Monthly Archives: August 2002

Jude is crawling rather well now. He can get a reasonable pace up… He’s not fast yet, but he gets about. He started ‘getting it’ on Sunday & has become more co-ordinated with it over the last few days. His next step will be to get himself into a sitting up position, as he can’t manage that himself at the moment & occasionally gets himself stuck.
My nose still hurts… I was thinking I could call from work & see if there was a doctor’s appointment, but then, I don’t have the number… duh.
Eve woke up this morning (06:00) with a racking cough. It sounds a little ‘croup’y – which is worrying. She’s also got a cut on her little toe from not wearing shoes. Her pal Amber, whose birthday it was yesterday has a habit of not wearing anything on her feet – so Eve wants to do the same, but Amber is more cautious in her walking whereas Eve still runs & jumps.
Louise’s pal Carolyn came a visiting yesterday. They were still about when I got home, but I needed to get back out to do the shopping, & by the time I came home they had gone. Their kid Katie, from my brief stay, looked a happy sort. She’s trying to walk already – only 10 months.

One of those mornings where my mind was really convinced I was still n bed, but I was actually getting up, & doing those routine ‘getting up’ things.
I could do with some more sleep, but then, I always say that… I like sleep… I never have enough. Before I worked, I slept a lot more & revelled in the waking up dreaming state… which is quite impossible nowadays.

When I got home yesterday the house was empty…. No Louise or kids… I thought that perhaps they had gone shopping… I thought about joining them for a bit, then thought I had better get on with some work! The carpets are coming, the carpets are coming! So, in preparation for Friday I cleared just about as much as I could from the floor space in the attic area. The cupboards of the eve’s are now stuffed to the gills, but all the important heavy things are away. The wardrobe is still out, but that can be easily picked up & moved (it’s a kind of tent construction thing – quite funky). I even remembered to call the carpet cleaning people re the stairs which still have much ingrained dust from when they were doing the building work up there. We might actually be up there next week! Walls are not painted, paint on the beams is not striped, but hey… we can work on that!

Oh they’re my favourite trains, are those ones – the old ones than don’t even have a drop down table on the back of the seat in front for you to use & swing around on suspension springs better suited to slinkeys. Thankfully today, we have a better train.
Now, I can’t remember a jot of what’s been doing. My brain is empty this morning. I will try to tease some glimmer of though like a tortoise being tempted out of a shell with a nice bit of crisp lettuce.
The carpets are due this Friday – they are coming to fit them! Ah, that just reminds me of something else I forgot – to get call the people we want to clean the stair carpet.
Must … try…. to…. remember….
um
This will be good though as we will be able to move into the attic space even though I have not completed lots & lots of things. This is immaterial – we will be up there! Woo! I will paint strip, paint & scowl at the damp plaster that still seems to refuse to dry out. Perhaps the presence of people up there will help… I dunno. Scare it away with our contempt of it or something?

How did the weekend go? Hmmm – well at some point Jack was in angry defiance mood. I suspect this was Friday. That evening he was very mad with me for stopping his shower & we were in a stand off situation. He angry with me & me, as usual, not backing down. He’s still in the bath – sitting down & reusing to get out. This could have continued a while, but fortunately Jude was still awake & Louise needed to get something. She handed him to me & Jude smiles at Jack & Jack just melts. He loves his brother. Jack plays up for Jude & I melt. I love my kids.

We went to Bradford on Saturday. Another ‘out of the blue’ “lets go to…” from Louise. I like these – unplanned & haphazard. Can’t really recall what we did. No real impact on memory. I wonder if we did anything that might impress itself on Jack & Eve’s memories? Ah – we met one of the teaching assistants that were attending to Jack’s class on the way home. She’s nice – she has a family of her own, but she stopped for a chat with Jack. Jack likes to engage people.
Sunday – we -um- what was it?
We did a little tidying & sorting – moving a cluttered shelf of toys from the front room to the back. The front room carpet is also due a ‘replace’.
Oh – & what else we’ve gorn & done? Louise, I suspect, would not like me reporting this, as it’s our private lives – but this journal thing documents our lives (kinda). We have moved our mortgage to the (hateful*) Halifax. In doing so we keep our outgoings about the same & my personal cover is better, & we have a little money for home improvements!
(* I say this out of knee jerk on long dissipated chagrin at being manoeuvred out of a job I quite enjoyed)

Guilty of reading the paper in the morning the last couple of days. Such naughtiness – not occupying my time with something vaguely constructive, like, like… typing this stuff.

What have we been up to? Well – yesterday we fell prey to aggressive mortgage marketing & went to the Halifax to have an interview about them taking over out mortgage. Coincides with a desire to get some money for home improvements. All looks as though it will go swimmingly.
Jack was tired & ratty yesterday – he was tired – late to bed & early to rise. He was away for most of the day, the day before in ‘the countryside. Ruth, Hamish & Amber’s mum had taken them out on a trip to Pendle. Louise didn’t really realise it was that far afield. She imagined that they would be going local, as there’s plenty of countryside around here, but there was something missing in the communication. This was seemingly mainly done by Hamish, who is really only a little older than Jack… They didn’t get back to way past teatime, but they had set of later than planned as Louise took them to playgroup as previously planned. The county jaunt was only introduced as an idea that morning & caught her somewhat off balance – but as Jack was keen, she let him go.
There was another trip of some form planned today, but Jack has a dental appointment for that missing tooth he now has to be checked upon. Is there actually another tooth coming up or not?
Personal preoccupation – the pain I have in the nasal cavity. There’s a boil or something right up my nose. Nothing that can be seen, but it’s certainly uncomfortable. Just thought I’d share that.

Journey to work could have been better… I took my wallet out of my pocket when I got home yesterday as it was too hot & was carrying too much. Forgot to put it back until I was half way to the station – so had to turn back… Missed the train & then faced 2 cancels & a very packed train on the way in. Arrived at work an hour later than I usually do… & that was because the train was so packed it took an age to get there.
Hey ho.
It’s a lark
etc

So – we went to Urbis yesterday. The inside of the building looked interesting… what I saw of it… It cost £5 per adult, so we were less than enthusiastic to pay £15 for the 3 of us. There we were thinking that museums were free by law these days… how foolish. Jack was most disappointed. He had been very good that day, but crabbiness due to lack of sleep was probably starting to surface. He coped very well in general though.
We sauntered off to Piccadilly station (taking in a couple of shops on the way) to see Caroline off. Louise got some new shoes – she is pleased about that. Eve fell asleep – so missed Caroline getting on the train. It was good to have her visiting for the weekend. She’s a good guest to have about & the kids really like her. Jack was quite good with it – quite & sad. He only cried as we walked away. We distracted him with the palaver of getting to the trams to get back to Victoria: lift down – across concourse – lift up – across concourse – establish final lift down inoperative – carry pushchair down the stairs against the flow of oncoming commuters.
Home a little late & the kids late to bed again. I hope they managed to sleep in a little today.

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.

No typing yesterday as I was too wet – I was dripping & the keyboard is not waterproof. Was dipping today as well – but I seem to have stopped dripping now.
Back into the attic last night – hopefully the start of a better routine. Paint stripping again – the nasty layers of white gloss off the beams – but there are a few jobs that need doing. I have to concentrate & focus better. Louise said last night that she feels I’m more positive at the moment – hinting that I might have been in a rut of recent… Perhaps I have? Jack did not sleep so well – kept calling out when he roused for someone to visit him. Staggered off a couple of times in a very sleepy fashion, but did not get in his bed – which is what I suspect he wanted. I blame this for my grogginess this morning.
Interestingly on Wednesday night he was in the bath on his own for a good while – I was reading to Eve while Louise fed Jude, & then Louise & I were chatting… Jack was chuntering away to himself & I eventually investigated. He was acting out a little tableau with lego brick & cars as characters (they are imported unofficial bath toys). He was telling tales of woe – a sombre voice describing how ‘they all died – there was no food, only drink’ & things like that – then a few sobs & so forth. The sobs are what might have got my attention in the 1st place as I checked on him – he smiled sweetly & said that he was not really sad. When he came to get out of the bath & Louise had gone downstairs he burst into despairing tears. Louise came up & we had quite a performance – although it was pretty obvious he was ‘enlarging’ his emotions… hmmm….