Following on from the first post about September...
When we did the monthly photos, we got a random one of Orry, and almost Orry and Oshin:
Orry is a big fan of holding his brother, though sometimes it doesn't always work out perfectly, even if Orry seems somewhat unaware of it:
The bottle Orry is feeding Oshin is not the start of Oshin being cared for by others. It was merely a bottle Cori expressed in the early weeks of adjusting to Oshin's feeding needs. It was a once-only bottle-feed, but Orry was delighted to be the one to do it!
Orry has been close to joining in the Manx dancing for a little while, as was shown by his own versions of the dances at home after we'd been to practices on Sunday afternoon. But it was finally in September that Orry actually started to join in the practices themselves. It was only ever with me, or Cori, and only for a dance or two. But he was very proud of himself and he was all-focus as he is with things he's dedicated himself to. It was very encouraging. We thought that we were all set, but Fear is still evidently a large part playing against him, as was shown at a performance in Douglas.
Finn was there with his group, and we were a bit early, watching the group before, who invited children up to be a part of one of the dances. Orry leapt up to be involved, but he only lasted a few seconds, the length of the first move of the dance, and then he dropped his shoulders and ran back to me to hide in upsetness at not knowing the rest of the dance and feeling very exposed about it there in front of everyone.
The first picture is before, the second is the moment of fleeing:
Rather more confident an experience was our all going to a friend's party in their garden in Port St. Mary. It was a free-for-all enjoyment of the garden, but, of course, Orry enjoyed most of all the chocolate cakes made especially for him to enjoy:
It is probably worth recounting that the present we got for the friend at the party was a leather jacket. He had been obsessed by the idea of one for months, apparently, so someone challenged Cori to find one for him in a second-hand shop. Always one for a challenge, Cori had found one by the end of the day, took it up a bit, and made the boy the happiest person in Port St. Mary at the party.
But not before I tried on my first ever leather jacket, enjoying the ridiculousness of it very much:
The days were still sunny and clear in September, but it was obvious that the weather was changing and the warmth had gone. The changing season was obvious, but it was on the drive back from the part South that we enjoyed a very good thing about cold clear days, with views like this:
What a lovely place we live in.
I was reminded of this also at this time of year dropping Orry off at nursery, with the sun shining in through the branches of the trees beyond - a very idyllic sight.
It was this sort of lovely light when granny visited out on the West coast towards the end of the month, making for my new favourite picture:
We've not had enough cute Oshin pictures this post, so here's a few to even things out:
It's probably worth the mention that we're somewhat disheartened to recognise that Oshin sometimes finds great entertainment in the underside of tables, even over us. We'd like to say we have thick enough skins to take that without hurt pride, but it wouldn't be true:
Always worth an update is Orry's latest pictures, which have been fantastic this month, including a group of Manx dancers with caps on...
... and a buggane with one arm who has eaten a child...
... and a picture which Orry did inside a card for his cousin, which he did on his own, inspired by what was on the front of the card - a dancing guitar-player and a cake with candles:
And, not to leave Finn out, here is his lovely list of the things we needed to tick off from a trip to Douglas:
And that takes us swiftly to the end of the month, which ended, for Finn, at the high point of going up in the Fire Brigade's crane (on one of their open days):
But perhaps it's best to leave you with one last picture of Oshin, on his first ever "play date" with Lenny, the nephew of a friend. Oshin was less than impressed.
Here's some good old fashioned monthly shots (remember them?!) of Oshin:
0 months old
1 month old
September saw the first meeting of Oshin and his grandad, who made the trip over from England to stay with us over a long weekend. Great fun was had (even if we didn't take enough pictures!):
You will obviously recognise that everyone there is sat on their aeroplane. Orry is also sporting his homemade hat, which we improvised from a piece of cardboard which was left over from something or other - a beautiful thing:
A trip made with grandad was to Castletown, where we saw the tin bath races (which were rather unremarkable) and looked around the castle:
But the highlight of the trip, certainly for grandad, was a walk around Peel Hill and back. It was really a pleasure to do the walk with Finn and Orry in good moods, walking all the way and happily chatting and playing all the way - a happy memory:
In September we downloaded a children's science podcast (from FunKids Radio), which Finn was immediately enamoured by, to such an extent that he would lie peacefully on the floor listening as Orry was left to amuse himself by leaping over him!
The 30-minute podcast is perfect for Finn, and it has since become the thing which we listen to on the drive to and from Orry's nursery each morning.
But, before Orry started at his nursery, Finn started his new year.
The first year at Finn's school is in a class of its own, then the next two years are in the same class. So, this year Finn became a part of the older half of his same class of last year. It was therefore an easy enough transition, only tinged by sadness about his friends who no longer shared his classroom. Regardless, it was an easy enough restart (tinged by Finn's typical sadness from his not quite connecting with other children - those he likes, who don't quite react to him or play with him in exactly the way he'd hoped):
It was in the same week that Orry started his first day at nursery on the Isle of Man. After a full year just at home with Cori, we came into free access to an amount of childcare each week (since Orry is now in his year before starting school). In keeping with our being a part of 'Manx circles' as Orry's granny might say, we opted to put Orry into the Manx language nursery. This was not the easiest option, as it is over in Braddan, effectively on the other side of the Island, 30 minutes' drive away. But, regardless, the nursery is excellent and Orry loves it there.
Here he is on day one, with the glasses he decided to wear that day:
After his first day, Orry asked if he could go back the next day, and it was the same again the next day. He loved it there, making friends immediately and really thriving on the activities which they have going on each day. Orry, of course, is amongst the older children there (it must accept children from 2 or so) and he's bright and chatty, so it shouldn't really have surprised us, but it did. And it delighted us too. - Clearly this is somewhere where he will thrive and really come into his own.
Having mentioned the podcasts before, and Orry's nursery being in Braddan, it is probably worth noting that the new normal regime is for me (James) to set off with Finn and Orry just before 8am, drop off Orry at his nursery when it opens at 8.30, and then drive back to St. John's in time for the 9am start of Finn's school. It is surprisingly easy enough to do and we've yet to fail to be on time so far for Finn's school, despite the frequent worries as we set off from Peel in a rush etc.
The timings are always tested also when we drop off Orry in his nursery, with Finn coming in too to check out the things they've laid out and to a chat with the staff there. Naturally, Finn would be happy spending the whole day with them there if he was able, so it's always a task to drag him away.
Orry is only in until 12.15, when the place closes for the day. It's not a full-time childcare place, so it means that each day Cori only really gets a few hours on her own with Oshin. What with feeding and cleaning up after Oshin, this generally means that she gets only an hour or so to herself with Oshin, but it is at least something. The drive, for both of us, is a drag each day though. This is especially so for Cori, as Oshin has taken to hating being in the car, and so screaming for the entire duration of the commute each way. Not a pleasant experience, and very much unlike my commute with everyone silently listening to the kids' science podcast!
Not quite leaving Orry's nursery behind, a week or so into the term, we arrived early and picked a sweetcorn from their garden area, to go into their creation for the Cronk y Voddy produce show. And a beautiful thing it was too:
It is lovely to have Orry a part of a nursery that is a part of the Manx community like this. And it was also nice to have this vegetable animal as an excuse to go along myself to the Show, which was lovely:
As is the way with this sort of thing, I ended up spending too much money at the evening's auction, but all for a good cause - both for where the money went, and for what I bought, and Finn agreed when we had toasted fruit bonnag for breakfast for the next couple of mornings, which Finn thought was 'the best food in the world for breakfast':
An alternative take on breakfast is that had by Cori and Oshin, who normally sleep longer in the morning (due to the fact that they are, either as cause or effect, up most of the night), and so get to eat on their own:
(You might note Cori's frothy coffee - a birthday present for me from Cori was various coffee-making accoutrements, including a frother!)
Cori was able to get Oshin off her lap (at least for a few minutes) at mealtimes from September onwards, thanks to our buying a new chair in which he could sit happily as we ate:
As the second pictures also show, the chair is also useful for being dragged around into the kitchen when we need to do stuff with Oshin awake.
Most of the time though, of course, Oshin will not go down, and we (i.e. Cori) have to do everything with him upon us, such as fixing Finn's school trousers days before he started his new year:
Since there are a stack of them, here are a scutch of photos of Oshin sleeping in some for or other (or somewhere where he should be sleeping):
It might not be the prettiest thing, but the mobile over Oshin's cot in the lounge is one thing that he will be engaged with, watching it intensely lain on his back there. This can buy Cori enough time to rush to the toilet, or perhaps make a cup of tea, without a baby crying at her! He has even been known to fall asleep here in the cot with the mobile on, but perhaps that was only the once!
But, of course, if we actually want him to stay asleep, he has to be held by someone:
On about the 9th or so, we felt confident enough in what Oshin was doing to call it a smile and take pictures. It certainly looks like a smile:
A time when Oshin, and certainly Cori, are not smiling is at the swimming pool. Orry started swimming lessons, for the first time, in September. He loves them. As for his nursery, he is smart and mature for his age, and loves getting stuck into something, so the swimming class situation was perfect for him. He was a year or so on the side, watching Finn in his lessons, so he's probably been harbouring the desire to join swimming also. So he dived in head first with his own lessons... not literally though...!
However, Orry's class begins straight after his nursery, so Cori drives straight from Braddan to the pool, and then goes straight and gets Finn from school, taking him back to the pool for his lesson. It is an all-round misery for Cori, with all the driving (with Oshin crying throughout) and the ins and outs of the muggy hot pool area etc. It can end up looking like this:
As a light interlude, here is Orry playing a rubbish version of Hide & Seek. It was unclear whether he was playing with anyone at this point, but the choice of singing along to his drum was certainly a very dubious tactic if he didn't want to be found...
Perhaps also on the play theme, here is Finn & Orry in various states of play...
It's not play, but a thing the boys really enjoyed doing one weekend was working with me to 'surprise' Cori with an apple crumble, using the apples which granny had given us from her garden. It was indeed a surprisingly enjoyable afternoon, with everyone enjoying their own piece in the making process:
A couple of boys in Finn's school are very good cyclists, taking part in the Island-wide cycling events etc. Finn has a desire to be the best at things, which is not the most attractive attribute but probably true to most 6-year-olds, so he decided that he needed to learn to cycle (in order to be as good as everyone else immediately!). We've not taught Finn to cycle yet, because it's not a part of our lives, and so there doesn't ever seem a point in learning at the moment (since he would never get a chance to use the skill anyway). But we were very happy to take the idea and take Finn down to the promenade to learn:
He did very well, and by the end of our 30-60 minutes was cycling half the length of the promenade. Another time out and he'd have the cycling-in-a-straight-line perfected, ready to learn how to turn corners and start from standing etc.
However, we've failed to find the time to take him out since. Never mind. It's unlikely to affect us at all, until the next children's cycling party!
Whilst on the promenade, Finn also showed off his climbing skills (which he holds to be second to none), of which he's very proud and which make him happy to show off:
Part of the reason why Finn didn't get a second go out was because Orry was jealous of him and so demanded that he be taken out the next time. So it was the week or two later I took him out, on his balance bike. The trip was a lot less successful, which Orry not really getting the whole balancing thing and not really caring. It was a very long and drawn-out trip to one and of the prom and back!
But he did look great though:
I had been hoping to finish September in just the one post, but it's got too long, so I'll leave the rest over for a second post, even though this is hardly the perfect place to break...
