Archives: eve

Again travelling to work with a hope that things are at last calming down… Again, we will see… but I am less optimistic of the prospect today.
Eve woke early again. She was stirring as I came out from having a shower. As everyone seems to have ended up in our bed last night, I plucked her out & took her downstairs with me. We could have breakfast together, & Louise & Jack could sleep some more. She seemed less interested in her “cereal” this morning though. She did offer me some, as I offer her some of mine, & thought it fun that I accepted. She has a cheeky grin she uses often at the moment – it seems to convey pure delight as she uses her whole body; going rigid & hunching her shoulders at the same time as a big teeth clenched grin. Oh, & she has also,in the past couple of weeks learnt how to jump. Jump & get both feet off the ground. It seems something that little kids take a particular delight in & find very satisfying. When waking & running is mastered this one seems the next ‘step’. I remember when Jack was 1st doing it as well… Hips still have a little of the baby swivel & there’s a balance thing like a skiing pose, but the delight at being able to do it!
This early rising on Eve’s part is starting to look like a habit. Perhaps she is undergoing a change in her general sleeping pattern as Louise said that she did not have much of a daytime nap yesterday. It is more likely she is either teething, or a little under the weather. Jack’s cough seems to be abating. I only say that as he was not coughing in his sleep before Louise & I went to bed last night. On the whole they both slept better.
At the moment I am reading Jack to sleep with a paperback children’s book… Not short stories, but something that is taking a while to get through. If he calms down for sleep (not ‘fiddling’) then he doesn’t usually manage to get to the end of the chapter. I’m not sure of the name of the book, but It’s by the Albergs & something like “The Bear That Nobody Wanted”. Louise & I are also enjoying the story.

Train home now… Work was not too hectic today – thankfully. Back to a level where stress is not completely mad. The ‘angry’ level seems to be calming down as well & our normal callers returning.

What joys will today’s work bring? Sigh…
Eve woke up as I was going. She was alone in our bed, Jack having got Louise to come to him earlier in the night. It was not one of her better wake ups – probably confused, & because of that a bit mad. As I was headed upstairs to relieve myself on the toilet, I though it a better course of action to try to comfort her instead. She did her ‘I’m mad – don’t touch me’, “no!”. She wanted Mummy, so I let her get off the bed & head down the hall. At the end of the hall she didn’t quite know what to do so turned round to be with a, “daaadee” & arms aloft wanting to be picked up. She did not see that Louise had emerged from their bedroom, until I had picked her up & immediately wanted passing over. All this must have been a tad confusing for her & we went back to our room with her to see if she might calm down. Not really. She now wanted me again, but I really needed to go to the toilet – so I went – much to her consternation… I have to head off for work in a couple of minutes… this, um, has to be done… Much crying & wailing & protestation & I do not have peace. While I sit on the toilet all the noise wakes Jack & he wants to know if Eve has “been sick?”. “No.o.o.o” – Resounds the shout back. Eve is starting to calm down a bit & I give her a cuddle before I go – which upsets her again as she was rather hoping that I would take her downstairs.
So… by the time I get downstairs & leave the house I turn back to see everyone, (Louise, Jack & Eve) at the front window waving me a pyjama bye-bye. Eve seems calmer (not red faced from crying) & she gives me a wave as I head off down the street.

Home from work; it was busy. Marginally less so, but enough to be able to see patterns in the things that were still wrong. Have the odd minute pause between calls… Either that or I am frighteningly getting used to another level of stress.

Well – the new version of Newton ATA support is out, & despite yesterdays problems, it does seem a bit better. I managed to create error on the card yesterday. I think that adding to document stored on the card may not be such a bright idea at the moment. This is no big deal really, as it can be worked round. Difficult to say if that is where the problem lies, but time will tell. It is, after all software that has not yet reached the beta testing stage as yet. It works well – but there are the occasional upsets when the unexpected happens. I imagine it should be an essential for every Newton device when it’s complete. Imagine, being able to change the profile & functionality of the machine depending on what applications you have active in the additional memory stores. It can even act as a web server at the moment.. a handheld computer running the pages you view a website on, & with the potential capacity these cards can offer, it could be a substantial website.
Yeh – anyway… how are the kids getting on?
Well,I was saying the other day how much Eve seemed to have grown of recent… well, in the last couple of days her language has taken one of those ‘little leaps’ as well. There is more involvement in what she says. She is linking more words together. The problem is, at this stage, interpreting what she says. She does not really have crisp consonants, thus it can all sound a bit mumbly, even though she proclaims things loudly. Her words for things are not complete – ‘phan’ for elephant for instance. Hmmm trying to think of a long syllable word, I can only come up with dinosaur – which she nearly manages.
She woke up in the night , upset, last night. Louise went to her & she thinks that she must have been dreaming. She was not up for being consoled (heh – Jack is always, no matter what, up for a hug, whereas Eve, if she is mad & upset, will shrug away from a hug… this is a trait that Louise can do as well…). Eve was, through floods of tears, asking after Jack & I… but in the middle of it all wanting a tissue as well. Sweetie. She gets a tissue forced when she is upset to dab her tears & wipe her nose.
Jack has a cough at the moment. We were late to bed last night, & a we were dropping off to sleep, Jack roused from his room to join us in our room. His coughing kept us awake that little bit longer. Partly it’s concern for him, partly it’s the fact he’s leaning into you coughing into your ear. What with that, & Eve’s major upset an hour or so later, I’m feeling just that little more jaded than I should do today.

Eve fell asleep in her high chair on Sunday night. She had not had her normal daytime snooze. She missed her chance when we went to the supermarket. We dashed off, perhaps earlier than we had planned, as Ruth (Hamish’s mum) had taken Jack, Hamish & her others to the park. We took it as a good opportunity to do the Sunday run for shopping. Poor Eve. I had changed her nappy before tea, & she was not happy about it at all; too tired & a bit of a sore bum. She was contemplating the possibility of snoozing when I was putting her back in a “happy-nappy” (turn over, eye rub). She was still grandly upset though,so I picked her up & cuddled her downstairs. Tea was then ready – so into the high chair for the distraction of food! She does love her food. Heh – yesterday we were out on the backstreet when Louise proclaimed from the kitchen that tea was ready. Eve immediately dashed off inside. She knew what was going on there. Anyway – as tea dispersed on Sunday, Jack went off into the front room to watch the pop archaeology programme ‘Time Team’, (“look how much mud they’ve dug now!”) I followed,& Louise started the tedium of tidying up after tea. Eve was happy enough to stay in the chair. Left a few minutes unattended Louise motioned me into the back room a few minutes later. There’s poor Eve struggling to stay awake with the last of her tea still in front of her. Not long later she had dozed off… Louise got her into her cot a few minutes later (sans shorts) & she was off for the night (just a little earlier than usual). Jack got to stay up later than he usually would as having a bath might have disturbed Eve; their bedroom being next to the bathroom & Jack not being a quite sort of lad, it seemed prudent. I read to him downstairs on the sofa, where he was keen to sleep, he thought for the night – but no, we took him upstairs to his bed.
Eve must just have had a growing spurt. She seems that bit bigger. It struck me when Louise took her upstairs asleep. She’s got to that stage where she cannot quite be comfortably carried as a baby any more. A parents cradling arms are not enough – legs seem to dangle as if off a too small bed. Caroline, our neighbour, also commented that she seemed to be bigger when the kids were running about on the back street before tea yesterday.. Feet seem bigger, (that’s just the new shoes) legs seem longer – that sort of thing. Kids do that to you though… it’s like anything that gradually changes, but is constantly observed I guess – there comes a point when the realisation of change dawns.

Sigh…
Back to work today…
Louise was saying while we drifted off to sleep last night that she thinks that Eve will saying, “Where Daddy?” all tomorrow.
‘Where’ & ‘Why’ is something she’s really got into saying the past few days.
Had a lovely holiday. A real good taste of how life could be, but the ugly subject of earning money always seems to come up – so it’s back to work… Sigh…
Jack had a good birthday on Tuesday. Mum & dad came up for one of their flying visits. Arrived at 7am as they said they would. I, fortunately, had decided that it would be a good idea to get up for that time in case they did arrive. Fortunately they had made some error in navigation along the way or they would have caught me asleep.
Not sure Jack will have enjoyed the quick look in at Ikea we sneaked in (heh), but the Toys r Us was great fun for him. There was a section that had ride on bike, trikes, tractor, cars, & – well – al sorts. He was particularly fond of a go-cart which he zoomed around the shop in for quite some time with one of us in pursuit. We spent a good long while there messing about chasing the kids & fraying our nerves a little more, but always just keeping the right side of sanity. In the end we got Jack a few items of junior meccano & a tunnel for his lego/duplo railway. Eve got a tricycle, & they both got a small slide for the garden… And a lolly. We would have liked to have got Jack the go-cart, but we’ve nowhere to keep it other than outside, & then not even in a shed, so, unfortunately it was just not possible. It seems odd, that on Jack’s birthday we got Eve a tricycle, but Jack has just got a new bike, which was for his birthday, & he can still fit on the trike. Eve cannot reach the pedals as yet. She can on Jack’s bike as she uses them to climb up on it, but she cannot do anything other than sit there once she has climbed up onto it, whereas she can push herself along on the trike.
Day at work complete – homeward bound now – phew – another over the top hot day. The office is stuffy as Matt has ‘borrowed’ the office fan, altho he’s also on emergency leave due to family emergency… bah.
Jack was fun yesterday evening… He has a Thomas the Tank Engine helium balloon for his birthday & he & Hamish were playing with it in the house after tea. They had made up a little game hiding & finding it, so I joined in & foxed them a little by hiding it under something (helium balloons float – so they were looking up). Jack thought that this was great fun &was all excited by it. They had a go at hiding it from me, & Jack simply couldn’t contain himself!
“Your turn Paul!” (Jacks started calling me ‘Paul’ – dunno why really, must be as that’s what Louise calls me – I don’t mind)
Jack, gleefully; “We’ve hidden it-“
“Don’t tell me Jack!”
“OK… …It’s in the back room! …It’s in that box!!”
This sort of scenario was repeated several times. No matter what he – just – couldn’t – stop – himself. Hamish would say, “Oowww Jaaaack!” & I’d have to tell the pouting boy that Jack just couldn’t help it. He was trying, but it was too much fun.
Jack & Hamish have been playing well together again. There was a day the other week that Jack was distinctly ‘unkeen’ on Hamish – saying that he was ‘threatening him’. Not sure really what that means as Jack’s understanding of a word we do not really use is curious.
Hamish has helped with the eating of birthday cake over the last couple of days & will be going to what is billed as a ‘picnic’ on Saturday with us at Louise’s mum’s. This was initially going to be a proper picnic in the park near Louise’s mum’s, but has since relocated to the lawn/drive outside the flats where she lives. Not really sure why – it may have been because there are a couple of older members of the family who might have found sitting on the grass in the park a little difficult, but that also may be an expeditious excuse. So, Louise’s extended family will be there, & Jack, Eve & Hamish. No other children… so I can’t really bring myself to call it a children&’s party, as it is really meant to be.
For Jack’s party we were initially hoping to rent a hall in the local Sports Centre – bouncy castle, kiddies climbing area – that sort of thing. We could have just about afforded it if we ‘doubled-up’ the party so that another kid would also be having their birthday party too… but the other parents dad vetoed on the grounds of it being too far from his kids actual birthday. Bah. A shame that the only ‘event’ is the ‘picnic’ but we are too timid & certainly the house is too topsy turvey to hold a party at our house for Jack’s (many) pals. sigh.
I managed to get a wee bit of decorating done over my holiday. Well short of what I would have liked to have done, but that was to be expected. A good start on things – that I can hopefully maintain some form of momentum with. I so needs to be done! There is (typically) too much to do…
Ah, if only I were at home instead of working, I could see me actually being able to get on with it all! Shame, shame…

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….’).

A few moment before bathtime.
The kids are playing on bikes on the back street one more.
Eve has just passed by on Amber’s tricycle saying, “Hiya dadi, hiya dadi, hiya dadi”. Amber is Hamish’s younger sister. She is a couple of months older than Eve – can’t remember how many. She had foolishly left her tricycle in our yard, & Eve has not removed her bottom from it in about an hour. Heh – she is now telling off Jack for sitting on the wall at the top of the street.
Our excursion to Bradford yesterday was exhausting. We walked many miles in search of a border, & miraculously we found one in the end. At the noted tacky home improvement emporium; Fads. A terracotta coloured border textured, with a spiraling yellow stitch motif. It should work well. Not over decorative, not twee, & hopefully the right sort of colour so that it doesn’t make the rest of the paintwork seem grubby. Phew.
Today I started off inexplicably tetchy. No real reason. Still, got on with getting Eve breakfast & Jack on the Internet while Louise had her shower. Slobbed it a bit when Louise came downstairs, & then Louise got tetchy & started fretting about the fact that we needed to get the back room cleared as the decorators are due this week, so we had to move some things upstairs, but to do that we needed to move some of the things that are in the bedroom at the moment (that used to be in the attic) back up to the attic, but the floor has not been completely cleaned in the attic as yet – so not that much can go back up…
Kids are bathed & bed.
Frayed nerves are I guess understandable. I got on with moving some boxes. Louise started tidying & sorting in the back room, Jack wet off to watch & help Caroline, our very good next door neighbour do some planting in her garden & Eve – well – she pottered about amusing herself. It’s amazing that she manages that… Jack used to demand your attention, but then I guess, he being the 1st, we indulged him in that.

A few moment before bathtime.
The kids are playing on bikes on the back street one more.
Eve has just passed by on Amber’s tricycle saying, “Hiya dadi, hiya dadi, hiya dadi”. Amber is Hamish’s younger sister. She is a couple of months older than Eve – can’t remember how many. She had foolishly left her tricycle in our yard, & Eve has not removed her bottom from it in about an hour. Heh – she is now telling off Jack for sitting on the wall at the top of the street.
Our excursion to Bradford yesterday was exhausting. We walked many miles in search of a border, & miraculously we found one in the end. At the noted tacky home improvement emporium; Fads. A terracotta coloured border textured, with a spiraling yellow stitch motif. It should work well. Not over decorative, not twee, & hopefully the right sort of colour so that it doesn’t make the rest of the paintwork seem grubby. Phew.
Today I started off inexplicably tetchy. No real reason. Still, got on with getting Eve breakfast & Jack on the Internet while Louise had her shower. Slobbed it a bit when Louise came downstairs, & then Louise got tetchy & started fretting about the fact that we needed to get the back room cleared as the decorators are due this week, so we had to move some things upstairs, but to do that we needed to move some of the things that are in the bedroom at the moment (that used to be in the attic) back up to the attic, but the floor has not been completely cleaned in the attic as yet – so not that much can go back up…
Kids are bathed & bed.
Frayed nerves are I guess understandable. I got on with moving some boxes. Louise started tidying & sorting in the back room, Jack went off to watch & help Caroline, our very good next door neighbour do some planting in her garden & Eve – well – she pottered about amusing herself. It’s amazing that she manages that… Jack used to demand your attention, but then I guess, he being the 1st, we indulged him in that.