Nature

Jack-Jack really loves being outside in nature. Nothing calms him down quite like a walk along the canal, or through the park, and he quite often drops off to sleep out in the fresh air as long as we're on the move. We're at Center Parcs this weekend, and it's been lovely going on long walks together with Jack-Jack in the carrier, pointing out the various birds and other wildlife, and watching him gazing up into the trees. He's mesmerised by water too and can spend ages staring at anything where the water is fast flowing, like a canal lock, weir or waterfall.

The sun came out today, so we thought that this afternoon would be a perfect opportunity to let Jack-Jack experience nature close-up - we plopped him on the grass behind our villa, stopped worrying about what he might put in his mouth and just let him crawl around as he pleased. He soon learned that pine cones, pine needles, twigs and stones aren't that tasty, and focussed on chasing after some passing ducks. When he got bored with that, he sat down and thoughtfully pulled up clump after clump of grass, feeling it between his fingers, tasting the obligatory handful or two, and letting it blow away on the wind. The sun was getting lower in the sky, there was a sparkle on the water of the nearby brook and it was magical to watch Jack-Jack taking it all in.

Esmeralda and I spent this evening working on our CWDC workbook. It's something that every foster carer has to complete within the first 12 months, and aims to provide evidence of competency and understanding of the skills, standards, legislation, knowledge etc. involved in fostering. It's interesting, but is quite a long piece of work, especially alongside caring for a baby 24/7 and doing the daily recordings! We have a support worker helping us to complete it, and she came round on Thursday to see how we were getting on and check that we're on the right track. She answered all our questions and is coming back in 3 weeks, so we thought we'd use the down time this weekend to make some headway. Our social worker would be proud!