Week 29

Charlie did a week of half days at school this week. He really enjoyed it and couldn't wait to get in each day. Joe has continued to settle and our weekly report that we get sent every Friday was the first one where there were no 'stress triggers' highlighted, he really seems to be finding his feet.

One of the incredible things about Joe, is just how wide his reach is amongst his peers. As you walk into school with him, or taking out and about locally, it seems that he knows everyone, regardless of what year they are in - he seems to know children from reception to year six. That could be a skill that could really be to his benefit as he gets older.

Charlie continues to be a handful. There's nothing malicious about him, but he does seem to be getting harder rather than easier to manage. He's in to everything, he's so inquisitive, but it's like he just doesn't hear you when you're trying to tell him off. The situation has to get really escalated before he responds with any remorse, and you can give him an instruction 20 times in a row and it still doesn't seem to sink in. I get really frustrated and he definitely presses all my buttons, I find myself shouting at him, and then I feel terrible straight afterwards. It's slightly satisfying though that his teacher appears to feel the same, which makes me feel a little bit vindicated!

This weekend we took the boys up for a weekend with my mum and dad. It took us a horrific amount of time to get up there but the boys were good as gold on the journey. It was only the second time we had taken the boys up to Grandma and Granddad's, but they both remembered the house very clearly and felt very much at home which was fantastic to see. Mum and Dad who only get to see the boys once every few weeks really notice the difference in the boys perhaps more easily than we do being with them every day. It was nice to hear their thoughts on how much more settled the boys seem, even with Charlie's challenging ways.

I love watching mum interacting with the boys, she's exactly the way she was with us when we were kids, she has so much patience and time for them and really engages - you can really see how fond the boys are of her. She is also really understanding of our pressures too and is always happy to try to offer us a bit of relief, and on Saturday afternoon she gave us the chance to pop out to the shops for a couple of hours whilst they looked after the boys.