Archives: the kids

Well, at least I had Monday off.

A very low-key day yesterday. Carolyn (Louise’s chum) Paul & baby Katie came a visiting yesterday. We nearly said ‘don’t’ as Eve was ill the night before. She threw up her pasta from tea in the early hours & was running a temperature. She was quite a mess, but somehow Louise managed to prevent her making a mess of our bed & everything as well. In the morning she was pallid & gray 1st thing & Louise was ready to call off the visit, as if she was ill – then it would not be good to have Eve spreading such a thing to a younger babe. She perked up considerably after having some breakfast though – so the visit was still on. Jack had been looking forward to it their visit for some time – so was rather relieved. They enjoyed it, & seeing a 6-month babe made you realise that Jude is not that big after all. We were starting to think that he was starting to get big, but he looked all small again. Katie was 6 months that day. A happy little soul who can roll about. She rolls rather than crawls much as a method of propulsion. Jack & Eve were crawlers… well – actually, Eve spent little time crawling from what I recall – so determined was she to be on 2 feet that she was never truly proficient. Jack could crawl at one hell of a pace.

Heh… a piece of nice abstract understanding from Eve. I was changing her nappy & she noticed that she had the same design nappy as Jude (Same make) & she decided that I was putting on one of Jude’s nappies onto her. So, I play along a little & after the nappy was fitted, I asked her, “Is that comfortable Jude?”. She paused to think a minute… “Yes!” says she in a slightly squeakier voice (pretending to be Jude).

Playing cars yesterday afternoon with Jack. There’s a lot of crashing of goodie cars into baddie cars. This with the occasional looks at the television that had a compilation of MGM musical numbers on. We were hoping that there would be some ‘wizard of oz’ as that’s what was on the telly when I turned it on. He likes the tune “if ever and ever a Wiz there was the Wizard of Oz is one because, because, because… etc” – but he’s never really seen any of the film… It’s staring to take on mythic qualities… I hope he’s not disappointed when he does get to see it.

What’s been happening of recent? Hmmm
The weather has been uncommonly pleasant – We’ve been playing out (the kids & I). Been enjoying the evenings. Jack has had the scooter out again. My parents gave him for his birthday last year, but Hamish fell off it & split his lip (falling on the wall?) so badly that he had to go to hospital to have a stitch or 2 in. Louise finally relented & let him play with it again. Initially in the front garden, as the space is limited to up & down the path. He then managed to bargain venturing out onto the street a little. He’s now tearing up & down the back street – with its moderately steep incline. He’s quite confident on it, & doesn’t fall off it much. Still – with one thing & another his shins are rather bruised at the moment. Dalmatian.
I did not go to work yesterday, as it was Good Friday. We went to Bradford & it was quiet; not a frantic push past the shoppers day. Nerves stayed intact. Rather enjoyed that.
Manchester arrives at the train again – darn it -sometimes I wish it would not keep running into this train. Perhaps the train will find somewhere more fun for me one of these days?

Present got yesterday, but still no sending address.

The kids were awake before I left for work – but only just – so that, in a small way, is an improvement. Jack did cry as Louise left him at school yesterday… Essentially he was not sad to be there, but did not want Louise to (I think that show it was).

Eve is walking very well at the moment. She likes to be out of the pushchair. I think she likes the freedom. She apparently walked to playgroup with Louise & enjoyed walking through the park & kicking at the fallen leaves. Her language develops… She can communicate all she wants to in staccato sentences. She informed Louise that, ‘

“Water in river!” yesterday; a nice observation. She has also taken to saying, “What’s this?” & “What’s that?” … Inquisitive or conversation? At the moment it seems to be the former. Louise thinks that she is more a comedienne than Jack used to be. She certainly seems to be a bit of a performer. Both of them love attention though.

Weird… I actually finished our/to be the kid’s room last night. The walls are all now painted – 2 walls pistachio & 2 walls varnished lining paper. I might get a couple of days rest while I recoup & maybe sort out a few bits & bobs; reviews & alike.

We should be able to sleep back upstairs again. Louise & I have had to resort to the sofa bed, as it’s been a bit smelly. The kids have not been too put out by this – perhaps a little confused, but they liked ligging on it in the mornings before it got put away.

Do I have a sense of triumph at having finished the room? No, not really; more bemusement. The kids could be in there in a couple of weeks as we are now plotting an expedition to Ikea so that we can get them a bed each. Not sure what other furniture we might need, but we cannot plan for too much at the moment. We will move into their small room while I sort out the decorating of the attic room. A setback up there is the fact that we have leak around the chimney breast again. With all the heavy downpours we’ve had recently a seriously damp patch has appeared. The builders have been called again to have another look at things, but we worry. Louise was talking of having the pot removed & roofed over, but how would that leave us if we wanted to put a fire in? I would like that option to remain. Not that I want a ‘real’ fire – having tended some in my time their a bother in a world of convenience. I do not have the patience to fret over keeping something going & cleaned out like some flipping pet. A mechanical (pet fire) which you switch on & off with gas would be my ideal there. Time may come.

Eve has been a little manic now & then recently. Canniness are still teething. They’ve both been a little over tired of recent due to disrupted sleep – Eve through her teething & Jack as he’s woke a little earlier than he should. They’ve coped well with it though – not really grumpy or anything & still playing together quite well. Jack did get a bit frustrated with his trains last night though, as they would not stay together in a, …uh, train. They are a set not designed for uneven carpets – so they keep coming apart – which makes him howl with frustration.

Eve’s language continues to develop & amuse. Not a good example of her language skills, but; as she woke from her afternoon nap yesterday, she pleaded, “Tooaaasssttt” – to which Louise asked if she would like her to do some toast? “No, crisps!”. Sigh.

A one day weekend… hrumph.

Mind you I did manage to get a lot crammed in on the Sunday. Played with Jack on the Internet & found Spot the Dog in the morning. Louise, Jack & Eve went off to a birthday party in the afternoon & I got on with painting a wall in our/to be their bedroom. I managed the whole wall, although I had my doubts when I was still doing fiddly bits (around the window, behind the radiator with three-quarters of an hour to go. Paint turned out to be too smelly in the room itself, but generally not too bad. The paint was not fully dry, I guess – so Louise & I had to sleep on the sofa bed downstairs. It took me a while to figure out how to get comfortable enough to get to drifting off. Jack was possibly bemused in the night to find an empty bedroom. May go through the whole thing again tonight – as I might try to paint another wall as well.

Getting home late on Saturday was weird. I don’t think I’ve ever been that late home. I guess it doesn’t help when the planned train is cancelled, but that was only a matter of half an hour. Louise & the kids had a good day, by reports. They met Louise’s mum & her sister (Louise’s aunt) in Hebden & had a good pottering day. Louise says that she was not going to let anything worry her & managed it. The kids were delightful, holding Alice’s hand & so on. Charming & loving. They had a good time at the party on Saturday as well. Louise says that Eve was especially extrovert. They all played pass the parcel & suchlike. We came home whistles blaring & still with the excitement of party in the kids. They were a little boisterous & tired: wanting the cake & chocolate left in their party bags. Got a little frayed & made a bit of a mess. We opted for an early bath for them & Jack was asleep before the 2nd Roger Hargreeves Timbuctoo book was properly started. Mind you, so was I.

Hurumph – failed to get an old LJIIIp working with my mac last night … In fact failed so badly that I had to mess about disabling extensions & resorting to Norton System Tools to check things over…. bah! What a pain that was! What a waste of time! A little jaded because of this foolishness. Hey ho -these things are sent to try us.

Would still like to try to get the durn thing running, if for novelty factor alone!

Played out on the backstreet with the kids yesterday afternoon/evening. It was fun & I’m aware that such times may be more limited as the year closes in now. Got all hot & bothered pushing them up on their trucks & trikes only to have them race down again as the weather abnormally warm for the time of year Eve got a hold of a proper skateboard at one point & was surfing down the incline (eep!). She surfed down on her tummy & had a reasonable amount or control, when it came to it, but that does not stop you fretting. She also had a go at standing on it as she saw that I did & Niall (another neighbour’s lad practising with his own board) did. Fortunately she was not facing downhill when she tried that, & was this safe… Not sure if she moved, but she could balance without any problems. Whether she would have enough weight to actually turn it is another matter. You sometimes forget she is not even 2 yet… Soon though – soon.

I painting some of the recent wallpapering with a matt varnish the other night. Stunk a bit during the night, but not so bad. The result on the wall is not so bad either. Not darkened the paper that much. I have realised that this is not the solution for the walls with the polystyrene backing/insulation as it’s likely to mess this up considerably… So, Louise found a very nice shade of green in a paint catalogue (pistachio something) I will see if I have enough brains left from a day at work to pop & get a tin before coming home. Would be useful to get it so that I at least have the option of painting on Sunday. Saturday – tomorrow, is the dreaded 1st Sat shift that I have to now do: 1 Saturday in 3, but then I do have to make up at least some of the hours that I lose on this new system where I get home earlier.

Another morning on the train where I sit in front of the eMate & say… “Grunt”.

It’s not like I was late to bed. We went to bed early last night, but that does not stop you feeling like my brain has been replaced by mucus.

Anyway, yes, it was a good weekend. Caroline hopefully had a good time. We pottered about a bit. On Friday, after watching Jack do his sponsored run they went off to Hebden Bridge. The run sounded delightfully chaotic. The children were supposed to be running the one way around the pitch, but ended up that some groups ran one way, & others counter. I don’t know what the goal was, but Jack ended up doing 5 or 6 rounds. It’s a good job we put the relatives (who are unaware sponsors) down for ‘fixed amounts’ or we might have been out of pocket there. One of Jack’s friends was going in a ‘counter’ group, so they apparently stopped for a chat once or twice. Also, he had a friend from his class running with him, who was flagging a bit. Jack is a good runner.

Saturday we all went of to Howarth. Over the tops on the bus, top deck to see the views better. Went past the church & there’s some ‘allotments’ there where people keep chickens & goats, so the Jack & Eve enjoyed that. Up onto the start of the moors, just for a mini-walk. We did have the pushchair, so anything really adventurous way out of the question. Eve needed picking up when some horses went by on a nearby path. Like dogs, she is braver when they are not so close.

We had hoped we might catch a steam train from Howarth, but we missed one… Shame, as the kids… well, Jack especially, would have enjoyed that. He asked on Sunday (next day) if we could go to Howarth again… A sure sign he enjoyed himself, or perhaps is aware there’s something he missed out on… Ended up in Leeds from Howarth, but as it was getting on a bit, it was not really a major stop. As the trains were out on the Caldervale line that day, (Leeds refurbishment work?) we had to catch a coach back home. Eve so nearly made it home, but we were just getting back to Tod when travel sickness got the better of her. All in all it was a very busy day & the kids did very well. Were well behaved even though we were late getting back & they must have been truly fagged out. An easier day on Sunday, as Carloline needed to go home. As Jack woke up he asked (as mentioned) if we were off out anywhere special (Howarth). When told not because Caloline was going back to London today, he was most upset that she would be leaving. Both Jack & Eve really love her. We went off to Hebden again & as (yet again) the trains were not running, it was a coach at the station that took Caroline on her journey back. It was, of course late. Louise went to change Eve’s nappy, & while they were off the coach came. Jack & I said the good-byes. As Caroline settled on the coach Jack said, “I’m really sad now”. I gave him a hug & pointed out Caroline at the window, & then the coach pulled away. Jack returned a few blown kisses & started to cry.

Did I get any decorating done last night? Did I chuff! I did ‘play’ on the computer though. Got a nice chunk of redesigning the bits behind this page done*. Rejigged it so that it is better HTML & uses CSS so that it’s… well, basically better code & easier to ‘administrate’. Not seemingly a lot of good, but it’s a pride thing. I’d been playing with icab as a browser again. It’s a nice little thing, but if a page has ‘bad’ HTML coding it has a little icon of a ‘smiley face’ on the menu bar that goes red & unhappy. I thought I’d cheer it up. There’s still a <strike> code in the August page which I want to keep – so it’s only moderately happy there.

Louise & I were chatting about how well the kids are doing at the moment. She’s chuffed at the was Jack has settled into the school routine so well. I don’t really get that much of an impression on how he is doing, as, I guess Louise gets the detail off him. He did say to me that they had done ‘curly c’ yesterday, but then he knows most of his letters now. The social side of things is enjoyed. They played out 3 times yesterday…

Eve seems to be coming on very well with her language. Louise says that they chat most of the day, so I guess that she would. She says Eve’s ability to copy words is impressive. When talking of colours (which she does not quite ‘get’ yet) she repeated “bluey-green” after the one speaking. Not a useful word, but quite a complicated one. Eve is picking up on singing as well. ‘Wheels on the bus’ was sung yesterday & Eve joined in & may well have been singing it afterwards to. She does sometimes break into a rendition of ‘Twinkle Tinkle Little Star’ but only a few phrases. As we were doing the bed time routine yesterday, I was having difficulty concentrating on reading to Jack as I was listening to the conversation Louise & Eve were having as she tried to persuade her that she should go into her cot.
A lot of replies from Eve like, “No bed”, “No Cot” & even a “No thank you”. Choice was not really an option in the end, & she did go in her cot with the minimum of complaint (crying about the injustice of it all).

*original html based diary pages

i am special …say it every day

Wheee – last day at work for a little while! Holiday starts tomorrow!
Did not play on the mac at home – did not collect my eMails (not that I had any – I checked this morning) – did not web page messing about. Jack simply could not get off to sleep… It was not as if he was not tired; on his was home from school Louise said that he was saying that he wanted to close his eyes & go to sleep. He would have if she let him, she thinks… But he could not ‘switch off’. I read him stories until I fell asleep a couple of times. He said that he wanted to move to our bed, so I indulged him. Interestingly he then said he wanted to be left alone to sleep – so I popped down stairs (ooh – 9:40 already). Now then, the windows are open, as it’s so hot at the moment. It took a couple of minutes before Jack trotted to the top of the stairs to report that he heard a strange noise, so I went up & stayed with him a bit. He muttered about this ‘strange noise’ – wondering & wondering – so I tried to tell him that as the windows were open it must have been outside… Which made no difference. So I eventually realised I would have to be more reassuring, & explained that he was OK now as he was in mummy & daddy’s bed.
Dozed off myself again, as I was woken at 10:15 by Louise. Took Jack back to his bed & went… to bed (after a bit of tidying up outside). It did not feel productive, but it did rest me well – all that dozing as I was trying to get Jack to follow into slumber & not staying up late messing about on the computer.
(train home) On the way home – I am on Holiday now! Just a little chore of sorting a staff web page tonight & that be all – my time be my own… I can… um… decorate to my hearts content (hey ho). I would imagine I will be writing less, as I will have less ‘idle time’. My daily train journeys are wonderful for this little bit of free time. Tweaked my web page while at work (oooh – naughty – company time!) to include an old photo of me. Was taken (ahem) some years back by a lad I was doing an “Enterprise Awareness” course with. Created especially for arts orientated individuals as a year’s prep before going on the old “Enterprise Allowance” scheme. Read as: a year’s nonsense course learning about tax & marketing oneself. The reward? No hassle from the Job Centre for a year & no obligation to take up the old Enterprise Allowance. I recall it quickly became clear that the Enterprise Allowance, although a little more than Income Support, was not really something I could maintain, as you would need to show a semblance of being able to make something tangible… not really possible with small press comics.
“So then Mr. Schroeder, lets have a look at your accounts…Hmmm… I see that you have spent the majority of your monies on photocopying…”
“Yes, well, that’s for the printing of my comics which I’m selling.”
“Selling — oh, good. So what are the returns on these?”
“Um… Well… There’s a couple of Central London comic shops that have taken 5 copies Sale or Return… & I’ve given away about half of them”
“Given Away? OK, so how much money have you made this month Mr. Schroeder”
“I was supposed to make money?”

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….’).