Last summer Sarah and Louise started a little link-up series called This Little Big Life, showcasing highlights from the weekend. Needless to say, none of us managed to keep up with posting on a weekly basis; as often happens, life just simply gets in the way.
I can, however do an almighty round-up of what we got up to over the autumn and winter :-)
September
September was spent enjoying the last of the summer weather with a holiday down to Brixham, a trip to a local lido and a sunny day trip to the beach at Weymouth. We also saw a couple of local small carnivals (in preparation for the big ones in November) and had a bit of work done on the house, in the form of a lovely shiny new wood-burning stove. We had some trips out to the playground, a visit to Bridgwater Fair and started some new baby classes: The Creation Station's Baby Discover (arts and crafts) and a Mum & Baby Yoga course.
October
October saw more carnivals, more playgrounds and a chance to dress as a novelty pumpkin (Lily, not myself). There was a local lantern parade which we joined in with and a trip to The Egg Theatre in Bath to see a show aimed at babies (about spongy things!). We spent too much money at an NCT Nearly New Sale and I had my first evening out with the little one (all us mums in our NCT group went out for a meal). I ended up being interviewed by BBC Radio Bristol all about National Fertility Awareness Week and we also met Kipper at the Bath Children's Literature Festival!
November
November was all about carnival season here in Somerset. Lily went to her first Bridgwater carnival and spent half of it asleep and half of it wide-eyed and open-mouthed at the lights, music and dancing. We also watched a couple of firework displays and visited the theatre in Bristol to see 'The Grinning Man' (which was A.MAZING). I also helped out at our local NCT Sale (which was great fun) and then ended up joining the local branch as a volunteer. We went back to visit all the staff at the fertility clinic to say hello and Lily ended up being on Twitter for a while. She also celebrated reaching double figures in months by spending the day asleep during Glastonbury Frost Fayre and a visit to Glastonbury Abbey.
December
December saw theatre shows, Father Christmas, reindeer and presents. Lily went to her very first classical music concert - a group called Music for Miniatures who run regular events locally in Bath and Frome - it was excellent and a really Christmassy start to the month. We had a mini holiday to the New Forest for my birthday and Lily met Father Christmas for the first time. We had day trips to Longleat for the Festival of Light and to a local garden centre for their Christmas displays. Me and Andrew even managed to have our first evening out on our own since before Lily was born! (We went to the Bristol Old Vic to see 'The Snow Queen' - which was quite spectacular) We had a real wreath on our front door for Christmas too - handmade by my own fair hands under the expert tuition of the lovely Gemma from Dora Flora Flowers. We made sure Lily had her fill of Christmas theatre too with four shows and one concert watched: 'Reindeer on the Roof'; 'Jack Frost'; 'The Christmassy Christmas Show of Christmassy Christmasness' (highly recommended); Little Tim and the Brave Sea Captain'; and 'The Snowman' performed by Bath Philharmonia. We also had some settling in sessions at Lily's nursery!
January
It was the end of maternity leave this month, having had the full 12 months away from the office. My role was made into a job share with me doing the Monday and Tuesday. Lily also started at her nursery (a fabulous forest school set on a farm) and we settled into a routine of two days at nursery followed by three days of baby groups. Lily's social life is better than mine with regular classes of music, painting, messy play, toddler groups and swimming lessons! We also went to the theatre to see 'Snow Mouse' (which will be at the Barbican in London this Christmas) and me and Andrew managed an afternoon to ourselves seeing 'The Play That Goes Wrong' at Bath Theatre Royal - both shows highly recommended. We went to a friend's fancy dress 'heroes & villains' party as the Little Red Riding Hood story and then the little one turned one whole year old! I embellished a vest for her to wear on the day and then a few days later we had one big birthday party with all her friends and lots of inflatable and soft play stuff. It was good!
So how's life with you?
I can, however do an almighty round-up of what we got up to over the autumn and winter :-)
September
September was spent enjoying the last of the summer weather with a holiday down to Brixham, a trip to a local lido and a sunny day trip to the beach at Weymouth. We also saw a couple of local small carnivals (in preparation for the big ones in November) and had a bit of work done on the house, in the form of a lovely shiny new wood-burning stove. We had some trips out to the playground, a visit to Bridgwater Fair and started some new baby classes: The Creation Station's Baby Discover (arts and crafts) and a Mum & Baby Yoga course.
October
October saw more carnivals, more playgrounds and a chance to dress as a novelty pumpkin (Lily, not myself). There was a local lantern parade which we joined in with and a trip to The Egg Theatre in Bath to see a show aimed at babies (about spongy things!). We spent too much money at an NCT Nearly New Sale and I had my first evening out with the little one (all us mums in our NCT group went out for a meal). I ended up being interviewed by BBC Radio Bristol all about National Fertility Awareness Week and we also met Kipper at the Bath Children's Literature Festival!
November
November was all about carnival season here in Somerset. Lily went to her first Bridgwater carnival and spent half of it asleep and half of it wide-eyed and open-mouthed at the lights, music and dancing. We also watched a couple of firework displays and visited the theatre in Bristol to see 'The Grinning Man' (which was A.MAZING). I also helped out at our local NCT Sale (which was great fun) and then ended up joining the local branch as a volunteer. We went back to visit all the staff at the fertility clinic to say hello and Lily ended up being on Twitter for a while. She also celebrated reaching double figures in months by spending the day asleep during Glastonbury Frost Fayre and a visit to Glastonbury Abbey.
December
December saw theatre shows, Father Christmas, reindeer and presents. Lily went to her very first classical music concert - a group called Music for Miniatures who run regular events locally in Bath and Frome - it was excellent and a really Christmassy start to the month. We had a mini holiday to the New Forest for my birthday and Lily met Father Christmas for the first time. We had day trips to Longleat for the Festival of Light and to a local garden centre for their Christmas displays. Me and Andrew even managed to have our first evening out on our own since before Lily was born! (We went to the Bristol Old Vic to see 'The Snow Queen' - which was quite spectacular) We had a real wreath on our front door for Christmas too - handmade by my own fair hands under the expert tuition of the lovely Gemma from Dora Flora Flowers. We made sure Lily had her fill of Christmas theatre too with four shows and one concert watched: 'Reindeer on the Roof'; 'Jack Frost'; 'The Christmassy Christmas Show of Christmassy Christmasness' (highly recommended); Little Tim and the Brave Sea Captain'; and 'The Snowman' performed by Bath Philharmonia. We also had some settling in sessions at Lily's nursery!
January
It was the end of maternity leave this month, having had the full 12 months away from the office. My role was made into a job share with me doing the Monday and Tuesday. Lily also started at her nursery (a fabulous forest school set on a farm) and we settled into a routine of two days at nursery followed by three days of baby groups. Lily's social life is better than mine with regular classes of music, painting, messy play, toddler groups and swimming lessons! We also went to the theatre to see 'Snow Mouse' (which will be at the Barbican in London this Christmas) and me and Andrew managed an afternoon to ourselves seeing 'The Play That Goes Wrong' at Bath Theatre Royal - both shows highly recommended. We went to a friend's fancy dress 'heroes & villains' party as the Little Red Riding Hood story and then the little one turned one whole year old! I embellished a vest for her to wear on the day and then a few days later we had one big birthday party with all her friends and lots of inflatable and soft play stuff. It was good!
So how's life with you?
