Archives: jude

Not been typing too much this week…

Though it might do a little more what with that verbose chuntering on Monday, but, one thing & another. Jude was awake quite a bit in the night this week. His cough was playing him up & his imagination was running away with him. He caught some of the news from Israel’s invasion of Gaza where they reported that a whole family was wiped out (excepting one) & that seems to have resonated with a fear in him. You cannot deny that there’s a lot of bad in the world, but I’ve pointed out we’re privileged to live in a mostly peaceful country.

I also took him to the doctors for his relentless cough & his asthma is not so bad at the moment – it’s more the fact that 9s throat is irritated, so we were given some piriton & that seems to have calmed things down considerably for him. That said he’s still prone to a little unreasonable worry or so at the moment. He noticed that his new front (lower) teeth are not as smooth as his milk teeth. Adult teeth seem to have more ridges along the top. He does not like this; the shape of his teeth on his tongue annoys him. Yesterday he had a bit if a panic attack at school & Louise was called down to see him because he though that he had swallowed a chip off his tooth. I’m not sure if he’d mentioned this as the cause, but he had some ventolin & calmed down. …He’s a funny one because he is also very strong – quite independently minded, but … his self confidence has taken a knock of recent.

On the whole Jack is doing very well. He seems to have got to grips a lot better with the homework thing & is getting more done & doing it better. This takes out a lump of stress from the daily routine & is much appreciated,

Assembled a bike this weekend. Another bike for Jude; a birthday present. It’s more a BMX model & he’s really only just big enough for it. I’ve lowered the seat as far down as it can go – so hopefully this will satiate him. Eve is keen to pick up use of his older bike now that poor Bluebell has lost her glamour somewhat (never properly recovered from having the back wheel run over & tyres changed to non-whitewall

It turned into a task getting the bike home from Bradford where we bought it. Was a shame that it needed to be assembled really as that took that frisson of excitement out of the whole thing for Jude; although, I don’t think it dampened the day too much for him in the end: he was happy & excitable at home in the evening even without the actuality of the bike. On the whole it’s been quite a good weekend. We met up in Bradford with Louise’s mum, as planned & dibbed off to Pizza Hut. Been years since I’ve been in such a place & as we had not had the forethought to book we had to wait a while to get in. The kids still behaved themselves: we didn’t have to mutter about not doing things as we waited. They were good in the restaurant (if you can truly call it that) as well – well, Esme stood on the set & they were a little noisy (but didn’t have to be told not to be) but these tings blended in well & they all enjoyed themselves & their grub. I guess such places are designed with families in mind… You wouldn’t think of going to Pizza Hut for a business meeting really… well, maybe not a besuited one. I think we killed a couple of hours n there – which was a little surprising.

Thence back to the bus station for a free bus down to the … big warehousey shop area on the edge of the centre of town & we bought Jude’s bike (& some skates for Eve & Jack) Esme didn’t need retail therapy to feel included; such things are not on her radar as yet. I wanted to get a new bag, as they do some cheap there, but I couldn’t get a decent compromise between style, price & size, so I left it after Louise frowned at my ‘too expensive’ choice. At least I have a better idea at what I’m aiming for, I suppose. I’m not sure even that one would have managed an A3 sketchpad that’s an ‘agenda’ item I don’t think I’ll quite ever manage. Jude’s bike was in a big heavy box… so started lugging that home. It was inconvenient to carry & dug into my fingers, and n the end Jack & Louise carried the last litle bit up the backstreet, but we got it hone fine & by the time Jude went to bed it looked like a bike (I just had the brakes to fit & adjust). By the morning it was ready & when he was dressed he had ago (in a pause in the rain) & came back a little put out muttering about it being too big. I took the seat down to the absolute minimum & he tested it, agreed that it was better but has yet to go out in it again… oh, well… when the time comes… when the time comes… Oh – and it’s all black, with white lettering – looks a bit swish.

Sunday was more a ‘climbing uphill’ day, Lots of rain never helps motivate a day. Eve had a ‘last minute’ invite to Isobel’s birthday party. We had a standby present that seemed a little lacking, so I bought a pad & pen when ut doing the shopping as a supplement. Then Louise topped her off up the valley for the party (not quite a small walk away). Jack decided to start his Ecodome, but was also distracted by playing with his remote control helicopter with Jude & Jo, so in the end I had to nag him to tidy things up – which he ‘sort of’ did… in that it’s tidied up from outside, but not put away. I can’t begrudge him though as he was in a good sharing mood all day. Most of the weekend… The silly grudge match started over a Gogo on … Thursday evening with Jude seemed to blow over quite nicely, so that was a relief.

Tired this morning – that fog brain thing I get whin I don’t get enough sleep. Esme didn’t sleep well & spent a deal of time kicking about – which is not comfortable when she’s lying next to you.

One day we’ll have the bed to ourselves.

Jude started term with a bit of a bang… They’re starting their history thing & the class learned about the Black Death… It seems a vivid picture projected onto the whiteboard seems to have lodged firmly into his imagination & it sounds a s though he’s nearly had a panic attack about getting ‘black hands’. (There was someone with black hands in the picture). He had his inhalers with him (because of the cold – it is very cold at the moment) & was in need of them. He also needed to sit with Eve at lunch & Louise needed to sit with him for 15 mins in the library (?) after dropping Esme off at playgroup. As I say – his imagination was somewhat transfigured. After some chat & reassurance at bedtime he seems to have slept OK last night. Was not needful of further night time reassurance.

Train a few moments late this morning allowing me a few moments to get the Family Railcard sorted out – the first step to getting ready to go to Caption.

Jude didn’t get the water pistol fight he’d been hankering after most of the day yesterday – not through any especially deliberate ploy on my part, but just because he was off playing before it was time to come in & the day just ran out; no more day left to pay in. I also disappointed Jack later on by not doing comics stuff, but messing about updating thoseschroders blog. There’s a lot I could do on there – there’s a lot to ear about how it works & there’s a lot of tweaking I would like to do, but it’ll have to wait; trickle in, because there’s never enough time to do all that you want to do; that’s impossible.

Esme was tired again – it was a hot & weary day, but she kept going – possibly because of playing “footballer” (kicking the ball about on the backstreet – she loves it).

Beautiful morning – if I wasn’t on the train I’d be taking photographs here; it was still overcast in Todmorden, but the train moves on through the low right morning light & the humid air (obvious aerial perspective) makes everything all aglow. Good landscapes.

and Esme now has a bike!

Big Empty train (strike day – limited service). Hey – my brain is the same!
It would rather be sleeping, but that could not be the case even without work to attend, as Eve was awake before I left this morning.

I shall attempt to recount a little of the holidays again. If Boxing Day was Thursday (I think it was) then Neil & Jess arrived in the afternoon. This pleased Jack no end, as he really likes them. They all had a good time. Eve tuckered out again & so did Jude (later), but Jack kept going. He would have kept on & on. He was starting to tire, even with his buoyant mood & excitement he was getting clumsy, so rather than he be upset by upsetting someone, we upset him; by taking him to bed. He howled & protested for a while, but calmed down with the reading of a new book; Ivor (the Engine) & The Foxes – which has a mounting sense of excitement as Mrs Fox gets chased.

The next day we went to this open farm. The really good thing that the kids enjoy is the barn which has one of those inside play areas – all slides & climbing & …well- adventuring for the young ‘uns.
They stayed there a good while & bounced on the trampolines & Eve had a go on the tractors (push along & pedal). Was not so mild that day tho – so the adults (Louise & I, me mum & Neil & Jess) did a lot of standing/sitting around being cold. Jack befriended some other boys in one of the climbing frames & then went off to play on the slides. The boys all then started shouting, “Jack! ….Jack! JACK!” etc. Like he gets an instant cult… weird.

Saturday was pottering around & packing. Not so interesting for the kids, but Jack & Eve did get a little walk on the beach with Neil & Jess.

Traveled back that night & home. Only Eve worried us on the journey. After we left the motorway & were ‘on the final straight’ metaphorically, she stirred & was upset. She cried & was almost to the ‘distressed enough to be sick’ point. She did one of those magnificent pre puke belches she does – forced out by a cough… but she managed to keep it together.

Jack awoke the next morning & announced to Louise, “That was the best holiday I’ve ever had” (as already mentioned).
They’ve settled down quite well. Jack still has a slightly frantic edge, but nothing compared to pre Xmas.

We have Caroline from London visiting now – so I was up far too late last night. My body has not yet adjusted to the early morning wake up that I have to do to get to work – so I was already a bit of a wreck by the time I was coming home. Actually – I’ve been clumsy as well – which is more than tired… Aha! I can happily blame this cold, then.

This being New Years Eve, it looks a lot like I will be up late again tonight. Bonus point is that I do not have to go to work tomorrow – yeay!

After an all too quick holiday I’m back on this train to work. As suspected, I had no time to sit down & type – but that is not a bad thing, as far as I’m concerned. I had a pleasant time – thoroughly pleasant.
Jack said as he woke on the 1st day back at home, “That was the best holiday I ever had”.

I think the madness of anticipation had calmed down in Jack once we got there & he settled more to his usual self. He was really good & loving. The journey down (my dad drove us) nearly went to plan. If we had not hit a traffic jam for 2 hours on the M5 down from Manchester to Birmingham it was likely that the kids would have stayed asleep better. As it was, they all awoke at some stage here. Eve managed to get back to sleep. Jude was asleep & awake, much as his sleeping pattern had been the past few days, & Jack just stayed awake. We got in late & Jack was buzzing with the fact that we were there at Grandma & Grandma’s house. All this meant that he was frighteningly late to bed. Louise said that I was reading to him past 12:00 (or was it 01:00). He was keen as mustard to get to the beach on the 1st day, but we didn’t make it. I can’t really recall why, but probably because Louise & I were still in a state of chaos. We managed to get out to the shops to get some supplies & essentials, but that was about it.

Christmas Eve, Jack was keen to be off to bed early. It was the ‘early to bed so the morning comes earlier’ thing. Again – not sure if the evening bedtime went more to usual time or not… I suspect that it did, as I seem to recall reading to him.

Up on Christmas day not too early – which was nice. When I was young, I could hardly sleep for the excitement of it all, but ours did well. Presents a plenty – & the kids were jolly happy. Jude did not get much, but then – he’s not really at an age to appreciate much of what’s going on. Christmas day mum & dad had the restaurant open. I’m sure we’ve done this scenario before, but when it was starting to get late – past 5? & the kids were starting to flag, it seemed a bit odd to have not seen much of them. We had been down to the beach during the day & they had a massive walk (in their terms) down to the lighthouse. The weather was unseasonably mild; it was pleasantly sunny. We were asked for buckets & spades, but we didn’t bring them, as we didn’t think that it would be this nice. Still, Jack & Eve had fun & they prodded the sand, jumped about splashed, climbed in the sand dunes. They were starting to get worn out by the final stretch home, but the promise of ice creams from the garage shop (next door to the parental abode) got them there. All that took rather a long time. The kids, Eve especially, were flagging badly by evening & it was starting to look like bed time was on the cards. Eve had some boiled egg for tea. She was starting to look like she was going to just drop asleep there & then, when…. Mum & Dad returned! Much bustle. A Christmas dinner suddenly appears & we are all around to table. After dinner is our traditional ‘presents from the family’ time. Eve said that she would only open 2 & then go to bed. She then proceeded, with Jack, to joyfully rip open the multitude of presents. Much excitement (all over again!). So many toys! Can’t recall when bedtime came, but it was very late again. They were happy.

Boxing day – Mum & dad nipped off for Golf in the morning.

To those I missed – Happy Xmas!