Archives: eve

Not a thought in my head. Is that so unusual? It would be nice to just drift for a bit.
Pootled about after work in Manchester yesterday & looked at a few pairs of glasses. Humph. The pair I liked will most likely be too expensive at £120.00. The shops that sell glasses are always the same. D&A will remain my least favorite, although it’s where I always got my glasses as a kid. My parents must have liked them… were they different then? Now they are very aggressive (with that mask of helpfulness). Just browsing I try to say to the hawk that swoops on me when I start to look at frames, but she persists & waffles extolling virtues & outlining offers. She also suggests that I partake of the ‘designer matching’ service (or some such) – seemingly unaware of the implicit suggestion that I do not know which pair of glasses might or might not suit me. It’s not just about the vanity of how they sit on yer face; it’s also about personality. Whatever – suffice to say, as soon as her attention switched to a helpless looking old lady, I was outa there.
Also wandered round large record store wondering what on earth I was doing (looking for) & feeling bilious.

Eve was tired last night – she wanted to get in the bath almost straight after tea (which she wolfed) – so we ran her a bath. It all worked quite well. Jack most likely got to feel he was up later than usual, & was very good going to bed. She woke at 5:10 hollering for mum – which was a drag, but unlike yesterday I managed to get her to sleep again (phew). …It’s just a shame I didn’t get to sleep again, but never mind.
brain would like to stop having to commit to thinking now. Thank you, & good day.

Gripe: shite train – no tables – typing on lap (oh, & it’s running late, but that never bothers me as I leave plenty of time for getting to work).
Jack was… well I’m feeling conscious that I seem to put every run in we have down here & it’s not really fair on him. He was difficult at bedtime yesterday & I upset him because of this. We managed to calm down eventually & we were left with the situation that Jack & Eve were in his bed as I read to them. Eve was just dropping of to sleep & Jack started knocking her. I said not to & he just about started hitting her. Granted, it’s his bed & he does not share it when I read to him, but it was a situation that his behavior had created. So – Louise had just managed to get Jude asleep & took Eve into her bed to get her to drift off. I was mad at Jack for being insolent & unhelpful again after we had just been through all that, & he had moved on. Grumpy as I was I was not willing to read anymore to him, but Louise told me off & told me to read. I was rather pleased about this as it gave me the room to be grumpy & voice said displeasure at the situation, but still carry on reading so that things progressed ‘normally’ & Jack drifted off to sleep instead of getting annoyed with me & staying up later than he should.
This morning did not go to plan either. Eve awoke crying just as I was getting out of the shower. Hurriedly scooped her up & got her back into bed, but she was settling to sleep again, but… not quite – which was frustrating. She eventually won when things were starting to get too late to be practical – I needed to be getting going to actually have some breakfast. In the end all the kids are awake before I leave the house in a dash (but determined not to be too much of a dash, as I’m not confident I’m fully better). I dislike hurry in the mornings, but sometimes it seems difficult to avoid.
Eve is very ‘clingy’ with me at the moment – I carried her all the way to pick Jack up from school & on hunt for an open barber for a haircut for him (which he desperately needs at the moment). She also clung to me. We did not find an open barber.

Louise’s mum comes today & I get to linger in Manchester a little after work. A couple of little jobs to do & I’m going to have a look at glasses. Both Louise & I are going to get new glasses. I want to do a little window shopping today

Back to the routine after last week’s disruption. Sigh.
The moon was high & bright at 5:30 when I woke up. Jude again seems to have taken this as the arrival of the day, but unlike yesterday I was up, & Louise didn’t really manage to get him off to sleep again. We had reports from other parents that the full moon aglow has fooled other kiddies as well. I guess it depends which was their windows point. Fortunately Jack & Eve’s room looks the other way.

We got the re-mortgage sorted now – all the bits & bobs came through on Saturday morning. It makes little difference in terms of outgoings excepting that I am now covered on life insurance & all that stuff; that’s a novelty. We can plan a trip to Ikea & start getting the rest of the things organised that we need to do with this money. It ain’t a vast amount & I’m sure it’ll be gobbled up quick – but shelves & a back door & replacement windows & a new bath might come to pass.

We had a few details to tie up with the bank on the Saturday morning, so we trooped off there before we set off to Hebden Bridge for a scout about. Louise brought back reports that Bionicles were on sale there – so this had to be checked. Sure enough they were & we bought one for Jack. I have some in standby that I’ve managed to get off ebay – so there were limits to what we could buy. I told Andy of these reports as well as their lad Hamish likes them too. Shot myself in the foot rather though as the ebay bionicles were also for Hamish’s forthcoming birthday present. Regroup – rethink. Silly me.

We had 2 birthday parties for Jack to attend this weekend. One was more for Eve, but we were all invited. I wonder when, demographically, most birthdays occur?

Travelling into work on the train as usual… Sigh.
My mind is not the usual fog of grasping at remembering through the fog of a fuzzy brain that would much rather have not arisen at 5:30. I was actually physically dithering this morning – a little of the shakes. At least I got to have the last of the steroids. The antibiotics look like they’ll last me into the weekend & the inhaler will have to live with me for a good while yet. I only used it the once yesterday & I haven’t really needed it today. Hopefully I can get away with minimal usage. Still I was hoping that I’d be feeling stronger & more confident that I do at this moment. Still – it’s only early yet. Still…
Louise has to face the kids at home alone this morning. Jude’s been an imp in the night – not settling down very well. As usual he’s happy – but Louise is going to be more tired than she needs to be from that. He’s due his hearing test afternoon. He may not cooperate. They had to give up with Eve in the end as she was too canny by the time they managed it, & Jude could be the same. Louise is supposed to sit there & distract him into looking forward while someone behind them makes a noise. Jude is likely to be as interested as Eve was at whet those people behind Louise think they’re doing. He’s a social animal – he likes to interact.
Is Jack going to be upset that I’ve changed routines yet again? Both Jack & Eve have enjoyed me being there in the morning, but it’s made things more difficult as well as easier as morning routines go. Apparently there are often tears in the morning when it’s realised that I’m not there, but when I have been & I’m not… Ah well. Depends who wakes 1st I suppose. Eve woke just before 6:00 this morning, but I tucked her into bed with Louise (& the already awake Jude) & she dropped off to sleep again. A too uncommon thing is for Eve to wake 1st in the mornings & come crying downstairs & cry as I’m not there etc. Then she has some breakfast & gets in her usual chirpy mood. Jack then wakes up & is upset & is even more upset with Eve gleefully announcing “Daddy’s gone to work!”

Still at home!

Things went a little better this morning despite me being woken by Jude at my usual rise & shine time of 5:30. Eve had managed to get upstairs into our bed at some point & Louise had gone downstairs at Jack’s behest earlier… so I kept Jude pacified for awhile (quarter of an hour or so – which was not bad) before he made enough noise to wake Louise & I had to surrender to getting up. Eve managed to sleep through Jude’s noises.
Louise managed to get Jude asleep – so I sat about a bit downstairs until Eve realised she was alone & woke in tears. I went up 2 flight of stars to get her & then as I was coming down again realised that was perhaps rushing was not such a wise thing to do (this being out of breath is getting silly). Louise carried her down the rest of the way & then went off to have her shower while Eve sat on me & told me about all sorts of things that were running through her head, but which have evaporated from memory now.
Such is the morning routine. Jack woke, Jude woke, Eve got dressed, acted like a wild thing. Jack actually ate some breakfast. I read his school book with him & he did rather well. I haven’t managed to read with him for a while (bad dad!) but he’s definitely recognising more words & is more willing to think about word structure & letter sounds.
Confusion, & then they are away.
I’ve pottered for a bit & retired upstairs to write this and perhaps get some kip, but now I realise that there are a few little jobs to be on with downstairs – so a kip will have to wait… bah.

wheeze – wheeze – wheeze – wheeze – wheeze – wheeze – wheeze – wheeze – wheeze – wheeze.
I ain’t well again. Unlike the last 2 Mondays I did manage to get some sleep, (cough medicine to calm me down) but I am immensely clogged up. Walking even makes me mildly out of breath. Bunged up, chesty cough, wheezing, aching limbs… my, you must have a spot of influenza Mr Schroeder…. duuuuuh.
What we been doing? If I could think straight, it would be a start, but I’m boringly narrowed in of feeling shite.
Eve has been a daredevil at playgroup – jumping off the slide (slide down halfway, and then leap). Louise had to tell her to stop it as others were failing to copy her, & were in danger of hurting themselves. Playgroups, from what Louise says, seems to be like a sitcom. The playgroup leaders are both dry & droll & some of the kids sound plain odd. There’s the boy. who. speaks. slowly. & deliberately. He was up to something the other day (playing with some anthropomorphic toy?) & Louise asked him what he was doing, “I’m. stabbing. him.” … Riiiiiight…. There’s also a couple of boys who roll around with monkey masks & monkey tails… OK… I’m sure it’s the same in playgroups up & down the country (ahem).

I allegedly slept well last night… funny that. Seems I beg to differ with the actuality.

Eve is “The biggest girl in the wide world”. I thought I’d share that with you. She’s bigger than Jack, she’s bigger than Grandma, she’s bigger that daddy (me). I’m not sure where this opinion originated, but she is very pleased with it, & has often mentioned it over the past weeks.

Her playgroup has moved from the college to a room at Jack’s school. She went for the 1st time again yesterday & loved it immensely. She did not want Louise to go though… So Louise stayed & Jude enjoyed himself as well. Louise says that Eve really enjoyed herself. She was running with her head held high as she left.

Jack has settled into school again well. Louise was a bit worried on the 1st day back when the seating arrangements cast him as the only boy on a ‘girl table’, but this has not effected him. I think there was more concern he might get ribbed by more ‘boy centric’ boys for being on ‘the girl table’. Not so, & he does not really seem to have that distinction enforced as much as others. William, his old pal who moved to Spain has returned again – which has made him happy. I think he’s off to William’s after school this Friday. All in all, i think he’s enjoying school (as much as one does).
He’s a social animal.

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.

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.