December 23, 2004
Whether I've bought too many presents for the boys? Nah, I'm not wondering, I *KNOW* I have
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time - Mark Haddon
Quite
Ahh, it's not just me.
(tired after 3 hours of wrapping presents for the kids)
Snow
There is so much of this stuff that our patio table (reinforced glass) smashed to smithereens under the weight of it last night.
G is for Grinch
Every year, G leaves it until the last minute to buy me anything for Christmas. Every year he also get the hump that I have made an effort to buy him lots of presents because he has no idea what to get me (because he hasn't taken notice of the ginormous hints I've made for the last 2 or 3 months) and is cross that he then has to go out with everyone else in the world who goes at the last minute and try to decide what to get me.
Last night we had a foot of snow and today we have freezing rain and a severe winter storm going on. There's loads to shovel, the roads are unuseable and the traffic a nightmare and he has to go out in it. As you can imagine, his 'enthusiasm' is even less!
Another blah factor is that G is currently working on a project for the USA. The US don't get Monday and Tuesday off as holiday, but MS give them today and tomorrow off. G has elected to take today and tomorrow off and work Monday/Tuesday....... and as he's spending these days shopping we don't get to spend any extra 'family time' over the Christmas period. Boo.
On the plus side, this last minute shoppery usually means I get something v expensive as cost apparently can couterbalance lack of thought.
December 22, 2004
Harry - 5 months old
Dearest H
Today you reach the 5 month milestone. It's hard to believe, this last 5 months has gone by so very quickly that I feel as though if I had blinked I'd have missed it.
You're amazing. Right now you're sitting infront of a "Baby Einstein' Video which is something you do every morning for 20 mins. You're cooing and laughing at the TV and I can hear you while I write this.
You're completely enamoured of your daddy these days, and every time you see him burst into huge beaming smiles and chuckles. We also gave you an early Christmas present of an exersaucer which Grandad sent for you and you love that, you have worked out how to turn yourself around although your feet still remain a little too short to reach the ground very well!
You're not rolling over yet but I'm not worried. I think it's to do with your size (you are huge!) and the fact that you have a big head just like your brother, and that you *hate* tummy time so I rarely bother with it. You are, however, almost sitting up unaided - a very solid little man :)
The last few nights you've finally 'cracked' going to sleep in your bed and not the swing. What a brilliant discovery! I'm so pleased, and you're also beginning to sleep longer too....... from 7.30pm to 4 or 5am before needing feeding. Suits me - keep it up little boy!
We also 'cracked' and started to give you solids last week. The current 'rule' is 4-6 months, preferably nearer to 6, but you're such a big hungry guy that everyone felt we ought to start you off and we eventually succumbed to the pressure (that combined with increased waking at night tipped the balance). It's been quite successful, your current repertoire consists of
Baby Rice Cereal
Baby Oatmeal Cereal
Apple Puree
Mushed up Banana
Potato Puree
All of which you have eaten, with extra smiles for the apple which you love the best.
I'm still feeding you, which is the best thing as far as you're concerned. When you realise you're going to get fed you get all excited and have been spotted eyeing up my boobs on several occasions now and making 'food face'!
You're not too keen on this freezing cold weather we're having right now. When I take you out to the car or take you out in the stroller you get very cross with the freezing winds. I can't blame you, I don't like them much either! Gone are those wonderful summer nights of pushing you around the neighbourhood in your pram and enjoying the fresh air. Never mind, it'll be back soon enough :)
Last night we went over to see some friends and they were completely overwhelmed with how big you've become and insisted on holding you and laughing at you going cross-eyed watching your hands and trying to put them in your mouth. We think you might be teething too, the constant drool coming from your mouth and gnawing on your fists is a tell-tale sign, but having said that we've thought you've been teething for ages now and no sign of any yet. I'm not in a hurry to see them, I adore your gummy smile :)
Keep up with delighting us all little man
Love Mom, Dad & Dylan xxxxx
December 21, 2004
How it is that my neighbour manages to bring me a gift EVERY YEAR before I've been and bought one for her and makes me look crap?
Poor Dylan
Dylan had to go for a 'physical' this morning with the Doctor. Being Brits and only tending to go to the GP when something is wrong, it's a bit alien for me to consider being pro-active about health things (although I probably ought to be!) but as I had discovered he was overdue with a DTP booster shot I booked him in.
He was NOT impressed.
He cried on the way there. He cried when we got into the office. Wouldn't let the DR look at him. We decided to do the shot first as that was what was bothering him and he cried more during that. Then he cried when he had to lie on the table 'I might fall off' to have his tummy and stuff checked. Can't convince him to be brave!
Anyway, he's well and 'healthy as a horse' which is all that matters.
So Sad
One of the women on the pregnancy BBS I visited during my pregnancy with Harry gave birth to a baby with Zellweger Syndrome back in July, and she died yesterday. Her name was Olivia Freeth. I had followed her progress every day via the diary her mother kept online. My heart breaks for the family, what an awful thing to go through, and as soon as I heard the news (after quite a few tears) I went and gave Harry and Dylan both a huge hug and thanked my blessings that my beautiful boys are healthy and well.
December 20, 2004
Cute Smiles
30 seconds after taking this picture he lost his rag, big style.
Bloody hell it's cold
We left the house yesterday and remarked how cold it felt. Getting into the car realised it was minus 20, and then tuning into the radio discovered the windchill meant it was nearer to minus 30. Then lower again overnight, something like minus 33, and staying around there today. It's so ridiculously cold I'm staying indoors where it's nice and snuggly!
Had a 2nd good night with H last night. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come! He is still waking 2 or 3 times during the course of the night to feed, but it does make a difference to get our evenings to ourselves.
I am still exhausted mind you. I need SLEEP and lots of it! Unfortunately the longer I lie in bed the more my back hurts, so even if I do get an early night or perhaps sleep in a little later in the morning if G will take H downstairs which happens occasionally, sleep becomes impossible due to the pain. I'm fairly sure the bed is not to blame, I am also fairly sure that the pain is down to lack of stomach muscles and carrying extra weight around. I need to do something about that- although Christmas is not the ideal time to consider dieting. Maybe in a week or so.
December 19, 2004
Upgraded
*Finally* my computer equipment has been upgraded to this century. I was having terrible problems with my old PILE OF CRAP that I have had for the last 5 YEARS. All the 'media editing' I do (ahem) was becoming practically impossible as it was taking FOREVER to unrar stuff or similar. Also my monitor was bust and showing everything dark / yellowish.
Anyway, I now have a super fast Dell and 2 brand new spangly Sony 17inch LCD Monitors. I have 2 so that I can photoshop easily while doing other things :)
Had some issues tuning the two monitors to look the same. They're both awesome, and standing alone you'd never think to quibble but when put side by side and one is slightly different to the other it's hard to live with. Ended up taking one of them back to the store and getting it replaced. They're still not perfect, need to do some tweaking I think (not that I know how).
Did I mention this new set up is awesome?
G also bought a new printer which is superb. 9600dpi and apparently 'lab quality' printing. Looking at the one print G made so far, I'm very impressed. Hopefully I can get some decent stuff worked up & printed out.
In other news, Harry upgraded himself last night to sleep in bed from 7.30pm without having to first go in the swing. RESULT. It was amazing to have an entire evening to ourselves. Now watch tonight go pearshaped :)
December 17, 2004
So cute and SO MESSY
So cute, and SO MESSY!
Spent the better half of the afternoon uploading and updating my online gallery. Not often I organize myself but I'm pleased it's done.
When I get a new monitor (this one is shagged) and a new mouse (this one is shagged) and a new PC (this one is shagged) within the next few days I am going to make a massive effort to learn Photoshop so that I can play with my pictures and make them look how I actually want them to look. Everyone tells me it's the key....although I would like to take them exactly as I want them to look in the first place, with the camera! I feel, however, that this may be beyond my capabilities as a photographer so I will instead learn Photoshop. An art form in itself.
Even Bigger
Dylan appears from the interior of a badgers set at Kew Gardens
December 16, 2004
If my stomach will ever stop hurting after those TWO SIT UPS
He's getting so big
H had one of his Christmas presents early
Sleep? What's that then.
H has, for some reason, regressed back to the sleeping pattern of a newborn baby. I have been awake EVERY TWO HOURS for the last few nights. I'm utterly exhausted and I wish I knew what was going on with him. I presume it's either his cold, a growth spurt, or teething, or a combination of one or more of the above, but gah, I am so tired!
Dylan had his two school Christmas concerts yesterday. As per previous post, D had been selected to introduce the concert, and also apparently play the role of 'Humpty Dumpty' during a nursery rhyme. Well, he's not the type of kid who thrives under the attention of an adoring public, quite the opposite infact. As we turned up all the kids were sitting smartly waiting to begin and he sat with his head hung. Attempted to catch his eye and jolly him along, but the inevitable happened and he burst into tears with nerves. And, of course, refused to introduce the concert. None of the other kids would do it either so the teacher ended up having to. Then when we came to the Humpty Dumpty bit, once again we had tears and a refusal to take centre stage. Bless! The Alloa (it's probably named after the place near you Aka, most places around here are!) concert went better because he didn't have to do anything by himself. So cute. My friend and I have decided that we will stage a nativity next Christmas which children can take part in on a voluntary basis... to raise money for the school... assuming, of course, that we are allowed to do something with religious connitations. Some woman was telling me that at her daughters school they are not even allowed to acknowledge christmas due to the diverse cultures present at the school. Ridiculous.
December 15, 2004
The not so sweet smell of poo
I'm quite horrified by the output coming from H now. Gone are the days of smell-free or even sweetish smelling baby poo, and in it's place are honking gross poo filled nappies which you can smell a mile away. Yuk. Having not had to worry about the nether regions of a child for a while it's a shock reminder. And wah, he's not my tiny baby any more :(
D has his school christmas concerts today (both). They're always tear-jerkingly lovely despite the lack of tea towels. He told me yesterday that he is going to be introducing one of them by saying 'Welcome to the East Casa Christmas Concert' and that he's very very nervous about it. Bless! It'll be his last one at BGMS as next year he'll go into Grade 1 full time at Alloa (arse!).
December 14, 2004
Poor Harry
It has been a rough 12 hours for him. Firstly, I ate some v spicy chili last night which gave him serious wind all night long and required hourly attention / feeds to get him through it (shan't be making that mistake again, yawn!). Secondly he is very snuffly with his cold still, and thirdly he got his 4 month injections today. To be fair he didn't cry at all, but he's now sleeping soundly in his bed and a little on the miserable side.
H weighs in at a whopping 9.5kg which is 20lb and 9oz in real money. Actually that's not as heavy as I thought he'd be, so I'm pleasantly surprised as it means we have more use out of the swing! He is a whopper though :) Dr says I should bring D in next week for a physical checkup as he's not had one since he was 3 (bad me) and he also requires an update for this 5 in 1 vaccine which he is *so* not going to be thrilled about.
December 13, 2004
If the v spicy chili I just ate will make H stay up all night (gulp)
Snuffle. Sniff. Cough.
I have a cold. H has a cold. G has a cold. The only person not to have a cold is D, but his school Christmas concerts are on Wednesday and if the previous two years are anything to go by he'll get sick right about then and be utterly miserable about being forced to school to participate so mum and dad can come and tearfully video him being all sweet and singing christmas songs.
I spent the morning sorting through all the presents I've managed to buy so far and I'm miraculously almost done. I have to get a couple more 'stocking filler' type things, but otherwise I've done amazingly well at getting everyone's gifts early and not leaving it until the last minute. G, of course, has bought me NOTHING at this point and will not until Xmas Eve when he will go out in a panic and buy anything that he can find that is left on the shelves.
December 11, 2004
*THE* Katie Jones? And I'm Bill Gates
Last night over wine and pizza with friends we were reminiscing about the old MSN days and a bizarre level of infamy that I somehow achieved back then.
Example 1. The launch of Windows 95. Venue - some major London venue whose name I forget. Attending - like, everyone. World press, major figures, Bill Gates, me, etc. Bill G does a speech and a demonstration of this 'fabulous' new technology including the ability to add an attachment in email. He double clicks & a 20ft high photo of yours truly suddenly appears on the giant screen behind him.
Example 2. MSN commissioned a graphic design company to create some awesome 3d chat environments. They made a fantastic Wembley Stadium which one could run around wearing a shirt with ones name on while talking to people. The guy in charge was a nice guy that I got chatting with and he created me my very own 'Katie's World' which was a village with a pub, a cricket pitch, a little bridge over water, and a lovely cutsie 3d space. The pub had TV's in the corner which played porn. We never made it public for obvious reasons and actually forgot about it, leaving it sitting in a staging area of MSN for a couple of years. Happening upon it after considerable time had passed I decided to check it out again and downloaded the necessary stuff. In I went, only to find 20 or so people hanging out in there. As I joined I was greeted by lots of 'OMG, are you THE katie????'. Bizarre.
Example 3. New Years Eve, a party hosted by some MSN Support people that for some peculiar reason we ended up attending despite not knowing anyone. Sitting chatting to some, I was asked my name. 'Katie Jones' I replied. 'Katie Jones?? Yeah and I'm Bill Gates' the incredulous dude replied. Apparently my name preceeded me in MSN Support Circles.
Example 4. More related to the whole katie.com saga, but after moving to Canada and being rather despondant about life with no human contact other than G, I decided to dig out the flute again and contacted a band. 'Don't suppose you need any more flute players?'. The reply...."Are you THE Katie Jones?'.
No Autographs.
December 10, 2004
Get. Out. Of. My. House.
It's been a while, but UKChat is back. Here. In my house.
When we first launched, we used to run UKChat from our house. We had a 2mb fibre piped into the house which came in via the back garden as one couldn't possibly dig up the interlocked paving out front in the private road darling could one? Far better to go through the scummy council estate behind.
It was unheard of, at the time, to have this kind of connection in your home. Expensive too, cost us 600 UKP per month back then. And on the end of it, a rack and a load of servers which ran, primarily, UKChat.
And what fun it was.
Invariably, if we EVER went away ANYWHERE, one of the servers would crash and we'd have to go home.
Then there was the time that the Electric Co. installed a key meter while we were away for a weekend. Key meters were a nightmare. Designed for non-bill-paying-wasters they forced you to pay for your electricity up front by taking your key to the local BP Garage and handing over cash. Cash. Not credit card. Not cheque. Cash. They would then 'charge' up your key which you then brought home and inserted back into your meter to give yourself more electric. Well, with the amount of juice we used, this was an absolute disaster. The fact that they fitted one of these things in the first place was a mistake - we paid our bills. They were doing some kind of 'drive' to install them everywhere at the time, and unfortunately for us decided to install ours while we were out of town. When we came back, the house was in darkness. THinking there had been a power cut we called them and discovered that this thing had been put in place and also that there had been no 'key' left behind for us to charge up. 'But you can't have run out of electricity Ma'am, we left you enough to cover you for the period it takes to get your key through in the mail'. Yes, assuming one wasn't RUNNING UKCHAT FROM ONES HOUSE. They promised to send a man around and in the meantime we ran an extension lead next door to a kind neighbour who took pity on us 'just for a light and a cup of tea' and powered up the servers.
Over the next few weeks UKChat mysteriously went offline several times as we ran out of electric on the key and had to make a mad dash around to the BP Garage at 3am. Finally we got the Electric co. to change the meter back to a proper one. They were baffled by the amount of power we were getting through. We weren't, and neither was our bank account.
Following the 'key meter incident' UKChat continued to go offline mysteriously from time to time. Usually coinciding with me plugging in the kettle or the iron. Neil eventually came over and helped G re-wire the office to bypass my small appliances and our house then had attractive giant cables running across the ceilings.
Of course we also mustn't forget the time one of the UKChat servers mysteriously blew up. Taking it apart, we discovered it was absolutely full of dog hair.
Oh, the professionalism.
We were extremely relieved, not to mention financially so, when UKChat finally moved into Telehouse when we moved to Canada. Now, at last, it was Neil's problem (LOL, sorry Neil!). There it has stayed, successfully, for the last 3 and a half years... until this week when the trusty server finally gave up for good after all these years of abuse, and we had to buy a new one. While Neil installs the new one, UKChat is now running partly out of my basement. In my house. Again.
In bed last night, G said to me 'There's people chatting in our house' while we're up here sleeping.
!
December 09, 2004
Christmas is not a secular holiday
Christmas here seems to be treated as some kind of present giving holiday without basis in religion or tradition. As The Sun says today 'Save Christmas'. Poor Dylan will never get to wear a crown and be one of 3 kings, or a Shepherd with a hanky on his head, as we don't have Nativity plays at school here because it's just not PC. Well screw PC. Christmas is the time of year that we celebrate the birth of Jesus. It's a religious holiday. If you're not religious, at least show it some courtesy and if you're a Christan country LIKE CANADA IS then uphold the traditions which matter before they're lost forever.
Harry's chuckles and giggles when I pretend to eat his cheeks
Cereal
So I've now managed to give H 3 types of formula on 3 different occasions. And every time he's suffered with painful gas, obvious tummy ache, and the trots. Conclusion = H is not tolerating cows milk protein in formula very well. I've bought some of the Soy variety which I'll try him with instead.
Yesterday, however, I caved under pressure and bought some cereal for him. Various people have been giving me a hard time about introducing him to solids saying he is ready and perhaps they are right. Current guidelines say to wait until they're 6 months although 4 mths is acceptable. He is just a few days shy of 5 months, he is sitting rather well in his high chair, he is interested in food and other people eating it and makes 'food face' when he sees you eating. He tries to put stuff in his mouth. He has more than doubled his birth weight (infact nearly trebled it) and has been less satisfied with the breastfeeding over the last couple of weeks, waking more at night and feeding every 2 hrs.
We sat down to eat last night and he was clearly pissed off at not being included so I expressed a little breast milk and mixed it with some cereal and ceremoniously put a bib on him and fed him his first mouthful of 'solids' from a spoon. I put the word solids in inverted commas because it's barely that. Anyway, he absolutely loved it. Was thrilled to be eating from a spoon. Ate it all up. Was very happy and content afterwards, and slept 6 hrs straight then another 4 hrs last night... far better than the recent 4 hrs max then 2 + 2 + 2.
So I suppose it was the right thing to do. Big deal though, he's not my tiny baby anymore.
Growing up is HARD
Why is that?
When you're young everything seems to be within your grasp. Nothing used to bother me much. I never got particularly wound up about anything. Nothing used to pray on my mind. I would do anything at the drop of a hat without fretting or worry about it. Staying up all night was a breeze, going out was fun, talking to complete strangers was no problem, nothing worried me.
I now find that I'm the opposite of all that. Drive somewhere really far? But what about the kids, they'll not enjoy it. Stay up all night? You're kidding, I'll be exhausted. Go out? Must I? Talk to strangers? Yikes, no, what would I say?? And so & so said THAT about me??? Grrr, I must stress about it incessantly.
Another part of growing up that I've found hard, mostly over the last 3 years or so, is accepting that I'm getting older and adjusting to that. For example, no longer being of interest for youngsters to talk to. Why would they? She's old and has kids. Standing at the checkout at the supermarket and buying a People Magazine which sports the headine 'Nick and Jessica to split!' The cashier, an 18 yr old girl, says to another cashier 'oh no, look at this headline!'. I answer to say it is rubbish (knowing this because I read something in another magazine, not because I'm remotely interested in it!)..... and they look at me as if to say 'why is this middle aged woman commenting on this issue which is clearly only applicable to people under the age of 25'.
Also it's about adjusting to not doing the kinds of things I used to do at age 25. For some reason I find that hard, I keep thinking I *should* still be doing those kinds of things. Whereas infact I really ought not to be doing them, wouldn't enjoy them anymore anyways, and should just grow the hell up already.
And the other stupid thing is.... I like my life just as it is. I have no idea why the concept of growing up bothers me so much.
December 07, 2004
I'm getting a cold
Starting to feel decidedly poo. Bit of a fever. Bit of a sniffle. Bit of a cough. All of which will no doubt get considerably worse as the week goes on. Oh well, at least H is better. Although I suspect D is coming down with it too.
Had a bad night last night too, H woke several times. Considering starting those solids as I want him to sleep longer! He still won't drink formula. Have tried him several times over the last few days. Tips welcome.
December 06, 2004
A snow filled sky
When H woke me at 6am to feed, I noticed the sky glowing with that eerie look it gets just before ten feet of snow dumps itself on us. And sure enough, when I got up this morning there it was, tons of it, and it's still coming down now.
This weekend we caved in and are no longer the last household on the street without Christmas decorations. One gorgeous tree later, several hundred bucks worth of new decorations and a million lights all over the place, and we give Blackpool a run for its money both inside and out. For you horrified Brits out there, before you think I've become Canadian, I can assure you we are one of the more subdued households!
We also went to a party on Saturday night at a neighbours house. It was a good gathering of people but sadly I had to leave early with the baby. G rolled in at 4am, completely wasted & knocking things over, and with a ribbon tied around his neck.
Much of the Christmas shopping is finally done after this weekend which is a relief (it gets earlier each year). I still have a couple of bits and bobs to get but mostly we're done.
And finally, H is still a huge problem with the sleeping. He won't go to bed unless he's in his swing first to fall asleep. If you do put him down he wakes quickly and screams. Last night we decided to leave him cry again (hard, but he was fussing downstairs anyway so we figured he may as well be up there and do it) and after 20 mins of listening to the most heart-rending sobs G went up to check on him. G then came back down, holding him, with tears in his eyes himself! H was covered in sweat, dripping. He was shaking with crying so much and looked so unhappy it was heartbreaking. I held him and nursed him and he finally went back off amidst more quieter sobbing. Awful. How to deal??? No clue.
December 03, 2004
Why the garlic on the chicken in the slow cooker has turned blue?
Still Sick
Poor H still isn't too good. He's snuffly and miserable with a fever spiking up now & again during the course of the day. I'm supposed to be going out tonight but I'm not sure at this point if I can, because he's so bad. On Wednesday I took D skating after school for an hour and when I got back he was in hysterics and refusing a bottle, so who knows if G will be able to cope with him tonight! I suppose I could go and take my phone.......then again I don't fancy much walking off stage mid-gig LOL.
H's 'Baby Ugg' boots arrived this morning from ebay and they're *gorgeous*. It made me think how gone are the days when our parents would scour every shop in the land looking for that cabbage patch doll, or that buzz lightyear, or whatever the 'hot' item of the year would be ..to no avail. Now, if you're prepared to pay a few bucks more, all you have to do is go on to ebay and get whatever you want. Obviously for a price, but usually you can get a pretty reasonable deal.
Better go, H is grumbling.
December 02, 2004
I hate it when they're sick
Poor Harry has a cold and has a fever which keeps raising it's ugly head every few hours. I've been dosing him up with Tylenol but he's very miserable, poor lamb. You feel so helpless when they're like this.
Also sick is the UKChat Chat server which after several years of service has decided to give up on us. Fortunately we've got just enough money in the bank to buy a new one...... it'll leave us skint again but it is a good job this didn't happen a few months ago when we were totally skint. We, in this case, being the UKCompany, not me personally, although with the run up to Christmas I feel skint too :)
Talking of money, I got into a ridiculous bidding war on Ebay last night trying to get hold of a Nintendo DS for D who has his heart set on one for Christmas. They're typically completely sold out in all shops with no more due to be shipped in before Christmas (how stupid is that?). I found some on ebay for more or less the same cash as they are in the store and chose an auction that was due to end within minutes. I was the highest bidder for ages then someone came in with 2 mins to spare and outbid me, which proceeded into becoming a ridiculous bidding war where the price rose beyond control. All reason left me, I was going to win. I kept raising it, being outbid, getting furious, bidding again, and in the last 2 seconds the other person, much to my fury and disgust, won. That is, until I realised the price had gone almost 100 bucks over the odds as a result ! I then calmly bought one on a 'buy now' option for the right price - lucky!
December 01, 2004
A formula for gas?
We've been trying to introduce the odd bottle to Harry to enable me to have a little freedom. It had been unsuccessful until Monday when he decided to drink 1oz of the stuff. Then for the rest of the evening he had very painful gas and cried.
Yesterday I got him to take 3oz, but we had a repeat performance of the screaming all evening. It's hard to know if the formula played a part in this.
We had put him to bed early and let him cry for 20 mins in an attempt to get him to GO TO BED and obviously he swallowed a lot of air with the hysterical crying he was doing..... so that could have caused it.
Also he has a fever and sniffles and is obviously coming down with a cold, so that could have caused it. I ended up giving him Tylenol for the fever last night, and again this morning as he was very hot and fussy.
Or it was the formula.
How does one know??