Reuben Vs The Holiday Season.

A small selection of the my favorite pictures of Reuben over the holiday season.

I know we are a bit late because we are into January now but we've ended up having quite a few different Christmases over the past while and I didn't want to have loads of different posts to upload.

Two weeks to go...

So most people who know me know I am not a Christmas person. I don't like the music, I don't like the movies and I am allergic to half the decorations and the other half are far too tacky to even think about buying(coming for the women who bought a foot tall magenta stag covered in glitter last year).
I am no longer a Christian so that takes a bit of excitement away from the whole holiday season too.

But, this year seems different and I think it's down to having a toddler.

Two years and six months.

So today, Reuben is officially two and a half years old and I don't know where the time as went. All of a sudden I have this really intelligent and independent child walking about my house. I look forward to our next six months until he is three and I can really start getting emotional about it.

How did we get from this little eleven day old...

to this two and a half year old...

in what feels like a blink of the eye?

I cherish every day with my son and know that every new day is a new chance to learn and grow but I do miss my 'tiny little sausage' I once had and got to hug for more than 0.3 of a second.

Why can't you be a little baby forever?

love from

ZXSquecktrum

MCM Glasgow Comic Con 2013.

I don't think I need to say much about Comic Con, do I? I'm assuming if you are reading this, you are my friend and are fully aware of what Comic Con is!!

It was such a good day and I'm so glad we got to take Reuben. A little bit more planning will be involved on our part for next year as we did not anticipate the amount of people that would go. With 20,000 people going, the queues at the SECC were immense. Luckily, and I mean so, so, so, so lucky, We got in without having to wait in the queue any longer than the 2 hours we were there. It started to rain very badly and security rounded up anyone with buggies and small children and get them inside really quickly while the rest of section we were in were told that they'd be there another two hours! Totally worth it though, we all loved it!!

So, without further ado, here is some pictures and a run down of the day. I do wish I had gotten more pictures than we did but next year I will have enough confidence to ask cosplayers to pose for me!!

My fiancée thinks it would be witty to call this post 'Whee In The Park' but I do not agree.

So I was supposed to have interviews and a tonne of form filling to do today but turns out I was given the wrong date and blah blah blaah, boring stuff! But as we didn't find out until late morning we didn't actually have anything to do! As I have mentioned before there is a lovely coffee morning every Wednesday run my one of my local churches but we missed it.
So an impromptu walk to the park was in order...

25th August - Sunny Day Walkies.

Took the camera out to get some picture for my last blog post 'Aunt Julia Come Bearing Gifts' and ended up with some really nice ones(as well as a tonne of unflattering ones of me) I want to share so I gave them their own blog post! It's just nice getting out in the sun and getting nice picture of my boys.
He played hide and seek and was just a cutiepatootie in genneral.

Auntie Julia Comes Bearing Gifts.

Back when we had a little heat wave, my best friend picked up a few thing for Reuben but life got in the way and we ended up not seeing each other for a while. We arranged for her to come over last night for a little visit and it was lovely. Not only did she pick out some great clothes for Reuben, I got a little surprise too! A skirt and a McDonald's! My first ever Big Mac!

Riverside Museum.

So, a few days ago, my mother arranged a little day out with Reuben and I but also my sister Charlotte. Or they arranged a day together, invited Reuben but I've tagged along? Either way, I got a little day out and some nice pictures of Reuben with family members.
We went to the Riverside Museum in Glasgow. it's basically just a transport museum and, it's FREE!

Bus stop picnic and new toys.

Today was lovely, regardless of running two hours later than I had originally planned to do things! I had to go up to college to hand something in so I asked Michael and Reuben to come along. I admit not the best of my days out but a day out never the less.

Learning Primary and Secondary colours with Ice Cubes.

So Reuben has known all his colours for a while now so a few weeks ago(yes, yes, I've not got around to typing this post up until now) I decided it was time to show him how to mix colours.
Simply using ice cubes dyed into primary colours with food colouring and left to melt until they combine and make an exciting new colour! (I'm sure it's a lot more exciting than it sounds when you're a toddler compared to an adult.)

This was really simple to so and was good being able to prep for a game the night before. There is always the hyper moment between telling your child your going to play a game and finally getting around to getting the game ready!

Shopping List Game.

Last week I got a little garden set for Reuben and it included a little basket and it hit me, it looks like a cute wee shopping basket so from that day on, I knew my child would be encouraged to help with the food shop.
I came up with a little shopping list that would fit inside his basket without being too heavy and also things he liked. I also wanted him to pick something up that was a little bit boring to him hence the chopped tomatoes.

Not only did we have a fun shopping trip, I got some cute pictures of Reuben, so everybody wins!

How to get crayon off a laptop screen!

Unfortunately, I had to figure out how to do this today. Had to make some important phone call and left Reuben unattended with the £1,000+ laptop and a bag of crayons so I will take some of the blame for this fiasco. But how was I going to get this out without damaging the fragile screen fearing I would have to scrub, I tried a few things but figured out this works...

All you need is a few balls of cotton wool and some baby oil, water and distilled white vinegar. Oh and some kitchen..

Marimo : Easy Plants for Children.

So, my son loves plants. We planted some Thyme a few months ago and he's really enjoyed watching they grow. Every few days he comes up and shouts 'baby plants, baby plants!' and we go and look at them.
So naturally I wanted to get him a few more plants and even after Granny donated some Basil, it was not enough. I wanted the worlds cutest plants. Marimo!

Marimo are a rare type of algae that grow in balls at the bottom of lakes/lochs in the nothern hemisphere. They are only known to grow in Japan, Scotland, Iceland and Estonia. I think they are the cutest thing ever. Like little green balls of velvet!
Not only are the one of the cutest plants in the world, they are super easy to take care of.
They only need minimal sunlight and a water change every 1-2 weeks. They grow at a rate of about 5mm a year and can grow up to 20-30cm!
Just keep the water at room temperature and pop in the fridge if they get above 25°C. Careful though, they don't survive freezing temps!
Oh, and, you can use them in fish tanks as mini filters as they clean the water!!

Colour Co-ordination Game. (using coloured pasta)

A simple little game that's tonnes of fun for who ever is involved!

Simply by using a few coloured bowls and pasta dyed to match those bowls, you have a super fun activity both you and your toddler will love! Super simple and can be put away and played over and over again. Actually, for a few days after, Reuben didn't want to play any other game!
Pasta Dying Tutorial Here!

Dying Pasta For Crafts.

This is a super simple tutorial that can get used in all sorts of different arts and crafts as well as fun learning activities.
I will link any activities I use the dyed pasta in so you can have as much fun as we have had with them!

Quick note; I did notice that the blue did not seem to take as well but i'm assuming it's because it is not a natural colour like the others.

What is your most proud moment. - Day 17 of 31 Day blog challenge.

I don't know, anything to do with Reuben learning new things makes my heart swell with pride.

Like just now, he's transitioned from the phonetic alphabet to the ABC's  without a problem. Well, aside from that things kids do when L, M, N, O, P becomes one word! PROUD MAMA.

He's can count to twenty. Knows 20, 30, 40 etc. Knows 100, 200, 300 etc. PROUD MAMA.

Today I taught him about how food gets to your belly and he totally understood. PROUD MAMA.

First time Reuben sat up. PROUD MAMA.

First time Reuben walked. PROUD MAMA.

First time Reuben does anything PROUD MAMA.

Any time he recalls the events of a day in a picture taken weeks ago. PROUD MAMA.


Just anything really. Everyday with a child just fills you with this undying pride that can not be overshadowed by anything. They are constantly learning and there is no greater feeling knowing you have contributed to that knowledge.

love from

ZXSquecktrum

10th June: The Perfect Present, Pictures with Daddy and The Un-wanted Lollypop.

So, as most of you may know, I am a huge Pokemon fan so naturally I would try and get my child into Pokemon as well. Started him off on Black and White a few months ago and we've also watched a few movies together and he loves it. Or more so, he loves Pikachu. When we are watching he basically shouts 'LOOK MUM LOOK, IT'S PIKACHU!!' whenever he is on the screen, then when he's  not in the shot shouts 'MUM, WHERE'S PIKACHU?'. over and over again. I was having a little look through eBay a few weeks ago when i can across a pikachu baseball cap and how could i resist. Wednesday morning as a sick little toddler was getting his jimjams on for a nap the post man came. I got a video him opening it and his initial reaction to the hat, let us just say he loved it. I did get a few pictures but keep in mind he was having wee hot sweats; so his hair was a riot!!
Look how happy he is in some of the pictures <3

7th July. Two suncream days in a row? Are we still in Scotland?

Apparently Reuben and I were never meant to have nice photographs together... 
but it does not stop us from trying!

We took a little walk over to see India and Nathan, Reubens cousins, while their Granny was there. I took some pictures but I forgot to ask permission from their mum and dad to put their pictures online so you'll just need to take my word for it that they had fun!
Reuben and India played on the slides and in the Wendy house as well as spinning about the clothes poles while the adults lazed about. Now, isn't that just the perfect day?

Unfortunatley it was a little to sunny for Reuben and he started to look quite red so I whisked him home as quickly as I could with fear he would burn. Don't want my perfect wee baba to be sore. And also, there was a part of my brain that thought it would be wise to wear leather hotpants, not a wise choice.
Yet another lovely day with the in-laws.

love from

ZXSquecktrum

6th July: A rare sunny day in Scotland.

The son was out today and I was not expecting it at all. I was told the weather would be less than nice this weekend so needless to say, we gave Reuben as much time out playing as possible today.


Once I got him ready I thought he was super cute to asked him if I could get a few pictures of him and he quickly agreed and dragged me into the hall where he began to model. There is no other words for what he was doing other than modelling. He was doing all these poses on the bottom step and I could barely contain my laughter to capture them on camera.

(socks and sandals fashion faux pas.)

First time out, Michael took him a walk with his friend and his dogs. Reuben adores these does more than anything. Always has lots to tell me when they are back from their walk.

After a quick lunch and mummy finally planning an outfit, finally other chance to run free!

We ended up just taking a little walk up to see Michaels mum. Where he was allowed diluting juice, because it's 'Grannies Special Juice' and some biscuits. He was so proud of his biscuits I was forced to take a picture

Then we broke a 'gender stereotype' before shooting everyone and everything with guns.

We then realised it was already almost dinner time and had to head home. Pretending to be dragons, dinosaurs, meerkats and frogs all the way home. We also danced, Reuben is a natural. It was just so lovely having nice weather when it is not expected.

love from

ZXSquecktrum