Stuff

K beat me to it for the coverage of Wedding, Christening & Boat Trip so I'll just have to post some snaps instead!

My current fave picture of Z & K...



As well as one with him wearing one of Jamie's Christening presents...



Finally one of my lovely wife (taken by someone far more skilled than I at the Watson - Booth Nuptials and one of the 3 of us.





(All credit to Simon Auchterlonie for the fantastic shots taken at the wedding!)

Sunday Update

Not sure why I'm updating so early on a Sunday morning but I've just had a terrifying dream about G&S committee members, fried food and being scared of pub toilets. The alternative is to top and tail Z but the unexpected 30 minutes of extra deep sleep have caused me to be vague and unable to function properly at the moment.

House things proceed apace, the Long Eaton survey is being done on Tuesday, the mortgage is agreed pending the Tuesday valuation and we're getting an electrical safety certificate done next Monday. Its then down to when the sellers want to move and how quick our solicitor gets his act together. Sadly K and I have already worked out in our heads what new furniture we need to buy and where its going to go as well as deciding where all our existing furniture is going as well!

The Olympics started on Friday with a frankly spectacular opening ceremony (although I still have got 3 hours of it taped to watch) which (according to the BBC) had 10,000 performers, as well as 2,008 drummers, had been in the planning since 2001, rehearsed for more than a year and cost somewhere in the region of £20 billion!!! I just know we're going to have Chas n Dave and some Morris dancers in 2012 and we'll be the laughing stock of the planet! That aside I do like the Olympics. I'm not a keen sportsman but when it is an Olympic event it is infused with something that makes me want to watch. The fact that I can choose what to watch thanks to the magic of digital makes it even better! Despite the unwanted politics the Olympics is such a symbol of hope and community and comradeship that makes it so compelling to me.

After the great Friday apple sauce debacle Z has managed to have his first meal of baby rice! Hopefully better sleeping beckons, although judging by last night I'm not sure we should hold out for a miracle!

Me-me-meme (mosaic)!

Seen this on a few blogs now (here, here & here) so thought I'd have a go when I'm supposed to be working.



1. What is your first name? (Leigh)
2. What is your favourite food? (lamb)
3. What high school did you attend? (West Park Community School)
4. What is your favourite colour? (blue)
5. Who is your celebrity crush? (None)
6. What is your favourite drink? (Cherry Coke)
7. What is your dream vacation? (Japan)
8. What is your favourite dessert? (Lemon Tart)
9. What do you want to be when you grow up? (hairdresser or magician)
10. What do you love most in life? (family)
11. One word to describe you (annoying)
12. Your Flickr name (leighbob, although no matches, it suggested I meant 'neighbor' so thats what I searched for!)

Credit where credit is due...

1. Small boat at old leigh, 2. That's a BIG Noise from a Lil lamb..:O))), 3. 801 CD10 Parks, Schools and Pools by City Council District, 4. wham:a different corner, 5. Sunny Side Up, 6. Scientific Bean Review, 7. Fuji-san Sunrise, 8. Hello cake, 9. Secret World, 10. Watching the fireworks, 11. Sea In my Fingers (thank friends), 12. Berried Cedar Waxwing

The best 31st Birthday ever!

00.08 - Woke up to hear Z griping and K pacing, no mention of birthdays, fell back to sleep.

02.45 - Woke to hear Z griping and K pacing, was about to suggest a feed but before I could a baby was plomped onto the bed next to me and satiated with boob. No mention of birthdays.

06.00 - Woke to hear Z griping and K marvelling (read: despairing) at how wet he was. First big nappy malfunction in new reusable nappies. Z balling. I realise that since I'm off work there's really no excuse to lie there listening to it and get up to help.

08.00 - Wake up to see Z quietly sleeping between us, happy and contented. Wondering why I'm so lucky to have such a beautiful family.

08.10 - K wishes me happy birthday and asks if I'd like presents...she knows me very well!

08.30 - Presents all opened...very spoilt, highlights include a K-penned "Daddy & Zachary Adventure Book", a box of sweets, meeple t-shirt, Carcassonne coasters and a couple of board games.

08.35 - Lying in bed playing with Z while K makes breakfast downstairs.

08.45 - Eating bacon and fried eggs (with the egg fried into a heart shaped hole in the toast) with tea and orange juice, whilst in bed! Bliss but crumby!

09.00 - While K feeds Z I take phone call from my aunt who has mixed up me and my brother and sent him a birthday card instead of me!

09.30 - Lie in bed reading "Dad Rules" by Andrew Clover (a present from Z) while watching Zachary have fun playing with himself, before dropping off for a nap.

10.00 - Squeeze in a game of Citadels.

10.30 - Get fashion show as Z is paraded in front of me in the 2 family christening gowns. At least they fit...there were worries about fat arms.

11.30 - Everyone up and dressed, still reading my new book.

12.00 - Wander into town for lunch. Neglect to bring parasol as it is cloudy but hot. 5 minutes into town glorious sunshine directly overhead, can't be bothered to go home and fetch parasol.

12.30 - Find orzo in small deli. K pleased as it is the final ingredient in my birthday tea (having searched fruitlessly at Morrisons, Sainsburys & Tesco yesterday)

14.45 - Back home having spent a load of money on nothing much. I seem to have a constant urge to buy my son books he won't be able to read for years to come.

15.30 - Played with Z, watched some of The Shield series 6 (naughty Shane!) and helped K fix the pomegranate granita.

16.30 - Read some more of my book, punched the bits for Tikal.

18.30 - Put Z to bed while smelling nice things wafting from the kitchen.

18.55 - Receive phone call with new improved offer from people wanting to buy our house! Hooray! Offer not brilliant but we feel that its the only one we're going to get before the prices plunge any further. Hopefully tomorrow will see our new lower offer accepted on the house in Long Eaton.

19.10 - Start blog.

19.15 - Settle Z again.

19.20 - Continue blog.

19.25 - Settle Z again.

19.30 - Eat delicious meal prepared by K of Chicken Roulade with dolcelatte, basil, tomatoes and pancetta served with orzo pasta with mushrooms. Followed by an indian dessert which was made from pomegranate granita, with melon, coconut milk, pomegranate seeds on the next layer with toasted almonds on top. Delicious along with a nice glass of rose. K shall be doing the cooking more often.

20.00 - Watched Celebrity Masterchef

21.00 - Played Tikal and K is so far beating me up. Clearly she is better suited to searching the Mayan jungle ruins than I am.

22.00 - Finish blog while K feeds Z.

Baby Update

1. The cradle cap is almost entirely gone! A combination of daily hair washes and coconut oil have worked their magic and he even has some lovely fuzzy groth of hair coming back!

2. His stomach is most days a bright scarlet colour. Ezcema unfortunately, and each cream we've tried makes it worse. K is back to the doctors tomorrow so they can prescribe a different variety. Fingers crossed this one will help.

3. We're back on reusable nappies! Using these at the moment. And they've been really effective. The best part is that they've made from bamboo which is eco-friendly to the max!

4. He won't take a bottle from me yet. He just spits it out in disgust! We're going to try with a higher flowing teat as the one we have is for newborns.

5. His 'tummy time' is producing real dividends!



Today he almost rolled over whilst reaching for Mr. Quackles! A real milestone once he achieves it but it also means we'll not be able to leave him alone on the bed!

6. The dreaded D word. Zachary has spent the last week screaming every time we put him in his cot and not going to sleep without a feed and then only for a short time. We've tried putting him on his side (this worked one night), Calpol (this didn't work at all) and rocking him to sleep. This last one works while he's still in your arms but as soon as you put him down he starts balling. He spent much of the week in our bed which is interesting since he is so grabby with his little chubby hands! Anyway things came to head last night where not even feeds would settle him down and he was screaming non-stop for about 10 minutes.

So he's now upstairs, sound asleep with a dummy in his mouth! And part of me feels like a terrible parent, but then again, that small piece of silicone managed to settle him in 2 minutes flat and he's fast asleep with no bother!

The funny part is that he clearly didn't know what to do with it at first and it kept popping out of his mouth. Its quite surprising how far he can propel it with an over eager chew. After a few minutes he got to grips and a few minutes later he's still asleep with it firmly tucked in his mouth. Despite feeling a little like failures apparently his risk of cot death has decreased (worth any feeling of failure) and clearly his problem was one of comfort and not anything medically wrong (which was a worry).

We're going to limit use to bedtimes and it won't used as a way to get him to be quiet in the day. Also it will hopefully mean that if he wakes in the night the dummy will settle him without a fresh feed and a bit more sleep for me & K. To be honest we don't begrudge the lack of sleep but he was so distressed that we succumbed to the lure of the dummy.

And my goodness, there's a lot to choose from!

Blog, He Wrote

K keeps hassling me to update my blog and I'm finally presented with an opportunity to. There's nothing on the TV and Casualty that we Vision Boxed on Saturday seems to have only recorded the last 10 minutes so we've reverted to the old stand by of Murder She Wrote. Not sure why since we have 3 discs from Lovefilm to watch. Unfortunately we're on pause at the moment as K has gone to attend to crying Zachary. From the sounds of things I'm not sure she's going to be back anytime soon.

Damn Lolcats!

more cat pictures

Food Update

In the excitement that is my working week I fogot to update on my cooking exploits.

The homemade marzipan was great when in the fridge but as soon as it came out it turned into a sticky mess...I think adding the eggs a bit at a time in the future is the way to go.



Despite the struggle at getting it to stay on and not glue itself to the board it turned out OK for a first attempt. And despite looks it tasted delicious.

Also managed to make a batch of Elderflower cordial. The recipe here, originally taken from Alex's blog, is a lie. It makes 2 litres (or at least it does when I make it).



And all my nice glass bottles are boxed and in the Midlands so this year's elderflower cordial is stored in Fanta, IrnBru, Cherry Coke and Sprite 500ml bottles, handily sterilised in the baby steriliser! It tastes especially nice when mixed with Champagne!

June - Update

1. If we get an offer on the house, should I lower the offer we're making for the house we want in Long Eaton since the average house price has fallen 5% in the last 2 months. But what if they then accept someone else's offer!
Apparently the buyers found other houses that were "better value". After a long talk we've decided to be bold and stop taking baby steps with our price. As of now its on for "Offers in excess of £105,000". Apparently this does what it says on the tin and we should expect offers in excess of this amount. This helps us stand out from the crowd of of £110,000 houses and hopefully encourage more viewings. We'll almost definitely have to put in a lower offer on the Long Eaton house should we get any offers at the new price. But the maths still seems to work and First Direct should be able to lend us what we need without too much of a hike on the mortgage repayments (although extending the term back to 25 years would help with this).

2. D&D 4th edition. This looks great and I'm tempted to buy the rule books even though I have no-one to play with! Listening to a podcast over at Penny Arcade/D&D website and the new rules sound fantastic. Am wondering if I could get a group going when we move back to the Midlands...I wonder if K will want to play?
Had a read through of this in Waterstone's today. Looks good but trying to stick to my limited spending so this will have to wait until I get my bonus.

3. Cradle Cap. I shouldn't be allowed to hold a sleeping baby who has cradle cap...too tempting to pick until I've picked it too much. Fortunately the Nurse Prac. at the surgery wasn't too worried and just gave K some Coconut Oil so we're giving that a whirl.
Ok so perhaps the coconut oil has worked too well. We washed his hair this morning and I poked at a bit and it literally peeled off!


My poor patchy headed son, what have we (well mostly me) done to you?!



I also broke my no spending rule and bought some books in a 3 for 2 offer. Bones to Ashes by Kathy Reichs, Death Message by Mark Billingham and Fabric of Sin by Phil Rickman.

Hmm can I be arsed to make a Battenburg (complete with homemade marzipan) this afternoon?

June!

Its been an odd week for me actually. I think having a baby around the house has slowly caught up with me physically. The slightly less sleep every night for 3 months has started to take its toll. The stress of trying to move house isn't helping either.

Its hard to believe that Z is 3 months old now...I can remember first holding him in the hospital. He's still massive but thankfully the growth is slowing now...no need for new clothes every 2 weeks. The only problem is all the advice we keep getting from all corners. Its hard to keep focussed and confident with what we are doing without all the opinions but then I suppose it shows people care.

The slow build up of exhaustion is affecting my work somewhat in that I just cannot be arsed to do any! Had a meeting in London on Wednesday and was hoping to cruise by on autopilot but with so few attendees I had to contribute, and the bit where my PC Lead put me on the spot and said "As Knowledge Management Lead Leigh, what do you think we should do next?". Fortunately despite my empty mind I managed to come up with something and agreed to write up a project plan for next week. My boss will be back as well expecting to see great things from the P2 data that I should have ready and reconciled back to the system...hmmm I think I'm going to have a busy Monday!

We did actually have a house viewing this week! A call at 16:45 yesterday with people wanting to come around straight away...fortunately K managed to negotiate 17:30 and we set to work clearing up the shit hole! They seemed to like the house but had others to see and may well want a second viewing today. From their feedback the fact that our house doesn't need much big doing to it (e.g. double glazing, central heating etc) is a big plus as far as they are concerned. We shall have to wait and see. The other bonus is that all the weekend housework was crammed into 40 minutes and is all done now!

The impending house move (it will happen eventually) has brought into sharp focus how much less money we'll have floating about once it happens (and especially when the maternity pay dries up). I have responded in my usual way to get all anal about it and demand to see all K's receipts for the money she spends each month! (not quite, but thats not a bad idea!) I have also resolved not to spend any money on new board games, books or video games for this month and see what I have left at the end of the month (the theory being that this could be used to plug the gap when we move).

So far not too bad...although things that I ordered months ago and ready in June have thrown a little spanner in the works. I've resolved that Super Smash Bros Brawl will be the only video game purchase, despite the delicious looking (and 2 player) Lego Indiana Jones. I'm consoling myself with the music from Smash (downloaded here).

Also annoyingly my ipod's select button has stopped working which renders my ipod unusable! Fortunately its pay year end this month so there should be a bit of a bonus winging its way towards me. I'm stuck with whether to replace my iPod nano with a new nano (now with video) or go all flash and get an iPod touch. The web browsing, email checking is appealing on touch but the size is off putting, I don't want another phone sized item to carry around with me. Plus the fact that the touch is double the price!

Other things I'm obsessing about are:

1. If we get an offer on the house, should I lower the offer we're making for the house we want in Long Eaton since the average house price has fallen 5% in the last 2 months. But what if they then accept someone else's offer!

2. D&D 4th edition. This looks great and I'm tempted to buy the rule books even though I have no-one to play with! Listening to a podcast over at Penny Arcade/D&D website and the new rules sound fantastic. Am wondering if I could get a group going when we move back to the Midlands...I wonder if K will want to play?

3. Cradle Cap. I shouldn't be allowed to hold a sleeping baby who has cradle cap...too tempting to pick until 've picked it too much. Fortunately the Nurse Prac. at the surgery wasn't too worried and just gave K some Coconut Oil so we're giving that a whirl.

This is so true!

I had a fantastic dream the other night but by the time I relayed it to K it ended up as me throwing explosive cushions into my parent's bedroom while The Doctor looked on. I think there were terrorists in there somewhere.

A dangerous precedent

K and I have started snacking in the evening. It started with a bit of chocolate, then with bowls of crisps over the last few days and we're currently working our way through a mammoth bowl of popcorn, although to be honest, its a little tasteless! And I can fit 16 pieces in my mouth at once, compared to a paltry 11 for K!

In other news K successfully expressed this morning and I gave Z his first feed. He gets this odd spaced out, ecstatic look on his face but I was concerned that there wasn't enough for him. Well, 90 minutes later and he's still asleep (I did have some help from the mobile)

Gaming has been a bit frantic as well. Playing Lost Winds on Wiiware, nice and gentle and well worth the 1000 points. Downloaded Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode 1 as well and am enjoying the writing, the game cliches and the turn based combat. Great fun.

Still need to play some more GTAIV, get back on Wii Fit (its been 10 days now) and play some more Mario Kart Wii, let alone The World Ends With You. Also wondering whether to buy a new DS lite for K (I can't really buy a new one for myself, can I?)

Or perhaps I should just put my bonus into the house moving fund?

Wow!

MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

Here we go

I'm gearing up for quite a long stressful weekend. We've got Mum and Dad coming the day after tomorrow to help pack away most of my life into boxes to help with selling teh house.

I do see this as a good idea but part of what I like about the house is all our things that remind me of good times and people we know. The kitchen looks a bit sterile and I think the front room is going to look odd without the coffee table. Hopefully though, the new pictures will entice people to come and view and hopefully buy!

I can't quite believe its been a week since I posted though. And I've fallen off the WiiFit wagon big stylee and just when I was starting to lose weight as well. Monday I had to do the shopping, Tuesday I'd been in the car 2 hours (lets not even talk about my nightmare trip TO Watford...lets just say if I'd had an empty bottle I'd have used it), Wednesday I gave blood (and got the biggest bruise for my troubles) and tonight I just can't be arsed. Once the coffee table is gone and we've got more space it'll be easier.

Things I have Learned from GTA IV

I cannot handbrake corner around bends at high speed and expect not to hit/maim/kill pedestrians and/or myself.

That is all.

Lazy Bank Holiday

Updated with successes!

After having 2 great and social, busy days (see here) I've decided there's only a few things I want to do today...

1) Sit on my arse Spent much of the day doing this

2) Do some WiiFit exercising (I seem to have gained 4 pounds in 2 days) Had to drag myself to set it up to just do the body test. Once I'd done that though I was keen as mustard and managed 33 minutes, mainly Step Advance & Rhythm boxing

3) Play some more The World Ends with You as once GTAIV arrives tomorrow I'm likely to be a little distracted. Yes played this and ignored the cries of my son

4) Have a roast chicken dinner. Looking out of the window I see sun and blue sky (and not the rain originally forecast) so I think it will be roast chicken, salad and roast potatoes instead of veg and gravy. This was delicious, potatoes roasted in with the chicken and turned into chewy chicken flavoured lumps

5) Play with Zachary to make up for a nail clippers/finger incident this morning. Done and I think he's forgiven me

6) Play new boardgame 1960: The Making of the President Played while handing crying baby back and forth. K rewrote history with a historic win for Nixon, I'm not sure how she did it but I think I focused too much on the large states and not the middling ones

7) Maybe get dressed Barely did this...shorts, t-shirt and flip flops

Call the social!

Some irresponsibe parent let their 8 week climb onto a cannon and be papped by the tabloids!!!

So whingey!

Poor little Zachary! After being so good for ages he has finally succumbed to an afternoon of crying. To be fair this was down mainly to his 2 jabs this morning. We were going ok for a few hours but then he got a bit hot and fever-y and then just cried and cried. It pains your heart!

Although so far it hasn't seemed to have disrupted the sleep routine! He went down at 7 and has been asleep since. He's a good boy really.

Been playing Ikariam recently, as recommended by Neil. Was happily expanding and researching and then an island neighbour started to attack me! I retaliated and then he complains about attacking him. So I stop and then another neighbour contacts me and says that the first neighbour had offered to give him free resources if he starts attacking me! Outrageous! SO me and the second neighnour have teamed up to kick his ass! Felt a little guilty but then the latent dictator in me broke free!

Also managed to get back on the WiiFit wagon today. After doing 8 minutes yesterday and not doing anything at lunch I did a good 30 minutes this evening and felt much better for it.

So cute!

And I managed 30 minutes of Wii Fit today in my lunch break, although we won't mention the paltry 15 minutes I did yesterday...

Ker-ching!

Managed to add 34 minutes to my FitCash total this morning including 808 spins on the hulahoop in Super Hula Hoop! Enjoyed a long jog around Wiifitty island (the highlight of which was a Mii version of Alex overtaking me and then tripping over and falling on his face!)

Wondering if I'll be able to keep it up when I have to go to work afterwards and hoping to see some improvement soon. So far I have put on weight each day but I think this is down to my changing outfits more than anything else. I have now been scientific about it and established the weight of my boxers, shorts and t-shirt are 1 lb. Super!

K has outperformed me on a number of activities still (ski jump being a sore point) so I need to focus on those. Really don't like the muscle work out ones but I am starting to include them in the mix each day...hopefully we'll see an improvement over yesterday's scolding by the trainer when I stopped doing press ups half way through!

On a positive note I can feel its effect on my body and I slept straight through last night despite there being a number of feeds!