We celebrated Valentine's Day with an Foetal Anomaly scan. My morning sickness has now reduced to the level of just mild nausea if I remember to take my tablets, beforehand the tablets meant that I was only throwing up once a day rather than three or four times a day. I've managed to gain back the ten lbs I lost during my first trimester plus a couple more and I'm at the stage where I have a recognisable baby bump rather than people thinking I must have overdone the Christmas chocolate munching.
Everything is looking good with Wee Green Baby v.2 and the fact that I was worrying about a lack of kicking was explained during the scan by where my placenta is lying. The lack of feeling the movement is because there's a cushion in the way, this baby is as just as much of a kung fu fighter as Sam was in utero, so much so that it took a while to get all the measurements done.
To celebrate the reduction in puking, the healthy baby and Sam's impending big brother status, we decided the following day would be a day trip to somewhere none of us had been before. The Falkirk Wheel is one of those things it seems silly not to have visited because it's so close but it's also too nearby to spring immediately to mind when we're planning outings.
Sam loves any car trip that involves the motorway because of the van and lorry watching opportunities. His vehicle spotting happiness continued to grow when we arrived and found the car park was next to a railway line, the kid loves nothing more than trains! He was also completely delighted by the narrow boats on the canal so maybe he'll avoid his granny's legendary seasickness.
The boy was suitably impressed by the scale models of the water horse sculptures we'd passed on the drive through and obligingly said cheese while his dad and I took photos of him. He also said it for a random passing tourist who happened by with a camera!
The visitor centre is big and bright and airy with lots of accessible information on the history of the Wheel. All a bit advanced for Sam just now, but we'll keep it in mind for when he's a bit older too. We weren't up for a boat trip as we weren't sure our active toddler would appreciate being constrained from jumping out of the boat at will but we went out to have a look at the Wheel and had a bracing walk in the February sunshine to see all the boats. Sam was most interested in the gate mechanism for the lock.
He only got interested in the Wheel itself when we stopped in the café for a snack. The cafe has a wide selection of tasty food with plenty of healthy options for children as well as a recycling station for your trays but it's main attraction is the big glass ceiling. Sam was thrilled to be able to watch the Wheel turn as he ate his snack and when he saw the boats being lifted he renamed the attraction as the Falkirk Wheeeeeee!