Archives: eve

Going to work. I have found myself a lot tetchier in the mornings. There can be no other explanation other than… work is annoying me. No one likes work, but I manage on the whole to keep myself detached from that side of thinking. Unfortunately I definitely seem to be forming the opinion that I do not like it. There is too much stress at the moment & it takes up too much of my thinking: 2 things it is not supposed to do.
Jack is on ‘summer hols’ at the moment. He asked Louise the other day when he could go back to school. He’s a social beastie is Jack, & he gets a lot out of it all at the moment. He was doing just afternoons before, when he returns he will be in official ‘reception’ class, & spending the whole day there. Quite a different arrangement: school, proper, even. It’s a very odd concept for a parent, let alone the child. What will Eve make of it all?
They have been playing very well together, with Jack being very good with his wild little sibling. He helped her up the stairs the other day. …Well, it’s not like she cannot do it herself, but they went up together, Jack with a protective arm held up behind her.
I wish to be home more, but life won’t let it happen (at least, not at the moment; hope may be refuge of fools, but I never said I was anything but.)

Work seemed to stabilise to yesterday. Back to there being not just me on the phone & a more normal level of work – not insane. Much relief & stress petering out.
No decorating last night. Had to do form filling for “Working Family Tax Credit” – which is the only thing that makes the job I do up to a reasonable (living) wage (I wonder how often i bleat that?).
“Tech support – gosh, that must be a well paid job?”
“Ummmm….”
Well, we have taken on more work (customers), responsibility & have taken on administration work, but, we are still paid less than accounts. I should complain – Alex, who does more work than me, gets paid less. Go figure – it’s the modern workplace – innit! Just in case you think this be all bad, I do quite like a few aspects of the job & I certainly like the hours I keep… Well, sometimes as the alarm nags me at 5:30, I do wonder, but that’s just sleep trying to hang onto me.
Jack woke last night. He said that he had, had a wee-wee before getting into the bath & we took him at his word… as neither Louise or I saw him do it. He probably had not as that what woke him & he woke confused & had a shout to us. I dashed upstairs to see what was wrong & his complaining woke Eve – so she started to complain as well – so there I was in a dark room with 2 wailing kids. Louise quickly came to the rescue & took charge of settling Eve, & I took Jack off for the wee he should have done earlier. That done, he was off to sleep, straight off. Jack has never wet the bed – which I consider pretty brilliant, really. It took Louise to point that fact out to me for me to realise something that I take for granted.

Not feeling especially Inclined to actually be writing at the moment. No real reason other than a nagging feeling of discontentment, that has no reason for being there.
Humbug – even the Train conductor is over cheery this morning.
Eve was awake at me going to work again this morning. I recall a time when Jack used to wake early as well & I’d have Louise & Jack waving me of to work. Now Louise & Eve… no doubt in a few years, it will be the new kid – which Is a good thought (unlike actually going to work).
Hurumph – I was totally on my own again yesterday – which Is a bit like old times in a way… When we were less busy than now, I would spent a lot of morning shifts as the only person answering the calls, (with no one in sight for asistance) but now with a larger business minded customer base, things are tougher & the customers more arrogant & demanding.
One of my last calls yesterday was from a reseller, or a small time design consultancy who were in the process of moving their site away from us (thus we no longer controlled where It was pointed) Unfortunately for them it also coincided with our server moves, resulting in the website dropping of the web, but our not really having much we can do about that (as we no longer control it). The transfer of control of the domain not being complete – they name Is between 2 stools & all in all – there’s not much that can be done. I need the holes In my logic fixing, as I am aware there are some assumptions that I feel are incorrect, & specific information on areas that I am lacking. I have a basic honesty problem… I cannot bullshit completely; I can wing it on shaky knowledge, but I cannot just fob someone off.
Hmm… ranted on a bit there. Cannot say that I feel any more content – but then, perhaps this is what is bugging me… That & the feeling that I am not getting on with things as well as I would like to do.
Oh, reading the headline on someone else’s newspaper on the Train. That old schadenfreude… :) Jeffrey Archer Is going to jail. Funny – innit – the UK would like to think of Itself as a civilised county, but It Is jailing It the last government administration fraudulent shysters. Corruption just like the countries we like to look down on.

Again travelling to work with a hope that things are at last calming down… Again, we will see… but I am less optimistic of the prospect today.
Eve woke early again. She was stirring as I came out from having a shower. As everyone seems to have ended up in our bed last night, I plucked her out & took her downstairs with me. We could have breakfast together, & Louise & Jack could sleep some more. She seemed less interested in her “cereal” this morning though. She did offer me some, as I offer her some of mine, & thought it fun that I accepted. She has a cheeky grin she uses often at the moment – it seems to convey pure delight as she uses her whole body; going rigid & hunching her shoulders at the same time as a big teeth clenched grin. Oh, & she has also,in the past couple of weeks learnt how to jump. Jump & get both feet off the ground. It seems something that little kids take a particular delight in & find very satisfying. When waking & running is mastered this one seems the next ‘step’. I remember when Jack was 1st doing it as well… Hips still have a little of the baby swivel & there’s a balance thing like a skiing pose, but the delight at being able to do it!
This early rising on Eve’s part is starting to look like a habit. Perhaps she is undergoing a change in her general sleeping pattern as Louise said that she did not have much of a daytime nap yesterday. It is more likely she is either teething, or a little under the weather. Jack’s cough seems to be abating. I only say that as he was not coughing in his sleep before Louise & I went to bed last night. On the whole they both slept better.
At the moment I am reading Jack to sleep with a paperback children’s book… Not short stories, but something that is taking a while to get through. If he calms down for sleep (not ‘fiddling’) then he doesn’t usually manage to get to the end of the chapter. I’m not sure of the name of the book, but It’s by the Albergs & something like “The Bear That Nobody Wanted”. Louise & I are also enjoying the story.

Train home now… Work was not too hectic today – thankfully. Back to a level where stress is not completely mad. The ‘angry’ level seems to be calming down as well & our normal callers returning.

Well – the new version of Newton ATA support is out, & despite yesterdays problems, it does seem a bit better. I managed to create error on the card yesterday. I think that adding to document stored on the card may not be such a bright idea at the moment. This is no big deal really, as it can be worked round. Difficult to say if that is where the problem lies, but time will tell. It is, after all software that has not yet reached the beta testing stage as yet. It works well – but there are the occasional upsets when the unexpected happens. I imagine it should be an essential for every Newton device when it’s complete. Imagine, being able to change the profile & functionality of the machine depending on what applications you have active in the additional memory stores. It can even act as a web server at the moment.. a handheld computer running the pages you view a website on, & with the potential capacity these cards can offer, it could be a substantial website.
Yeh – anyway… how are the kids getting on?
Well,I was saying the other day how much Eve seemed to have grown of recent… well, in the last couple of days her language has taken one of those ‘little leaps’ as well. There is more involvement in what she says. She is linking more words together. The problem is, at this stage, interpreting what she says. She does not really have crisp consonants, thus it can all sound a bit mumbly, even though she proclaims things loudly. Her words for things are not complete – ‘phan’ for elephant for instance. Hmmm trying to think of a long syllable word, I can only come up with dinosaur – which she nearly manages.
She woke up in the night , upset, last night. Louise went to her & she thinks that she must have been dreaming. She was not up for being consoled (heh – Jack is always, no matter what, up for a hug, whereas Eve, if she is mad & upset, will shrug away from a hug… this is a trait that Louise can do as well…). Eve was, through floods of tears, asking after Jack & I… but in the middle of it all wanting a tissue as well. Sweetie. She gets a tissue forced when she is upset to dab her tears & wipe her nose.
Jack has a cough at the moment. We were late to bed last night, & a we were dropping off to sleep, Jack roused from his room to join us in our room. His coughing kept us awake that little bit longer. Partly it’s concern for him, partly it’s the fact he’s leaning into you coughing into your ear. What with that, & Eve’s major upset an hour or so later, I’m feeling just that little more jaded than I should do today.

Eve fell asleep in her high chair on Sunday night. She had not had her normal daytime snooze. She missed her chance when we went to the supermarket. We dashed off, perhaps earlier than we had planned, as Ruth (Hamish’s mum) had taken Jack, Hamish & her others to the park. We took it as a good opportunity to do the Sunday run for shopping. Poor Eve. I had changed her nappy before tea, & she was not happy about it at all; too tired & a bit of a sore bum. She was contemplating the possibility of snoozing when I was putting her back in a “happy-nappy” (turn over, eye rub). She was still grandly upset though,so I picked her up & cuddled her downstairs. Tea was then ready – so into the high chair for the distraction of food! She does love her food. Heh – yesterday we were out on the backstreet when Louise proclaimed from the kitchen that tea was ready. Eve immediately dashed off inside. She knew what was going on there. Anyway – as tea dispersed on Sunday, Jack went off into the front room to watch the pop archaeology programme ‘Time Team’, (“look how much mud they’ve dug now!”) I followed,& Louise started the tedium of tidying up after tea. Eve was happy enough to stay in the chair. Left a few minutes unattended Louise motioned me into the back room a few minutes later. There’s poor Eve struggling to stay awake with the last of her tea still in front of her. Not long later she had dozed off… Louise got her into her cot a few minutes later (sans shorts) & she was off for the night (just a little earlier than usual). Jack got to stay up later than he usually would as having a bath might have disturbed Eve; their bedroom being next to the bathroom & Jack not being a quite sort of lad, it seemed prudent. I read to him downstairs on the sofa, where he was keen to sleep, he thought for the night – but no, we took him upstairs to his bed.
Eve must just have had a growing spurt. She seems that bit bigger. It struck me when Louise took her upstairs asleep. She’s got to that stage where she cannot quite be comfortably carried as a baby any more. A parents cradling arms are not enough – legs seem to dangle as if off a too small bed. Caroline, our neighbour, also commented that she seemed to be bigger when the kids were running about on the back street before tea yesterday.. Feet seem bigger, (that’s just the new shoes) legs seem longer – that sort of thing. Kids do that to you though… it’s like anything that gradually changes, but is constantly observed I guess – there comes a point when the realisation of change dawns.

Eve did not, as Louise predicted, say “Where’s daddy” a lot yesterday… The kids accepted that I was at work & got on with things. It would have been nice to have been missed, but that is just vanity, really.
It was an open day at Jack’s school – a sort of ‘see how your child is getting on’ type thing. It would have been good to be able to go to that, but it was not to be. Jack bought home a picture book & a writing book that he’s been working on. Makes you happy & proud to look through it. I can’t say whether he is particularly good at anything, as I have little criteria on which to base anything, but that is not the point. The existence of a book of his drawings & his writing of his name is enough to give a parental warm glow.
Jack went off to sleep better last night. These exceedingly warm days seem to cause him problems relaxing off to sleep. He had been late off to sleep for a couple of nights previous & was getting a little tired & irritable because of it. We still count ourselves lucky though as they are pretty compliant regarding sleep. Although it seems to have been very difficult to convince him to relax, he’s not been foolish or irrational about it all. Just wriggling – saying that he cannot get comfortable, & chatty, as he cannot ‘switch off’. Normally I read him to sleep, but if I’m worn out, I’m in danger of falling asleep before he does. I get a brisk’ “Read daddy!” to remind me that I am supposed to be awake. The bedroom he & Eve are in is pretty small, & if there’s the 4 of us in there, it can get a little too warm as well – thus if Jack is too uncomfortable he is better moving into our bed to drift off to sleep. We can put him back into his own bed when he’s fast asleep proper. He usually finds his way back to us before the morning. Eve usually drifts off of her own accord. It must be part of her ability to keep herself occupied in general, but once in her cot – she accepts where she is, & generally will slip into sleep slowly. She was however jumping around in her cot before sleeping yesterday, but her afternoon nap was a little late. I laid her down & put my hand on her head, or chest, & she sloooowly drifted into sleep. A few smiles, but mostly sleepy nodding off. Sweet. Eve more or less sleeps through. She occasionally stirs in the night,out as I have said – she is very self sufficient.
You have to wonder if it’s because she is the 2nd child & as Jack does demand a certain amount of attention, she compensates? I was a 2nd child though, & I’m sure that I was probably more demanding when a young one than my elder brother.
Neil has announced that he & Jess are having an engagement party come September! EEP! It will be in the south east somewhere, as that’s where her parents are… so we will have to start mentally preparing ourselves & putting something aside for the train fare.
Sometimes you think a car would be a nice thing to have, but on the whole I am glad we have excluded one from our lives thus far.

6:30 in the evening. Outside again, Jack is helping our neighbour Caroline again. She’s trimming a bit of privet hedge & he is helping to clear up by looks of things. Eve has just popped inside… oh hang on… i can hear her up to something in the porch… Ah – she’s only trying to put one of Jack’s sandals on. Too big, but it nearly stays on. She’s got a real thing for shoes. She was putting on her boots just now… then kicking them of… then I’d put them on… then she’d kick them off… & so on.
Ah – she has another of his old shoes on now.

Her language is coming on – she plainly misuses words. “Hamish Ball” is one of those things that can mean a lot of things. Neighbouring lad Hamish has left a ball here, so that’s where the word has come from. She is starting to use “where?” a fair bit – asking for things – & she even says “why?”. She loves chattering. “oh dear” is when something has gone wrong. Another general exclamation is, “Ee-aye, ee-aye, oh” (as in ‘Old Macdonald had a farm….’).