To say that Marley is excited about Christmas is and understatement, even though he has no real concept of what Christmas means the fact that we have a 6ft Norwegian spruce littered with hand stitched toys and twinkly lights its blowing his mind, and that’s not to mention the parade of flashing coloured lights that are wrapping numerous houses in our close.

So the Christmas break was filled with a lot of fun, chatter and toys. Marley has become a master at unwrapping gifts, I think our test period really got him into the swing of things. Unlike most kids that you see on christmas day or Birthdays for that matter, ripping off paper till it becomes a shower of confetti Marley is a very considerate present receiver making sure he puts every piece, and I do mean every piece of paper in to the bin…this can make opening a present very laborious…5 days exactly!
One thing that we have gathered from children’s presents is that you require scissors, a screwdriver and batteries to open and operate the majority of them! Gone are the days of discarding the shinny plastic or wooden toy and clambering into a box.

So this year 2016, we had christmas at my parents which is always great, and possibly Marleys first sleep over there. I must admit his eagerness at such a young age to see santa was a little confusing but every morning he was determined to wake up at 5am for 4 days in a row, head down stairs to Georges (dads dog) disgust before roaring through the house until everyone else rose, quick trip to the pub on Boxing day to be fed by a little girl called rose then home again for more games and stories, and all this before heading down to Cornwall to see in the New Year, which on one of the clearest nights I’ve seen in a long time we actually saw our first comet. It was as impressive as it was quick, burning across a deep black ocean of sky with a faint orange glow at the front before totally vanishing into he darkness as if it was never there, but still leaving a lasting impression I can tell you, and yes we did make a wish.

It’s fair to say that Marley was extremely excited to head down to see Papa and GG, as for the whole two weeks running up to our trip he has been constantly saying their names on repeat. Even though he still does now we are back he has started saying Daddy, which I must admit is pretty humbling, it really does make you feel great, something which is hard to explain as it’s such a simple word, But he also says Arnold a lot too, (His stuffed toy dog)
For our Cornish trip we packed in as much as we could, a trip to Paington zoo, slightly different to Marwell, a trip to the theatre for the boys and the cinema for myself, Uncle Ed and Papa G. Now I haven’t been to the cinema for probably 2 years or so so to see Star Wars Rouge one on the big screen whilst smashing through what only can be described as a bucket of popcorn was amazing…personal gain there for me.
Can’t wait to take Marley to the big screen.
We also made it back to Watergate Bay were we took Marley for the summer with a trip to one of our favourite places, the Beach hut which sits just above the beach overlooking amazing views of the ocean, with blue skies that are slightly broken with the odd kite surfer and if that’s not good enough the food is pretty spectacular there coupled with a relaxed vibe that sees’s walkers with there dogs tucked in the corner, and amazing plates of food. This is somewhere I hope Marley visits when he’s older, possibly with his family too. As you can see he loves a good beach stroll.
All in all 2016 has been a busy year, one that I don’t think either myself or Aysh will forget, there has been a lot of up’s with a few downs, long days and no sleep. We’ve learnt new things not just about Marley but each other and the fun we have had seeing our little boy grow has been phenomenal. As 2016 closes and we move into 2017 Marley is as quick as lightning and really logical when problem solving, He’s had his first parents evening which i must admit felt very strange. I remember when as a boy I would wait in the dark on the landing for my mum and dad to come home dreading what the teachers had told them.



We’ve also been very fortunate to share 2016 with some incredible friends and family. Friends that are now dotted around the country and even over seas with Marley making an imprint on them as much as they do on him. With out getting too deep it has been an incredible year…we are very lucky.