Archives: jack

We had another leak in a pipe above the back room – the one where we had a leak before & the insurance paid to have the room repapered. I all looked so nice, not quite so anymore. It’s not bad – it’s just not quite right anymore. Bother. Hattie (our plumber) came to fix it yesterday – which was really very good indeed as we thought she was already on holiday! It seems to be all fixed now. She came round yesterday afternoon & we left her to it while we went to pick up Jack from school – dilly-dally in the park & then we went shopping & had tea at the supermarket cafe (meeting other parents we knew there). All very convivial. All, quite importantly, out of the way – letting Hattie get on with work without having the kids (or me) peeking & poking their nose in. Still not quite sure of what she did from the description given on the invoice. Looks like a problem with the copper to lead connectors again. Yes, yes – lead – we still have some lead piping. I wish we didn’t, but it’s not like we can actually afford to have them removed. Bah.
Jude was up early this morning. Crawling round & happy. His word/noise of the moment seems to be, “Bwah”. He cawls round the floor investigating things with an accompanying “Bwah… Bwah…. Bwah”.

Missed typing yesterday for lack of brains. I had none – I was a somnambulist for most of the morning. Cough woke me too early & I did not manage to sleep again, thus I just was. Too stupid to realise that sleeping on the train would be a good idea as well… duh.
Jack is back to school today. He is not overtly keen; he’s been enjoying the holidays a lot & in ‘class 1’, “They don’t have so many toys” (he protested through tears when getting out of the bath the other night).
Still – he knows he’s going… so that bridge is crossed. Louise is worried that they won’t be able to get into the ‘morning routine’ that’s required to get him there.
He & Hamish have been playing very well over the last week – playing together for very long periods of time.. They seem to have come to a better understanding of each other & there are very few ‘fall outs’ as they want to go in different directions. I consider this a good thing – the art of compromise is working well for now. Hamish’s mum pointed out something which I hadn’t thought of with Jack having problems playing with his other near pal Jessie. Jessie has a close brother (age wise) & their playing could have a lot of non-verbal communication that Jessie might be expecting Jack to pick up on (as Jessie’s brother can) – & Jack plainly does not. Thus Jessie gets more annoyed & just sulks off to Jack’s incomprehension. I’ve seen this happen a couple of times.
Eve is very fragile at the moment. Not really sure why, but it could be likely to with the last tooth (upper right molar) which has yet to fully break through. It seems to be sapping her confidence as well at the moment. Louise & the kids went to another mother’s house yesterday & Eve was jumping about (as she does). The other mother was impressed by Eve’s agility & daring as her boy of similar age is not that daring (or foolhardy?). Eve managed a jump that bashed her chin somehow or other & she was hurt & she could not calm down. Louise had to take her out of the house for fear of her puking (as she does when really upset) She kept it in, but could not calm down. They had to leave, with Eve crying outside until Jude was put in the pushchair etc. She was still hot & bothered by the time we got home. She pointed to her chin – throwing her head back for me to inspect the gruesome damage… of which there was none. Still – it doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt. She bugged me into playing football & she threw it to me & I kicked it back – not that accurately because (lets face it) I’m not that good, & I was holding Jude as well. He was enjoying it – giggling at Eve & the ball. She did manage to impress me though. She kicked a very good volley back at me. A volley from a not quite 3 year old is impressive. She’s not really interested in the concepts of sport & kick about, (she’d rather sit on the ball a lot of the time) but she can kick the ball rather well if she wants to.
Jude is happy. He’s crawling with ease now, so is more interested in climbing up to a standing position on anything he can – sofa etc. He’s keen! He’s also a jolly baby. He finds many things amusing. We were down the kids bike track in the park the other day. It was a bit busy & he was in his pushchair while Jack & Eve (& Hamish & Amber) gadded about. He was happy just watching the kids pass by on their bikes – smiling & occasionally chuckling. His contentment is really amazing sometimes. He is quite strong though – he’s difficult to control in the bath. I sometimes give up & have to get him out before he’s really had enough play. Changing nappies can be very difficult as well, if he’s in no mood to cooperate. Louise uses the art of distractions to great effect.
I’m aware I’m just meandering in my writing, but sometimes it’s good to do that.

Louise has not broached the subject of school yet. Jack’s holidays end next Tuesday & he is still basically unaware of this fact. Louise now worries that she has left him unprepared for this sudden halt in the holiday.
Louise’s mum came over for a weekly visit yesterday & she was apparently in one of her blacker moods. Before Jack went to sleep he said that he hadn’t seen Grandma that much that day. He recalled when he had seen her; “I was playing out on the back street & she was sitting on the bench…. Then….. Sitting on the bench…. Then sitting on the bench… Then Sitting on the bench…. & then…. inside… & then & then….).

Aware that I’ve been writing a lot & not finding the time to do the website. Have been doing a little rejigging with the ZUM! Catalogue, & I only have limited time. I was trying to get a ‘Box Hack’ to work, as although it’s nicely HTML4 transitional compliant, Internet Explorer 5/5.5/6 on a PC is not in the way the page is rendered… The Box Hack is supposed to work round this & does allegedly work. My problem is that I don’t actually understand how it works & could find no proper explanation as to how it works, thus …well, I couldn’t get it to work. Seems fair enough. I opted to remove the code rather than sit with untidiness.

The paddling pool was out when I staggered home in the heat of yesterday. Louise said it took over an hour to inflate & fill. Sounds like a lot of effort with the accompanying chants from Amber of
“Where’s the pool?” and, “Where’s the water?”
“In the tap” (Louise manages)
“I’ve got a tap at home.”
They all enjoyed the water.
Jack crashed his bike in the evening. Nasty scrape on his shoulder. I would have gone to investigate which van he claimed he ran into, but I reasoned I’d rather not know & concentrate on Jack. I’m not aware there’s a red van that usually parks around our way. He was off again in 5 minutes with instruction to be more careful. I don’t know if he was as I didn’t have to go & collect him at bath time. Hamish must have gone in – so Jack came in. He’d been playing with Hamish constantly since about noon (Louise says). They must have come to an accommodation between themselves where they know how far to demand from each other in the direction of play. Eve & Amber have not quite managed it yet. Eve is accommodating to bending over backwards, but when she starts to take the initiative or go in a direction that Amber does not Amber goes from a scale of huffy to bealing. It’ll come – I remember Jack & Hamish used to have similar.

Eek! Another month is fast evaporating.
A bank holiday & feel nearly rested. One of the 3 days off I recall being quite stressful – but I couldn’t be certain now. Possibly Sunday as Jack was playing up, Eve was winding Jack up & whinging constantly as her top right molar is coming through & Louise was feeling off as well. I was probably feeling over tired, as there are not that many occasions when I don’t feel over tired, but that’s just a symptom of there never being enough hours in the day for me to do anything close to what I want to do. At the moment, for instance, I think our garden looks the worst on the street. The hedge is half cut & the grass is – well – it’s green, but it’s uneven, & the beds are lacking any distinction. Oh, & there are a few holes where things have been dug up & the kids have been digging up. Hmmmm… At this point I actually lament having any form of personal transport as although I can get things done in the garden there’s always one thing that does put me off – having bags of hedge clippings hanging about & being beholden on the good nature of neighbours to take them away (when they’ve been our for quite a while & are full of water & rotting garden matter). It’s not that I resent them taking it, but I feel guilty about being beholden & not really having anything I can do in return & being impatient that the rubbish sits in the garden collecting water when it rain & smell as it rots down in the bag… sigh.

Anyway – the Spofforths next door have sorted out their pond recently & smartened up their flower beds & it all looks rather spiffy. Jack is interested as their water feature contains a waterfall, a fountain & fish. He climbs the wall to look at it – which worries me & weakens the wall. He goes round next door &, in his good natured way still (in my mind) makes a nuisance of himself. Also – their garden puts me to shame – it used to be unkempt a little more & let me fell less guilty about our garden. Now I just have to put up with feeling guilty. Hey ho.
I know it still won’t make me actually do something about it as I still have other things to do.

Well -I was supposed to be on the earlier train, but it was cancelled. My mild panic after a dawdle in town was pointless. Hey ho.
Home a little later than intended. I hope it doesn’t piss off Louise as she’s hoping that we take advantage of her mum’s presence & go take books back to the library, get shopping etc.
Oh – & it’s a bank holiday – so I get to have a long weekend! Yeay!
The new arrangement of Louise & I sleeping upstairs (attic area) seems to be OK. It does have it’s drawbacks. Jack shouted out “Paul! Paul! Paul! Paul!… PAUL!” last night & I had to stagger across the room, down the stairs & into his room to see what the matter was; “Can I pop upstairs for just a minute?”
“No.”
It only used to be a stagger down the hall to his room. There’s a lot more to negotiate in a semi-comatose state.
Is Eve better on with the potty at the moment after recent ‘lapses’? Uh – well – take each day as it comes. She gets distracted & tired & she can be just plain lazy about it as well. She can remember though & makes a mad dash for the potty.
I can remember my parents getting mad at me as I was always leaving things to the last minute as a kid. Mad dashes used to annoy them.

Up in the attic… It kinda dawned on me yesterday that it’s quite an ‘important’ landmark in the house – us moving up there. It’s something we’ve been working toward for quite a while, & to actually have made it… It’s… well, it’s satisfying. It’s not like I’ve finished work up there though… & there are not a dozen other things I need to do… Oh, stop tainting the moment, Paul.
Eve was doing well with her potty training. She’s been a bit tired & certainly run down (too excited to go to sleep & up too early in the morning). Her concentration is not what it should be & she’s had more than her fair share of ‘accidents’ & has been, on occasion, plain wilful. Louise has started a ‘star system, & by yesterday evening she was up to 10 out of 12 for a balloon… but then 9 again by bedtime. Jack also has a vested interest – Eve could not have a balloon & Jack not – so they will both have one. Jack has tried to be encouraging as well.
Jack was in a stroppy mood yesterday. A few curt sulking sessions. He was playing with his friend Jessie – with the ‘Thomas the Tank Engine’ collection & some dispute arose about the role of their respective trains. Jessie was not happy with what Jack wanted to do & Jack was probably unwilling to back down (this is not an argument – this is just a, “& then my train” discussion). Jessie got upset by this & as he does, just went off in a huff. Jack doesn’t understand this. Jessie then goes all “not my friend” which Jack also doesn’t like, so he came back up the hill with his forehead laid on the steering bar of his scooter; all forlorn. Not answering “What’s the matter queries & being jolly surly. He eventually relented to a cuddle, but was still only communicating in “Nuuurks” (as Eve does).

Train to work Saturday (sigh).

New carpets are in – they are very very nice.
Jack managed to be the 1st with a muddy footprint having been next door where Mr Spoforth had dug all the mud out of his pond, & got his little waterfall water feature working. Such things are of obvious interest, but Jack brought a fraction of mud home. Ah well.

The man who cleaned the attic stairs carpet said that there were at least 3 inches of soot in the bottom of his bucket. That’s good – hopefully there’s no more lingering in there.

I popped off to the dr’s yesterday afternoon & came home with the diagnosis of psoriasis… weird. That’s my elbow etc – might also be my nose, but I have some cream to shove up me nose as it’s all infected. Shoving cream up me nose – very bizarre. Well – if it gets better quick, I have no problem with it.

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)