Disney On Ice (Instead of Halloween)

Halloween 2010 kind of got rail roaded by other events this year. Yesterday I was racing down in Kent in the gymathlon and then today we managed to get tickets to the Disney On Ice in the O2 Arena (thanks to little bro). So for the first year ever there was no trick or treating for the boys. We did manage to sort of dress them up for nursery on Friday though. Brandon still does not do scary, so he went dressed as Roary The Racing Car.

Joshua is starting to come around to the scary stuff and this year has braved his first mask. He gets a real kick out of chasing me around and making me jump with his "Raaar's".

Joshua also has a Roary costume and here are some pics of both boys with the matching fancy dress.

So Halloween will be postponed until next week and we will celebrate it jointly with Bonfire night instead. As mentioned previously, today we had a blinding trip to the O2 Arena (a first for both boys). Here they are posing outside.

Rather than join the regular queue to enter the Arena we went into the Sky Backstage Lounge (as an existing customer). This was actually pretty cool ad gave us some fun activities to pass the time before the Disney On Ice show commenced. To start with we all donned the 3D glasses and watched some spectacular 3D TV. I have to say I was extremely impressed with the quality after having previously been very negatice about this technology. How good does Brandon looks in the specs?

Here is a happy little chap - he has food in his hand. And how cool are the glowing cube seats?

Another great part of the Sky lounge is that you can watch yourself on 3D TV whilst performing in a band. The guitar and drums were just too tempting for Josh, so in we went! To start with Joshua demonstrated his solo skills by ripping a few tunes whilst me, Mummy and Brandon watched him on the 3D TV (very funny).

Brandon then built up the confidence to have a go and so we had a 3 way drum session with me doing the base pedal and the boys with a stick each.

Eventually we managed to get to our seats in the Arena and both boys were extremely well behaved and completely mesmerised by the Disney show. The loved seeing all the characters that they recognise from books, TV and toys and to see them in real life definitely caught their attention. Here is Mickey, Minnie and Donald.

The genie from Aladdin going airborne.

And where did all those genies come from?

Big Bruce from Nemo chasing Dora and Nemo around the ice.

Probably my favourite part - the toy soldiers from Toy Story. Excellent bit of steriotypical US boot camp type music to accompany their routine.

And then the moment the boys had been waiting for. Their current hero's, Buzz and Woody. Brandon was most upset that Woody took his hat off and kept on and on repeating "hat on".

It might be a little hard to see in the picture, but look closely enough and you will see Mickey in the hot air balloon.

Mickey, Minnie and the marching band.....M.....I.....C.....K....E.....Y.....................M....O....U....S.....E, that song will be stuck in my head for the rest of the week now.

The Incredibles...........Joshua has never seen these but I have read him the book a few times. Oddly he has started to show an interest in Monsters Inc over the last 2 weeks and for some strange reason gets them completely confused with the Incredibles.

And finally Simba from the Lion King doing some acrobatics.

Both boys were completely exhausted after a long day out with a lot of walking and a lot of visual stimulation. Brandon is so tired that we have even managed to set him down in his Lightning McQueen bed instead of the cot tonight. Quite amazing if he stays there all night. I don't think we got Joshua into his proper bed until he was gone 2 years old.

Jupiter Bed

Today I decided to take a days vacation as Joshua's new bed was due for delivery. So I figured it was a good opportunity to build the bed and re-arrange the boys rooms whilst also spending getting some more quality Daddy time. The bed arrived nice and early (breakfast time in fact) and the boys were very keen to help their Daddy assemble - plastic toys in hand.

Basically Joshua seems fairly tall for his age and some nights when he is all stretched out he just seems so big for his toddle bed. So we hunted high and low for a new full size divan bed for him with an aim of then moving the toddler bed into Brandon's room. So similar to what we did with Joshua, Brandon now has a bed and cot in his room in order to give him an option of where to sleep. Hopefully he will decide that the Lightning McQueen bed with Handy Many bed set is tempting and soon we will be able to remove the cot.

So the bed we decided on was rather apt for Joshua - none other than Jupiter the Fire Engine. Needless to say both boys absolutely love the bed and I couldn't built it quick enough for them to start playing.

"Neh Nah Neh Nah"

Finally I managed to drag the boys out of the carcass so that I could fit the slats and then finally get the new mattress in place.

The games didn't stop once the mattress was in place with both boys running and jumping on the bed. Joshua has already figured out how to climb over the window screen, into the engine, then he does a massive jump off the bed into the middle of his bedroom!

As you can see it is much bigger than his old bed as Mummy, Brandon and Joshua can fit on this one fairly comfortably.

Joshua has been pretty excited about his new bed all day and we was starting to think that we might have trouble getting him to sleep tonight. I think we both expected to be being called upstairs all night for "neh Nah" emergencies as he raced off to put out fires. However I must have tired the little man out on his go-kart because as you can see from the picture below, he is currently out cold in his new bed - and doesn't he look nice and comfortable and spacious.

Brandon briefly asked to sleep in the toddler bed tonight, but then missed his cot with his diggers and dumpers blanket and resorted back to his old bed. But there is no rush............he will sleep in the bed when he is good and ready.

Once the bed was delivered and set-up I took the boys over the park and lake. Brandon on his bike and Joshua on his go-kart. After feeding the birds at the lake I decided to take them to see the "soldier house" for the first time. Unfortunately it was a bit wet and muddy inside, but we still got to have a little play outside and for me to explain what the bunker is for.

Other breaking news on Brandon is that he is learning to count very well now. The last couple of days we have heard him get to around 5 or 6 all on his own. Obviously the counting of stairs is slowly sinking in as it did with Joshua. After bath time tonight we also put Brandon in a dressing gown for the first time and how cute does the little fellow look in this?

I Am Speed

If anyone doubted Joshua's pedal power and speed on his new go kart - then check out this vodeo clip!

Happy Birthday - 3 TODAY

Well the count down is over and today Joshua was 3 years old. Who can believe just how quick it has gone and just how big he is already. The day started at 5am!!!!!!!!!! but after a little negotiation we managed to talk Joshua into going back to bed until 7am, albeit in our bed and not his. After a wash and teeth we distracted him from new presents long enough to get both boys breakfast. Even that was a struggle as Joshua was keen to play with his new toys from yesterday. In the time it too me to prepare breakfast both Joshua and Brandon had managed to use the art sets and play on their laptops at the kitchen table. Anyone once breakfast was out of the way then we opened the living room door to expose all Joshua's presents. The initial reaction was "wooooowwwww".

Without any encouragement Joshua dived into the pile requiring no guidance or instructions for Mum or Dad! He was a man possessed and on a mission. The first present was his remote control Brewster which his little brother brought him.

Then it was his Chugginton interactive track set which was his joint main present from Mummy and Daddy.

Then the all important PlayStation 3 steering wheel. The logic here is that he can use it to play his Lightning McQueen game. But the ulterior motive is that I get to use it next month when Gran Turismo 5 finally comes out.

Surprisingly Joshua never noticed the big box that all his presents were placed on. Underneath the big box was his main present - a Toy Story go kart. Boy was he excited and pleased with this present. We had a few fights initially as Brandon wanted to have a drive as well.

But then we distracted Brandon with his new sit and ride train which his Nanny and Grandad brought him yesterday so that the little fellow does not feel too left out on Joshua's big day.

This left Joshua time to really explore the in and outs of his new wheels.

After a bit of a battle we managed to get the Chuggington train set up and running. This was a real challenge with two very impatient little boys, some very poor instructions and about 100 pieces scattered all over the living room floor. Krypton Factor eat your heart out.........

After present time we decided to treat Joshua to a couple of hours over Party Man. Monday morning is a great time to go as there were only about 3 other kids there. So the boys pretty much had the place to themselves. Of course we mentioned it was Joshua's birthday and they kindly gave him a little toy train set.

I am pretty sure they do not allow kids to come down the big slide head first. But Joshua is now 3 going on 18 and seems to do what he pleases.

A bit of football club practice. Getting Brandon ready for next year when he can join Little Kickers.

For the first time Brandon noticed his unusual reflection in the wibbly wobbly mirrors.

After Party Man and lunch Brandon went off for a nap and that was the opportunity for me and Joshua to spend some quality time tearing up the streets of Wickford with his new go kart. I think I need to buy an adult size one as this one can only take up to 30kg's.

Forget battery powered cars. I was running hard to keep up with Joshua when he got going.

At the end of a another long day we decided to head out to Outback for a "nice dinner" as Joshua would put it. Brandon was extremely well behaved..........

Joshua was a little excitable and was constantly standing up on the chair and looking around the restaurant. But he still ate very well.

The staff made the mistake of giving Brandon a balloon to play with. He is such a little comedian these days........this picture proves it.

The staff kindly put some candles in Joshua's ice cream and everyone sang happy birthday to the little guy.

After all that both boys were completely pooped and we headed home to get them washed and put to bed. Now the countdown starts for Xmas...........

By the way............when did opening presents, building toys, playing with toys, running around Party Man and playing with a go kart become such hard work (I must be getting old). I am sure that when I was a kid, I would do this sort of thing day in and day out. But as a near 40 year old man...........today has left me completely shattered.

1 More Sleep......

Well only 1 more sleep until Joshua's 3rd birthday. Thanks to everyone who came to see the little guy today and bring him some presents ahead of his big day tomorrow. He has certainly enjoyed his day and loved his presents so far. This year has been really great as it is the first year Joshua has really understood his birthday, the fact that he is 3 years old and more importantly for him - that he is getting loads of presents. Something tells me he takes after his Dad with getting a bit over excited for such occasions which probably explains the 5:15am wake up call this morning. So if it was 5:15am on the eve of his 3rd birthday then I guess I might as well not bother going to bed tonight.

His Nanny and Grandad brought him this fab little laptop which he has not stopped playing with. Even tonight at about 6:45 we struggled to get him upstairs to get washed as he was sitting at his little table with his laptop saying he had work to do!

Tearing into presents is childs play. No assistance needed this year. In addition to the laptop Joshua also got a load of art stuff, some Toy Story Duplo, a Southend Football kit, and lots of clothes.

Despite Toy Story featuring heavily in this years birthday, Joshua has not forgotten his beloved Chuggington and specifically requested this as his birthday cake.

Joshua is usually pretty good at blowing out candles. But as you can see from this picture he was otherwise occupied with a lolly and so today it was a bit half hearted. Maybe tomorrow will be a bit better.

Brandon didn't really care much about how the candle was blown out. He just wanted to dive into a big chunk of cake.

All this and its only the Eve of his birthday, what ever will tomorrow bring?

Muscles

Only 5 more sleeps until Joshua is 3 years old.............

So what is new with the boys. Well at the dinner table tonight guess who counted to 3 for the first time all on his own. Yep, little Brandon. And even more impressive, guess who likes homemade chicken biryani and ate it all up. Yep, little Brandon. He is so good with his food and far more adventurous than Joshua, but even I was surprised he ate a huge plateful of biryani. Fortunately I will be at work tomorrow so I will not have to deal with the aftermath in the nappy.

As any parent will know, sometimes it can be a real challenge to get young children to eat vegetables. Well just lately I have started to explain to the boys what the different foods do for you. So for example the meats give you muscles, peas make you run fast, carrots give you good eyes, all the carbs give you energy etc.etc. So far it seems to be working well as both boys now tuck into their peas knowing they will run super fast. But the funny part is the muscles - I've have taught them to show me their muscles with a front double bicep. So now they both eat a bit of chicken and then the big guns come up to show me their bulging muscles. The way Brandon says "muscles" as he pulls his double bicep pose is just hilarious.

Final bit of news is that Joshua's phase in sessions into the "Toy Story" class at nursery are going really well. Once he turns 3 the nursery will move him up into this bigger class permanently.

One final final cute bit of news for today...................whilst sitting at the table tonight Joshua was telling us all how Brandon is his best friend. How nice is that? Lets just hope it always stays that way and the brothers both grow up as the very best of friends.

You spin me right round baby........

Little Brandon has recently taken a real liking to the blue spinning pod chair in Joshua's bedroom. So today it was a long over due trip to Ikea to buy the little dude his own one for in his bedroom. As you can see from the pictures below, Brandon is not in the slightest bit happy or interested in his chair (NOT!).

After tonight's bath-time it was a bit of a challenge to try and get the little dude out of his chair. He seems to think its a really funny game to spin himself around and pretend to be illusive as you try and grab him after each revolution.

11 sleeps and counting

Only 11 sleeps until Joshua's 3rd birthday. Can you believe my little man is nearly 3!!!!!!!! If anyone is stuck for ideas for presents for him then let me know as I have a list prepared of all his favourite things.

It has been a while since I wrote much about the boys development as recent blogs have focused more in places they have been and things they have done. Obviously both boys are developing there own personalities and traits as they grow into young men. So for today's blog I have pulled together an interesting little comparison which highlights some of the differences between the two of them.

I would be interested to hear if anyone agrees or disagrees with the above characteristics or even if you have observed different personality traits between the two boys. One thing is for sure, they are very different, individual little boys - but get on like two peas in a pod (brothers in arms).