November: Brotherly Love, Haircuts and Hampstead

November has lots in it, including a great adventure to Hampstead Heath, new toilet skills, book avidness. But first the monthlies...

12 months old

13 months old

49 months ( 4 years and 1 month)

50 months (4 years and 2 months) old

Because we know that there is a lot to get through, I'll try and keep it snappy...

Fireworks
Finn loves fireworks, so Bonfire Night (5th November) was great for him. Whenever he heard a bang or an unusual noise he would run to the window in the hope of seeing fireworks, for weeks afterwards.
During the nights of fireworks themselves, we had a very good view of various shows across London, so we could sit them both on the windowsill, turn out the lights and watch this for 30 minutes and more quite happily:

Since it gives a good idea of what the children-on-windowsill looks like, here is the two of them on the windowsill again for the freak 10 minutes one early Saturday morning when it started to snow:

With the snow, Finn was convinced that it meant that it must be Christmas. He was very upset when I told him that it wasn't so. We agreed on the bargain that if it stayed, it would be Christmas. He was resigned when it melted before Cori got up from the usual weekend catching up on sleep.


Teeth
Orry has a million of them. Or, to be slightly more reasoned about it, he now has 14 teeth: the four central ones top and bottom, and now four more on the top, and now a couple on the bottom. The only picture we can get with Orry's mouth open, inevitably, is when he is crying - sorry!

Toilet skills
Cori drew a line with the wonky old one that was cracking and bought a new toilet seat. The new one has a slow non-clatter close and even an in between seat for small bums, such as Finn's. Finn was very pleased about the new seat; he was excited to show me when I returned from work, and then again the next morning, and at intermittent times across the next few days!
Inspired, Finn then showed us that he could just edge himself up onto the toilet "all by my own." So, for the first time in over four years, we now find ourselves in a position where we do not need to be involved in every toilet episode in Finn's life. The delight in Finn's going to the loo by himself has not worn off yet!
Things don't always go perfectly though. Having learnt from the remnants of half-hearted cleansing from when he's at nursery (you can imagine what that means in the context!), we are still involved in poo trips to the loo, but at least we can be sure that we won't have dubious underpants to sort out later on... But enough of such dubious conversation! Here is a picture of when Finn's underpant-putting-on "by his own" goes wrong:

We didn't notice anything amiss with his pants when he emerged from the toilet, until we saw his underpants emerging from the top of his trousers. Upon closer inspection we found that he'd put both legs through the one hole, and that the thing had then ridden up. Silly!

Orry also has something like toilet skills. However, his are more just a strange obsession with the room. One of his greatest loves for a while was sitting on the toilet - not doing anything, but just sitting there and smiling at everyone. Once he's bored of that, he'll grab the toilet paper and start to eat it until someone stops him.
All of this, of course, requires a grown-up to be there; to lift him onto the seat, to make sure he doesn't fall off, to halt the consumption of toilet paper etc. Very annoying for us, especially when he will dart off out of the lounge just to get in there, at which point he will cry terribly until we come, at which point he makes it known that he wants to get up onto the seat, etc.
Another of Orry's favourite joys of the bathroom is raiding the closet under the sink, much like this:

When Cori asked Finn about his involvement in this, he claimed that Orry told him to do it, and that he was forced by Orry to keep doing it until the cupboard was clear...!
We now have a string tying the doors shut, much to Orry's annoyance.


Boxes
A part of Orry's love of the bathroom cabinet is his current love of putting things into boxes, and taking them out again, etc. One of his favourite go-to toys is an empty plastic bottle with some wooden pegs in; he will sit there in complete concentration for minutes putting the pegs in before shaking them out and starting again.
Perhaps related to this, Orry also likes to get into boxes himself, such as the rather small train box:

Note his legs crossed/pressed up to make him fit. He is quite happy like that, and will fiddle with the trains and spin their wheels before crying to have us extract him from the box.
As you will see from the second of the two pictures above, Orry loves his older brother, which means that one thing even better than squeezing into a box by himself with toys is squeezing into a box with toys with Finn!

Mates
Finn and Orry are becoming really good friends these days. Of course, there are still tears when objects get involved - Finn protecting his toys from any touching from Orry, or Orry trying to grab whatever Finn has etc. But things are always getting better. For instance, Finn is now quite good at, after an initial appeal to us to stop Orry getting something, letting Orry take it briefly (as he pouts), and then just picking up where he left off moments later when Orry has cast it aside. Great!
But what is really worth mentioning is how they are really actually becoming friends. We were staggered when Finn began to call to Orry to actually involve him in his games. There was a particular and memorable time when Cori picked Orry up and Finn called for her to put him back down so that he could play with him - we were staggered! This same sort of thing is shown when Finn will show toys to Orry, or give them to him. Another good case is when Finn will show off in front of Orry - rolling about or something physical like that - and then laugh in sheer joy as Orry smiles and tries to replicate whatever it is that he's doing. This is often a parental nightmare as we try and control Orry's likely physical contortion and self-harm, but it is still a pleasure to see.
Here are some of the pictures of this sibling love and enjoyment...

One that we particularly liked was Finn pushing Orry around in the cart. What pleased us so about it was how careful and slow Finn did it so that Orry didn't get hurt, and how much Orry laughed and enjoyed doing it.

Another great thing they found to play together with was the little chair, which got knocked over and then became a climbing frame. The final picture, incidentally, also shows how good Orry is these days with his (assisted) standing - once he gets the idea to stand/walk on his own, we shouldn't be too far away from the real thing - we're hoping that the cousins at Christmas might inspire it...

Finally, here are the silly two being silly with the shoe closet as we get ready to leave the house... and it is also a good demonstration of why we're generally never on time - you leave them on their own for a moment as you try to get yourself ready and they are off raiding something or other to make a mess of!

Haircut
One of the big stories of November was the haircut. Firstly, it is probably worthwhile illustrating why there was a pressing need for a haircut:

Also, before getting all of his daytime clothes on:

Since Cori had taken Finn in to a couple of places close by, one which was awful, one great, we thought that it would be a good idea for me to take him in and get my hair cut at the same time. Finn was very positive about it, until we got in, when he clammed up completely and sat quietly on his seat without speaking. This even though the three male barbers hailed his entrance with bright "Hi!"s and compliments on his balance bike that he pushed in and lent up against the wall.
With a quiet chat and reasoning he wasn't budging, so I thought that I'd lead by example and get my haircut first. But only a couple of minutes into my own cut, one of the other barbers finished his person and went and sat by Finn to chat. They got chatting soon enough and then he offered Finn the chance to watch cartoons. To Finn's "yes!" they then turn every TV in the place to Chuggington and Finn gleefully runs to climb up into the chair to stare avidly at the TV as they set to cutting. Not another word out of him. Brilliant!
It was like that when Cori came in with Orry, to be greeted merrily by everyone in there, but for Finn, who had a TV to concentrate on. We felt so thankful for everyone in there, as it was a great experience: Finn got a haircut, we felt inspired by the kindness of strangers, and Finn made a heap of new best friends.
This is what he emerged as - very boyish!

Orry & bed
The first thing about Orry and bed was that he fell off it in November. We're still not sure how he managed it, but we were outside clearing up after they had gone to bed and then we heard a thump followed by a wail. Upon darting in we found Orry on the floor, obviously having fallen off the bed onto his head. It is a mystery as his cot is connected to the bed, and so he must have rolled out of his cot area, then turned to roll away horizontally across the bed, and then turned 90 degrees again to get off the bed where he did. Odd. No lasting damage though - just a rather surprised and a very upset baby, and two guilty-feeling parents.
The other Orry-bed update is that for the space of a week or so, Orry wanted to be on Cori at night. This was not a case of wanting to have a bit of him on top of Cori; but to actually to be fully body-lain-out on top of her. Indeed, for the most intensive few days, he was even waking up so that he could clamber back on top of her to go on sleeping. - "Very cute in the description, but not when it's actually happening," as Cori so accurately reported.


Orry & books
Orry's avid interest in drums has waned a little recently. He still enjoys a good drum, but is won't come darting in for it, and he won't stay it at for 30 minutes and more any more. This is sad, but it does relieve our ears from ringing!
Orry's big love in November was books. He will grab a book and come crawling over to you, thrusting to book into your hand and then clambering round to sit in your lap - ready to read!

His favourite book is still the "Baby boo" book with pictures of real babies, where one apparently hides and then leaps back with a "Boo!" But he's also now into some flap books.
He doesn't have the patience for them that Finn used to have. It is sometimes hard to keep him to get to the end of a book, as short as they are, before he's thrown it aside and lunging for the next one. But perhaps he will grow in patience and reading soon.
Finn and Orry often mesh nicely with their books, both sitting close as we launch into something that they know and like. But often Orry's books are too young for Finn to be interested, and Orry doesn't have the patience for anything Finn's level. So the times of cohesion of generally short-lived before one or the other of them wander off for something more entertaining.
Orry is also unlike Finn in his gleeful indifference to respect for books and bookshelves. Orry will quite happily tear books from the shelves, and he has his own favourite section to tear out. This section now has some of the less precious books in, and the Manx collectable stuff is far away and out of reach, but it is still hard to watch when you know that there is nothing that you can really do to stop it. If nothing else, at least it is good for me to stop being so precious about books:

Dad's Club
We still go to Dad's Club every fortnight. Recently some of the families with older children have started to come less frequently, or not at all. With the Club's cut-off being five years old (unless merely tagging along with younger siblings), Finn is now emerging as the oldest, and certainly the longest-serving child there.
Having watched an entirely new generation of children join Dad's Club, and seen all those I started with drop off, I have a strong idea of how Finn is growing up, and how old he is.
He will even now do that thing which I never thought he would do there - go off and play with others, or even by himself, as I sit with Orry in the baby area chatting to other dads. Amazing! Part of how he is comfortable enough to do this is that he knows the staff there really well, and likes them all a lot. Indeed, one of his great pleasures at Dad's Club is now helping Simon put the toys away in the great container thing in the yard.
It is lovely to see him flourish so in the environment - a good repayment for the sense of loss at how he is no longer the young child he was when I first started coming three or so years ago... Now he looks more like a young hoodlum than a baby!

"Cheese!"
Orry has learnt that when you raise a phone or camera to him, you stop what you are doing and say "Cheese!" It is rather frustrating if you are trying to film him doing whatever it is that he's into, but is is very cute...

Talented boys
Orry can now get off a chair properly - phew! He does, however, still have trouble getting out of his little chair, but at least now he will whine/shout for us to get him out, rather than leaping out head first... And here is a picture of Orry being The Master of the Chair:

Orry is now also The Master of the Spoon. We were probably rather slovenly about getting Orry to use cutlery, but his allergies have steered us away from foods where spoons are really necessary, so he's never really been interested in anything other than his hands. But in November, probably with the influence of nursery, he has converted into being a happy spoon-eater at home. The hands still come into action, but he is getting better at the spoon and he now will eat with the spoon initially and will return to it between using his hands - all good by us!

... But I now see that that is a breadstick, not a spoon. Sorry! A good picture, nonetheless. But even with a spoon, of course, he's still not becoming a clean eater!

One of the most impressive things that Orry is now capable of us actually a new height in block-stacking. Having reported last time that he was up to three blocks, in November he managed a five-block stack on his own. Amazing! ...It might not sound that amazing from the outside, but it really is quite something. Probably the sort of thing we'd keep quiet about in front of other parents, for fear of sounding like show-offs!
We have no pictures of the stack, but instead you can have a picture of Orry clearly in disbelief at his own brilliance:

Finn also is highly talented. November's new achievements include now being quite happy to get the collapsible stool to put up under a light switch in order to turn it on or off. He learnt this trick on day and was delighted about it, but then reverted immediately to having us do such things for him!
Finn also continues to be remarkably good at puzzles. Cori wasn't paying attention to him - occupied with Orry - for a few minutes as he sat with a puzzle, and she turned back around to find that he'd done it all by himself without any help at all. Very impressive:

When we are around, he does rely on us to help him, so this sort of puzzle-talent is easy to miss normally.
Finn received his first Lego present (as opposed to the generic blocks that we have in a tub and which we've had out for a year or so, off and on). He loved it, and really got a lot from it. It was great to sit down with him after Orry was taken to bed and to open up the box. Laying out the pieces, reading the instructions, finding the pieces and putting them all together. He really enjoyed it, and it was a great thing to do together, especially was it was actually quite tricky. The thing itself was not played with much after it was constructed, but it was worth it completely for the build.
Here it is, mid-build (Finn clutches the treasure chest that the shark, pirate and skeleton - bottom right - are involved in some tale to get):

It perhaps doesn't really count, but these pictures show how great Orry is at knitting... or perhaps it is more a case of him picking up brilliant from his mother how to "do knitting":

And, while we're at it, here is the hat that Cori made for Orry:

We are all a little sorry that it's not a bit bigger, because when viewed at the right angle (which is not this one!) it looks like it could almost be a rather impressive Anglican Bishop's hat!


Fruit-flies
We had a fruit-fly in the house a few weeks ago and Finn got it into his head that these were friends who wanted us to provide fruit for them to live on and eat. "There you go, fruit-fly," he said, presenting his banana skin etc. He's not lost the idea of them and he will sometimes stare intently at dots on the wall or elsewhere, suspicious that they are fruit-flies not moving much.
One such dormant "fruit-fly" was found by Finn on the doorstep to the flat itself. He went out to get the groceries from the delivery person and returned to find Finn lain out across the door. "What are you doing, Finn?", "Look!" he said, pointing at a speck of dirt on the floor, "a fruit-fly! Don't step on him, please." So he scooted back against the wall and watched over this "fruit-fly" as we dutifully stepped excessively over the speck of dirt as we came in and out for the bags of groceries...!


Hampstead adventure
We're big fans of Hampstead and Hampstead Heath, not least because we used to live there and got engaged there. It would be one of our favourite places to take a walk in, had we the leisure. Unfortunately, beautiful urban and park-natural places are not really places that Finn (or Orry) would really enjoy. However, with the winter closing in, we suddenly got the idea to go and had inspiration of how to make it fun.
The fun rested on calling it a "Nature Adventure" to Finn, and in creating this:

As you should, just about, be able to make out, this is Finn holding out a tick-list of the following items: tree; squirrel; bird (x3); bench (x2); running person; kite. It is, indeed, a tick-sheet park spotting activity sheet. Tied to the exciting word/concept "Nature," this was a great winner as Finn had great fun the whole time. Highlights included: packing his "backpack" with all the essential stuff he would need; taking a train; using his binoculars to spot the things on his list (generally after he had already seen them without the binoculars!); clambering over fallen trees; being on a big hill from which he could see "all of London"; watching kites flying; getting a cake for the journey home.
What pictures we took (on our phones) includes the follow... setting off and then waiting at the overground train station:

Metres into the park, Finn spots his first tree and the first tick is on the sheet (and I question the consistency of the difficulty of Cori's sheet!)

Enjoying "Kite Hill" and showing great bravery on the daring tree-walk:

Taking in the views over the lake before coming home:

It was one of the best days out we've had in a long time - one we almost don't want to try and repeat, for fear that it won't be as wonderful next time! It showed us how stale the usual round of Museums had become, as he was no longer engaging with the things in them, but just running around them as known play areas. But Hampstead Heath, in contrast, even though it lacked all of the things that other places have, was a brilliantly engaging place to be. He recalls it brilliantly and still speaks about it. A Must Do Again, for when the weather returns...


Pictures...
There are some hanging pictures which don't have a home, so they go here without excuse or explanation (other than to say that the crying one of Orry is in as a realist counterpoint to the beautiful one-year-old pics of a post or two ago - this is how Orry will look at least a few times daily - he's not always the cutest thing on earth!)

The Show!
Finn got a couple of craft/activity magazines for his birthday, which we've been dropping in and out of ever since. One of this had the materials and instructions to make these rather nice creatures:

Once they were created - with some enjoyable Finn time, and some less enjoyable Orry distraction - it was then decided that they should be used as puppets to put on a show. We each did one, with Finn's here following on from mine (and garbling something of the narrative whilst he's at it). It is a 4-minute video and some might consider the watching of it torture, but others might like to experience what it is like to hang out and play with Finn:

Great! - blog post over! At this point the children fade into darkness again, until the next update...

4x Orry Cuteness

Having already posted an unprecedented number of posts for October, we now discover that we missed out a few short videos that it would be a shame to miss out on. So, without further ado, here are some short cute videos of Orry...

Orry Winding the Bobbin Up - the closest he gets to a song with actions for us:

Orry whining for a biscuit or other food - it is to this sound that we prepare food every day:

Orry clapping emphatically, just because he can:

Orry enjoying one of his greatest joys - Cori doing Round and Round the Garden with him:

October (besides the birthdays!)

Having written a blog post for Finn's birthday at the start of October, and one for Orry at the end, I realise that there are a few things in the middle which need to get recorded somewhere, such as in this post...
Such as the monthly side-by-sides:

11 months old

12 months old (1 year!!)

48 months old (4 years old)

49 months old (4 years and 1 month old)

One of the things that we were very excited about in October was Orry getting large enough to fit into "The Mega Coat" - so named because of its colour:

Although he does look rather good on his own, together he and Finn are unstoppable (even with a rather gawky-looking father!):

The presentation of The Mega Coat came shortly before one of the most exciting and magical things we've done of late: go to a puppet theatre performance.
We've always known about the puppet theatre, as it is very close to our old flat near Upper Street in Angel, but it is never something that we've ever felt inclined to go to. We didn't really see the point. But we've been hearing about the activities that one of Finn's friends' older sibling is involved in there (puppet-making classes followed by a production for the parents each week) and we've become very interested in it, putting inclusion in the class in the To Do box for when Finn is older. But it was only when a friend couldn't make it to a show and offered us their tickets that we ended up going.
The whole thing was very magical, beginning with the beautiful place hidden away on a quite leafy idyllic square, where we filed through to a lovely raked theatre with benches full of excited and expectant children. The show we watched was The Way Home, a story about wildlife and environment damage; climate change, expanding urbanisation, deforestation, hunting etc. lead to a heap of animals escaping on a boat out to sea. The story was a bit rubbish but it was more about the experience, which looked like this:

The overarching narrative was entirely beyond Finn, but he was wrapped up in the animals, their individual stories, and the overall drama. He was riveted throughout and he was clearly mesmerised by the whole thing. It was wonderful to see, and lovely to be with him for.

At the end the puppeteers brought out the puppets so that all the children could see them mobbed up at the foot of the stage. Finn loved that also, and was delighted to wait patiently to reverently say "hello" to the monkey and the elephant. Lovely, all round.

After the theatre, we then went and had a special picnic (with our coats on) in the park, which gave Orry to opportunity to crawl off into the leaves and grass, which he was very pleased with himself for! (Note here how he has Finn's Colourful Coat on, which does not look so large on him - we took Orry in the wrap and so we had been sharing a coat until he wanted to crawl off independently)

After that pleasant story, there are now two unpleasant ones to get over before the cute bits to finish off with...

Firstly, on the 28th of October, Cori spent all day at hospital with the two boys. The first was for Orry allergy testing, from 8.30am through to 12.30pm. Cashews and hazelnuts. This was a long time to be in hospital with the two boys, but at least Finn had the tablet to occupy him. Traffic made for a painful trip home, taking nearly an hour, with everyone restless, irritable and very hungry. Getting to the stop was a joy, but this was less joyous in less than a minute when Finn ran off as he usually does to duck under the car barrier outside the church near us. Usually he is fine, ducking under the main part of the barrier, but on this day he went under the shorter weighted end that is pulled down to lift the barrier. With the weight, the thing is lower, and more dangerous. Finn ran straight into it, cracked his head of it and let out a great cry of horror and pain.
Blood, tears, breathlessness of pain etc. Cori had Orry on her in the carrier, which made things difficult, but two passing mothers stopped and helped out, as they mopped the blood and called an ambulance. Soon enough it came and they were back off to the hospital again.
Finn was amazing in the hospital, sitting quietly and without screaming or trying to avoid the inevitable, as the doctors came, cleaned the wound, and glued it up again. He made Cori incredibly proud of him for it, and so happy that he was able to approach it so. After that, it was, at last, a bus home and two tired and worn out children straight to bed!
In the morning, Finn was very excited to show off his "glue" to everyone - me, friends at nursery, and anyone who happened to get into conversation with him.
There is no picture of the blood and tears, but there is one of the offending head-breaker, and the result:

The other not-great story is about the 31st of October...
In the Isle of Man traditionally we celebrate Hop-tu-naa instead of Halloween. The two are similar (and merging evermore), but there is a difference. One of these differences is the singing of songs (traditionally, and in my youth, around the area singing from door to door). Finn showed his brilliant memory when he joined in with the words and singing of the song after only the first few times I'd sung it to him. Indeed, it was so early on in the singing, that I can't shake the idea that he remembered it from last year. I wouldn't put it past our Finn.
Hop-tu-naa, tra-la-laa. Jinny the witch is in the house, give us a penny, we'll chase her out. Hop-tu-naa, tra-la-laa.
As much as I try to Manx it up, we did not, however, carve turnips - maybe next year I'll impose our giving up the ease of a pumpkin...

When it came to the 31st of October, the Halloween element had taken over. So much so that, led by their American mother, they had planned out a day of Halloween partying in the park followed by Trick-or-Treating along Stoke Newington High Street (where, brilliantly, all of the shops had teamed up to welcome such a stream of kids).
I say "planned," because things didn't really follow the plan: firstly, I fell ill and couldn't do anything other than lie in a daze in bed before leaping out intermittently to be sick and then crawling back miserably to hide in bed until the next time I needed to leap out again. This meant that Cori and the kids headed off alone, with some excellent (though hastily thrown together!) costumes on (British readers note, American Halloween costumes are not at all required to be ghoulish or scary):

As it need not be pointed out, Finn is a train driver and Orry is... well... err... cute with ears on, I guess. - Cori thought that safety-pinning the fabric ears to Orry's new onesie-hoodie was good enough, and it was.
But, now secondly, things did not go to plan once they got to the party at the park not far from us. Here Finn claimed to be feeling unwell and refused to get out of the pushchair. Cori suspected him of being in a mood and inspired by my illness and so didn't push it too much. She suggested that they just go home, but he said that he didn't want to miss out on Trick-or-Treating. So Cori hiked off 30 minutes or so up the road to Stoke Newington, during which time Finn fell asleep.
At the start of Church Street, Cori was faced with the choice of either turning back with the sleeper or else waking him to do the thing he wanted to do. But the decision was made for her when he woke up of his own accord, to vomit everywhere.
It was a good thing that Finn was in a train-driver's outfit as the oversized neckerchief thing caught most of it and so she was able to remove that, wipe down a bit elsewhere, and then let him continue.
He was able to enjoy a few shops of Trick-or-Treating, but then he complained of feeling ill again, and, sure enough he was sick again, this time everywhere. It was awful. Cori went into the closest shop to ask for paper towels and water to help clean him up and they obliged, by bringing out a bucket of water and a mop to clean off the pavement! Cori explained what she'd actually asked for and they sorted out it properly.
There was no continuing after that, with Finn, the pushchair, and now Cori covered in stinking vomit. So they took a long and vomit-punctuated walk home.
Everyone then got to sleep or thereabouts, as Cori quickly scrubbed down the pushchair and then, at last, succumbed to her own bout of vomiting. Sigh!
That was not a great day! And it was off the back of this that we went into Orry's party - which explains our tenderness about the whole affair.

The rest of the October updates should be able to be done quite quickly...

"No Orry!" became one of Finn's most repeated phrases in October. Partly this was in pretending to parentise over him, but it was mainly as a protection of himself or his own stuff. "No Orry!" he would whine when Orry goes even slightly close to a car he's playing with; "No Orry!" he would cry when Orry padded into the bathroom as he's on the loo; "No Orry!" he would cry when he gets too close to him during the reading of a book. Orry's reaction to these appeals/cries, however, was generally either blissful indifference or else a lovely big smile, like some friendly buffoon who doesn't speak the language and won't take the hint... which is probably what Orry is!

Stealing Cori's utensils became one of Orry's greatest desires in October. For the sake of allergy alliances, she is always sat by Orry, and I (James) am near Finn. Despite not really using a fork or spoon in October too much, he took it upon himself to demand whatever utensil it was that Cori was eating her food with. Sometimes this included her food too, but it was more about the thing itself. He didn't really try to eat with it - rather, he just wanted to bang it on the table (normally in earnest, before smiling up at us in glee) before dropping it with aplomb on the floor. For Cori this was, understandably, rather annoying!

We don't have a picture of utensil-stealing, but we do have one of Orry owning the dinner table in his avid drinking...

We also have a video, of Orry doing his thing once he has the plate and fork...

We sometimes find ourselves having to think twice about whether we give him water or not with a meal. We know we should, but he only ever seems to drink about a tenth of each sip, the rest of it being dribbled out down his chin to drench his shirt. It is an active choice by Orry to do this, which makes it all the more frustrating!
We don't have any pictures of Orry actually doing this, but we do have a video of him being silly with water - though more conventionally, by splashing in the bath:

Returning to the coat theme, October was the month where Finn learnt to do up his own coat. He would have been able to do this long before, I suspect, but he's too cussed/contrary with us when we ask him to do things, that it was always much easier just to do it up in a second and get on with things. But his Key Worker at nursery, Giovanna, is very good with Finn and taught him how to do it one day, and he came home very pleased to be able to show off about it to us. He was particularly pleased with the "trick" he knew, of putting the coat hood on his head before getting going - very clever!

The big red Bugaboo push-chair was retired in October. This is the one that saw us through from Finn, so it has done four good years for us. It is still effectively as good as when we first got it (and we hope to prove it so when we sell it on GumTree soon enough!), but it is now just not very practical. It is much more hassle than it's worth now, with two children and living on the third/fourth floor, so we found that we were just not using it, and we cannot see a time when it will again be useful, and so it is to go. It is strange to see this tool of babies and young children go as unneeded - it seems that we are becoming the parents of boys now, and now longer simply "young parents" or parents of babies...

Finally, here is a picture of what happens when you leave these children out of your sight for a minute. Cori had escaped for the loo, was surprised not to have Orry crying in her absence, and returned to find Orry like this:

By the time she'd gathered in what she could and took Orry through to the kitchen, she found that Finn had done this with that ball of string she left on the side:

The final thing is a note about our new favourite invention of a word by Finn: one day he was idly poking the curl on the top of Orry's head with his finger and when we asked what he was doing he said that he was just poking at Orry's "hula-hoop." What a lovely description for a curl of Orry's blond hair!

And, to illustrate the Hula Hoop of Orry's head, here it is:

Also showing something of the hula-hoop, and a suitable way to finish on, is one our favourite "photo-bomb" appearances by Orry: