Family life in South East London
Before I forget. Jake’s latest developments recorded for posterity. I wonder if this blog will still be around when he is my age? uummm. One to ponder on…
It has been a fantastic Easter Weekend. The weather was superb, with the mercury hovering around 20 degrees celcius.
We had C&C over on Thursday evening. They were joined by Vic as well so it was a full house. It was good that we spent last weekend getting the spare room in order because we could give them a proper place to sleep. On Friday we took a trip to Leeds castle.
Colin managed to avoid the A2 which was at a standstill just outside of Bexleyheath. I will have to try the A20 in future as an alternative what with the major road improvements going on near the Dartford tunnel.Leeds castle is in a lovely location, so lovely that the entire population of Kent (it seemed) decended upon it. Jake had a good crawl about on the lawn in front of the castle and was standing for great lengths of time. At the end of the day we went to see the Falconry display. Amy ran out with Jake, when called, to join a line of childen. A huge Eagle Owl then swooped over their heads. I think Jake was unaware of the whole thing but Ames enjoyed it. 🙂
On Saturday morning we took Jake for an early morning swim in Deptford. The Wavelengths centre was being refurbished but still open. Jake loved splashing around in the water. He seems to have no fear even when his head goes under the water. Pet lamb! The centre was badly organized, with cramped cubicles and a lack of family rooms. Let’s hope this will improve in the future.
Monday morning I was out oiling up the picnic table. This turned into a big job as the wood was very thirsty. It took a few coats before everything was covered. Halfway through this job Fiona and Erin arrived (I told you it was a busy weekend!) and we began preparations for another BBQ. Erin made friends with the next door neighbours children and had a go on their trampoline. Soon the house was (at least it seemed to be) full of children. We invited Mum and bairns over for the BBQ. We sipped wine and chatted while the children went on an Easter egg hunt in the garden. In the evening we sat down to watch Pirates of the Caribbean. I flaked at around 11pm and took myself off to bed, unable to keep my eyes open. Work tomorrow 🙁Sunday dawned and it was HOT! S&R came to visit along with Pip and GDK. They came bearing fantastic gifts. For a housewarming present we received a BBQ, BBQ implements and as an Easter present a pine picnic table. Thanks! Vic, Adam and Jo came by a little later. A&J were dogsitting Pepsi who was lovely whippet. She sat on her rug a slept for most of the afternoon and didn’t complain once even with all the lovely smells wafting by.
No it’s not a Smashing Pumpkins song(although it is). Jake is now 1 year 1 week and 3 days old.
Since turning one he has accelerated his development. He stands for moments at a time when he feels the need to. The other day he stood up in the bath and did the “look no hands” trick which almost gave me a heart attack.
He is now using his walker with confidence and it doesn’t run away with him like it used to. I took him out in his new trike the other day and I swear he was steering it himself but that may have been wishful thinking on my part.
His party went very well. We had balloons and a big banner. Six babies and Mum’s were in attendance along with relatives and some other friends. We were worried that we would not have enough room but it all turned out well. Sally and Roy brought some tables and chairs and we put them outside. It was a lovely day in the morning and the south facing aspect make it very pleasant to sit out there. I can’t wait to start having barbies and accompanied burnt offerings. Jake got loads of presents. We gave him a trike, his granny bought a music kit with lot’s of different musical instruments. Grandma bought a drum with little balls inside. He also received a laptop, a hand-made ball from Great-grandma, a tractor and many other nice things that I can’t remember! Needless to say his toy box is bursting to capacity!
Granny made an excellent cake with train decorations by Grandad Roy. Grandma made cup cakes for the babies and a pig-shaped blancmange which took me right back to my childhood :-).
Amy took Jake to a music class last week and he learnt to clap. It was part of the SureStart scheme but unfortunately Ames and Jake cannot go back there because our particular road does not come under the scheme rules :-(.
Jake is pulling himself up and standing. The other day he stood for one or two seconds on his own. Recently he has been such an angel, smiling and generally being lovely.
We have ordered his party items which include a banner, cone hats and plates. Also we took him to Toys R Us to have a go on the trikes. He loved them! We have ordered a Berchet Driver 3 from John Lewis which I’m sure he will love.
Jake has been showing some impish tendencies this week. He has taken to dropping his yellow sprite over the edge of the bath and then cheekily smiling at me before looking over the edge to study his handiwork.
Jake is 11 months old today :-). Jake came up with a rash Monday night and by Tuesday it had covered most of his body. We took him to the Doctor who said that he may have measles but it was probably a viral rash. Later on in the afternoon more bumpy spots had appeared around his groin and on the back of his neck. We decided to take him to the hospital. We rolled up at 1.30pm and were there for the best part of 4 hours. The Doctor that had a look at him wasn’t sure and so called in the registrar for an expert opinion. That was another half an hour wait. Jake was climbing the walls at this point and both Amy and I were feeling pretty fed up. The registrar told us that he did have a viral rash and said that we should try and get Jake to give a urine sample. He said that if the rash continued to run down his legs and became bumpy then there may be problems with his kidneys. We couldn’t get poor Jake to give a urine sample there so we decided it would be best to do it at home and pop into A&E again the next day.
In the morning the rash was on Jake’s face and arms. We successfully managed to get him to wee into the pot after he had his morning milk. So we went back into A&E. The urine test came back fine which was a huge relief, but the nurse was concerned about the rash. So we waited another 2 hours. By the time we got to see the Doctor the rash had subsided on his tummy! She said that the rash on the legs was fine. I think they were primarily worried about Meningitis.
Jake hasn’t been too bad coping with the rash. It doesn’t appear to be itchy. He is definitely not himself though. However, his cough and congestion seem to be easing. Last night we didn’t have the steamer going and he slept well all night :-).
Jake is poorly again. This weekend he has been running a low fever and sleeping a lot. He seems to lack energy and has gone off his food somewhat. This makes meal times rather stressful. Last night wasn’t too bad. He woke a couple of times but sent himself back to sleep. We have decided not to go into his room unless he is really crying because it is better in the long run for him to be able to settle himself if he wakes in the night. We have been putting our vegetable steamer in his bedroom at night. This seems to relieve his congestion!
This weekend Roy and Adam helped me to do some sterling DIY. Firstly Roy plumbed in the dishwasher and Adam put up the curtain rail in our bedroom. We now have curtains after two months :-). This isn’t bad considering at our last place it was a year before we got round to doing it.
Jake has taken a shine to things being stacked on top of other things. Simply by putting a dummy on top of a cup will elicit a giggle. He also likes pulling on the fireplace which is VERY naughty. The other day I took him into the bathroom to brush his teeth. He looked round and let out a loud chuckle. What was it I hear you ask? It was a Mr Muscle bathroom cleaner trigger spray. That boy is very strange ;-).
Jake has been a delight recently. He laughs and giggles and the most strange objects. The other day Amy was opening and closing her camera case and he was having hysterics. He is so aware of his environment now. He is taking it all in, like a little sea sponge.
We put up his toy hammock a couple of weekends ago. He takes great delight in giggling at the toys sitting in there. He has taken a particular shine to Timon who now resides in his cot. At first he was a little unsure and would gingerly put out his hand and almost touch it before drawing back and resting his head on either Mummy or Daddy. Now he giggles at Timon and pokes at his face.
Jake can sit up from a crawling position with great speed now. In fact his crawling is pretty impressive at the moment. He likes to explore the house and discover new things. Ames did some finger painting on Tuesday.
The last couple of days Jake has been waking at 6am. We cannot see any reason, he just wakes. Maybe he is just getting more thirsty at night now. Often he goes back to bed after his milk which gives Ames a brief respite. The other day we had a vomiting episode. I went into his room at around 6.30am and saw a large pool of vomit next to Jake. On closer inspection I saw that poor Jake was covered. It was in his hair, all over his face and all down his sleepsuit. Thankfully Jake was totally chilled out about the whole thing and not fazed at all.
It’s been quite a week. Little Jakey has been poorly. He has been sleeping in Amy’s arms during the day and has no energy. It’s so sad because when he tries to crawl he’ll get halfway across the floor and then his little head will just flop down :-(.
Amy took him to the Doctor’s three times last week and was advised that he had a virus and that it would take up to a week before he shook it off. He is sleeping better at night now and is marginally less fragile than he has been. I think last night he only woke three or four times. The first time was at about 1am and I took him downstairs for a dose of Calpol. After putting him back in his cot he settled immediately. This is something that definitely was NOT happening last week. Amy took him to the Doctors today and now he has been diagnosed with an ear infection. Poor bairn.
On a lighter note Jake is now able to sit up from crawling on his own. I have yet to catch him do it but I am assured that he is doing it!
When we moved into our house it seemed like the Siberian tundra existed under the hall floorboards. Cold draughts were constantly wafting up between the substantial gaps in the boards and eliminating any efficacy of the hallway radiator. Looking down into the floor void on a sunny day I could see the air vent which circulated fresh air under the floor void.
I carried out a little research and found a product called STOPG-P. It consists of a role of flexible plastic that can be cut and folded into a V shape in-between the floorboards. I was a little sceptical about this so I ordered a single roll. It arrived a day later. Fitting was easy.
I fitted the whole hallway in about an hour and the effect was immediately obvious. It felt warmer underfoot especially when the central heating kicked in later on. Highly recommended. Such a simple idea and one that works very well!
I was greeted this morning by Jake sitting upright in his cot holding onto the bars. He really seems to have improved since he started to crawl properly. Of course this brings with it stress for us as he is forever pulling himself up onto things that he shouldn’t. Things like : his toy chest, the TV, chairs.
He is enjoying his car and has started to push himself along a little. He loves pressing the buttons and grins when the music starts. He has been such a lamb the last few days. Very happy and smiley even with a cold that refuses to go it seems.
Yesterday he ate all his lunch and supper and this morning necked 200ml of milk so I think he is on the mend. This is a relief because he has been spitting out his food and not drinking all his milk, maybe because his throat has been sore :-(.