Its only October and my mind is already thinking about Christmas and gifts and stuff. I've made a decision that I don't want to get a load of useless 'stuff' this year as the house looks lovely and spacious and I want it to stay that way!
To that end I'm asking my parents to give me money thsi year so that I can club it all together and buy myself a fancy ice-cream maker! Then K will be able to buy me some knickerbocker glory glasses/sundae bowls and help with her gift buying troubles.
The next stage involves convincing my friends that gift giving should now be restricted to birthdays only. Not sure what kind of reception I'll get but it should save people a load of money (which is in short supply this year) and reduce the amount of 'stuff' to integrate into the house when its over.
The only problem I have now is what to get K. There will be no repeat of last year's extravagant laptop giving (no need it still works) and my usual standby of a Radley handbag won't work either as she hasn't used a handbag for months. I've got a couple of ideas but nothing too exciting at the moment. Perhaps I need to start to think of a custom gift?
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Post Storm Update pt 2
I've made the obvious mistake of leaving this update far too long as I can now barely remember what happened in the week after we moved. Random thoughts (and in no particular order).
* I surprised myself (and K) at how calm I remained in IKEA when we spent 3 hours (and a significant portion of cash) trying to find appropriate furniture for the house. Z sucking the face off his own reflection in a wardrobe helped keep the mood light (and thanks to Krista & Chris for keeping Z amused for so long!)
* I love my new kitchen and the baking mojo has returned! The ice-cream maker is providing a continuous supply of fattening treats and K is doing loads of great cooking too.
* We have space enough so that nothing is hidden away in boxes and all our books and things are on display.
* Having Mum & Dad so close hasn't been terrible (although they were away for 2 weeks so that probably helped a bit!) and apart from wanting to stab Dad with a screwdriver when he was helping us unpack we haven't had any fallings out.
* Its great to have my brother so close (but not so great when he gets rushed into hospital!) and having him discover a joy for cooking.
* I surprised myself (and K) at how calm I remained in IKEA when we spent 3 hours (and a significant portion of cash) trying to find appropriate furniture for the house. Z sucking the face off his own reflection in a wardrobe helped keep the mood light (and thanks to Krista & Chris for keeping Z amused for so long!)
* I love my new kitchen and the baking mojo has returned! The ice-cream maker is providing a continuous supply of fattening treats and K is doing loads of great cooking too.
* We have space enough so that nothing is hidden away in boxes and all our books and things are on display.
* Having Mum & Dad so close hasn't been terrible (although they were away for 2 weeks so that probably helped a bit!) and apart from wanting to stab Dad with a screwdriver when he was helping us unpack we haven't had any fallings out.
* Its great to have my brother so close (but not so great when he gets rushed into hospital!) and having him discover a joy for cooking.
Friday, October 03, 2008
Post Storm Update pt 1
The storm has passed and we're now all settled, so I thought it time for an update.
Moving day was nearly 3 weeks ago and actually went much better than expected! Having got up at 5.30am to prepare for the movers at 7 was only slightly annoyed that they turned up at a quarter to 8. Was also slightly alarmed to see that there was only 2 of them but after on;y 2 hours of cheerful carrying they were fully loaded and ready to go! Amazing! We fannied about a bit (hoovering, returning keys, forgetting to take meter readings) and then set off on convoy for The Midlands.
I had expected the lorry to crawl up the M1 so was slightly perturbed when I got a phone call from my mother (collector of keys and meeter of men) to said that they had arrived and had started to unpack! We were still at Cambridge services feeding Zachary sweet potato!
Finally reached Long Eaton in good time to watch them empty the last few boxes into the correct rooms and wave us goodbye. Had to prevent my dad from giving them money (I'm a grown up and had already taken care of that) but I can heartily recommend having movers, however much they cost!
The house itself was only a little like I remembered it! Much bigger and scruffier (its amazing what you can hide behind nice furniture and vases) than I remember but felt like home almost straight away!
Moving day was nearly 3 weeks ago and actually went much better than expected! Having got up at 5.30am to prepare for the movers at 7 was only slightly annoyed that they turned up at a quarter to 8. Was also slightly alarmed to see that there was only 2 of them but after on;y 2 hours of cheerful carrying they were fully loaded and ready to go! Amazing! We fannied about a bit (hoovering, returning keys, forgetting to take meter readings) and then set off on convoy for The Midlands.
I had expected the lorry to crawl up the M1 so was slightly perturbed when I got a phone call from my mother (collector of keys and meeter of men) to said that they had arrived and had started to unpack! We were still at Cambridge services feeding Zachary sweet potato!
Finally reached Long Eaton in good time to watch them empty the last few boxes into the correct rooms and wave us goodbye. Had to prevent my dad from giving them money (I'm a grown up and had already taken care of that) but I can heartily recommend having movers, however much they cost!
The house itself was only a little like I remembered it! Much bigger and scruffier (its amazing what you can hide behind nice furniture and vases) than I remember but felt like home almost straight away!
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Calm before the Storm
Apart from a few odds & sods (collapsing bed & cot, taking legs off sofa, wrapping TV, emptying last remnants from fridge etc) I think we're almost there.
To be honest I thought I would feel more sad at leaving our house of nearly 7 years (our first) and moving away from Ipswich where we've lived for nearly 8 years now. I don't know whether its because of the trauma of moving but it hasn't given me chance to stop and think about the things I'm going to miss. Since having Z I gotten so fed up of stuff everywhere that at this stage its almost a relief to be moving.
What will be nice is that we can come back for holidays to Suffolk. There are some lovely places along the Suffolk coast but never far enough away to justify holidaying there when you live so close by.
The coming week is likely to be mental...not least all the unpacking and getting new furniture to put on the unpacking on/in. We've tried really hard to sort stuff as we've gone along and loads has gone to the tip or to charity, but I fear we're still going to have too much stuff for the new house. I sense a really serious cull is in order even if it means getting rid of some boardgames! We found an old copy of Atmosfear in the loft yesterday and part of me wants to add it to my collection on BGG but then another more sensible part says that since the video player is in storage why am I keeping a game that relies on a video to play? I think its time to be brutal (and of course brutality means I can justify buying new games to replace it! Ones that we'll actually play!)
To be honest I thought I would feel more sad at leaving our house of nearly 7 years (our first) and moving away from Ipswich where we've lived for nearly 8 years now. I don't know whether its because of the trauma of moving but it hasn't given me chance to stop and think about the things I'm going to miss. Since having Z I gotten so fed up of stuff everywhere that at this stage its almost a relief to be moving.
What will be nice is that we can come back for holidays to Suffolk. There are some lovely places along the Suffolk coast but never far enough away to justify holidaying there when you live so close by.
The coming week is likely to be mental...not least all the unpacking and getting new furniture to put on the unpacking on/in. We've tried really hard to sort stuff as we've gone along and loads has gone to the tip or to charity, but I fear we're still going to have too much stuff for the new house. I sense a really serious cull is in order even if it means getting rid of some boardgames! We found an old copy of Atmosfear in the loft yesterday and part of me wants to add it to my collection on BGG but then another more sensible part says that since the video player is in storage why am I keeping a game that relies on a video to play? I think its time to be brutal (and of course brutality means I can justify buying new games to replace it! Ones that we'll actually play!)
Friday, September 12, 2008
Rather dull word representation of my blog. Andby that I mean the words are dull...not the striking nature of the image! Thanks to Wordle
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Guilty Update
OK forced to update my blog and tidy up a few things since I may get an influx of visitors due to the 'accursed black box'. Actually its quite a neat little widget that redirects you to blogs of others who've answered various questions in a vaguely similar manner to you. It can be seen in my previous post.
Um this is rare for me actually as I'm writing a blog entry while I'm at work, which is somethign Iwouldn't normally do. But since I work from home and K & Z are doing another stop on their farewell tour of East Anglia and I can't bug them I'm doing thsi instead. And from a different computer so I'm not wasting work resources!
The house is in various states of 'packed'. The front room looks a little bare, my office is a tip and Z's usually calm haven of a nursery is now a treacherous assault course design to bruise shins whenever a nappy change is required. To the observant among you this means we have now sold and bought houses and we should be moving in a few short days (Monday to be precise). Obviously this is all still dependent on numerous things solicitors need to do (not least actually exchanging bloody contracts!). Having been badgered by both sides of our chain ("We're ready what's the hold up?", "We need to move before our holiday") Monday's exchange day descended into farce. We'd signed and returned ours a week ago and the first snafu was our buyers ("holiday") not having signed their forms and having to rush into their solicitor's to sort it out. Then it turns out the sellers ("hold up?") hadn't done theirs either!
Our solicitor assures me everything is all set for Monday so removals have been booked and my 2 new company car test drives moved to a new city.
I have decided against a cat picture (always a favourite with the 'net it seems) so hopefully any new visitors won't mind too much. Instead you'll have to imagine a funny cat picture you saw somewhere else.
Um this is rare for me actually as I'm writing a blog entry while I'm at work, which is somethign Iwouldn't normally do. But since I work from home and K & Z are doing another stop on their farewell tour of East Anglia and I can't bug them I'm doing thsi instead. And from a different computer so I'm not wasting work resources!
The house is in various states of 'packed'. The front room looks a little bare, my office is a tip and Z's usually calm haven of a nursery is now a treacherous assault course design to bruise shins whenever a nappy change is required. To the observant among you this means we have now sold and bought houses and we should be moving in a few short days (Monday to be precise). Obviously this is all still dependent on numerous things solicitors need to do (not least actually exchanging bloody contracts!). Having been badgered by both sides of our chain ("We're ready what's the hold up?", "We need to move before our holiday") Monday's exchange day descended into farce. We'd signed and returned ours a week ago and the first snafu was our buyers ("holiday") not having signed their forms and having to rush into their solicitor's to sort it out. Then it turns out the sellers ("hold up?") hadn't done theirs either!
Our solicitor assures me everything is all set for Monday so removals have been booked and my 2 new company car test drives moved to a new city.
I have decided against a cat picture (always a favourite with the 'net it seems) so hopefully any new visitors won't mind too much. Instead you'll have to imagine a funny cat picture you saw somewhere else.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
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!)
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, August 10, 2008
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!
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!
Thursday, July 31, 2008
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
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
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
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.
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.
Sunday, July 06, 2008
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!
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!
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
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.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Saturday, June 14, 2008
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!
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!
Saturday, June 07, 2008
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?
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.
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.
Friday, May 30, 2008
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.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
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?
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?
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