Archives: bedtime

A couple of days to go until Jack’s birthday!
Have we got him anything? …Uh, not really. We have organised a party for him this year though – at ‘Pockets’ which is a snooker hall… but we’re going to be playing in the kiddies indoor climbing frame ball park thing, & then a little party is put on. It looks quite like there are going to be 20 kids in attendance (including Jack & Eve). Blimey!
Preparations still to be done!
Washed Jude’s hair in the bath the other day & it’s made it look fluffier, & in doing so made his hair look longer. His hair seems lighter (more blond) than Jack & Eve’s did, but I think it still could go red, as Jack’s did. He’s currently waking at 10:55 on a regular basis. It’s kinda good for ensuring if we’re not in we’re goinmg to bed, yourngoing to bed, but it seems a bit too habitual at the moment. He won’t be comforted by me & yells & coughs when I try (looking around all the time for Louise). It would be better if he were more satisfied, but he’s also getting in the habit of coughing & yelling & then Louise arrives, & he can calm down… So I’m rejected as comfort giver (not that I can realistically do ‘comfort’).

Was going to do some attic painting last night – but it was 9:30 before I surfaced from the kids room (urg). They were not for sleeping last night. Eve ended up in Jack’s bed & Jack ended up in Eve’s bed. It might have been a coming storm that did it. As I Louise nudged me awake (I’d fallen asleep with them as usual) it was bucketing down outside. You could hear the water sloshing down the back street. It’s difficult to be really certain, but it seems like the attic wall is not getting any wetter – the leak may be cured! I just wish it would actually dry out – then we’d be sure.
Jack called just the once in the night, but I think that was more because he had kicked off the cover & needed it back. He went straight back to sleep.
A week today we’ll hopefully be headed off on holiday.

I dithered about for an age in B&Q yesterday considering paint colour.
I eventually settled on woodwork colour, but dithered too much on the wall colour & got the one that we thought we might originally. It doesn’t really go with the woodwork colour though, but no matter – it can be used for the back room downstairs, as it needs doing this year as well. We have decided on a wall colour now – so I can go get that next week or something. Jack was very keen to start painting as soon as he saw me lugging it home. I was vague on the subject, but I did do a bit of painting last night – just to make a start & to see what it came out like. Nice.
Feel like I’m actually making progress now. The damp from February’s rain is still there. Looking at it very very closely yesterday it seems it could well be actually starting to dry out. Not a lot – but it seems to be… This is slower than it used to dry – whether this be because of the sealing in they have done has caught whatever was actually letting in water, or whether this is due to the volume of water that needs to dry out – I dunno.

Jude still has a cold. He was having problems breathing & feeding in the night because of his blocked nose. He was managing though – & he wasn’t getting distressed or upset. He has a health visitor coming to see him today. I imagine he’ll be weighed & all that. He certainly seems a growing lad. His eyes do not seem to be remaining blue. They have light brown round the iris at the moment. Still no clear idea what his hair color might be. It is growing (aside from the little bald patch as the back that babies get from lying down all the time & moving their head about a lot) but it’s still just a mousy brown. There are hints of lighter colour & red when through light… but nothing dominant. He’s murmuring & gurgling quite a bit nowadays – lovely sounds for parents. He loves watching his brother & sister. Louise was outside with him yesterday & he was happily watching his siblings & the world in general, when Louise had to pop inside for something (tissue for Eve’s nose?). He was crying as soon as she went into the house, but stopped again as soon as he was outside again.
On the whole I think the kids are feeling better. Last night Eve slept through the night in her own bed & Jack managed the same the night before.

• 

• 

Jack was late off to sleep again last night. Hopefully he will sleep in a bit thins morning…
Perhaps “A Comet in Moominland” is just too stimulating for him… I dunno. He seems to be enjoying it as his bedtime read, as do I, but he got alarmed that Momintroll fell off a cliff pushing a boulder over with Snufkin. They were roped together though – so he didn’t fall, but I had to explain twice that the boulder was not going to fall on then as they had pushed it. Then he wanted to root down further into his bed, so I had to move Jude, who was sleeping on Jack’s bed after falling asleep with Louise (Louise subsequently having gone to do sandwiches for lunches & ironing & suchlike). Jude did not go into the cot without waking up, so Jack did not get more stories, but had to try to get off to sleep on his own while I went through the process of trying to calm Jude down & then put him back in his cot. Jude was not for being put down, & Jack had a struggle to get asleep. He did sleep eventually, but time probably drifted past 10:00 – which was even later than yesterday… Poor boy will be tired at school.
Oh, & I’m tired as well as it was past 11:00 again before I managed to get to bed, what with having a bath & all. At least Hattie is coming over to day to look t the shower & see what needs to be done.
Oh, talking of work to be done on the house. The roof. I’m not sure what it is, as Louise was discussing it& I only got the end of the conversation… & have not got round to getting it clear in my head what is going on. Anyway – they are coming back to put some ventilation on the roof. I’m not really sure what this entails. I think Louise says ventilating ridge tiles – which should be interesting as imagine that they will change the profile of the roof. May have completely the wrong end of the stick, though.

Groggy morning, but feeling more alive than usual in these circumstances. I was up late, so I’m tired. Triumph though ~ Nick’s mac plays ball again. It took a while of messing about with his old DVD drive plugged into the open computer, but we got there (phew). Nice to help someone.

Jack was not for settling down last night (which is why I was late to Nick’s, which is why I was late home & late into the bath & late into bed – aug!). Not really sure why – he was just a bit hyper. We’d had a pleasant evening out after tea kicking the ball about & it didn’t really seem like it was bedtime, but he was OK about it. It was after his bath that he seemed not to want to settle. At the moment Eve goes off to sleep in Jack’s bed & although she was very tired she was still just hovering around wakefulness, so I couldn’t move her. I lie next to the bed when reading & Eve manages to grab the spot by the edge of the bed next to me (as she is out of the bath before Jack gets in). Jack seemed to take offence at her being in this coveted position & she would not settle into a deeper sleep while there was the threat of him messing about. I got fed up & went to get the washing in at one stage, which was not really a good thing to do; as Louise pointed out, it didn’t really occur to Jack that I went out of the room because I was mad at him – it was just an excuse to follow me down the stairs… I told him to go up, but he took that as a challenge & a laff as well. Apparently he was sitting at the top of the stairs making noise & Louise said something in passing about the fact that he’ll have to go to sleep in our room if he cannot settle down in their bedroom – which immediately reduced him to a tearful wreck. I came back upstairs to find him very upset. It seems he wants to challenge & play up against the norm, but when faced with the actuality of a break in his usual routine, he cracks. It also seems that even if I am stern, I am not serious <sigh>.