Mon 5|8

Are you calling me dull? dim? vacant?
Well – I concede there’s an element of truth there… I cannot deny it. I should not have stayed up late at the weekend… but hey – we had guests… a guest – Caroline from London.
Been good to have her here. Jack really likes her; Eve has no worries & Jude smiles at everyone.
Louise was saying that by this age Eve was starting to become clingy & not want others to hold her, Jude however is quite happy for anyone friendly to hold him & will smile at everyone. He’s even known to instigate smiling. That’s not to say that he’s one dimensional – he did the most quizzical side look at Eve the other day after she got down from the dinner table to lean forward at him & go “EEEaaaark!” & walk off. It was a definite – ‘what the hell was that about – is she crazy?’ look. He is, on the whole an immensely happy baby tho.
What have we done while Caroline has been with us this weekend?
Well… We were in Manchester after picking her up on Saturday. We are impressed with the refurbishment at Manchester Piccadilly station – Drab modernist to open sweeping ‘glass’ roof – all curves & elegance. We’d rather not have waited quite so long for her train. It was nearly an hour late after mysteriously taking a wrong turn & ending up in Coventry. A train taking a wrong turn? Bizarre. We wandered into a very busy Manchester. Not only was it a Saturday, but the last weekend of the Commonwealth Games. Abuzz, it was. People all over, band playing & all sorts. Quite cosmopolitan (well – it is a city – duh!). Not home too late for the kids, but they could not get a grip on going to bed – so were playing out in the back yard in their pajamas, before we dragged them off to bed.
Sunday – off to Hebden bridge. Jack has gone with Hamish on an earlier train & we get there a bit later by bus. We meet up in the playground & the skies open just as Jack & Hamish get to the paddling pool. I’m impressed by the speed at which the playground empties. There are a few persistent kids getting wet. Jack & Hamish shelter with us, even thought they are already sodden from the pool. Logic does not really come into it. That could have worked better…. Oh well.
In the evening, Louise it’s tired & although she wants to stay up, she can’t cope with watching Monster’s Inc with us all (Jack has had a bath & come back down to watch it.) He is very late to bed – I hope that he sleeps in a while this morning. Louise fell asleep getting Jack to sleep. I just about did as well… but managed to hang on for a bit longer.
Caroline heads back this evening. I’m meeting them after work in Manchester & we’re going to go & visit Urbis… Should be interesting – I’m intrigued how the building will look on the inside.