Introducing the recently shorn Mr T Perryman

Looking so grown up…

Before the big chop

Managed to get a few snaps this evening before bed ot Ted pre haircut tomorrow – he barely stops long enough for me to take a picture so lord knows how we are going to manage a haircut but we shall see….. he he is.

Back to bedlam

Thats our life – not the sate of the house which was surprisingly un chaotic – I say surprisingly because we got back early, Granny W and Teddy were out and the kitchen and playroom were in good shape – Ry and i struggle to keep it that way during the day so bravo GW.

Rest of our stay in Ireland was wonderful – we had a great dinner with Patrick and Lisa which was so much fun and so nice to have a chance to catch up. We also met Miss Molly on Monday = she is cute as a button and so grown up, so sweet. We had our hot stone treatments which were just as good as last time and dinners together, late nights, reading and even a movie. Wonderful. I did catch Ryans cold and by Monday was feeling under the weather but even the luxury of being able to be sick and nap and laze without being on duty was brilliant. Felt much better quickly too so I think it was jsut a nasty cold.

Teds ear infection came back so GW and Ted had a bad night Sunday night, but anti b’s meant he was much better by midday on Monday and he seems fine now, kudos to GW who kept her cool and just handled it – but then GW has a good deal more experience than me so shouldn’t be surprised!! I think Ted coming down with a cold jsut now as he has a runny nose and sore throat at the mo. He is also having a few problems settling back into sleeping but we are working through it as best can. Thanks a million GW for giving us  the chance for grown up time off.

When we got back I got the biggest cuddle, no tears, or drama but just a really big cuddle that let me know I had been missed, and when he woke at midnight on the Tuesday he stayed awake until 4.30 because he was so pleased I was back and he wanted to chat, and have stories and not sleep. Rude awakening for me after the luxury of nights of sleep and waking up when I please, but we will be back on track soon I expect. Last night was better – although he woke at 230 he was back to sleep in about an hour and a quarter. Had to do some crying though, am hoping we can progress quickly to no crying. He climbed out of his cot in the fleece sleeper that GW bought becuase it has non slip pads on the feet so he is back in his bag until we convert the cot to cotbed – although want to wait until he is settling  properly or its going to be in and out like a yo yo getting him back to bed

I am going to try and get some pic in the next day or so as I have scheduled a proper haircut for Saturday – poor boys mullet keeps getting caught in his bib poppers which he hates so need to take action. Lots more words now too and imitating so I think he will have a small vocab soon.

Hope he will be well enough for swimming as missed 2 weeks but will have to wait and see.

Ry and I both fine now so am hoping we have had our share of illnesses now.
Time for bed in case we are up at 2.30 again

Now I remember what it was like before…..

Ry and i are having our lazy break at the Lyrath in Kilkenny visiting Patrick and Lisa, its great, Ry is getting better – although he appears to have passed on his germs to me – thanks hon, as I now have a runny nose and itchy throat…. so unfair having just gotten over the sinusitis! Still the fact  we are away and all I have to do is laze around all day means I can live with it, and hopefully it will stay as a cold and not result in more anti b’s.

We flew out yesterday and Sir Bob was on our flight which was the only real point of interest. Fliight was uneventful – which is the best kind, we drove down and spent the latter part of the day chilling in our suite before going to a long dinner, which was a great chance to chat. It was great to get back to the room and stay up late reading and talking and not have to worry that I would be on bottle duty. I think I managed to get through the day with only 7 calls home!! Ted was absolutely fine!

Today we woke late – 8 – thats late for us, we had a cooked breakfast which was great, then back to the room to read some more before taking a 2 hour nap, more reading then a swim, then room service and a movie – The Bucket List – good comedy, then some R&R and now I am about to shower before we go out to dinenr with P&L. So today we have literally done next to nothing – which has been very wierd, quite relaxing and liberating – it has reminded me what it was like before .. when we could please ourselves all the time, however much as I am enjoying the  freedom, I am also looking forward to the reaction we will get from little Ted when we get back, and it will be wonderful to scoop up my little boy for the special cuddles which I miss so much. Managed only 3 calls home today so far so thats an improvement. Ted is by all accounts having a whale of a time.

So tomorrow we are doing even less – not even going out in the evening so that will be more relaxation. By Tuesday I will be about ready to go home I expect and back to the hectic craziness that is life.

Just hoping this cold comes to nowt.

Feeling abit emotional

Its been a funny old week. Ry has been poorly all week and finally sucumbed and went to the doctor today – he has a chest infection and is on antibiotics now, hopefully he will be much better by Saturday when we fly to Ireland to have an adults only weekend and visit Patrick and LIsa in Kilkenny. We will be away til Tuesday and Granny W will be looking after Ted.

I am fretting about going, a little because I know how much I will miss him, although maybe not so much at 4 in the morning. Mostly because it is the first time Ryan and I will have flown without him since he was born my anxiety about flying – which seemed to have subsided significantly in the last 4 years is now front and centre of my mind. The irational fear that the plane might plummet from the sky taking us and all on board to and early end seems so much worse now Teddy is in our world to think about, I am not so worried about the fact I might die, as much as he might be an orphan and that we might not be there to help him grow up into the wonderful man I am sure he will be. Its strange how the parental instinct to love and protect and be there is so much stronger than the desire to live oneself! Anyway – I am sure it will all be fine but it has been an eye opener and I supose is testament to just how important, and wonderful and special he is and how much I love him.

The emotional rollercoaster has been further exacerbated by the whole Baby P story which I have had to stop watching or reading anything about as I crumble in tears every time for the poor boy, who is Teds age and looks so sweet and trusting and who was so helpless, but who was treated so appallingly I can scarcely comprehend it. There has been much made of the authorities failings in this case and they are many and severe, but so much worse to me is that any adult, let alone his mother could allow such things to happen to a child. I don’t believe in capital punishment but something like this could change my mind. I just think it is a horrible horrible story, and it makes very sad and more than a little bit scared that there are people who have so little heart and humanity in them that they could even do it..its so twisted.. and it has also made me think about all the other children who are badly treated all over the world and it makes me incredibly sad.

So a combination of me then Ted then Ry being ill, combined with pressures of work, my anxiety about going away and the strong emotions this story has brought up in me has made me feel pretty emotional, tearful and stressed. Suffice to say when we get to Ireland I will be ready for some serious R&R.

I am off to bed now and I am almost hoping Ted wakes up early so I can pick him up, and cuddle him close and hunker down with him  and go back to sleep with him so he knows that he is safe and warm and loved to within an inch of his life!

I even though about writing him a letter – just in case, but then I realised if anything did happen to me he would have his mothers story of the first 18 months of his life here, and he would know everything he needed to.

Bedtime, so really quickly

Back end of last week Teddy started to recover somewhat from his ear infection, and  so he started eating again Thursday, unfortunately Iwas so excited he seemed to have his appetite back that I let him have yoghurt, smoked salmon, a homemade fruit smoothie and some biscuits, so un surprisingly he woke up at 1.30 and was in bed with me wriggling for an hour before throwing up all over me, him and the bed. Grim. It was so bad he needed a bath. Thankfully Mum was here so she was able to help me get him cleaned up and back in bed, although it was back in bed with  me so I didn’t get so much sleep as he didn’t settle until about 4.

Friday though he was fine and ate better at nursery and I had a good day at work.

Friday night Ry slept badly and in the early hours of Saturday he was sick – he already had a cold so it seems like he must have picked up a tummy bug as well. I decided against taking Ted for a swim as wanted his ears to have a good chance to recover. We went to Guys party, even though Ry wasn’t feeling 100% and had a lovely time. Guy is growing up fast and is looking more like both his parents now as oppose to being the spitting image of Patrick. It was lovely to see them and meet some of their friends and we hung out for the afternoon before heading back. Ry took a turn for the worse on the way home – probably on account of the fact he ignored my advice to avoid eating too much and drinking anything acidic and chose instead to eat samosas and drink OJ! When we got back he was sent to bed with Lemsip and instructions to rest. He stayed there for the rest of the day, night and most of today and although he is still feeling rough he has had some chicken soup today and some spag bol this evening. Teddy and I have kept our distance as with us both on antibiotics our tummys would be especially susceptible to a tummy bug. I have been drinking probiotic drinks like mad to boost my bacteria levels. Ted and I have also managed to clear the laundry, do the grocery shop, empty bins and recycling and take the dry cleaning in (including the duvet he threw up on). As you can imagine Ted was a great help …..

So I am off to bed, the boys are both in bed already, hopefully we will get a good nights sleep and everyone will be well in the morning.

Heres the pcis from Saturday

Ted and the 36C

So we went shopping yesterday afternoon in M&S in Guildford and while Granny W and I wandered around childrenswear looking for items of note Ted found his way across the aisle into a domain rarely frequented by the male sex.. lingerie. Granny and I only notced him when he materialised looking like this …

after an attempt at retrieval and some bemused looks from passers by we convinced Ted that perhaps he should return the bra to the shelf – although this involved some chasing around and cajooling and persuading as Ted was keen to retain ownership

it was, he decided, a fine game and it seemed to make Granny W and Mummy laugh alot. Once we got the originl bra back on the shelf it was time to go – but Teddy had other ideas

as you can see this is an action shot, he was like a kid in a candy store – except not.. I did note that he went for the basics and wasn’t drawn to the tacky red lacey end of the spectrum – nice to know the lads got some class about him!! It was all very funny. Snaps were caught on Granny W phone cam so quality is not great, but it was good to catch the moment.

In other news, Ted is much better today, the antibiotics have kicked in and he was fine all day at nursery, no temperature and no Medicet required tonight so fingers crossed he will sleep well and be even better tomorrow. Although he didn’t eat very much at nursery he is eating better and had a blueberry, banana and raspberry smoothie for tea, followed by breadsticks, smoked salmon shavings and a cereal bisuit with chocolate chips. All in small amounts but enough that I feel like he had plenty.

Work was fine today but busy – I am getting things done and making some progress which is good, and focussing more on the big ticket items so thats clearing things from the backlog. I have a flu jab tomorrow – perks of a healthcare employer, hopefully that will prevent me from catching any nasty flu bugs, although I almost resigned to a winter of catching nursery colds that Ted brings home.

Weighing up whether to take him swimming on Saturday – I may take him but just not let him do any of the underwater stuff – which is a shame as he loves the jumping in, but best to  keep the ear dry probably. We will see, if he eats well tomorrow and has all his ant b’s and no temperature I might just go on as normal.

Ry is out with Uncle Mark tonight having a catch up and Granny W is here as she is going to Cardiff tomorrow and this will make the journey easier, so we have had a good chat and a catchup and Teddy got bonus Granny W time ahead of his long weekend with GW next weekend while we jet off to see Lisa and Patrick in Kilkenny for relaxation, sleep and breakfasts in bed – oh the joy of 3 nights 9 – 10 hours uninterupted sleep, leisurely evening meals, hour long baths, hot stone massage treatments, afternoon movies and reading without pages being torn from the book. Wonderful ….. (will miss my little boy though!!!)

Big hairy rant …

Well, should I start with nurseries who won’t take children who are perfectly well other than being on antibiotics until they are 24 hours into the course, tenants who spend their housing benefit on things other than their rent because they are so mathematically and common sense challenged, changes at work which cause all sorts of uncertainty and leave you wondering who you will be working for in 6 months time or whether there will even be a department to work for, or TV shows which are mindless and stupid but which suck you in and waste your life because you are too tired to resist….

or maybe I should just get over it and be glad that my work is flexible about me having time off when the nursery won’t take Ted and that it means we get more time together,  and be thankful that I am able to manage my finances and live in my own house and have a job and working husband which means I am not reliant on benefits to get by, and be pleased that I am good at my job and have contacts enough both in the company and outside of it that whatever the uncertainty I will always have options, and live with the fact that I am a sucker for bad TV and that doesn’t make me a bad person – even if my husband thinks I am a total loser. This will be exacerbated ten fold when I get drawn into I’m A Celebrity – ususally get through the first 5 or 6 days withough getting hooked completely but by the second week I am done for – and Ry thinks its the lamest show in the history of mankind. (He is right of course).

Lifes not so bad

Ted and I actually had a great day, slow morning, then to the shops, Ted slept through the Mothercare shop which was a relief, then to Godalming for lunch with Granny, then to Guildford for a little more shopping, and then home for play and bath and bed and crap TV.

I am off to bed early in the hope of getting 7 hours – Ted is sleeping much better now even though he is poorly so when he is well we might even be able to work it round to him sleeping until 6 – now that would be something!!

Under the weather

We all are – apart from Ryan – who is out in the gym shaming me by going for his second run of the day. My antibitics seem to be working and my face feels much better, still have snuffles though and Teddy had a temperature today which doesn’t bode well for nursery tomorrow but we shall see, he did not seem unwell in his demeanor, but hasn’t eaten much and had a runny nose all day.

Had a lovely weekend just clearing he chores and catching up with each other. Spent the afternoon in the pub yesterday with Oliver and Nic and Katie, and Ted did his swimming yesterday. Other than that, laundry, dry cleaning, groceries, etc.

Took some pics yesterday though so heres our boy, i know he needs a haircut but i think its pretty cute at the moment so I am holding off for a little while!!

Latest on sinusgate

I know I know – America elects its first black president – the Bush era is finally over, there is hope of some kind of sense being returned to the world order… and all I can think about is my sinuses. But really, I have never known anything like it, I woke up this morning and my whole face hurt, teeth, cheekbones and eyes. Horrible. I had to work – its just not been a week where I could afford to be sick – deadlines and the like, but this is the 3rd cold so far this autumn. I am hoping that it will be the last for a while, but have a hunch Teddy is bringing home baby bugs from nursery, I have a theory about baby bugs, babys get them and have a runny nose, then they pass them on to their parents and it wipes them out for a week.

Anyway I did start to feel better this afternoon and tonight I am at least going to bed feeling like tomorrow could be  a brighter day!

Good news is that Teddy seems to be adjusting sleep wise and we have a new system. If he wakes before 6 I go into his room, pick him up and cuddle him and then lie him down with monkey and lion making reassuring noises  and leave the room and he just  goes back off to sleep by himself. Then post 6 when he wakes I have a bottle ready upstairs thats room temp – bring it up at bedtime, so I scoop him up, take him into the spare room and settle down next to him while he has the bottle – making sure my back is turned, then he scootches into my back and goes back to sleep until half seven.

Once this is settled I am going to try and lay hiom down again at 6 and see if he will go back until morning then have milkl when he wakes up. Either way, not having him in our bed until 6 is the best outcome since August so fingers crossed it will stick for a while – although when we go to ireland and he goes to grannys it might throw him out for a day or so, but by thenthe whole system should be well established.

Ok so back to world affairs – very exciting about Obama, wished I was at Emilys parents house last night as they are die hard democrats and it would have been one hell of a party – thye have been waiting for this for a long time!!

Work is fine but busy, hoping things will ease up abit in a week or so. Ry is back from his conference so he is now playing catchup. Ted is loving nursry, although Jo, one of the ladies there told me he had the devil in him todaya – climbing on tables and chairs, and generally making mischeif with James. James seems to be his first proper friend that he has made – he has Isla and Ellie from swimming who we have known for ages, but James is the first child he has befriended by himself. So sweet.

At home he has taken to refusing his high chair, and when I do the dishes he pulls a kitchen chair across and climbs up and wants his own brush, when I go to make sandwiches he pulls the chair to the other side of the kitchen and wants to stand up to the counter and watch whats going on. He is getting really independent.

He got so cross today when I wouldn’t let him put a dirty dish brush in his mouth (I know – I am so unreasonable) that he rolled on the floor kicking his feet and throwing things around – I couldn’t help laughing, although that made him more cross so I had to hide my face. It was hilarious though. He was cross with me yesterday as well because I raised my voice when he was yelling at me in the car (I had a sinus headache – no excuse but at the time was last straw) anyway – when we got home I took him inside and he wrigggled out of my arms and wouldn’t look at me, so I knelt down and said ‘ Teddy, Mummy is sorry for shouting can Mummy have a kiss’, he glanced at me and then walked off and wouldn’t cuddle or look at me for about 5 minutes. Of course once I had a fruit stick in my hands all was forgven, but there is so much going on in his head now.

Well = its bedtime for me now, want to get some more hours back. We have plans for the weekend so hopefully will get some good shots then. Best to all.