Bodmacity

I thought I’d make an entry to mark the occasion. Jake is officially a toddler. He now walks with confidence and more importantly can now get up from a sitting position into a standing position. He has also cut his 11th tooth and the 12th is on its way. Yesterday the poor lambs gums were bleeding as he cut the tooth. He was a little grumpy as can be expected.

Yesterday Jake came to the office to meet the guys! He was very shy upon meeting them but I suppose most babies are when put in a strange environment. We took lunch at The Swan which was very pleasant.

Ads just phoned. Apparently The White Stripes are playing in Brockley at The Rivoli. It must have been a secret gig as they are huge! Ads said there was a long line of people snaking along the road waiting to get in. Delta Blues Gone Wrong comes to Brockley!!

The weather of late has been pretty dire, especially the last Bank Holiday Weekend, but I suppose that is par for the course. This morning is lovely however. There are a few clouds and a nice breeze is rolling in from the south. I have just come back from the train station. I left a little later this morning, made a decision to ride to Clapham Junction and then thought better of it. I bowled back up through Wickham Road and on to Brockley station. I just missed my train and then found that the next Caterham train was in 15 minutes. After waiting at the station and picking up some freebie coffee from a man juggling white balls I noticed the train indicator. Cancelled in big capitals. The next one was 20 minutes later so I picked up some more coffee and went home. I have just emailed work to say I will work from home today and I hope it will be okay as my boss likes a day’s notice.

We have changed Jakes evening routine. I read an article in the Metro yesterday that was talking about how often a baby should be bathed and that clean babies i.e. ones that have a bath every day are more susceptible to skin complaints. Jake skin is very dry so maybe this is the cause. We are trialling three baths a week to see if there is an improvement.

Jake’s bedtime milk used to be a calm affair but now Jake just want to wrestle on the bed or read his books. The way we’ve got round this is to give him his milk and book at the same time. Voila! He drinks all the milk while flicking through the books.

Jake is wearing his new surfer shorts and Tee today. Let’s list his latest developments.

• Very adept at cruising
• Will toddle short distances
• Copies Mam-ee and Dadd-ee and Bay-bee
• Makes lots of different noises with his tongue
• Knows where his eyes, nose, tummy, head, and hair is
• Breakdances

Jake is 14 months and 6 days old. He now has 10 teeth including a fine looking molar (the 9th). The 10th has just begun to poke through the gum. Yesterday he got ink all over his fingers while playing with the printer. I have now taped down the lid. He is sure to get cross when he finds out. Ames informs me that the printer is not quite the same as it once was. Ho hum.

The walking is coming along steadily. He is quite confident to walk holding with one hand holding mummy’s or daddy’s. I shall have to get some video footage of the walking this weekend.

Jake seems to have picked up a cough at the weekend. Last night he woke in tears after a coughing fit. I picked him up and soothed him until he calmed down. When I put him back in the crib he made a little protest and put out both his arms to be picked up(a new development). It took all my inner strength not to cave in as it is SO SWEET. It was the right decision as he was fast sleep within minutes :-).

I biked to Forest Hill today. The route was very pleasant. I went through Ladywell Fields and then across Blythe Hill Fields before descending down to Brockley Rise. The views from Blythe Hill Fields were very panoramic and to make a change the weather was nice and sunny. On the way back my U-lock came off the bracket on the cross bar which almost caused an accident. The bracket is a bit shoddy and the clip is really not up to the job. Now I keep checking the lock as I am cycling to ensure it is not coming loose. This in itself is not the safest thing to do. I’ll have a look online to see if I can buy an aftermarket bracket that is more up to the job.

I am still pleased with the Ridgeback. It is very comfortable. I think at the weekend I will attempt a sojourn to Clapham Junction. I want to :

1. Find out how long it will realistically take
2. Determine a route
3. Check the security of the cycle racks at the station

The vicious flu Jake has had for the past couple of weeks seems to be on its last legs. Jake has a slight cough and what appears to be an ear infection but the eye infection has cleared up immensely. Jake has been a pet recently. He smiles and laughs. He is fond of pointing with a finger and saying ‘bah’ whatever that means. He is also saying ‘baby’ in a very theatrical way which is very amusing.

He still isn’t walking but the standing is coming on. The other day he stood for what must have been a minute. He usually flaps his hands in excitement while standing which has been known to bring the standing to an end.

Last weekend we bought a paddling pool and he has been enoying that with Sam although the slop in the garden lends a precarious lean to it.

What a week it has been. Jake has been suffering from a stomach Flu which has really knocked him for six. He didn’t eat very much at all for at least three days. What we did give him, including water just was vomited back up. Over the last few days he has started to drink his milk and eat a little more. The doctor prescribed him some powders to replenish his body sugar levels and the such-like. Jake was having none of it though and wouldn’t drink it at all. That was a little stressful to say the least.

The last couple of nights have been really bad. Jake has been waking every 2-3 hours with a terrible cough. To cap it all his left eye is all puffed up and weeping pus and his nose is streaming. Amy took him to the doctor this morning. He said that this was just a progression of the stomach flu which was ‘working it’s way upwards’.

It was so sad when he woke yesterday at around midnight. He was crying and his eye was completely closed. We brought him into our bed until he went back to sleep. After a while we put him back in his cot. At around 3am he woke again and we went through this cycle again. This is really taking it out of us and I hope that Jake gets better soon as I’m not sure that we have the reserves to keep it up. Roll on the weekend!

It’s been another hot day and prior to that the hottest day so far. Jake has started to cry to get his own way. Any observer would think some great calamity has befallen him but in fact he is just being impish ;-). Jake and I have taken to wrestling. He particularly likes it when I make chicken noises and peck him on the back of the neck. This causes great fits of giggles!

At the weekend we bought Jake his first pair of shoes. In fact they are ‘cruising’ shoes. Apparently cruising is when babies inch around standing while holding onto something. I has never heard the term before. He was very good in the shop and sat still while having his feet measured. His feet size is 4G.