July #1: Palace, Hospital and Performing

July saw a lot of exciting things happen – a Palace, a 999 trip to A&E and the big Dance Show etc. – but first let’s have the monthly pictures:

20 months old

21 months old

57 months (4 years 9 months) old

58 months (4 years 10 months) old

The first big thing we did in July was another of the Great London Bucket List activities: a trip to Hampton Court. This was especially important for Cori, as it had been on her London list since she’d first arrived from America, and yet she’d somehow not done it during the seven year’s she’d been a Londoner.

We were very impressed by the Palace, and we all had a great time, even from our very first impressions as we arrived.

(I think that Orry looks very Winston Churchill in this last picture, I’m not sure why).

Finn was especially excited to see the place as he’d been asking about our address (King Henry’s Walk) only the week or so earlier. Having explained that our area of Islington had once been woodlands where King Henry VIII had hunted, Finn was suddenly interested in this Henry chap. So it was nice to go in and immediately enter at the dining hall in which King Henry ate:

Although Finn was impressed by the closeness of history there, I don’t think it came anywhere near to Cori’s awe at the place – she was in her element. She didn’t have enough time to look around on her own, but the indoor play area did allow her some time to gorge herself in the Georgian monarchy:

Lots of fun for everyone:

But, of course, Finn (and Orry) enjoyed most of all the excellent play area at the end of the very long day. Having arrived at 11am, we didn’t get out until just about closing at 5pm – a good Museum/Palace day out!

Orry had not been particularly well all day at the palace. It was clear that a cold was coming on, and so we were relieved to be getting home again. Getting in, it seemed clear that both children were going to crash out to sleep. Finn did this well, disappearing to sleep in his bed immediately upon getting home (having eaten on the train home), but Orry did not. Instead, as he emerged from the carrier onto the bed, he was wheezing heavily and struggling to get enough air in his lungs. He lay down passively on the bed wheezing.

999 was called, and an ambulance arrived within seven minutes. The nice emergency doctors who arrived quickly took a reading of his oxygen levels, and looked up from their reader to suggest that we leave for A&E. By their tone, it was clear that it was important to do so quickly. Indeed, Cori and Orry went with the lights going, such was their concern.

Remaining at home were Finn and I, who discovered in the morning that they had stayed the night (my phone wasn’t working to contact them). So we set off to UCLH, by Euston, to find them up on the 11^th floor. Still being monitored, we hung out in their room eating and hanging out happily for a couple of hours until we were discharged to go home and continue as before.

The cause? – Just his getting a cold, which closes down a little the width of the trachea and the tubes within the lungs. Starting with only young child width tubes, any decrease makes it difficult. Tied in with a minor reaction to one of his allergies, and there you go.

It all makes sense, but it is not very pleasing to know that it has the sort of cause which we couldn’t really cut out by doing anything particularly different in future. – Cause for concern.

Regardless, everyone survived it, some of us with a great view, a good rest and toast (and, for the record, this certainly did not apply to Cori – the good rest anyway!)

At the start of the month Finn’s Uncle Matt got engaged, while scuba diving. Finn was sufficiently impressed by the episode to memorialise it in a drawing. See if you can see any differences between the two (other than the fact that Matt is proposing to Sarah in one, and catching a fish in the other):

The next big thing was the great nursery trip.

We had no idea that there was such a thing as an annual nursery trip, but when they told us about it, we signed up merrily, even without knowing where it was that they were planning to go to. In the end it was to the Paradise Wildlife Park (in Broxbourne, Hertfordshire). Having got on the coach at the nursery and travelled for an hour with everyone, we arrived to discover that the Park was a brilliant combination of zoo and children’s play area. Although we had about four hours there, we could have been happy there for twice that. It was great. It was also great that both Finn and Orry were really into it, even from the very first (when we found the sit-on tractors by the entrance):

There was everything you might want (if you’re a Finn and an Orry)…

Cars…

Miniature train rides…

Old Fire Engines…

Animals a-plenty…

We didn’t take many pictures of animals – mainly because they’re not very interesting in pictures – but we did look at a lot – it wasn’t just all vehicles! … Although one of the most impressive things, for all of is, was that Finn got to ride (successfully) his first ever dodgem:

I was very impressed by his being able to do it. He took it in his stride, but I was really amazed how he was able to navigate around the course without getting stuck at all, slowing down for the corners and getting round them etc. I was, however, glad to get onto the thing when there was no one else around to get him worried about it all.

Of course, the other great thing about this particular trip was that we went with all of Finn’s nursery friends, all of whom are lovely. It was great to hang out with them and to get to know the grown-ups better. Cori especially got a good time with the kids as she was one of the few parents to have brought a swimming costume with her, and so she was Fun Chief when everyone got to the paddling pool at the end of the trip. I was rather jealous, but then I just had a little snooze in the shade with Orry!

Although no splashing is going on, here is one of the favourite pictures of all from the trip – Finn with his good friends, Mila and Lily:

It has become commonly accepted now that Finn and Mila are going to get married when they are older. Initially it was driven by Finn and Orlando fighting for her affections in nursery, but then Orlando left nursery early, leaving Finn and Mila to their happy futures. We don’t know where it originated, but it certainly came to us from Finn. Regularly on the way to nursery Finn would ask me questions about his future, when he would be married to Mila and with his own children. These grew more pronounced when he became aware that he was leaving nursery, clearly concerned about his maintaining contact with his future wife.

It was strange to joke with Mila’s (very nice) mum about it – it all began to feel like an arranged marriage!

As it was with the misery following the joy at the Hampton Court trip, so there was misery that following after the nursery trip. Finn and Orry were being silly and naughty as they came back into the house. This included playing with the door to the toilet, with one on the inside slamming it shut and the other opening it again. They were sternly told to stop, only for the door to be slammed one more time. Finn did a very good job of watching that it wasn’t going to slam on his hand at the door handle side, only to forget that he was gripping the door frame on the hinge side with his other side. This was the inevitable result:

It was clear that was one that was going to come off, though we didn’t tell Finn about that until weeks later, just before it began to lift up:

It wasn’t long after this that we told Finn of the Nail Fairy, who comes and replaces the nail under your pillow with a bit of money. Finn was delighted by this, and especially when it really happened:

Finn’s other great ailment, his “bump,” remains on his foot. This verruca has been around for a month already. We have tried to treat this at home with some ointment before, but to little success. We were worried to see it turn blackish in July:

However, we were pleased to discover that it was actually its final legs, as it flaked off and away by the end of the month – at last!

The “bump” at times caused problems, as it was occasionally painful enough to interrupt Finn’s dancing at his lessons (since they did it without shoes on). However, it never got sufficiently bad to interrupt his wonderful learning of dancing, and, equally impressively, general life skills of confidence etc.

Timing in with the end of the school term, Finn’s dance lessons came to a grand end in July, with a great “show.” Finn was fantastic.

Having started the dance lessons too shy to even get onto the dance floor, Finn finished the lessons as the one the dance teacher, Sarah, asked to take shy new-starters under his wing to show them the ropes. So he would go and hold their hand and show them where to sit and how to listen to Sarah’s instructions etc. – A wonderful transformation for us to see.

And, in the show itself, Finn was the Lead Dancer in his class’s section of the performance; it was Finn who led the other children around the room in their dancing line and who took centre-stage as they faced the audience and did their moves in from of the beaming crowd of parents. He was excellent.

Finn led the other dances in their seashore themed dances, covering all of: aeroplanes (flying off on holiday), sandcastles, waves, crabs (they had excellent red crab hats on their heads made out of paper plates), and back again.

We have been in to see Finn and the other children dance before, with a handful of other parents, but only in a very informal way, sat on the floor as they continued their lessons on the other side of the room. So this performance – with different classes performing, and a raked stand for 60 or so parents to sit – was a different thing altogether. We were very much cut off from Finn, with him on stage, performing to the crowd, and us lost in amongst all these other people. We were watching him not performing for us, but performing for everyone, for the crowd; just performing. It was a thrilling and brilliant experience, and I don’t think that I’ve been prouder of him.

Well done Finn!

Because Finn knows of the concept, as a congratulation, Cori had the great idea of getting him some flowers for when he finished. He loved them and he felt really special for receiving them, as he certainly deserved to:

Unfortunately, we didn’t get a picture with the crab-hat, but you can see how sea-like he was even without it (especially when he poses as a wave):

In fact, so sea-inspired was the household that Orry even went in his most sea-like shirt:

It should also be noted that Orry was great throughout the whole performance, quietly sat watching everything that was going on and sitting still throughout. He was a brilliantly behaved younger-brother. This was even when he knew from previous watchings of dancing that he would get a chance to roll around with Finn and the other children after they were all done!

To celebrate it all, we went and had a picnic in the park, which Orry enjoyed immensely. (It is perhaps also worth noting that this was when we discovered that Andy Murray had won Wimbledon for his second time – very impressive, but not as impressive as Finn’s dancing!).

There was, oddly, another lesson on the following Tuesday (the performance was on the Sunday, so that everyone could come), which was good in that it gave Finn a chance to thank Sarah and say goodbye to her. She was full of praise for Finn, and how much he had learnt during the course of the lessons and how much he had grown as a person. We agreed wholeheartedly, and were glad to see that it was confirmed from others also. And, it should be said, it was greatly due to Sarah, the dance teacher, who had really played an important part in Finn’s development over the past six months or so through her lessons. It was a good thing that we were able to thank her correctly with a card which Finn made especially for her and the occasion, depicting all of: Finn with the crab-hat on, his sore thumb, Sarah and the grown-ups on the seats (at the top):

...And here is a picture of Orry and I (because I like it), as we await the Big Event as the performers go through one last rehearsal next door:

This has been, unusually, a perfectly chronological account of the month. However, so filled was July that we’ve only got as far as the 12^th. But all that followed can come in a separate blog. Here’s a picture of Orry in the tub to finish off with: