We’ve just got home from an amazing week on holiday in Tuscany which felt like it just flew by! The weather was a bit hit and miss, but mostly good and I love that in Tuscany that doesn’t really seem to ruin the holiday in the slightest. It was lovely to see how much of a Daddy’s boy Max is - all holiday he just loved having his Dad around all day and was full of cuddles and kisses for Daddy. And it was lovely to see how great John is with Max too. I tend to forget that although I get to have lots of one-to-one time with Max during the week, John misses out on that sometimes, so watching them get to spend so much time together was lovely.
01. There were so many lovely moments to the holiday, but my favourite has to be our trip to Fiesole, a hill town just outside Florence. We walked up to the top of a hill to see the view and Max walked the whole way up - encouraged by the fact that we were all playing ‘aeroplanes’ or ‘birds’ (I’m not sure which) - a game where you basically bend over, stick your arms out behind you, and zoom about! I’m glad there was no-one there to see the three of us looking like complete loons! On the way back down, Max started gesturing to a bench for John to sit down, then for me to sit down, and started arranging us. We were quite baffled as to what he wanted until he started saying ‘Cheese!’ He wanted us to take a photo! Unfortunately it started to rain at that exact moment, so our photo was a bit rushed and also wonky as the tripod collapsed a bit, but despite the terrible photo I love it.
02. Max’s speech has been on the slow side to develop but is really starting to come on now. But the one word that he never really seems to have grasped is ‘mummy’. Our neighbour Dave gets named (‘Daaay!’), even the dog on holiday got his name called, but he’s adamantly refused to say mummy. Sure he’ll point to me if someone else says ‘where’s mummy’, but the word itself has remained elusive. So it was lovely to make the realisation this week that he is saying ‘bebe’ for Mummy - it’s become quite clear that that’s what he’s saying. It’s not quite Mummy, but I’ll take it!
03. John and I had a wonderful night ‘away’ for our 5 year anniversary. My parents (who came with us on holiday) babysat for us while we stayed just down the road at our favourite hotel, Villa Bordoni, which is where we stayed on our honeymoon, and in fact the hotel we stayed in on the trip where we got engaged. It’s the most perfect hotel I’ve ever stayed in - the food is sublime, the wine cellar is well stocked, and the staff are impeccable. It’s luxurious without being remotely stuffy and we’ve always enjoyed every moment of our stay there. It was lovely to have time together as a couple to reflect on our five years together.
04. I was so chuffed while we were away to have one of my Instagram photos featured by both #LittleFierceOnes (run by the fabulous Aby and Amy) and #OurCandidLife. It was a rainy day when we visited Montalcino, so the town was pretty empty, and I loved how the light was captured by the rain on the pavements. I loved this shot of Max exploring the narrow streets - he looks so tiny! Not my usual style of photo at all, as I’m normally drawn towards brighter colours and a lighter feel in general, so it was lovely to have such great feedback on a bit of a verge away from that.
05. Max and I decided on Tuesday that we’d had enough of staying inside avoiding the rain, so we headed out to Polesden Lacey National Trust to do some exploring of their gardens (top photo). He was so cute when I showed him how to sniff a peony to show him how nice they smelled. He then spent ages going round all of the peonies, smelling each one in turn. I love that sense of joyful curiosity!
