"Setting my mind on a musical instrument was like falling in love. All the world seemed bright and changed."

I couldn't be more proud of how the boys are growing up. There's not a week that goes by where they don't blow me away in some way. Seth especially over the last few weeks has made me so proud. When I was given the chance a while back to review a pBone I had no idea what it was, so I googled it and when I first saw it, I was desperate to give it a go. The first professional plastic Trombone and it came in a variety of colours... I'm quite sure that I'm not the only person that got excited about that. As much as I hoped they would, I never for one moment thought that either of the boys would take a serious interest in it, but there was a slight chance and I really couldn't pass that up.

When the awesome purple pBone arrived, the following nights fell in to a routine of Seth dropping his school bag and going straight into the lounge to watch Youtube videos and try to learn as many notes as he could. It was lovely to see him trying something new and feeling motivated to learn more. Weeks passed and things then started to slow down and the pBone started to come out less and less. It was a little disheartening and I attempted to get things going again but I was never going to push it, so I just let things be.

Then one afternoon we received an email from pBone inviting us to one of their events at the Birmingham Symphony hall, followed by the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra playing songs from the movies, which even to this day has been one of the most amazing nights that we have had together as a family. We were able to try out the pBuzz at the event as it had just been released and we were also given a trombone lesson which was a lot of fun. The show itself though was truly magical and as we left the Symphony hall, Seth, very excitedly, asked if he could have trombone lessons.

It was music to my ears (haha) and Mrs M had soon arranged for Seth to start having lessons at school which he instantly loved and his trombone teacher loved his pBone so much that she went and brought one for herself! (the magic of the pBone). When a musical show at school was planned and children were asked if they would like to be a part of it, Seth jumped at the chance. I feel so ashamed to say this but at the time I thought to myself 'I'm not sure what he was going to do in the show as he doesn't know how to play anything, just notes', (how wrong was I!). Seth decided on a song that he wanted to play (based I think on the Mighty Ducks hockey movie that he loves) and each night he would disappear to his room (or sometimes the garden) and the quiet in the house was replaced by his loud tooting.

Even then I thought to myself 'I can't tell what that is?' and I worried that maybe he had bitten off more that he could chew by signing up for the show (I know what a terrible dad!). The show came around (which fell on my birthday) and as we sat in the audience I was feeling so anxious. Seth looked very serious and it was clear that he was nervous. when it was his turn to take the stage I began to brace myself unsure of what would happen next. Seth calmly stood up, placed his music on the stand and erupted into 'we will rock you'. There was silence in the room as he started but this soon turned into all the parents clapping and stamping their feet along to the beat. I was in complete awe of this amazing child on stage that had the confidence to get up and play in front of everyone, it made my birthday.

The lessons have continued and Seth now states that 'he has a passion for music' which I love to hear. Which brings us to the last few weeks that have made me so proud as a dad. Seth has been looking around secondary schools to start in September, one of the schools that he has been very interested in going to is out of our catchment area but they offer the chance of earning limited placements for various skills and passions. With 18 music places available, Seth was invited to an interview at the school and was asked to complete a musical aptitude test. On the evening before the test we were chatting and he told me that he wasn't expecting to get a place as he didn't feel like he was good enough and was yet to take his first grading, Seth being Seth though still went into that test confident that he would give it his all. One week later and he has received a place at the school, which we are all so excite about. Clearly his passion for playing really came through and he should never have doubted himself for a second.

It's crazy to think that something as insignificant as an email asking us to review an instrument could have had such an amazing impact on all of our lives and I am forever grateful for pBone and the magic they have brought to our family. It is going to be so exciting for us all to watch Seth's next steps as he continues following his passion for music.

"This is not some cute tech like the Iron Man suit! "

Ive had some pretty awesome emails over the years from people interested in the blog but a recent email got me more excited than most. It was a chance to attend one of the new Marvel Ant-man premiers in Leicester square and being a HUGE Marvel fan I was very excited to be asked to go along. Firstly though after the initial excitement, daddy mode kicked in and i had to check the age rating and possible content. I knew it was only going to be me and Opeie and although he has seen most of the super hero movies I have always watched them first to make sure there isn't anything too bad.

This time though I didn't have that option and I had to just take my chances and hope for the best, I must admit I did feel a little nervous as he is still very innocent and I want him to stay that way as long as he can.

Opeie's little face lit up when he saw the huge Ant-man screen outside the Odeon on Leicester square. It was a completely different experience going to a big cinema in central London and there were people everywhere. When you go to the cinema here in Shropshire you think its busy if there are more than 10 other people watching the same movie. Busyness aside though there is something so addictive about arriving at an event, walking past everyone queueing and saying "I'm on the list".

I think my own little Ant-man was getting a little anxious of the crowd so opted to sit away from the busy area, which didn't stay quiet for long, the place was heaving. We had a while to wait so we talked about superheroes and what we were going to be doing for the rest of our trip. Before the show there was a brief intro from the director and Paul Rudd was also there, I think Mrs M would have been in here element if she had seen him.

And then it was movie time...

I am huge marvel nerd and the movies that have been coming out over the last few years have been amazing. Its great to see the comic book heroes i grew up following in the comics, up on the big screen and although the size of this hero was small in comparison to the hulk the move left a HUGE impression. Opeie was mesmerised from start to finish and although there were a couple of 'S Bombs' and the demise of a rather adorable sheep I didn't think that the film was bad at all for Opeie so as a concerned parent that was a real relief.

I won't give too much away about the film, I don't want to ruin anyone's fun but for us the show was stolen by Thomas the tank engine and it was the most talked about thing by Opeie for the long walk home from the movie. If you are looking for a superhero movie that is true to its comic roots then you may not get what you want from this movie but on entertainment alone this was one of my favourite Marvel Super hero movies. None stop action with just the right amount of humour

Be sure to stay for the secret scene mid credits, although I did think it was quite obvious what it was going to be. I cant wait to see more of Ant-man in the up and coming Marvel releases and I'll definitely be going to see this again over the coming weeks.

Spring is nature's way of saying, 'Let's party!'

I had so much housework to do yesterday as I was a lazy bugger the night before after snuggling on the sofa with Mrs M all evening. Opeie usually doesn't mind playing alone for short amounts of time while I get things done, I try to do the jobs in short bursts broke up by playing with him. Yesterday though Opeie wanted all the batman figures out and kept coming in and saying 'daddy play!'. Needless to say those big brown eyes have some serious power over me and surprise surprise I didn't get much done.

Opeie looked so cute surrounded by batman toys. and we quickly got in to an epic game fighting the villains in Gotham's underworld.

After an hour or so of playing the game came to an end when our friendly neighbourhood Spider-man decided to take over the Batcave.

After lunch we had to drop the boss at work, the sun was out and although it was a little nippy it was to good a day to be stuck I doors. We headed over to see auntie Lotty as we hadn't seen her for a few weeks. After a nice cuppa, a chat and plenty of cuddles for Opeie we headed to the park for a little picnic as Opeie hadn't long been awake and hadn't eaten.

After the picnic and a play on the park Opeie made it clear that he wanted to take part in his new favourite past time, feeding the ducks. Thanks to Mrs M always being prepared there was a loaf of bread already on the back seat of the car so we jumped in and headed over to the lake. Opeie always looks so happy when he's feeding the ducks, I love taking him and so probably do Warburtons. I think all the MD's will be getting a nice Christmas bonus this year because of us.

Once the loaf of bread had gone Opeie instantly lost interest in being at the lake and walking, so he sat on my shoulders until he saw some steps. I don't know what it is about steps/stairs but he loves them. He counted as he was going up, well up to 14 and then started again, cute. On the way down the steps the other side he said sorry on every step??? Strange boy.

We got back to the car and I gave Opeie a list of places to go next and he said 'castle' so I drove to the abbey ruins that are not to far from us for more walking about. I was hoping I could wear him out so that Mrs M might have an easier night with him. The sun was still bright and it had got a lot warmer by this point and as we pulled up a heard of cows came to meet us at the gate which Opeie loved.

And that filled our time up to going to pick Mrs M up from work. It was such a lovely afternoon and I'm hoping the sun is going to stay out for a while now so that we can get out and about more.

Week In Pictures

Our week in pictures, a grateful look back at the week that has past...... leave a link or comment to share with us, what  you have been up to, and we will check out your blog, and see what adventures you've been on.... See you soon! 

You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.

Hello, it's Mrs M,

When I was younger, sleep was something that I took for granted. Going to bed late, getting up early was a bit of a killer, but hey, I sucked it up and got on with it.... life was about making the most of it ( and still is... ) the night offered so much fun,  it was worth missing out on sleep for, I think I speak for Pauly more so than I actually as I type this, and I think his friend Paul B would also agree going by their crazy, comedic, addictive stories Pauly has told me. (Ones where I've literally laughed until my stomach hurt, and tears streamed !) they sure had some crazy nights out.

However, when your a parent, sleepless nights come hand in hand with the joy children bring... don't get me wrong being awake at night with a beautiful, sunshine smelling newborn is one of the most amazing things known to a Mother, it feels like it's just the two of you in the whole world awake, when the house and street is completely silent, and dark other than the night light that your too scared to turn off because you can't see your newborn, (or if like me, you slept with the lights fully on for the first few weeks.... Oh hello to you, paranoid Mothers alike!)

As I sit here at 10.39 am on a Sunday morning, after the oddest nights 'sleep' we've ever had with Opeie, no means the worst, it makes me think about babies and their sleeping habits.

When it comes to babies ( and when I say babies, my timeline of a baby is when a baby aged newborn-.......... is fully milk weaned and decides they feel content enough to sleep through) I hate this expectation we have that when our babies get to 'X' weeks or months, or years they should be sleeping alone in their bed through the night, that they are going to be spoiled being rocked, or nursed, or sang to sleep, that co sleeping is 'giving in' to them, and they cry because it's 'what babies do'.... I tend to disagree.

Now Opeie might not be the best sleeper in the world, but he does excel at one thing, feeding during the night, yes he loves Moma's milk! And that's fine, in my experience babies cry because they have a need for something, they don't cry for the fun of it, to make our lives tiring. It's because they can't say what they need. In Opeie's case as he's not much of a crier, it's usually because he wants Moma milk, even if it is every hour or so during the night, every night.

Luckily for me, Pauly has always been supportive of me choosing not to do the 'cry it out' thing with Opeie, every night in bed before kissing me goodnight, he says " Wake me up if you need some sleep and I'll take him in the lounge for a bit", or he's slept on the sofa for nights so Opeie and I can sprawl out on the bed as we still co-sleep. Not to mention getting up almost every morning with Opeie so i can snatch an hour or so's deep sleep. And mostly I'm grateful to him for putting up with me for resembling Oscar the grouch, when I'm sleep deprived.  (Thanks Papa P!)

The only thing we can put Opeie's odd sleep down to this week is teething. We're used to him waking every hour, but the last few nights have been, just, strange! We have an amber teething necklace for Opeie which works a treat, he's never been much of a crier, unless he wants milk, but the last few days he's been holding his mouth, pointing and screaming. He's broken in a few teeth at the back this month already, so we're assuming it's more of the monster molars coming through.

While we were in Florida last year, I stopped by the godlike shop , mother ship, known as Wholefoods which I adore. Mainly to stock up on some bits we can't get here in the UK, Daiya vegan cheese for me, Tom's of Maine toothpaste for me and the boys, Almond milk , but I also bought some homeopathic teething things which I've not used until now. I think I'm going to have to give them a try and see how they go.

Having said all of that, Opeie has been sleeping a little better on the whole this last month.... mainly because we've finally manage to get him eating better at meal times, you might remember Pauly posting about his meal times before here and here. So I can't complain too much.

I hope next time I post about Opeie's sleep and food routines it's reporting that he's much happier and less tearful, Maybe the Aquabats should make a TV show about sleeping and eating properly, since our boy is obsessed with their music, Super Show and dances!

(Also, a quick Hello and Wave to all the new moms experiencing sleep deprivation for the first time- it gets easier and you do get used to it. And hello to all the Mom's still going through this, iPhones in the middle of the night are the best thing ever right?  And a hello to all the people yet to go through it, it's not as bad as it sounds! )

"You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation."

Today i decided that we should begin our Christmas shopping for the boys, were not going mad this year as the boys get so much throughout the year and to be fair i don't see the point in excessive spending for one day as many of the toys just get pushed into a corner for weeks. We also found that a lot of Seth's presents from the last 2 years have ended up on eBay as they didn't get the attention we expected.

We went to Smyths today and i brought a few things for Opeie and of course something for him to play with today (well it would have been rude not to). Id been looking at the Marvel Playskool heroes range for a while, their the Marvel equivalent to the imaginext. There is no where near the variety but after buying Opeie the Spider-man figure and plane today Ive got to say i think the quality is a lot better than the imaginext and cheaper in comparison to the batman range.

Although i love waffling on about the toy itself in my posts i know sometimes they might get a little...

... So after watching Opeie today and being reminded yet again how fascinating watching him play is i thought i would write this post about that. Seth didn't really get into action figures until he met me and Mrs M has always said that rather than play with things like that he prefered painting and play doh etc. Opeie does love to draw and always looks happy when he's sitting at the easel but when he's got toys/figures its so interesting to watch.

When Opeie gets a new toy he looks really intrigued and he investigates ever part of it, its lovely to watch. I remember being like that when i was a child although a few years older than Opeie. He really enjoys playing with anything where there is something you can put inside something else. Spider-man hasn't been able to make his mind up today whether he wants to be in or out of his plane.

Opeie would happily sit for some time with our box of Lego minifigures taking off the heads, legs and hats and changing them with other ones. He gets a little satisfied look on his face when he has re-built a figure its very cute.

The toy has gone down really well today, When Seth gets a new toy he loses interest pretty quick and moves on to something else but Opeie has had Spider-man in his hand from when we brought him around 2 this afternoon right up until he went bed, he's been on his high chair, in his weetabix, his mouth and in the bath but sadly he was shunned at bedtime and is now back in his plane. He has been very well played with which makes me very happy. We love Spider-man in this house he's like an extra member of the family!