Archives: hamish

Jack came home happy from Thomas’ last night. Eve was already asleep – she was worn out after a happy day. Jude was still going strong. He’s still an early riser… He was awake (just) before I was due to rise this morning & did not settle down. Still actively torturing Louise when I went to rouse her half an hour or so later. Bad morning – confused – & the milk I had put on mine was off – which is bizarre. Took a couple of sour mouthfuls for me to realise. I then went to redo my breakfast but ended up putting milk on Louise’s cereal instead… She noticed it was soggy when she came to eat it… duh. At least Eve is sleeping better in the night – & the last 2 mornings, although she has woken too early – she has not howled about it; slightly confused upset, but not howling.
Louise is suffering from lack of sleep more than I am.
Party tonight – Hamish’s birthday – so we are off to ‘Pockets’ – where Jack had his do. Halloween themed & all that. Hamish, turned up on the doorstep last night ‘trick or treat’ing. Bit early, but I guess that they can hardly do it tonight. Amber the skeleton was dribbling through her mask. I guess it added to the effect…

Beautiful clear light this morning. It pissed it down last night – water thrashing on the roof & velux windows. I have to say, this is one aspect of sleeping in the attic room I really like. I smile to hear the rain beating down & the wind thrashing about.
I forgot to mention earlier in the week – probably Monday, as I didn’t type on Tuesday, that Jude has cut his 1st tooth (at last). Louise ways that he cut it’s neighbour yesterday – so there are 2 bottom teeth. I could not feel it, & have yet to actually see the 1st one – he likes to keep them covered with his tongue when he concedes to open his mouth…
Looked like Louise had to endure a day of mayhem yesterday. Hamish & Amber have returned from a trip to London, & were round to play a lot. The upstairs rooms seem to have been rearranged a little – chairs moved bedclothes everywhere. hmph. I tidied up their front bedroom when I got home as Louise was out with Jude getting shopping (delayed) & her mum was playing with Jack & Eve downstairs. Apparently Jack & Hamish had done a good job of tidying it already as they had scattered lego & bionicles everywhere – which was gone by the time I got to it. Ah – the world of small advances.

A pleasant weekend, all in all. Out & about on Saturday. We had money things to sort out & Louise managed to get an appointment with the opticians in Bradford. She also likes the glasses I’ve been thinking I want. We went to a toy shop as Jack had a party to go to on Sunday & we ended up getting presents for Jack & Eve as well (how can you escape such in a toy shop?). Eve got a small dolly which had a tiny bottle & dummy etc. She sat in the pushchair & played with it a lot. Kept her quite happy all afternoon. Jack got a bit of technics lego – a ‘drome racer’ which flies apart when it hits something. He was a little frustrated that he could not have it until he was home – but we had to be sensible with it really. Thinking about it he was a little easily frustrated this weekend. This could be an indication that he’s not really well. Retaliated at Eve a couple of times. Oh, & there was Hamish; he upset Jack. Jack wanted to show Hamish the neat technics/bioniclish car that he had & Hamish brushed him off. Seems Hamish was being busy being a ‘big boy’ & didn’t want to bother. Jack came back in tears. Amber came round a little later to play with Eve – but they didn’t really cotton on to this neat car & bionicles thing. He tried, but she just left in the end – which she (& Hamish for that matter) have a habit of doing.
Jack enjoyed his party over at Tom’s a lot. He was a little worried as I took him that I might not hang around, (I didn’t) but as soon as he was there he was happy & last seen dashing off with pals up the stairs. When I came to get him later he was full on giddy. He charged out of the door at me happy as anything. Crashed into me, as he likes to do. I bent down for a hug & got a real good slap on the head for my trouble. Diane, Tom’s mum was really good & gave us a party bag for all of our brood which included hair grips for Eve & a rattle for Jude – uncommonly generous! Jack had a couple of his party bag sweets on the way home & Louise said he was completely bug eyed when we arrived back. He danced through the door & announced to Louise – happy as anything – that he’s had, “too many sweets” – which was, by & large, patently obvious. He remained in a happy & convivial mood all afternoon/evening. Played well with Eve – ate his tea – gadded about – played with Junkbot on the lego site & did not worry when I was not there to assist. Actually – he played quite happily on his own – completing the puzzled to complete the levels quite well. OK then, all in all Jack has been abundantly loving this weekend. It’s true what Louise says – when he’s in a good mood everything goes smoothly.
I stayed up a little late last night watching most of ‘A Clockwork Orange’. I gave up in the end as I realised that I needed sleep more than I needed to know what happens in the end. I’ll watch it again sometime, & I’ll be able to play proper attention. Sleep will nag at me now this week – I must remember to get to bed on time to make up the deficit.

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.

Guilty of reading the paper in the morning the last couple of days. Such naughtiness – not occupying my time with something vaguely constructive, like, like… typing this stuff.

What have we been up to? Well – yesterday we fell prey to aggressive mortgage marketing & went to the Halifax to have an interview about them taking over out mortgage. Coincides with a desire to get some money for home improvements. All looks as though it will go swimmingly.
Jack was tired & ratty yesterday – he was tired – late to bed & early to rise. He was away for most of the day, the day before in ‘the countryside. Ruth, Hamish & Amber’s mum had taken them out on a trip to Pendle. Louise didn’t really realise it was that far afield. She imagined that they would be going local, as there’s plenty of countryside around here, but there was something missing in the communication. This was seemingly mainly done by Hamish, who is really only a little older than Jack… They didn’t get back to way past teatime, but they had set of later than planned as Louise took them to playgroup as previously planned. The county jaunt was only introduced as an idea that morning & caught her somewhat off balance – but as Jack was keen, she let him go.
There was another trip of some form planned today, but Jack has a dental appointment for that missing tooth he now has to be checked upon. Is there actually another tooth coming up or not?
Personal preoccupation – the pain I have in the nasal cavity. There’s a boil or something right up my nose. Nothing that can be seen, but it’s certainly uncomfortable. Just thought I’d share that.

“Um…” is about all I can think of this morning.
A one-day weekend again – so not much doing. Jack & I cleaned the bathroom. Eve helped as well. Not terribly exciting, I have to concede, but it went surprisingly well considering it was me, & 2 young children & a lot of water. They were remarkably restrained… Actually, I think it was because Jack was good & Eve follows that lead.
Jack’s pals Jessie & Hamish were not about. Hamish is in London & Jessie must have been out for the day. Jack is worried as Jessie’s house is up for sale. He does not want him to go away & is afraid that he will move schools as well. As far as I can discern – they are not leaving the area & Jessie’s older brother & sister go to Jack’s school as well. I may be wrong, but I don’t think that they will be moving schools as well.
Jack takes his friendship very seriously. I’ve seen Jack trying to comfort both friends when upset. Jessie went off in a huff once & Jack was most disturbed, & ran after him asking what was wrong. I think Jessie felt aggrieved at some perceived slight. Hamish is the harder of the 2 as he does not seem to want consoling when upset (hmmm – that’s what Eve’s like). His elder brother had upset him & he went into his front garden to cry & sulk. As we were in our front garden Jack was most concerned & went to see what the matter was. Unfortunately Hamish just cold-shouldered & was probably more upset by the attention. Jack can’t really get his head round this reaction to being upset. When he’s upset he needs comfort from one of us (me or Louise). Big on contact & hugs, is Jack. I guess he expects others to need contact when they are upset. He wants to help.

To work on a Saturday again… Would normally be working next Saturday, but there’s a train strike then, so I would not make it – so swapped shifts.
Jack was not for settling to sleep last night. It was all a bit hectic. Eve & Jude had their bath while Jack was still out playing at Jessie’s house (after a bit of initial resistance Jack Hamish & Jessie seem to have settled to playing well – there was a bit of unevenness in the dynamic for a bit there, but it seems to have worked out). I went to get Jack, & it was deemed a bit late for a bath, so he was straight to bed, which was probably a mistake as although he was jolly tired he was not keen to settle down. I read to him for a bit in which time a very flakey Eve succumbed to sleep. Jack was in the mood for more. Tried to put the sleeping Jude into his cot & only succeeded in waking him, much to Louise’s annoyance. So we had Jude & Jack awake, & Louise needed to be getting on. As we were both flakey we were in poor decision making mode. Jack was grabbing books to look at rather than sitting in bed. If he was I could have coaxed him to sleep. Still, rather than risk waking Eve with loud Jude Louise took him out of the room. As Jack was refusing to settle I went as well, with the advice that we had things to be a doing & to go to sleep when he had finished with the books. I thought he would soon come downstairs again… He didn’t – he actually settled down & went to sleep! Now this may seem foolish of us, but that was the 1st time the he went to sleep on his own – with no one else there to guide him to slumber… I was annoyed that he wouldn’t settle down, but so immeasurably pleased that he managed to do that on his own.