spent the rest of the morning in the garden with the football and the scooter. Such a fresh and warm morning with the sun brightly shining. Spring is surely on its way! We spent most of the day playing indoors and out, baking a Grasshopper Pie and making our Sunday roast, missing our guests!