July in the UK: Finn discovers bones and photography, but Orry discovers clapping

July was mostly taken up by the Cori-&-sons trip to America, but we still had a week or two in the UK all together, which is what the story is to tell here.

But first, the monthlies:

8 months old

9 months old

45 months old (3 years 9 months)

46 months old (3 years 10 months)

The start of the month was taken up by a special trip to the Isle of Man, since I (James) had received an invitation to the Tea Party for the Great and the Good of the Isle of Man which happens annually the day before Tynwald, the National Day for the Isle of Man. It's not the sort of thing you often get an invite to, so we thought that we'd go over just for a few days so that we could go.

(Although, having said that, my mum burst our bubble in telling us that she tried to avoid going these days, as she'd been invited so often! But that's understandable since she is very clearly a permanent fixture in the Great and the Good club!)

Sadly we didn't get a picture of our looking all spruced up, so the best that we can do is a picture of Cori's hair mid-way through the sprucing-up (taken so that she could see how good her work on the back of her head was):

You should be able to derive from this picture how spruced we were at the end of it - very sprucey. The only problem was that Cori forgot to find a hat to wear, about which she kicked herself repeatedly as we ate our scones and had polite conversation of the Nunnery (where the event was held), whilst casting envious eyes over all the others in glorious hats.

The tea party was held in Douglas, and so Cori and I got an entire two or three hours free from Finn (left with Grandad and Gran at his aunt/cousin's house) and Orry (left with his Granny at her house). This was the first time we have ever been free of them both. It was great! We found ourselves actually having a conversation - and not at all interrupted by a toddler or a baby - for the first time in about three years. It was a strange and blissful experience. It is nice to speak together so - it's a shame we don't get a chance to more often!

It was drizzling at the Tea Party, but not too disastrously. What was disastrous was the torrential downpour that hit Tynwald Day itself the next day. As the day revolves around the proclamation of the laws from the ancient Tynwald Mound, everything is outside. We were not alone in deserting the National Day completely within minutes of the rain really committing itself. I was glad to have Finn and Orry as excuses for deserting the day, as we were all much happier driving home again in a nice dry car!

The weather around those days were lovely though, which meant that we were able to get out and see and do:

Although these pictures of everyone enjoying the exercise machines around the Mooragh Park look rather lovely, they bring an awkward memory for me. Walking along ahead of the other two, Finn climbed on one of the machines and asked how it worked. I couldn't work out the cussed thing until I put my full weight on one of the lever thingies, at which point the seat pivoted up unexpectedly and Finn was launched head-first into the handlebars. Wailing and tears ensued. I was really frightened for him and had to check inside his mouth for blood, but he seemed to be ok. We recovered our nerves again also when he told the story to Cori of what happened when she came along: "I sat on the thingy, and then Deedah worked it, and the thing went Wham! Wham! Wham! in my face!" - complete with an illustrating palm slapped onto his own chin at each "Wham!" - and the triple exaggeration made everyone laugh! Which made the walk home much easier.

These rather nice pictures of us by the harbour estuary thingy in Ramsey were very shortly followed by Finn trying to pull the boats you see in the background up the (dry) shore. This consisted of him leaning his weight against a rope and groaning before saying "nope" and moving on to see if he would have any luck with the next rope. Weirdo. However, this did not happen until after he had borrowed the camera to snap some beautiful mum-and-baby portraits, as only Finn can:

There was also the now-traditional drawing of a road network in the sand on the beach. But this time it was mainly just the creating, and very little actually using of it, but at least Granny was able to inspire him to use the airport we'd built - and she also made an excellent Air Traffic Control Tower!

And, since most of those pictures focussed on Finn, here are some of that other child of ours, enjoying the new toys of the flat, being delighted about bumping into his Grandad and Gran eager to spoil them by actually putting money into the sit-on boat thing at the swimming pool, and then relaxing at the end of a hard day:

After the Isle of Man we only had a week or so before they were all off to America. But that still meant many days to fill with activities, such as a trip to the well-loved Transport Museum:

There was also some time for some cuteness from Orry:

And also some cuteness from Finn:

There was time for Finn to ask lots of questions, such as what bones are. We explained this with reference to our unboney bellies and our boney ribs, which set up the rest of the day of Finn walking around and intermittently feeling his belly and his ribs. This is the rather lovely illustration which Cori made to explain it all to him:

There was also much silliness in that short time, such as Finn putting on "a performance" with his cars... Not, we hasten to add, a performance for us of the cars, but a performance by the cars for the cars:

Also, Orry rolling about to end up fast asleep like this when we returned to the room after getting our own selves ready for bed:

Also, on the theme of sleep, Finn commandeering Bear as his own friend to hug as he falls asleep (much to Cori's annoyance as Bear is very decidedly HER bear):

This picture is also a very good illustration of perhaps the worst haircut that I have ever seen. Admire that "around the ear" trim which is half-way up his head. Phenomenal! That is what you get for Cori distrusting my hair-chopping skills and insisting on taking him to a beauty shop. - It'll be me doing it next time, I think!
Also, Finn creating a "bug eye" for himself using one of his play teacups:

Also, brilliantly, Orry delighting in discovering a new way to make a mess at meals:

On the theme of meals, there are also the obligatory pictures of the baby enjoying mealtimes - always a winner:

It's a good job that he enjoys having baths with his brother and Mama as much as he does - or else there'd be trouble!

When back in London, Finn also continued his new-found desire to hold the camera himself to take pictures. Here is a picture of him in action, looking very professional:

And here are the self-evidently completely professional results (including the use of one of his favourite demands - "say cheese! Now, say a sad cheese!":

The rather fetching hat in the last of these shows that American packing was in process - such a daringly... interesting... hat as this one of Cori's is not the sort of thing to be worn but for on a holiday. This, therefore, means that this picture was taken within about three or four days of their leaving for their month in America - packing takes a long time with babies and toddlers, especially if you have to pack for an entirely different sort of (very hot) climate. For instance, it meant that Finn got his first pair of sunglasses, which he especially liked to precariously balance on his forehead (looking very natural, I think you'll agree!):

And, of course, Finn wasn't going to miss out on the silly-hat trying on:

Cori made a list of everything that they wanted to do when they were there in American, partly for her own benefit, but also in order to engage Finn in the idea of going to America. In reviewing the list, it was quite clear which items were Cori's ("Zoo, History Museum, Outdoor pool" etc.) and which were Finn's ("Jungle, Camp for mushrooms" etc.). We have no idea what some of Finn's items were, including his "Camp for mushrooms," and his explanations hardly helped!

Finn's final preparation was a little more worrying, in that a couple of days before the departure he developed a terrible stomach pain, which had him screaming and crying through the night with "My tummy! My tummy hurts!"
It was really terrible, and we just had no idea what to do for him or about it. The doctor had no real idea either. She ruled out appendicitis and other major things and then we all just hoped that it would pass. A couple of days before the flight, it was sufficiently bad that we were facing up to the realisation that they could not fly at all if it remained that bad; it would have been impossible to have got him to the airport, let alone to have put him through eight or so hours of flying!
Luckily, he just about got over it by the time of the flight. But at that point Cori was beginning to come down with the illness, whatever it was. But she certainly wasn't going to let that stop her - she put her determined face on and on she went!
There is no picture, thankfully, of Finn wailing, but here is one of Orry and her outside the doctor's (where they went to wait for the appointment because Finn was wailing so loudly and unrelentingly), a yard from Finn conked out in the pushchair having wailed himself to sleep! And there is also one of Cori meaning (slightly summer-sun freckly) business!

But their getting onto the plane to America for a month (making the most of Finn's not being in nursery and the last period of Cori's Maternity Year) is the end of the July post from this side of the Atlantic... Leaving only a cute video of Orry's new skill and two final Orry pictures to finish on, leaving you with the question of whether you would be excited to sit next to such a cute lil' fella on the eight-hour flight to America or not...?!