29 Months

George is 29 months old today!

The end of October kicked off the holiday season with Halloween. George wore his Woody costume (or "Cowboy" as he calls it) to daycare and kept it on all day--even the hat!

Yeehaw!

Mucking around at Morrisons

Bonfire Night at Woodhouse Moor

This year I ran the Abbey Dash 10k

Richard & George waited for me at the finish line and we had Caffe Nero's Christmas drinks afterwards (no guilt in getting a salted caramel hot chocolate with whipped cream if you've run a 10k!). My favorite part was George saying "Mummy running!" when he saw me at the finish line!

The Christmas decorations arrive early in British shops...Marks & Spencer had these trees out at the start of November!

George was loving it!

Victoria Quarter

That face!

George loves posting letters--whenever I need to mail something off, I let him do it at this postbox on our street

Waitrose treat with Daddy

George was fascinated by the Waterstone's bookshop window display

Christmas Light Switch-On 2017!

Gingerbread latte and mince pie--George loves the whipped cream

Temple Newsam still had some gorgeous fall color well into November

On the farm at Temple Newsam

These crazy looking chicks were fascinated by the camera

George has a toy John Deere like this one, but the real life version was a bit intimidating for him!

The Harrogate Christmas Market is the earliest one around (mid-Nov)

Visiting Abbey House Museum one Sunday after church--they have a great kids' area with antique toys and a cozy little reading nook

Window shopping

George loves Christmas trees

Even though he wants to touch everything, he's pretty gentle and doesn't take the ornaments off

Another favorite Christmas tradition--the 1/2 meter Bratwurst at the Christkindlmarkt!

George helped himself--it's ok, there's plenty enough to share!

We went on the Carousel

It went ok, but towards the end of the ride he was fed up and fussy

Santa's Grotto and Reindeer at the Harrogate Christmas Market

I love this padded coat--it's very squishy and cuddly, so he feels like a teddy bear when you pick him up in it

My glorious turkey crown! I followed my usual Nigella method: brined it overnight and basted it with a blend of maple syrup and melted butter, and it was the most delicious, juiciest turkey I've ever had. I think a few things helped--I got a good quality one from Waitrose, I made sure it had come up to room temperature before cooking, I cooked it just the amount of time that was recommended on the packaging, and I let it sit for a good long time before carving it (over an hour--it didn't get cold).

George liked the turkey, cranberry sauce and the sweet potatoes, but wasn't interested in the green bean casserole or the stuffing. He loved both pumpkin and pecan pie, though!

The next day, we went to our church's Christmas coffee morning and then to the Otley Beer Festival. George slept in the Ergo for most of it!

When we were going through this month's photos, this expression reminded us so much of Richard at this age--so cute!

Afternoon out in Skipton

George found this Santa hat at a charity shop and kept it on for the rest of the day

 

Watching the ducks along the canal

Post-shopping Caffe Nero

This month has gone so fast. We're properly into the holiday spirit already! George loves reading his Christmas books and singing carols, and he spots Christmas lights and Christmas trees everywhere we go. The biggest thing at the moment is just how fun he is--he's a very entertaining little companion! His speech has really improved this month. He talks all the time at home and he's started telling us stories about nursery. He mentions the other kids and carers by name! He loves hats--the cowboy hat from his Woody costume, Santa hat, trapper hat, bobble hat, flat cap, etc. He's started narrating little scenes when he plays with his trucks and cars, and especially with his Fireman Sam toys. He'll say "Call Fireman Sam!" and "To the rescue!"
Along with these advances in speech has come the development of "No". He's stating his opinions more confidently now, telling us "No____" when he doesn't want to do something, or if we're singing a song he doesn't want us to sing ("No twinkle, twinkle", "No jingle bells."). It's an important milestone, and it's really good to know what he wants, but sometimes it can be really frustrating because he'll say "No __whatever kind of food we're offering___" but then he'll eat it. Typical toddler behaviour, but it's exhausting!

Firsts this month
First time telling us a story about something that happened at nursery
First babyccino at Caffe Nero
First time seeing reindeer
First time cheering Mummy on at the finish line