A Matter of Choice

Guess who?? Aaron is always saying how similar the boys look but I struggle to see it, looking at Leo now with his short dark blonde hair it's easy to forget how different he looks now compared to his toddler days. I know the photos are of Leo, but I do wonder if presented with a photo I'd never seen before could I be confused?  If you dressed Louka in one of Leo's old outfits I think I might be! I'm always saying I'm glad I have my blog to look back on at things I've done, but I was quite surprised how little there was about Leo and I in the early days of blogging, what did make me smile though was looking back into the archives for a post written about Leo at the age that Louka is now (15 months) and all I came up with was 'What's the secret to Sleep?'   Some things never change do they! Linking up to Mummy Mishaps - Flashback Friday.

I wondered where my sieve had gone! First time playing with crayons, well actually the second but it was the first time he drew with them! Party favours all ready! Leo's way of 'helping' me make the birthday cake! First proper pair of shoes!

Why is it that no matter how many brightly coloured musical  interesting toys you have, babies always have more fun with things that were not designed to be played with. Louka playing in the kitchen And that this is true for every baby as after you've taken a photo you realise you've been here before.... Leo in 2010 Although it turns out I do have a new spoon!

The summer season is well underway here in Cyprus, and in a months time the schools break up for the summer holiday.....yes you did read that right, the school year finishes mid June and the kids are off until September! Aaron has been back at work now for over a month and so far we have survived, the next challenge is to do so without Leo being at school every morning. I want to enjoy the summer with the boys and get out and about even though I do find it very hard with both of the boys.  It's always so tempting to take the easy option and do the same old things but last summer I feel I missed out on lots of things while struggling with a big baby bump in the heat. I've been thinking of ways to keep us all occupied, both the boys and me, and in typical style I decided I had to make a list. It's more of a list of ideas to come back to rather than a definite 'we must get all these done'  and as I don't like the name 'bucket list' Lauren from Real H...

                 Sunday and Monday were great fun as it was  Carnival followed by Green Monday                   Louka trying spaghetti for the first time, he looked confused then laughed at it! I love seeing the boys starting to play together, Leo is generally very good although sometimes he forgets to share! On Thursday I met Jaxon, my friends new baby - he's so gorgeous and tiny!   (He's not tiny - he's a real good weight but I can't believe how quickly I could have forgotten how small they are!)  Another photo of Louka in his highchair!  Today was his first banana, he had lots of fun mushing that about! Another first for Louka today, he went in his new car seat for the first time.  Leo didn't want his photo taken hence the sulky face.  He was also unimpressed that I have to put Louka in first now as before I used t...

I have often told my Mum off for hoarding things and keeping a lot more stuff than she actually needs (or will ever use), sometimes though it's great to remember that she's kept some things a long time. This was me at 5 month old, sitting on a blanker handmade by my Mum. We recreated the scene with Leo at a similar age and this week, Louka had his 'Snoopy photoshoot' They don't look as similar in these pictures as they have done in most others,  although looking at videos of them at this age you can hardly tell the difference apart from the fact that Louka has more hair than Leo did!

I've not joined in with many Gallery prompts this year so far except last weeks which was 'Girls' when I wrote about my best girlies who I'll be off to see later today for the first time in years (did I mention I'm quite excited!) Obviously the logical prompt to follow that was going to be Boys and I couldn't miss that one, especially as I'll be leaving them behind while I make my flying visit to the UK! If you'd have asked me many years ago what my preference would be I'd have no doubt said I'd like  girl, especially if I had already had a boy, but I really couldn't imagine it any other way now. I love my boys to bits and couldn't imagine a girly world of pink and fluffy anymore. I never expected I'd know all the engines from Thomas or be so familiar with Bob and Mike the Knight and I hate to admit it but Aaron may have a point - boys stuff is cooler than girls! It's going to be very strange spending five days awa...

As the line from the best Christmas song ever goes.... the bells here were certainly ringing out for Christmas day, at about 6am at the big church just down the road. We had a lovely Christmas day at home (well here and my Mum & Dads but it's the same difference - it's only downstairs!) Louka was first awake but we still got a lie in as Leo didn't wake up till gone 7am, despite the church bells. Leo called me into his bedroom and I went and sat on his bed, he asked if it was time to get up but made no mention of presents.   I asked him if he remembered what we had hung up the night before, he looked around, didn't 'see' the stocking hanging right where he had put it and said 'ah, no presents came Mama'  Slightly bemused I pointed to the stocking and he gasped and jumped out of bed to get it - 'Aaaaah look Mamma, there's presents for me, woo hoo'  He was so excited he didn't even realise there were some more under the tree!...

Over the years, even in the days before digital cameras I was always the one with the camera, I love photos and was one of the few people in my circle of friends who photos from every party or special event. I would rarely see photos from other people and its always a treat to suddenly see a photo someone else took a long time ago. Of course back in the day, photos were not taken as frequently as they are now and they certainly were not as easy to share!  It's one of the reasons I love facebook so much and the other day while I was having a look back at photos I'd been tagged in I came across one I don't remember seeing before.  Summer 2010 I was really pleased to find it so I kept scrolling down through the photos I'm tagged in, most of them were my own photos as I take so many I recognise them all but every now and again I found one that wasn't so familiar.   It's like a little snapshot of a moment I'd forgotten, and nice to have some ...

Yet again its been ages since I joined in with Michelle's Reasons to be Cheerful, that's not to say I haven't been cheerful though, I've had my moments...  including one of the best reasons in the world - the birth of my second gorgeous boy!    Which is also happens to be the main reason for not joining in for so long as I've not been blogging as much! So, what's making me cheerful right now? 1.  I got up this morning to a lovely parcel from one of my best blogging friends The Boy and Me  I won a bracelet in one of her giveaways and it arrived this morning along with a lovely card and gift for Louka.  I'm really touched that someone I've never met in real life (yet!) would do something so lovely.  Not only that but the bracelet is gorgeous and will always make me think of the day Louka was born as the tweet telling me I'd won was the last one I read before going into labour! 2. Aaron has finished work for the winter, after working for ...

Years ago, my 8pm was once a time for finishing work or getting ready to go out, in some ways the start of the day, or at least the best bit! 8pm  - just down the road in Agia Napa, you can still see people heading back to their hotels after a day at the beach, it's not even a time for many of the holiday makers there to even be going out for the evening,  well when lots of places don't even open until 1am you can't peak too early! My 8pm for the last few years has been the time Aaron gets home from work, it's usually when I would have dinner ready for. Leo would have been in bed for an hour having gone to bed dead on 7pm almost every night for a long time now.  He's always been a very early riser and making his bedtime later usually means he gets up even earlier  (WHY, what is that all about?!) so I like to stick to it. Also he's a big stickler for routine so it's easier not to mess with it - anything for a quiet life! Saying that, I've always be...