Archives: eve

hmmm
Eve – she fell asleep on me going up to 6:00 yesterday…. poor lamb -jiggered. Put her off to bed with only a small protest, she did very well for it. Stirred only once before bedtime. She & Jack have swapped beds. She was falling asleep in his bed while he had his bath & then I’d move her… but Jack kinda decided that he’d have her bed. This is fine by Louise & I because she’s the one who usually calls out in the night for attention & for someone to come sleep with her. Jack’s bed is a full size (single) mattress & this is a darn sight more comfortable than the other & the futon, which was the other solution for sleeping with her. It all works better. Soon we hope to be getting them a bunk bed, which should be OK for having to sleep with them. Lately I seem to have been sleeping more with Eve than with Louise… which isn’t right… but then Jude sleeps in ‘our’ bed anyway (after he’s done his requisite in his own cot – hopefully it’s after midnight he stirs). If you’re not a parent – all this bed swapping business may seem odd – but parents of young children will realise you sleep where you can. Jack sleeps well nowadays. He rarely wakes up to call out. I’m sure he probably does stir, but he keeps it to himself for the most part. Can’t think when he last called out.
Jack has been very excitable this weekend. He’s had difficulty in … I was gong to say ‘keeping still’ but that’s always a problem. He’s certainly been feeling chipper, & understanding ‘no’ – or rather getting through with ‘no’ has been harder. He wants to – he really wants to. I had to turn the computer off a couple of times over the weekend as he was just getting carried away. With Eve off to sleep early last night we had to continually remind him to lower his voice & to stop jumping about the room… These are very difficult things for a 5 year old to do. Out walking over the weekend, he was either trailing behind seemingly lost in his thought or gleefully skipping on ahead. All this, of course makes Louise worry that this week’s half term break might be a little hard, but as she has said before… If Jack is in a good mood then it makes everything else easy. Of course, if Eve is ‘off colour’ which she well might be, then the balance tips negative again. She’s clingy & screamy when ‘off’. She was very dopey this morning – wanting to lie down & rest, where she’s usually full of beans to be up & about. Jude being awake when I got Louise up helped; he excites her. She was coughing a bit & demanded a drink. I wonder is she has a sore throat? She was also sick just as I was about to go out of the door. Didn’t see what happened, but she was eating some of Louise’s cereal at the time & blearg! Nothing dramatic in reach – just down herself, but still a mess… Quickly cleared before leaving though, & did not have to rush for the train to much.
On the computer front… I believe that I have managed to get it working for the most part – the CD writer, that is. I’ve ‘burnt’ most of my files, & the mac actually saw the disks. Next backup is applications & thence the may be the next big move. I have more memory ordered, & I have (dun-der-daaaaa!) OSX (10.2) ordered. Blimey. So – many more hours spent wrestling with the computer to get the darn thing doing what it’s supposed to do… but… but.. I have been rather keen to move to ’10’. I have a lot of applications that are going to have to stay in ‘classic’ – but nonetheless, I feel it will be worth it. I made up my mind after checking that all my peripherals would be OK – & it seems they will – even the scanner (although the drivers are still beta – but at least they are there!).
The plunge, as it were.

Well – on the stupidity of technology front… I think I’ve managed to burn a couple of CD’s on the burner. Allocating the damn software oodles more memory seemed to make that work a little more normality (not take years to do anything). CD’s were burnt disarmingly quickly (the hardware is, as suggested good), but coming to read the CD’s again on the DVD player that is incorporated into the mac… it didn’t recognise them… It didn’t recognise them when I put them in the CD burner for mounting on the desktop either… Wanted to initialise them… in a PC format as well! If it was not all so frustrating it would be funny… Mind you I’ve got past frustration & have now settled on bemused puzzlement. Oh, & Louise says that she is not against the idea of moving to OS X… coo (for those that do not know of what I speak: I presently use OS 9.0.4, & this would mean an upgrade to OS 10.2… which is a very radical shift as the whole thing changed completely on 10). Although this is an ambition of mine, I’m not so sure as to not think it wise to pursue a couple or other avenues 1st.
On the home front…. Louise got her eyes tested & has gone for a new pair with metal frames! Smaller than the ones that she was looking at the other day as well! Lawks! Oh, & the sunglasses as well – confirmed as the 1st time she will have some.
I collected Jack from school on my own yesterday & he was happy. Coming thru the front garden, he muttered that he wanted to get changed & do some work on the garden. Louise’s mum came back with her as she was visiting today & she & Jack & Eve did a little work in the garden. I have not had time to look at what was done, but weeds were pulled & Jack did a lot of snipping with the securers (as that is what he likes to do).
Jude was a little off form yesterday apparently. He ate his tea OK though & when he was upset a bit later; he did not throw it all up. He seems to be getting to that age when throwing up in protest at something is more commonplace than it should be. He had such a hardy constitution when he was younger (didn’t let anything go). Hopefully this is just a phase. Eve has not quite grown out of that phase yet.

Hey ho… Brain still awaiting catch up on the sleep thing. Nice & Groggy this morning.
Got my new CD-RW working last night after faffing about for a good while. The software the manufacturer supplies is… not great. By that I mean that certain unrequired components seem to freeze the mac on startup. I conclude that it is probably a clash with Login on my verson of Mac OS – which is well stinky.
It’s taken me a couple of nights of pratting about starting with extensions off to come to that conclusion – which is far more time than I’m willing to concede to any problem – but needs must. I now actually have facility to do a proper backup of my files – which is like – really amazing! Hmmm – that sounds a little ‘gosh, wow’ of me – but I have not been able to do a proper backup since I got the computer – which in my opinion is very unwise. I’ve had a few scary moments where I thought I’d lost all – & the risks become greater the more I accumulate. I’ve been taking loads of photos for nearly a year now without any safety net if I suffered major problems. Anyway – now begins the process of putting back extensions & hoping it doesn’t all go wobbly… Hey – That does give me the very good excuse of prattling with the kit to back up all files before doing that.
Thinking of doing some passive newspaper reading.
Summary on the home front: Jude is happy – seems past recent tummy upset. Standing up against everything he can. It is wise not to stand still for too long as he will crawl up to you & stand up against your legs now.
Eve is fractious – she has a back upper right molar which still has not come through proper. This makes her more barmy & volatile than usual. She is now going to Monday afternoon school playgroup as well. She likes it all & is not troubled by Louise leaving any more.
Jack is … well Jack, really; loving & boisterous.
Louise is going for an eye test tomorrow. The 1st in many years. A new pair of glasses! She may even get a pair of wire framed ones & a pair of free sunglasses!! Louise has never, as far as I know, had a pair of sunglasses – let alone prescription sunglasses.

A pleasant weekend, all in all. Out & about on Saturday. We had money things to sort out & Louise managed to get an appointment with the opticians in Bradford. She also likes the glasses I’ve been thinking I want. We went to a toy shop as Jack had a party to go to on Sunday & we ended up getting presents for Jack & Eve as well (how can you escape such in a toy shop?). Eve got a small dolly which had a tiny bottle & dummy etc. She sat in the pushchair & played with it a lot. Kept her quite happy all afternoon. Jack got a bit of technics lego – a ‘drome racer’ which flies apart when it hits something. He was a little frustrated that he could not have it until he was home – but we had to be sensible with it really. Thinking about it he was a little easily frustrated this weekend. This could be an indication that he’s not really well. Retaliated at Eve a couple of times. Oh, & there was Hamish; he upset Jack. Jack wanted to show Hamish the neat technics/bioniclish car that he had & Hamish brushed him off. Seems Hamish was being busy being a ‘big boy’ & didn’t want to bother. Jack came back in tears. Amber came round a little later to play with Eve – but they didn’t really cotton on to this neat car & bionicles thing. He tried, but she just left in the end – which she (& Hamish for that matter) have a habit of doing.
Jack enjoyed his party over at Tom’s a lot. He was a little worried as I took him that I might not hang around, (I didn’t) but as soon as he was there he was happy & last seen dashing off with pals up the stairs. When I came to get him later he was full on giddy. He charged out of the door at me happy as anything. Crashed into me, as he likes to do. I bent down for a hug & got a real good slap on the head for my trouble. Diane, Tom’s mum was really good & gave us a party bag for all of our brood which included hair grips for Eve & a rattle for Jude – uncommonly generous! Jack had a couple of his party bag sweets on the way home & Louise said he was completely bug eyed when we arrived back. He danced through the door & announced to Louise – happy as anything – that he’s had, “too many sweets” – which was, by & large, patently obvious. He remained in a happy & convivial mood all afternoon/evening. Played well with Eve – ate his tea – gadded about – played with Junkbot on the lego site & did not worry when I was not there to assist. Actually – he played quite happily on his own – completing the puzzled to complete the levels quite well. OK then, all in all Jack has been abundantly loving this weekend. It’s true what Louise says – when he’s in a good mood everything goes smoothly.
I stayed up a little late last night watching most of ‘A Clockwork Orange’. I gave up in the end as I realised that I needed sleep more than I needed to know what happens in the end. I’ll watch it again sometime, & I’ll be able to play proper attention. Sleep will nag at me now this week – I must remember to get to bed on time to make up the deficit.

Good morning – how _are_ we this morning?
Well – for the 1st time in …I don’t know how long, none of the kids were downstairs before I went to work. No I did not say awake, as when I was leaving the house Eve’s usual wake up routine started. She still seems to wake the majority of the time in tears &, “Want” ing someone or other. No doubt there will also have been the, “I want me daddy” when I was not there. She does seem rather incessant at the moment. Always on the go & chatty & not leaving Jude alone & wanting this & wanting that & especially wanting all the attention she can get. This, as any parent will tell you, is only normal. She gets a bit to tired & emotional by the end of the day as well (probably because she’s up early). Still – she’s had an extra half hour more than usual this morning. Some days Louise’s sanity is tested to the limits, I’m sure.

Up a little later than I should last night putting a note on the Bugpowder Blog. Silly me.

Eve was up early as usual. She has developed the habit of waking before 06:00 at the moment. This morning I was in the shower when her howls started. She does not wake up quietly, but then ‘quiet’ has never been her thing. Louise tried to convince her back to sleep, but she never seems to fall for it. Its dark out – it looks for all the world like night time – but she is not fooled.
It’s [cut short as fellow passenger wants a seat]

Back to work (albeit later than usual today – I saw Jack off to school with Louise).
I had to stay at home yesterday, as Louise was rather ill. There’s this rather unpleasant bug around, you see. It all came on rather suddenly. After tea on Monday, Louise was not feeling that good… When we were getting the kids off to bed she took Jude up to our bed & went off to sleep with him, as she was rather tired. Then when all were asleep & I’d just popped downstairs to prat about on the computer I heard her shout form me. Dashed upstairs & she’d made it to the bathroom to be sick. She was in a bad way though. This continued for most of the night. We had a bowl by the bed & all that.
She was plainly incapacitated so I took the next day off to get the household things done. The kids up & fed & Jack off to school, & washing etc. I only really had Eve to keep amused, which was quite good. Jude stayed with Louise & slept for most of the day with her. This was rather good for me, as I would not have been able to cope so well with he straying as he does. Eve also acts different when he’s about. She either wants your attention in rival to him, or will play with him – but play with him wrong – she’s too rough & boisterous & want to pick him up & all that. All in all it went quite well.
Louise was able to stand up & move about again by yesterday evening, so was confident enough that I should return to work. Her mum’s also coming over today so that Eve can have someone to distract her. Eve wanted to come on the train to work with me, but we all had to wave bye-bye.

Cough cough.
Oh great – I now cough. Dry tickling little so & so that keeps nagging. Mind you that’s better than the asthmatic guttural phlegmmy ones :)
I would, it has to be said, appreciate feeling healthy – if nothing else so that I would stop whittering on like some flagrant hypochondriac.

I left work early on Friday. Feeling abysmal. Whole body hurting & head spinning. It’s quite probable that I should not have bothered going in at all. I was in a filthy mood & that’s probably what propelled me in – the adrenaline from anger. Once I sat down & started work I fell to pieces a bit. It seems when I am truly ill I get mad at everything.

This morning the limbs don’t feel so bad. Yesterday was a bit awful – & I just started to perk up at bedtime… great.
The whole family is a bit off at the moment. Jude was being sick lot yesterday – which is a little unusual for him – he’s not got a predilection for barfing like Jack did & does not often ‘loose it’ when really upset, as Eve can still do. However – he was sick on my leg at the start of the day. Later at midday Louise gave him some lunch (a jar of baby food – not that common a meal for him). He tucked in happily & was doing well… that is until Louise had him sat on her knee & was getting him ready to go out &, well, I’d like to say, “VlAAArp!”, but he’s very quite with his being sick. Just opens his mouth & away he goes – yellow gunk all down him & all over Louise’s dress… Louise was… not impressed. Jude didn’t flinch – he was only mildly upset by having to have his clothes changed. So I get to carry the time bomb for a bit… But he’s fine. I play with him, carry him around, let him jump up & down at the window, banging the window (he enjoys that) while Louise gets a change of clothes. She comes downstairs & starts putting some washing out again, & I follow her. Jude stretches out, so I go to Louise, & we just get to where she’s taking him off me, – he’s on her shoulder &, “Vlaarp!” again. More yellow dappling! Louise does not quite see the comedy of it all, somehow. That was, thankfully, the last of it though.

Again with the feeling shite.
This time I have heavyweight limbs. I ache all over. It would be very nice to not have a cough & to feel sprightly. Suspect Jack has been suffering something similar – a reluctance to walk & the glands on his neck being up. Louise is similar. Eve & Jude… I dunno. Eve has been wingey, but Jude is too happy to notice such things.

Can’t be arsed typing any more today.

Brain was on the verge of giving up most all of yesterday. Feeling more chipper today, but not exactly sprightly.

That’s weird… someone who just got on the train smells of soiled nappies. Bleh!

We finally managed to get Jack a haircut yesterday. He was happy with it. There’s a lack of curls at the moment (just a little flick at the back) but they will return. Jack’s hair grows lovely, & then it just comes to this critical point & goes ‘flop’ – turns into a more moppy do.

Now Louise just needs to be able to find time.
All children awake before Ieft the house. Jack was the last to rise & that was my fault. I like to give him a little kiss before I go off, but today he must have been drifting on the edge of sleep as he shot awake. They are all early risers at the moment. Still – Eve is happy to go to have a bath almost directly after tea – so that’s a plus.