Bump watch - 29 weeks

My 33rd birthday - a trip to Bristol Zoo :D.  Bump shown here with my sister and niece - these little cousin-girls are totally going to be best friends.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Jacob

My 30th birthday - tummy bug
1st Christmas - tummy bug
Jacob's 3rd birthday - tummy bug

Poor Jacob.  Today's plans included a trip to the zoo with all the family, but a 24-hour bout of D&V on top of a cough/cold/sinusy thing going on, meant that we had to postpone, and now that postponement looks like becoming a cancellation as the rest of the family can't seem to make it.

He was a little better today, though still quite weak and floppy.  We made the most of the day, playing with a surprisingly-new inflatable pirate play centre (bought second hand but never used), an extremely popular marble run and investigating everything with a magnifying glass.

I can't believe my boy is 3.  I saw this blog post suggesting a list of 20 questions to ask your 3-year-old on your birthday, and every birthday thereafter, recording their answers for posterity.  I thought this was a great idea, and hopefully I'll get round to doing something nice with the answers.  Enjoy :D


1. What is your favourite colour?  Red
2. What is your favourite toy?  Gup B [Octonauts]
3. What is your favourite fruit?  Bananas
4. What is your favourite TV programme? Wiggles programme
5. What is your favourite thing to eat for lunch?  Grapes
6. What is your favourite outfit?  I don't know
7. What is your favourite game?  Hide and seek
8. What is your favourite snack?  Snack bars
9. What is your favourite animal?  Rhino
10. What is your favourite song?  Twinkle twinkle little star
11. What is your favourite book?  Maisy Mouse
12. Who is your best friend?  Mummy and Daddy
13. What is your favourite cereal? Yellow cereal
14. What is your favourite thing to do outside?  Play
15. What is your favourite drink?  Hot nana and chocolate [banana and chocolate flavoured milk]
16. What is your favourite special occasion?  I don’t know
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night?  Boy buppy and nanny
18. What is your favourite thing to eat for breakfast?  Yellow cereal
19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday?  I don’t know
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? Santa

3 years ago, 8:34pm

More Birthday Fun

All the family descended today for J-cub's family birthday party ... presents at home followed by a meal out, a walk and a look at the ducks, and a monkey cake in the sunshine.

We managed to do this birthday on the cheap, with a bargainous Brio oven reduced to £13 bought in the January sales, and various extremely cheap Nemo toys/books/bits 'n bobs from last weekend's NCT Nearly New sale. The oven has been a massive hit - and complete with play food from Ikea and a set of toy pots and pans from Auntie Rach, J-cub's been cooking up a storm.

We had lunch in the same place today as we did last year, when J-cub sat in a highchair, was generally quite grumpy and refused all food. Today, he sat on a big chair, happily ate his whole meal using an adult-sized fork, and finished up with jelly and ice-cream.

The beautiful blue skies and blazing sun lulled us into a false sense of 'Ooooh, Spring's here!'. It was fracking cold though, and our walk to feed the ducks (what does it say about me that I first typed 'kill the ducks' just then?!) had to be cut short through fear of ending up with a load of frozen grandparents.

I'd love to be able to say that I made this beautiful monkey cake, but I have to say that I ran out of time (as, I seem to recall, I did last year...) and bought it in Tesco. It was far nicer than anything I could have made. J-cub finished his piece, licked his fingers, and chirped "More cake!" as clear as day.

And now, my boy is 2. Practically all grown up. Tomorrow, he moves up from the Baby Room at nursery to the 'Tweenie' group (for pre-schoolers). I guess that means he's a toddler no more...

Happy 2nd Birthday Jacob

2 years ago, 32.5 hours of labour took me through this...

...to this...

Today, I can hardly believe any time has passed at all. But that little bloody, bright red tiny baby is suddenly, this...

Happy Birthday Jacob x

Happy Birthday Bloggers

I've just been catching up on reading some of my favourite blogs, and realised that no less than three of them are celebrating their birthdays today.

So, as a little birthday present to them, I'd like to point you in their direction, to enjoy their loveliness and share in their very different worlds.

Firstly, Happy 21st Birthday to Carla at Messy Carla: A Fashion Blog in a Size 16. Carla is a lovely girl, with impeccable music taste and beautiful dress sense. Her blog offers fashion and make-up advice, lovely giveaways, interviews with fellow fashionistas and much more. I've been Internet-friends with Carla since the days of frequenting myspace, and I once had a funny dream about her, which I can't remember now.

Nextly, Jen at Cakewrecks. I don't 'know' Jen at all, but the blog is well worth a look, if you enjoy eating cake and laughing at people who can't spell and seemingly have no idea of how to make something look edible. Jen's comments on the cakes are hilarious, and she deserves an extra-special birthday cake all of her own. Here you go: CAKE :D (yes, that's the best I can do, I'm tired).

Lastily, the most wonderful Anna Pickard at Little Red Boat, whose birthday, now I come to think of it, might actually have been yesterday. She's currently residing in San Francisco, and I can't work out the time difference. I think it's yesterday. Or was yesterday. Whatever, her blog was the very first blog I ever came across, and have read religiously since. It is, without a doubt, the most funny and best written blog I've ever read, and I am always cheered up by reading it. And she has two lovely cats who are very similar to our dappy cats, and that makes me happy. So Happy (probably belated) Birthday to Anna.

That's all!

Happy Birthday Jacob!

Well I seem to have got behind again on blogging, I'm going to keep blaming work. It's tiring. In my second week back, we had an inspection - I don't suppose I can write much about that or they'll hunt me down, make me sign an NDA and I'll never work in education again. Suffice to say, it was stressful. Then pretty much ever since then, we've been caught up in a nasty chest infection (for J-cub), an OU tutorial and DJing stint (for Jamie), and crazy party preparations (for all of us).

Today was the big day ... one year ago I was lying on a hospital bed, the bottom end of which (according to Jamie) resembled a butcher's shop, clutching the softest, reddest, most beautiful person I'd ever seen. For 2 and a half hours, while they stitched me up (ahhh happy memories), I held this little baby, who stared at me with these amazingly knowing eyes. He didn't really open his eyes again for another week, but I'll never forget those few hours.

He was born at 8.34pm, so it has seemed a bit of a sham today to be celebrating so early, when in my head my thoughts have been ticking through "This time a year ago they were giving me the pethidine ... I wish I could go back and tell them not to"/"...I was getting into the birthing pool..."/"I was lying over a gym ball on the floor, screaming at them to get me a FUCKING epidural"/"Ahhhhh bliss...."/"...and push..." etc etc.

Regardless of the validity of his birth time, a birthday is a birthday and we celebrated from the moment he got up (well, from the moment I woke up and it felt like Christmas) and we're still going now(a few glasses of something cold and bubbly to banish the worst of the memories).

We asked for no presents, as he has so much stuff already and we have nowhere to put it. Most people carried on regardless though, and he had some lovely things. We gave him a trike, some wooden toys and jigsaws, and an awesome giraffe guitar, which me and Jamie have spent more time playing with today than J-cub has. We had a nice play with everything before he went down for his morning nap, then we rushed around crazily stuffing toys, balloons, food and drink into our car, to drive 100 yards round the corner to our village hall.

Trike

We went slightly overboard on the food, but it looked lovely, and was very well received. Lots of mummies and babies from our local baby group came, as well as my friends and their babies. We had bubbles, and presents, and a ball pit, and cake, and lots of overexcited babies and toddlers, and a few minor accidents, and it was SO much fun. We were absolutely shattered by the time we'd finished clearing up; one of us was asleep in his buggy and stayed asleep for another hour when we got home.

Jacob's first sugar rush

Mostly, I can't believe that this time last year (a few hours ago), I was sure I was going to die, and that I didn't want a baby. And then I had this tiny thing, who was so small and so precious, but so contrary and wouldn't feed and wouldn't wake up ... it was all so hard. But now, he's a little person, who gives the biggest cheesy grin when you call him, and shakes his head when you say "Yes!", and loves to stand on a chair and dance to Kenickie.

At times, during the past year, it's been so hard to keep going. It's not hard any more. I could never have imagined loving someone so much, and feeling like my soul is being torn away every time I have to leave him, and just having so much anticipation for what the next year will bring.

Happy Birthday my Jacob, I love you so much.