“Had a nice day at school Amy? What did you do?”
“Nuffin”
“Ok, so how was your first school dinner, what did you have?”
“Nuffin”
“Must be hungry then. Did your teacher tell you what you are going to do tomorrow?”
“I’ve got to go to school tomorrow? I don’t want to go again, I’ve been going every day!”
Haven’t the heart to tell her she’s got another 14 years…
And something else that didn’t last long:
(Dan still can’t face blogging so I thought I’d let him off for one more night)
Amy and I were talking about what to buy Dan for father’s day.
“Playmobil.” she said after thinking for a moment, “But boys’ playmobil, not girls’ ones.” (She was right of course. The only reason Amy has playmobil is because Dan really wanted it for himself.)
So boys’ playmobil it was – a barbarian ruin to be exact. We rounded off the present with some beer, daddy coke, doritos and dips, and some honey roasted nuts.
“Mummy, do you know where nuts come from? Squirrels lay nuts and they give them to the shops.”
Fantastic, I love it.
Dan spent most of this father’s day with Evan, as Amy and I went to a christening. I didn’t make Dan go, so that was a present in itself. Evan’s present to Dan was feeling well enough to not be mr grumpalump all day.
My Dad had an unusual Father’s day. He was marching with other veterans in London to mark 25 years since the end of the Falklands war. I was 7 so I only remember a few things about my Dad going away:
He went to war on the QE2. It was due to go on a cruise but was commandeered for the war, so they got to eat all the 5 star food on their journey. We went to see them off from Southampton and I was excited about having a whole tube of purple fruit pastilles on the coach (I did say I was only 7). There were lots of families on the dockside, so my mum and her friend Terri thought we should have orange dusters so my Dad and Todd could pick us out. We got there and found out we weren’t the only ones to have that idea. I also have half a memory of someone (Todd?) pulling a moonie but I wouldn’t want to be sued for libel if I’m wrong.
I remember going to the airfield when he was coming home and him walking through the arrival gate.
I can’t imagine what it was like for my Mum and Dad but I was young enough for it not to seem that big a deal. He came back safe and sound so I was lucky. My kids are lucky too, as they have a Granddad they adore, and who adores them back.
Happy father’s day to Dan and my Dad, we love you very much x
Evan turned 6 months old on Friday. It doesn’t feel that long ago and yet, it feels like he’s always been here.
It’s very different the second time around, we’re not trying to see if he’s a genius by reaching developmental milestones early. Not that we obsessed over them with Amy, but you know what’s normal and you know it all evens out in the end.
I thought we’d mark the occasion by listing a few things about Evan being 6 months.
- he celebrated his half-birthday by getting his first tooth
- his main source of pleasure is grabbing things and chomping on them
- his main annoyance is teething
- he loves sitting up and only wobbles backwards when he gets too excited
- he idolises his big sister
- he doesn’t yet sleep through but he’s almost there
- he likes it when we all dance around the living room
- in fact, he’s a very happy chap
Soap box alert
I’m sorry in advance for any spelling mistakes, but my eyesight is a little blurred of late. I’ve just spent the past few evenings unpicking the word “gorgeous” from the back side of Amy’s new trousers.
Before you ask, Dan didn’t realise the writing was there when Amy chose them and the tags were taken out before we could take them back.
I just don’t get it. Why does any designer think it would be a good idea to write words on girls’ bottoms? Girls aged 3-12? Or ‘babe’ on their t-shirts for that matter.
It’s not just girls’ clothes either. Since having Evan, I’ve noticed there are a lot of ‘monster’ and ‘here comes trouble’ tops about. Yes, I’m sure he will have his moments but it always seemed to be a self-fulfilling prophecy when Amy wore her ‘I’m no angel’ tee (that she was given by an apologetic great aunt who thought it was confirming angelic status….)
I know I’m not the first one to notice any of this, but it’s becoming more of an issue these days. I’m not against writing on clothing full stop, (the “Mama ain’t raising no fool” t-shirt from Nippaz with Attitude makes me chuckle) just wish there wasn’t so much out there sexualising young girls or implying boys have to be bad.
At least Amy’s still in to singing along with the Tweenies rather than the Pussy Cat Dolls.
Today is Dan’s 31st birthday so Amy and I made him a cake. Amy wanted Dan to have a rainbow and clouds, like her cake did.
She also wanted slugs and snails and worms, as she and Dan have a running gag about making each other eat them. Here is our creation:
Happy birthday my dear, we all love you very much
Kerry, Amy and Evan x
Granny (Dan’s mum) took Amy, Evan and I on the Kirklees Light Railway today on a special trip to visit Father Christmas.
The train, full of overexcited children, pulled up at its destination to be greeted by two young ladies playing christmas carols on their clarinets. As we heard the first few bars, a Dad behind me said “Isn’t it a bit ironic that they are playing ‘Silent Night’ to a train full of people least likely to get one?”
I’m pleased to say that Evan has been discharged from the hospital tonight so we are at home at last. He’d managed to stay off the oxygen today so the Doctor said we could go home when I was ready.
The last few days haven’t been that bad but it’s still not something I would have chosen to do. I’m looking forward to not being woken by alarms going off up and down the ward, but I don’t think I’ll get much sleep anyway as I’ll be checking Evan every 5 minutes.
Most people would lose weight with worry when their child was ill, however I reckon I’ve put half a stone on over the past 4 days. It was a combination of boredom, being awake most hours of the day and, because we were on a children’s ward, getting child size portions at meal times.
I think I’ve consumed approximately 3 packets of biscuits, 6 chocolate bars, 4 large hot chocolates, some crisps and countless cups of tea. I’d had enough by yesterday, asking Dan to bring me some fruit for a change and I even donated a bar of chocolate to the woman in the next room as I couldn’t bear to bring it home.
So now we’re home, and looking forward to things getting back to normal. Thanks for all the comments and texts wishing us well, we really appreciate it.
I’ve been trying to spend more time with Amy as I know Evan has a lot of my attention these days. We had a nice afternoon together, doing arty things whilst Dan and Evan had a nap upstairs.
After giving Evan his next feed, Amy and I went on a girls only trip to the supermarket. I used to get stressed about Amy picking up items that we didn’t need, but I’ve taken Dan’s lead in letting her pick a couple of things so I can control what gets put back.
Last time we went, Amy chose some chocolate chip cookies for us girls to have as our special treat so I picked the same cookies today to have in the car on the way home. I was driving along when I realised that she was making slurpy noises, which didn’t match the cookie munching sounds I was making. I turned around to find that she had passed on eating the double choc chip cookie in favour of a plum. I was really proud, and amused at how sometimes she really doesn’t take after her mother.
