My little music man

I might have mentioned this to you already but the little man is completely dotty about music and musical instruments. Here is the extent of his obsession:
- He can name just about every instrument you throw at him from flute, bassoon (and even contra bassoons) to the more obscure sitar and balalaika
- When we drive somewhere I tune into Classic FM and he shouts out the names of the instruments he can hear from the back
- He likes to sing along to nursery rhymes replacing the words with names of instruments. Not easy fitting in "bagpipe" and "double bass" to the tune of The Wheels on the Bus
- I have had to buy a (rather chic) antique wicker hamper to store all his instruments in. I love it as he can lift the lid with ease and there is no danger of trapped fingers that you get from heavy wooden boxes. A ukelele, bells, drum and proper drumsticks (donated by his older cousin), recorder, harmonica etc all go in there at night to be fished out in the morning
- When he visits my parents the first place he heads to is the CD player (which they have had to replace once already) where he gets out a CD, puts it in the machines, plays a bit of it, then returns it neatly to the case before getting the next one out. DJ short pants we call him
- I have started a scrapbook where we cut out and stick in musical instruments. It is getting fuller by the day and is his most prized possession.
- His daddy has taught him all the names of the electric guitars - Flying V, Les Paul, Stratocaster, and the names of all the bits and bobs that are on them, like the tremelo arms and pickups (I am learning more everyday too)
- His favourite tunes at the moment are by Elvis, Simon and Garfunkel and, the top man, Bob Marley

So yes he is obessed with music. In the groups we go to, there is usually a bit of music making at the very end and he loves it but what he needs, I began to think, is a group that is all about the music. Which is where Jo Jingles steps in. And this morning, we went along to one of the local sessions.
He was unsure at first, asking to go home and loitering by the door, but as soon as the music kicked in he was off dancing around the floor. Out came castanets, scarves to wave about, streamers on sticks too, toy rabbits to sing to and other fantastic ideas (which I am nicking to add to my "what to do on a rainy day" list).
On the way home, he couldn't stop talking about it all. It was a hit and I promptly signed him up until the end of term. Thank you Jo Jingles. If you have a little music man, or lady, of your own, it is certainly worth checking out.

Hot tubs, lie-ins and a good book

November is great in our household as both the little man's parents have birthdays, two days apart, so we always make a bit of deal of it. Which is why I haven't posted for a while - I have been having too much fun!
We booked ourselves into a fabulous spa hotel in the New Forest, a short drive away from home so we could drop off our toddler with his doting grandparents knowing that if there was a to-do of any sorts, we wouldn't be too far away to come to the rescue.

Our mission for the weekend was:
- to sprawl about on pool loungers and read frivolous fiction
- spend so much time in the hot tub that we turn into wrinkled prunes
- eat our own body weight in naughty food and then manage to squeeze in a dessert too
- have a conversation with each other giving our full concentration without the usual little distraction pulling at our sleeves
- hold hands

Well, all I can say is mission accomplished. We drank fizz booze in our hotel room, got dressed up for dinner to a lovely, not-too-posh French bistro and even had time to mooch around the spa shop trying out the expensive creams infused with essential oils just because we could. Heaven it was.
But I did miss the little man. Annoying that. Before, we would not have had a care in the world booking into a luxury hotel for a spot of pampering but we did miss the small scrap of life that has followed us around since he was delivered into our arms two and a half years ago. It means long haul destinations are out really. Couldn't be apart from him for a week or two, however alluring the idea of a trip to the glistening sands of the Maldives might be. So for the time being, this will do us nicely. A one-night freshen up where we remember what it is like to be just the two of us, knowing that we will be three again very soon. Perfect.
Oh by the way, if this all sounds too tempting, we booked in to the lovely Careys Manor in Brockenhurst. If you are there in about three months time, you might very well bump into me and the other half in our robes, snoozing on the heated stone relaxation beds. Kindly do not disturb.