Bodmacity

So here we are once more. A new year has dawned and 2007 is upon us. It was my first day back at work yesterday. The train was eerily quiet. It seems a lot of people have had the very sensible idea of taking the rest of the week off. Christmas was fun but busy and involved lot’s of driving to and fro and hither and thither. I had to work the last few days of the Christmas week which was a struggle but at least I had the luxury of working from home.

Jake enjoyed his Christmas immensely and although he didn’t understand what was going on, he delighted in meeting lot’s of people and playing with his new toys. On Christmas day we dressed him in a fluffy reindeer sleepsuit. Initially I protested that it was an affront to his human rights. However once I saw the cuteness that was the Jakles in said sleepsuit, all of that went out of the window!

Jake has been poorly all over Christmas. This one really has taken hold. He has been snuffly and congested. Yesterday he refused his food and today is only drinking a little of his milk. I suspect he has a sore throat now as well. The teething doesn’t seem to bother him so much now. He cut his fourth peg last week. It was only when he was laughing while being held upside down that we saw the elusive peg.

The house is getting there slowly. A new shower pump has been installed, the Ikea wardrobes are up. Today a man is coming to install a new extension point for the TV in the bedroom. Also the PC is up and running in the spare room with a surprisingly good signals seeing as the router is downstairs in the lounge.

Yesterday we took a trip to Sainsburg’s to buy our shopping for our Christmas Eve/Housewarming party. It should be a good one, we have around 12 people coming from 12 to 6pm. Ames is making some canapes and mulled wined so it will be very festive in Vicars Hill!

Colin, Becky and Carol came to visit today. Colin installed a new shower pump for our shower because the old one had siezed. As with all projects of this kind it ended up taking all day. First of all we had to chisel off the tiles that had been applied to the side of the bath, then the tap that was supposed to drain the cold water tank broke off. So two trips to Wickes later and lot’s of swearing we have a fully functioning power shower.

Jake has been a little star over the last few days. He has taken to playing a game of ‘give and take’. He will hold out his hand with a piece of toast for example, give it to the other person and then ask for it back by splaying his fingers and pointing. Yesterday he pretty much said dada all day, which was nice to hear. We went into Lewisham in the afternoon to buy him a new hat and mittens because the weather has turned very cold and foggy.

Jake has now passed the nine months milestone. The time seems to have flown by but at the same time it seems an age since he was a tiny newborn baby. He is now a bruiser with big pudgy hands, each with little bracelets.

The top right tooth has finally broken through after months of waiting. The top-left peg is also making an appearance. Jake’s demeanour is much better now that he is not in so much pain. Jake is suffering from a cold at the moment. He is taking delight in wiping his face on my shoulder which results in a nice silvering down my sleeve!

Last week he amazed us by properly crawling on all fours. It only lasted a few seconds so I didn’t have the chance to record the event for posterity. He is so muvh more aware of things around him. He has taken a liking to my video camera, particularly the lens cap. My ipod USB cable is also a favourite as well as anything silvery and shiny!

He likes our new house a lot. In the morning he enjoys looking out down the garden at Mr Fox and at the green parakeets that visit the neighbours garden.

The night of the move was bad for Jake. He was crying everytime he was put down in his cot so we took him downstairs for a play until about 8.30pm. By that time he was obviously tired. Again once in his cot he immediately started to cry. There was nothing for it but some controlled crying. We went in at intervals to settle him. In the end he succumbed to a soothing cheek stroke while clutching his taggie blanket. Kebob! The night after was fine though. I wonder if he still remembers the old flat?

Jakey has taken to sleeping on his front and at a variety of angles. Another favorite is to sleep on his side. Ames was kept waiting on thje phone this morning trying to sort out our BT Broadband fiasco so his nap was overdue. When Ames eventually put him to bed he immediately turned onto his side clutched his blanket and went to sleep. We are thinking that his increased movement is causing his leaks of which we have two or three a week. I have carried out a little research and this seems to be common. We shall try popping in another booster between the nappy and the wrap. alternatively we could fold the booster in the half so there is more in the front. Boys obviously wet the front more than girls.

It is nice for Jake to have lots of room to play and in the summer the garden will be a godsend. Amy is round at Emmas today because at the mo the Kitchen/Dining area is flat-pack-tastic.

Jake’s top-left tooth is almost through now. The white bump has turned into a thin line so the tooth must be cutting though. He is quite comfortable with his sippy bottles and now holds it while he drinks. He is also taking more milk. Most feeds are now 200ml whereas before it was a struggle to get him to take the 150ml.

The move went as well as could be expected. My two days off turned into the whole week due to issues with the electrics and the heating in the new house. The removal men arrived at midday on Wednesday, took one look at all the boxes and then did sharp intakes of breath. They then got on the phone to their boss. After the call he said that the original quote was too little and more men and possibly another van would be required. After I actually got a figure out of the guy the cost had risen by £150. There’s not a lot you can do when you have to be out of the property so I agreed. The phrase ‘over a barrel’ springs to mind.

So they started shifted the boxes at 12.30pm and hadn’t finished until almost 6pm by which time three more blokes had arrived and another Luton van. Luckily there was no sign of our buyers who were due to arrive at 5.30pm. The new house is lovely although not without it’s little niggles. Things such as the dodgy central heating timer and the pathetic drip that calls itself a shower. It’s also extremely cold even with the heating on full blast. Maybe this is because the property has been vacant for so long and it takes time to warm up. The rooms are nice and big though and there is plenty of space for our stuff. The room for potential is huge, it just will take some hard work and hard cash to get there!

We took the obligatory trip to Ikea to get all our bits and pieces. We ended up with three trolleys crocodiling our way across the self-serve area. We bought two sofas (one a sofa bed), two wardrobes, two bedside tables, a chest of drawers and three Billy bookcases. So you can see what I will be doing in the forthcoming week. Screwdriver at the ready…

Jake has officially said Dada for the first time :-). He has said things that sound like ‘dada’ but this was definitely the real thing! Of course straight after saying it he continued with ‘mama’ but at least it’s a start.

We took him over Hilly Fields to the swings on Saturday (our second anniversary). He is now over 8 months old so is big enough to fit into the swings safely. It was a lovely crisp day with a bright blue sky and last night’s storm had blown most of the leaves off the trees so they were piled up everywhere. I took the opportunity to take a picture of Jakers surrounded by all the leaves. I’m not sure if he was impressed with being made to lie on a pile of damp smelly leaves as he refused to look at the camera!

We walked past our new house. Yes, we officially have a moving date of 6th December!! Hoorah! We did a little more packing on the Sunday but we are now having trouble finding the space to put boxes. They are all over the shop. In the bedroom piled up behind our bed, in Jake’s room and upstairs in the lounge.

Today I am working from home and writing this in my break. I got as far as Clapham Junction this morning before realising that the weekend engineering works had overrun and the Waterloo service was in chaos. I eventually got back at 10am and holed myself up in the bedroom with the laptop, by the desk next to the obligatory pile of boxes ;-).

Jake has done it! On Saturday in front of his Grandparent’s and Mum and Dad he managed to crawl :-). I was playing around with my little radio controlled beetle car to see if he would follow it. Sure enough this tactic worked a treat. He started to heave himself forwards by his arms and soon was moving under his own steam! He hasn’t quite got the hang of moving his legs but it’s groundbreaking stuff for little Jakers!

He is also starting to lift himself up out of the bath and when placed sitting in his cot can heave himself up without too much trouble. I am wondering when he will be able to get himself on his feet from lying prone. When this happens we seriously need to lower the cot. Charbel at work told me how his baby girl had tumbled from the cot after doing just this.

Our flat move has faltered a little and looks like being at the beginning of December. I don’t know how much longer we can cope with the state of the flat. There are stacks of boxes absolutely everywhere. We had an email today from the buyers solicitor querying yet another insignificant detail. It makes me mad!!

It is quite a mild winters day today. Although the morning was crisp, the afternoon was very sunny indeed. We spent the weekend clearing out the loft and boxing up our belongings for the long awaited move to Vicars! We still have a huge amount to get packed but at least we have made a start.

On Sunday morning we ducked down to the local dump in Lewisham to get rid of some of the bigger items found in the loft. I also managed to recycle my mounting collection of assorted batteries :-).

Jake is teething once more so he was a bit of a grot bot this weekend. He has taken to making a very angry face when he get’s frustrated or simply feels like it. He clenches his fists and sets his jaw before bellowing his familiar cry. The first time I saw him do it I was in fits of laughter. It is really the most strange thing to behold. Poor Jakey, I do hope his top teeth are through soon as they seem to be giving him gyp. Jake is now feeding from a sippy bottle which he has taken to quite well, although he is not taking the full 150/200ml that he used to.

Yesterday afternoon we had drinks with the other parents which was a nice respite to the packing chores. In fact it was good to get out of the flat seeing as it is now resembling a warehouse what with all the boxes stacked up everywhere. I met Amy’s friends from her post-natal group and of course their lovely bairns. The wine also went down very well! While walking back the fireworks display were in full swing and the sky was alight with various rockets and the such-like. Jake didn’t seem to mind the loud bangs and slept through the lot.

Okay, I know I’m a late starter. Yesterday we finally finished watching the first series of Lost. (I get annoyed by the Americanisms creeping into the English language. It’s series not season!). As expected there was the unresolved ending to pave the way for the next season, sorry series.

So now we have the opened hatch, or Pandoras box as we are led to believe. This is in some way due to the ‘unlucky’ lottery numbers found inscribed on it just before the hatch was blown skywards. Locke has become increasing evangelical about the Island’s purpose. He believes that the Island brought them for some unspecified higher purpose. Spooky.

As to the raft, well it was attacked by some swarthy sea-faring types and Walt was kidnapped. Not before it was set alight, Sawyer was shot and it’s occupants left to find their own fate in the unforgiving ocean. So I am thinking that the ‘pirates’ were ‘The Others’? It seems a logical conclusion since they wanted the boy and on the island they wanted the baby . But for what reason?

Speaking to colleagues at work who have seen the next series, it seems as though these questions go largely unanswered. Boo!

Jake has been a little off sorts over the last few days. He has been taking half his normal amount of milk and doing the worst, smelliest poos known to man. He just hasn’t been his usual angelic self. Also, he has also been doing a weird eye thing where he opens and closes his eyes quite slowly. We think he may have scratched his left eye as it is that one that seems to be giving him grief.

This morning he was up just after 6am. I popped him down with a pillow behind him in the hallway and he played with his clutch cube, while I shaved and washed. I then took him upstairs for his milk. The breastfeeding era has officially ended this weekend after he bit Amy three times while feeding. Ouch! After his milk I gave him an apple rice cake with some water. After that he became a little grouchy and irritable. He had simply woken too early and was still tired. I took him downstairs and popped him in his cot and he soon fell asleep clutching his taggie. What a kebob!

Jake now sits on his own quite confidently although he will still fall backwards sometimes so he needs a pillow to cushion his head. Yesterday he started leaning to one side. It seems his back and neck muscles are much stronger and it gives him a different perpective on the world.