I can see clearly now (the rain has gone)

Actually, more likely, it has to do with the fact i now have my glasses.  And yes, i'm really wearing them.  Every single day.

At first they made me feel slightly nauseous, and very self conscious.  I was (perhaps a little stupidly) worried that Rudy would wake up from his nap and think he'd been kidnapped by a crazy purple-glasses wearing lady.  But in fact he woke up, gave me a puzzled frown and then a big grin and that was that.  Similarly, i'd been 'preparing' Toby for the idea for a couple of weeks, and he was there when i picked them out, but i was still a bit concerned he'd think it was a bit strange and be wanting me to "give them back to Daddy" (as he's used to Chris wearing glasses) or alternatively that he'd think it would be rather giddy and be wanting to try them on, but in fact i picked them up on Thursday while he was in nursery and when i went to collect him he looked at me, said "Mummy's wearing glasses" grinned, and that was it!

I am finding myself getting frustrated at the level of dust/dirt they attract, i seem to always be cleaning them which makes me feel a bit pretentious, but Chris assures me i'll get used to them and the tiny specks of muck they acquire throughout the day soon won't annoy me so much.  Other than that i'm adapting quite well.

In addition to the improvement to my eyesight, this past week or so has been quite nice.

We've had a couple of little playdates.  Not Sunday just gone, but the one before we went to our local park/play area and met up with one of Toby's little friends from nursery, Molly, and her Dad.  Chris had exhanged numbers with her Dad a few weeks back because they live just round the corner from us and Toby and Molly are inseperable at nursery.  We'd planned to all go to the park together at some point but the weather hasn't been ideal and we've had a lot on.  Anyway we finally made plans and it was so funny, as soon as we mentioned to Toby that Molly would be there he was like "Let's go NOW!" and Molly's Dad said she was bouncing off the walls at the idea of seeing Tobias at the park, but when they saw each other they didn't know what to do!  It was like they were thinking "I don't usually see you here!"  They did throw a ball to one another for a few minutes which was very sweet but then Molly wandered off to do something else and then Toby wandered off to do something else and it was quite funny.  I didn't get any photos of the two of them together but got a few of Toby playing with the ball:

Chris said he expected them to interact a bit more but i think they're just a bit young for that yet, i think Toby enjoyed Molly being there and thought it was quite fun, but they were both just happy doing their own thing alongside each other rather than actively playing together (if that makes sense?!)

Rudy was asleep on the way there but woke up so he joined in by having his very first go on the swings:

Then we had another playdate last week, where we went to a softplay round the corner from us and met up with two of the girls i went to uni with and their little one's (we've got quite the brood between us!) It was good to have a chat and for Toby to have a run-around.  There was a little horror of a child at the softplay who upset Toby a couple of times, and who seemed to be on a mission to traumatise every other child there and who's Mum looked like she couldn't actually have given less of a hoot if she'd tried, but it didn't seem to spoil Toby's day too much as he's been asking to go back (or at least saying "Play Area?!" a lot anyway)

On Wednesday my Mum came over and we all went to the park and exhausted ourselves (me and my Mum more so than Toby i think!) Rudy had a lovely long sleep in the pram while we were out and then when we got back Toby wasted no time embroiling my Mum in a strange and complicated game of Pirates and Nee-naws.  He fell and bumped his head at nursery a couple of weeks ago and since then i think has been wanting/needing to "play it through" so a lot of his games and little stories he makes up have been about people getting hurt/falling down and needing someone to "check" on them and make sure they're okay.  My Mum even stayed for bath time which was brilliant for me as Rudy was having a total meltdown so it meant i could deal with him while my Mum bathed Toby (which he thought was great)

Other than that we had playgroup on Friday as usual and a fairly chilled out weekend (although we did go shopping, to an actual supermarket, on Saturday morning, which was a bit of a mental thing to do, but worked out ok!) Chris finally found the time to fit the buggy board to the quinny and we tried that out:

Toby was extremely excited by the idea at first but then we took it for a longer test drive to the post office on Monday and the novelty wore off a bit! I think because it was pretty nippy and he's used to being tucked up in the pram so it didn't seem quite as fun as it had at first.  From the POV of the person pushing the pram, it needs a little refinement as it is currently sticking out a bit too far and gets in the way of your feet a lot, but otherwise it's pretty good, it bumps up and down kerbs well enough and seems quite sturdy.  Rudy certainly enjoyed having Toby right in front of him, although on the flipside, that meant he didn't doze off as quickly as he normally would in the pram...i think we'll have to use it a bit more for me to make my mind up for definite on it.

Chris is off this week which is fantastic.  Every time he puts a jacket or his shoes on Toby says "Daddy work?" and is totally delighted when we say "No, Daddy doesn't have to go to work today" It's too cute!  He does have an essay to write and exam to revise for though so it's not all rest and relaxation for him unfortunately.

We're off to sling meet tomorrow as our lovely new wrap arrived last week:

It's a Didymos Nino Heaven and Earth (Size 6) and we've had a lot of fun playing with it already (as you can see!) but i've still got a lot to learn so i'm in need of some expert advice ;)

Chris and i are still coughing from the last round of bugs and already i am snotty with what is possibly the beginnings of the next thing, but you know what? I've decided that since we're pretty much constantly inflicted with one lot of germs or another, it's really only worth mentioning when we're NOT ill, as that's the more newsworthy situation! So i'll get back to you when we're all completely healthy and germ free (Please don't hold your breath waiting, it will almost certainly prove fatal! :P)