My prize

My prize has arrived, we have tried it out and it's really good, it will now replace our cheap Asda alarm clock which keeps me awake because the display is very bright. This one has a light sensor!

Ryan is really excited today because Dr Who is on this evening but it's the last one, we will have to get the series on DVD.

The Mystery Phone Box

To help the long hours pass that i seem to spend in my kitchen every day i listen to the local radio station, i often enter the competitions and have won a couple of times. One of their competitions involves a mystery phone box which they call a 9.35am each morning they give you a clue each day. A few weeks ago i knew where the phone box was and got there about 30minutes early to beat anyone else who had got it too. I had my little radio to hand and waited for the phone to ring and it didn't, not where i thought it was anyway. I was so disappointed and vowed never to listen to this part of the show again. Until this week ! and i was so sure i had worked it out, even more certain than before. So off i went this morning to the phone box location, this time i had to take Ryan with me. There was a women already in the phone box and i was sure she wasn't really talking to anyone, we waited for 20minutes and another lady arrived. She said she was waiting for a phone call at 9.30 from her mom. I then knew i had got it right this time. The women got bored and went off.The women in the phone box didn't and as 9.35 came i saw her put the receiver down and i asked her if she was waiting for the radio station to call and she said yes. The phone rang and she picked it up, she couldn't hear them ,the phone wasn't working properly! She called me and Ryan into the phone box to help, i couldn't get it to work, so i phoned the station from my mobile and told them the situation and they talked to me as if i had won, i explained that both of us had turned up and that the other women had been there first. The prize was a coffee machine, not really something i would use anyway. The women looked on worried i was going to take her prize, but the station agreed to sort something out. They phoned me back and took our details, i insisted that she got the coffee machine and the radio station said that's OK if I'm happy and they offered me a different prize, a DAB radio alarm clock worth £110 , which was more than the coffee machine, i didn't tell the women this. So after being disappointed twice, by a stroke of luck i finally won the mystery phone box competition. Ryan was brilliant throughout all of this, he didn't really know what was going on but i rewarded him later with a trip to the library which he loves, and we got there just in time for story hour. I will be waiting for my prize to arrive and let you know what it's like.

Today when Ryan finished preschool he was full of excitement and energy (he's normally shattered), he had been taken to the local primary school to watch their sports day and the preschoolers took part in their own race, he told me he didn't win but was pleased that his friend had. The preschool have their own sports day in couple of weeks which Ryan now knows and is in training for.

One of Ryan's favourite Tv characters is Sportacus from the programme Lazy Town. It's great, funny and very energetic, really encourages kids to move about and eat lots of 'sports candy' fruit which they learn from the main character sportacus, without the sports candy he wouldn't be able to move so fast and save people. I've really noticed the effect this has on Ryan who watches it whilst jumping around and munching on a apple.

Ryan made this at school yesterday, Ryan is on the left, i'm in the middle and his Daddy is on the right.

Ryan's Art

This as you can see is a strawberry and it's the best painting Ryan has done so far. He was inspired by the strawberries we are growing though we haven't eaten many because the birds like them too but Ryan says he doesn't mind sharing.

The beginning

My son Ryan is absolutely great i really can't say enough about him, he is my number one topic of conversation and i bore people for hours just talking about him.

At 10.01am September 11th 2003 Ryan was born and i feel my life as well as his began, well i can't really remember much before him. I couldn't sleep for the first week not just because of his hunger but because i didn't want to take my eyes off him, i (we obviously) had made something this perfect! He smelt gorgeous and looked so beautiful.

I knew nothing about babies when he was born i knew everything about being pregnant, so i learnt on the job and listened to advice from others and read lots of books normally during the night after his 2am feed! seemed more peaceful then. I found What to expect the first year a brilliant book easy to find answers everything spelt out clearly just what i needed. I didn't find much help from my team of midwives just contradicting advice. I listened to friends and family and was really grateful for any advice but only you can decide whats the right thing to do for you it can get quite confusing.

I quickly got used to being treated differently when we went out and about, are pushchairs really invisible? not anymore you just keep going and people soon notice you coming. I did get lots of help on buses though. Mother and baby groups where a good chance to show off, mines bigger than yours and all that. All seemed the same after a while but i did get a cup of tea made for me.

Some people are prepared for the birth and the baby months before they have even conceived but you can't prepare yourself for how isolated you feel, especially during those first months.It takes all morning to get your baby ready then you think of yourself, by then its time for yet another feed and change. I was always late for everything. The huge bag of supplies needed to survive outside of the house was bigger than my baby. Its all very tiring and easier to stay in but you got to get out and then you don't feel so alone.

Ryan has always been a granny magnet, in bus stops and supermarkets they would flock around him, he's a big one isn't he they all used to say then they looked to me and said well your big built though, i had many conversations like this. The older they are the more honest the opinion even though i hadn't asked for one. Yes i'm over weight but my son isn't. He was 9lb 4oz born and in perfect proportion to the rest of his beautiful body, and still is. Anyway Ryan has always been very happy, quite easy to please, Andrew (his dad) made him laugh by waving a empty envelope in front of him at 2 months old, why did we buy toys.

Weaning was a bit of a struggle because Ryan loved his milk so much but we got there, everyday for 2 years he had weetabix for breakfast, now at 3 years he has cheerios or porridge or weetabix.

Ryan started at the local preschool at 2 years old just for an hour and a half a week. I don't know who found it more difficult, we would both end up crying. The staff had seen it all before and soon got rid of me, i stood outside the building listening to the cries it was awful. I stayed a couple of times but that didn't help the situation. He now loves preschool and i now enjoy time to myself but still can't wait to see him. I was surprised to find some of the other mothers not so eager to see their children. We all Que up outside the school waiting for the door to be unlocked, and for some reason nobody speaks to one another unless you are part 'the group' i have had people talk around me. Funny but the dads always talk to everyone. I just turn up on time.

Evenings and weekends are our special times, lots of messing about really just us time.We visit local attractions such as children's farms and the beach and cinema. Bedtime routine is simple but great. Wash then into bed with a story at the end Ryan says 'lets talk about my wonderful day' then we go through the good and bad bits then he goes to sleep.

Ryan awakes early always has (just like his dad) and bounds into my room 'morning darling' he says and i always begin the day with a smile.

There have been many funny moments during the last 3 years and 9 months but unfortunately i can't remember them all. I will try to write them here as i go, along with other things we have been up to.