Monday, June 30, 2008

Disaster area

Me, when I'm tired. Went to open a bottle of dessert wine last night (delicious by the way!) and spent a good 10 minutes or so looking for the corkscrew, emptying drawers etc and finally finding a basic one I was going to use when I spotted the black corkscrew in plain sight on one of the shelves! Didn't help that I was looking for silver...

The worst part was that I couldn't ask L to help me because I couldn't remember for the life of me what the darn thing was called. It went a bit like this in my head - 'what's the thing called that you use to get corks out of bottles? Bottle opener? No, that's not it...(repeat)'

Remembered as I sat down to drink the wine. Needed more.

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Life with Zachary

Brilliant.

Church with Zachary

Took Zachary to church again this morning. It was an all-age worship service so I decided to stay in with him, even thought I think there was creche available if needed.

Half-way through the second hymn, he started doing his 'I'm getting uncomfortable here and might start crying' dance in the pushchair so I got him out for a good look around. He joyfully joined in with the 'name that saint' session which came next and proceeded to make lots of noise in the whole nappy area!

Fearful of a lake of poo incident and knowing that I only had a change of vest in the bag (so no room for error with the trousers) I hurried out only to find we don't have baby change facilities in the toilets! The steward scurried me into one of the side rooms where I changed Zachary.

It was more bark than bite if you get my drift, which was very fortunate when I discovered I had NO baby wipes in the change bag. Bugger. Again luckily there was a sink and a handy roll of kitchen roll in the room which were quickly put to good use.

I returned to the service, but he started getting fidgety again and we came out about 2/3 of the way through and listened to the rest of the service in the building's entrance where I could walk him up and down. After the service I had to go back in to speak to someone about the christening and THEN he falls asleep! Cutie pie!

Friday, June 27, 2008

Muse at how my cakes came out a bit lopsided



(although you can't see it from this picture!)

Baking with Zachary

The Victoria Sponge
(remember, all kitchen steps to be completed with a running commentary for Z's amusement!)

Grease and bottom line 2 8" tins

Pre-heat oven to gas 4 (180c)

Gather bowl and wooden spoon

Measure out 175g caster sugar

Measure out 175g butter whilst listening to Z filling his nappy VERY noisily

Change Zachary

Soften butter slightly then add to sugar and cream together

Half-way through creaming, stop to feed Zachary. Allow a good 45 minutes to include a nap on your lap while you look for birthday presents for husband on the interwebs.

Complete creaming butter and sugar.

Add 3 eggs. Be overjoyed when you discover the final egg is a double-yolker. Scream this piece of information up the stairs to your husband who's on a conference call for work.

Add 175g self-raising flour and 1 tsp baking powder.

Beat

Divide mixture equally between the tins and bake for about 25 minutes.

Use those 25 minutes to make a drink, wash up, have fantastic tummy time with Z (he's so strong now), change Z again and empty washing machine.

Make sure that at the exact moment the cakes need to come out of the oven, you're feeding your screaming child again, meaning you have to stop feeding whilst racing for the oven so the cakes don't burn.

Pacify crying Z.

Cool cakes for a few minutes in the tins then turn out and decorate.

Type up blog entry one-handed. (Photo to follow!)

Think about a lovely relaxing cup of tea...

Friday, June 20, 2008

Mahna Mahna

L has a little song and dance he does with Z which goes to the Mahna Mahna tune (you know...it was on the Muppets...still don't know? Well, you'll be enlightened further on) but replacing Mahna Mahna with 'Ello 'Ello. It works a treat with Z!

So, when I came across a YouTube clip of the song (which most certainly was not in any way featured in a Geeklist on Board Game Geek. No. Not in any way) I forwarded it to him for a giggle. L explored some of the other selections which were shown on the screen as well and I now present a little catalogue of Mahna Mahna. Hurrah I hear you shout.

First we have the Muppets -



Halo 3 -



World of Warcraft -



And finally Hilary and Obama (a response to the Hilary and Obama version of 'Umbrella'...) -



There are plenty more to feast on as well!

Friendships

I am in unchartered water - this may sound ridiculous but I want to make friends with some of the mums at the infant massage group I go to but have no idea what to do next! I've not had to really make friends with anyone since university - it's going to sound a bit soppy, but L and my sister are my best friends and I haven't really had to make the effort much recently. Of course there are people I get on well with at work and at orchestra and things, but not so much that I necessarily want to form deeper friendships with them. Typing that sounds really harsh, but there it is!

But now I have Z it would be nice to get to know some other mums better so that I know people I could (for example) go for a coffee in town with, or visit with Z. So there are some great people at my infant massage class - we chat there and this week we all went on to the breastfeeding support group together and chatted more. Should I ask them if they want to go for a coffee in town one week? Or is that too much? I certainly don't want them to feel uncomfortable...perhaps I'll wait until the last week so if they think 'urgh no way,' at least they don't have to see me again there! It almost feels like I'm working up to asking someone out on a date! Is that really odd?

Swimming

We are making a name for ourselves at the swimming class...but not for a good reason I fear! Last week we managed about 10 minutes before Z started crying uncontrollably and we had to get out early. Stopped as soon as we got in the changing room!


I was a bit concerned that it might have been a bit too much for him - it was very hot and quite noisy after all. So felt a little trepidatious this week although I am determined to persevere as I want him to be happy in the water. We nearly managed the whole session before he started to cry. I put him up against my shoulder and he fell asleep. In the pool. So perhaps it's more relaxing than I thought!

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

OMG - Morrisons now stocking Vileda Activwave sponges!!!

Great! That is all.

Banana Chip Cookies


Yum! Made these this morning using this recipe.

Pretty easy to follow - the worst part was beating the butter until soft and fluffy - fortunately I used the electric whisk which helped, although had to stop several times to scrape butter from the beaters! I used all the cup measurements as we've got a set, except for the butter. Found some conversion info on the web (which I now can't find again for the link!) and used 100g butter for 1/2 cup which seemed to work out fine. And I did use wheatgerm which I found in good ol' Morrisons.

I've frozen half the mixture as suggested because...well basically the 12 or so I did make won't see the morning in all likelihood and freezing half will stop us stuffing the full 24!!!

Interested by the suggestion of replacing butter with coconut oil. We're now using coconut oil on Z's head as a cradle cap treatment (which is working brilliantly) so have an abundant supply at home...not brave enough to try that this time but sounds intriguing...

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Father's Day

Ahhh, the first one! Had a good lie-in this morning - Zachary woke at 5am and then 7am and both times needing winding and/or feeding and both times I thought I'd have to be getting up, but he drifted back off to sleep and we didn't get up until 9. What luxury.

Checklist for church this morning -

1. slightly damp child following sicking up incident almost immediately before leaving the house - check

2. crusty crotch stain on mummy's trousers resulting from 1. above and which no amount of frantic hair dryering could make completely disappear - check

Thursday, June 12, 2008

14 weeks on

We seem to be surviving the introduction of a third person to our household and 14 weeks has gone so quickly! I don't think we've done too badly so far - not too many injuries to the lad to report although I think the bruise which appeared on his leg came from me not being careful enough when lifting him out of the cot and L has had a 'clippers incident' when trying to trim the talons! I would also point out that I have stopped dropping food on him while I'm feeding him...

Fingers crossed, his day feeds are now at about 3 hour intervals - this seems reasonable to me, although the pattern seems easily upset and with the hot weather coming (well...in theory!) feeds are likely to increase as my milk provides Zachary with his drink as well as his food. So if he's hot, he wants to drink more - just like us. The nights aren't too bad although he's not going all through yet. Mind you, I think those lucky mums who have babies who do go through the night are the exception rather than the rule (at least that's what I'm telling myself!) - also on talking to some mums whose babies go through - they're putting them to bed at 11/midnight and the babies go through to 4 or 5. We're putting Zachary to bed at 7, so it seems unlikely he'd go right to that time. Saying that though we have had a few magic nights when he's gone until about 3 in the morning before needing the next feed. Sadly I can't identify what was different about those days or nights to recreate this on a regular basis!

We've also had a few strange nights with Zachary not seeming to want to go in his cot. The moses basket was sacked a few weeks ago as it was getting too small and the first few nights in the new cot seemed to go well. This week we had a couple of nights where Zachary would feed next to me, settle but then cry as soon as he was put in the cot. Still a bit of a mystery as to the cause, but last night and the night before seemed to be back to normal. Mind you, in this house, that's a bit like using the 'q' word at work!

Zachary's new trick now is batting the toys dangling from his playmat and grabbing at them as well. He's getting good at this now and it's really great watching his progress. It gets fun when what he's grabbing is handfuls of my hair, or the inside of he vest I'm trying to dress him in! About 90% of the stuff he grabs and can move around ends up in his mouth...great if he sicks up on them as well. He's also found his hands properly now and quite often sucks on his fists for comfort. Very noisily. On the noisy side of things Zachary's found his voice now and is a very loud chatter! It's fascinating (no, really) watching him explore the different sounds he can make with his mouth and there's a cute little dimple developing.

And the old cliche about babies having more of a social life than their parents is so true! Nought til they Walk on Mondays, infant massage on Thursdays and now swimming classes starting tomorrow. It's giving me a good excuse to get out and walking as much as I can though, which is great and hopefully with the breastfeeding is more than making up for all the crap I'm eating - I'm tempted to try the 'Walk a Marathon in 30 days' challenge on Mapmyrun.com which was http://www.alexfoster.me.uk/2008/06/12/exercise/ by a friend. Have to investigate further.

Saturday, June 07, 2008

I'm such a sucker for baby animals

cat
more cat pictures


cat
more cat pictures

House news

The viewers don't want it...apparently they've seen others on the market which are better value for money - in other words we're now going to have to drop our price to stand a chance in this area. On advice of estate agent have dropped to Offers in Excess of £105,000. Reluctant to do so, but there are so many similar 2 and 3 bed terraced houses round our way on for £110,000 that this may the only way we even get viewings! Ho hum. Still, L's done some maths and money still looks okay - although we'll have to reduce our offer on the Long Eaton property. Bah. It's all too messy!

Weekend again!

It's been a busy week really this week.

Travelled to Somersham last weekend to see my family and had a great time as always. My aunt is renowned in the family for preparing huge meals when we all turn up there and for always having lots of sweets and Maltesers on hand for afternoon snacking (although usually we're far too stuffed to manage any...oh, go on then I'll just have the one..!). There came a point on Saturday when - horror of horrors - it looked as though no Maltesers were going to appear. A well placed question to my aunt from Lily and lo, the Maltesers did appear!

Mother and baby group on Monday which Z slept and fed through most of! Also started an Infant Massage course on Thursday which was great. The principles of Infant Massage were put together by a woman called Vimala McClure following her visits to India. It appears that this one set of principles are used throughout the world! We worked on massaging legs this week and will slowly build up to arms, tummy, etc over the following weeks.

Went to a workshoppy thing on Friday called Sounds, Noises, Words which is for children 0-2. It appeared that most of the other mums there knew each other from another mother and baby group, but fortunately I wasn't the only stranger. Typically, Z wanted to eat as soon as we got there, so we missed out on some of the action nursery rhymes, but joined in with the later stuff and I got a cup of tea! A large section in the middle of the session was taken up with painting animal masks to go with songs about those animals. A great idea, but not really practical for us to join in with - would have been easier if Z was able to sit up on his own, but he's not really old enough yet to enjoy painting. Mind you, if what I saw from the other children is a sign of what we have to expect when he starts painting then oh my goodness what a mess. Watched one child carefully paint his hand grey and then proceed to lick it all off!

We did make a shaker though - was going great guns until Z needed to burp - popped him over my shoulder and the burp was accompanied by a small amount of sick which all somehow managed to land on another mum's coat...so embarassed!!

Saw the Nurse Practitioner about Z's cradle cap on Friday - suggested by the health visitor. The NP didn't seem too bothered about it though and certainly although it's really noticeable, it doesn't seem to cause Z any discomfort or irritation. The worst it does is encourage his father (a lifelong picker of scabs) to have a good pick at it when Z's asleep on his lap! We've got some coconut oil to try now (the other recommended treatments all use anti-fungal treatments and she didn't think it really needed that) and the scale does seem to be coming away...with his hair. Poor lad.

We're also seeing more development from Z this week - he started the week having a go at batting some of the stuff dangling from his mat and has now progressed to actually trying to grab things - and succeeding mostly! L tied one of his toys to the side of his cot last night so he had something to grab at rather than just banging his hand against the bars. This all very well, except the toy is a butterfly with crinkly wings. Guess what we were listening to at 7 this morning!

This post has gone on for far too long - the only other thing to report is a viewing of the house yesterday. Had a call from the agent at 4.45 asking if the viewers could come round straight away! House a complete tip so managed to put it off for 45 mins so we could race round and tidy up. The viewing seemed to go well, but there are other 3-bed houses on the market for less than us. Hopefully the condition of the house will be a bonus as we have already got double glazing etc so we'll just have to wait and see. Whatever happens though, all my weekend cleaning has now been done! Hurrah!