We're back

Hello all,

My goodness, over a month since I've last posted. Slap on wrist.

During that time we were away for two weeks, I was having problems logging in and then feeling under the weather for about a week, but none the less also some lethargy.

We had a great time in the UK. We flew into Glasgow and met Pat and John, only to have to wait for two hours for the luggage to get unloaded off the plane. Then a drive across country to a nice little cottage about 1/2 hour from St. Andrews. We spent most of the time up there visiting friends and relatives. The high-light for me was introducing Fin to his Great-Granny. I'm not convinced she new who we were all the times we were there, but she was certainly taken with him, reaching out for him, giving him cuddles and kisses. We got some nice photos of the two of them and some lovely video footage that I will treasure, even if the two of them don't remember their meeting.

From Scotland we drove down to Northampton and had a busy couple of days at a wedding in London. Both sets of parents babysat. My folks come over a bit early for their holidays as we got Fin christened on the Sunday. He was really good but the service was a bit long for him and he had a serious melt down just as we had to get up in front of the congregation. He then proceeded to destroy the flower arrangement by the bird bath, but it kept him from screaming so we let him pluck petals and by the time the vicar was finished there was a nice pile of confetti at our feet.

Grandma Patricia put on a lovely reception, with enough meat pies to feed an army. It was nice because we got to visit with folks there which freed up the rest of the week to just relax and visit with Pat and John without racing around. We went to the park a few times and fed the ducks and Fin went on a swing for the first time. He absolutely loved it! He laughed up a storm the whole time. We've since found a playground close to home, that has a swing he fits in. He still enjoys it just as much.

He did so well flying as well. On the fight over he had a few fits but slept for about four hours and then from Manchester to Glasgow slept the whole way. On the way back he didn't sleep as much but was as good as gold and only cried for about the last twenty minutes. He charmed everyone. When we were queuing to get through customs at least twenty people came up and said how well he did and what a delightful child he was. We even had people take him and play with him for a portion of time while we were grounded in Winnipeg. Needless to say his parents were very proud of him.

He's just woken from his nap so I'll fill you in later about what we've been up to since we've been back. Including new teeth.

More snippets

We had another youngster over yesterday. Tristan is one month older, 3 or 4 lbs heavier and about six inches taller. The boy is a monster. Fin took it all in his stride and once again immediately struck up a conversation. They sat down across from each other chatting away. Tristan grew tired of that and decided to explore. He knows how to crawl. We need to do some child proofing. Fin watching the giant move around and tried rocking but it wasn't enough to get him moving, so he shouted at Tristan to get his attention and tell him to crawl back over to him so they could continue their conversation.
We've started feeding Fin meats to go along with his fruit and veg. We've also increased his portion size and that seems to be helping him sleep longer through the night. (touch wood) He's like a little bird with his mouth open waiting to be fed. He screeches louder than a bird if you don't move the spoon fast enough. Yesterday he snatched the food from the spoon, on the way to his mouth. It was like a snake striking out.
I prepared his meals for our flight on Friday. He is getting chicken, potatoes with cheese, and carrots followed by pureed apples. He had a preview for dinner tonight and apparently it was a hit. Hope the flight isn't too traumatic for him or any of the other passengers. Well must go finish packing and will try to post one more tomorrow before we leave. Ciao for now.

Just Little Snipets

My Goodness, I'm getting worse not better. Thank you all who still check in. I'm just going to some little tid bits till we leave to the UK on Friday. Over the last couple of weeks we've had friends from out of town stay, been on a short trip to Naniamo(which is on Vancouver Island), and had been on a short harbour cruise.
Gas (petrol) has dropped down in price to just under a dollar/litre which is the lowest it's been in quite a while. I honestly never thought it would get that low again. Just over a couple of months ago it was over $1.20/litre. The change in weather we've had has kept me from painting. It was our first rain in 41 days, so the summer has been a good one. It is certainly cooler now.
The other weekend we were invited over to Kelly and Davids' place for dinner. They've got a little one Evan, who is about a year and a half. When we arrived Evan was sitting on the floor playing with his toys and we placed Fin down beside him. Finlay thought this was the greatest thing ever. He started laughing, belly laughing and just wouldn't stop. He was laughing so hard he rolled right back, bang his head and still carried on laughing. Evan was really good with him and would come over and share his toys, pat Fin on the head and give him a hug. Finlay had a great time. He really likes other children.
This weekend The Port of Vancouver along with the City of North Vancouver were giving free tours of the inner harbour, talking about it's history and showing of the working aspect of the harbour which most people don't get to see. The trip took about 45 mins and Fin spent most of the time talking to the baby at the next table, never mind looking at all the ships. He really chatted up quite the storm. I think he kind of spooked the other child a little. Dad did him proud by winning a small, stuffed Salty Sam the Seagull toy, by answering a trivia question correctly. Apparently, Salty Sam is the mascot of the port. I'm not a fan of the rats with wings myself but this fellow in his sailor hat is kinda cute(?).
When we were in Nanaimo, Fin and I went for a long walk along a riverside path that took us to a park. It was a great place, there was a rodedendrum(sp) garden(not in blume), a petting zoo(that is only open in summer months) but the duck pond did have ducks. When we got there the ducks were just loittering with intent. Soon enough, someone pulled up and started feeding the ducks. Now that really got Fin's attention. The folks were good enough to throw some feed down in front of where we were sitting so he could get a closer look. He was sitting on my leg leaning as far forward as he could with a big grin on his face.
The other thing that made me chuckle, thinking about that trip to the Island, was how I got him back to sleep after Ella woke up early to go to work. Normally there is some kind of fuss when you lay him down because he knows it usually means nap time. The great thing about our hotel room there was a ceiling fan over Fin's bed. I set the fan on as slow as it would go, pointed it out to Fin before laying him down and he became quite entranced by it and just drifted quietly off to sleep. One for the good guys.

Weekend post? What's that about

Hello all. Yes feeling guilty for not being on top of things but that seems to be par for the course right now. By the way did you know it was the Canadian Open this weekend? Que? I learned English from a book. Anyhoo...
The boy is well. I've been busy trying to sell the van and paint the house plus try to keep up the house, at which I'm failing, so it feels like I've been neglecting him. He's had more attention from his Grandparents then I probably would have given him but non the less. I've had three gentlemen test drive the van today. One offer, one wants to take the van in to have his mechanic look at it and one drove it this evening(with Dad) and will call me tomorrow. I've only managed to get a bit more of the painting done but working away at it bits and pieces. Tomorrow hoping to have three out of the four sides finished.
No real news with the boy. We went to the doctors yesterday, to have a small rash on his leg checked out. Exam(SP) which is probably brought on by his teething and looks worse when its wet,ie swimming, or when he is hot. Received our prescription and carried on. From the doctors we strolled down to Honeys Donuts for a coffee and a donut. For those of you who have not been to Honeys it is worth the air fare to come to Vancouver for one of their honey glazed donuts. From there we went to the playground in the park and Fin went down the slide. He didn't enjoy it as much as he has previously so we only went down it a couple of times. We were just about to leave when a couple of youngsters turned up and started playing around and that really got him excited. He really is intrigued by "older" kids.
We have Tim and Katie visiting us this weekend. Ella met Katie when she was at Purdue and Katie did a reading at our wedding. They have recently moved to Washington state, and made the trip up. We had a very pleasant evening when they arrived. Unfortunately they got held up in traffic and missed seeing Fin before we put him to bed.
Will tell more tomorrow. Promise
till then

Victoria and Back

Yes we're alive. We managed to avoid any BC Ferries misfortunes ie crashes, brake failure etc.

Had a wonderful time in Victoria. Felt a bit guilty, it was like being on holiday, while poor Ella had to get up and go to work. Weather was brilliant, although the first day was quite windy, reminded me of St. Andrews. The boy was his usual chipper self although he didn't settle very well in his hotel cot and was awake every couple of hours. Probably didn't help he missed his afternoon nap with me hoping he would just fall asleep in his stroller.
He charmed the waiting staff at the hotel. The restaurant was on the 18th floor with views of the harbour. The first morning we had a window seat and Fin just spent the time until my french toast arrived staring down at the world below him. I think the cars moving held more of his attention then the sea planes taxiing, taking off and landing.I ate breakfast while Fin played with his rattle and the spare napkin, trying to make eye contact and smile at any one who would look over at him. By the third morning he had all of the waiting staff coming over to say good morning and get a smile. One of the waitress had a granddaughter the same age that she thought would make a good girlfriend for him.
I know that I don't take Fin out that much but walking around Victoria it was amazing how many people came up and talked to him and commented on what a nice smile he had. (a little boasting by a proud papa).
We managed to go swimming one day and he still remembered all his lessons from the previous weeks work. We spent most of our time out walking around the Olde Town which is old in Canadian terms. It is full of art galleries, boutiques and market stalls. There is also a nice walk along the harbour, where on Friday we saw a couple of tall ships and there was a classic boat show. The inner harbour dock was filled with beautiful wooden hulled ships all, mahogany and teak lacquered and polished. We were able to walk among them and talk to the owners. Even here Fin charmed the floating rich with his charms. All the ships had their history posted to read. One of them had been commissioned by Hanna Barbba, the cartoonist who created the Flinstones and Yogi Bear. There were also a couple of converted fishing boats "Fifers" from St. Monans in Fife, Scotland. I'm looking forward to showing Fin the place where they were built when we get up to the East Neuk. We had a couple of really nice meals in the evening, Thai and Tapas as well as finding a brewpub that makes the closest thing I've found to English bitter since we move to Canada. I couldn't wipe the smile off my face as we tried the sampler of eight different draught craft beers. I really am a sad simple man. Fin just took all this, from the ferry trip, to the long days and the wind blowing in his stride. He was happy in his stroller smiling at whoever would pay attention to him and taking in the sights and sounds, a real people watcher.
My folks have got to spend a fair bit of time with him since we've been back. They baby sat Saturday night for a few hours while we went to a BBQ at Fred's place. I've spent Saturday throughout to today painting the outside of the house while either Ella, Mum or Dad have been looking after Fin. No, still not done but getting there. The north side is finished, two coats, looking good. The front of the house is nearly done as is a good portion of the back. It is the south side that will cause problems me thinks. It is quite high and with the little extention it makes is almost impossible to reach just by ladder alone. Will keep you posted. I think work on the house will slow down for a bit now as my babysitters (Mum and Dad)are busy for the next few days. I just can't be up a ladder with paint on my fingers and hope he will sit happily for me or not wake up from his nap needing a cuddle but the goal is to get it finished before we head to the UK in two weeks.
thanks for hanging in there and checking in despite the slow down in frequency of posts. will try to do better.

Friday-Tuesday (if I can)

He's napping but his been down for almost an hour, so I don't know how much time I'll have.

Friday-The last day of our swimming lessons, and Dad slept in. Ella had told me he had had a lot of milk so we risked not having breakfast and rushed to swimming. The traffic light gods were smiling on us and we were only a few minutes late. Once again we were the only ones in the class. I'm glad we went though otherwise we would have missed out on getting his report card. He got two of them. One, an official looking document that we hand in every new set of lessons that will see him progress and one that the instructor in training had cut out of cardboard to look like a fish, with her comments written on it. He was told he was great at jumping in the pool, but had to practice his back float. I have to admit I am really quite proud of the little guy. We are off to Victoria tonight to tag along on Ella's work trip, and the place we are staying has a pool so we'll be able to practice some more.
Friday also marked Ella and my 5th anniversary. We went out for a nice meal at the Salmon House on the Hill which has great views of the city. It was a clear evening and you could see right across to Vancouver Island. We had a wonderful meal, they cook the salmon on alder planks and you can smell the smoke on you when you leave. Uncle Ben and Auntie Jen and Jen's sister Hanna babysat for us. By all accounts the little one was as good as gold, going to bed with no fuss.
Saturday morning saw Ella go shopping for supplies for her children's book party that she was hosting Sunday, and I went for my run. In the afternoon we went down to Cates Park to take in the local first nations cultural day. There were a few booths set up selling art and crafts, salmon barbecue and native dancing(which when we strolled by included the Squamish Nations Hawaiian Dance Troupe, very odd). Saturday evening saw my Mum and Dad stop by for a drink and a chat to wish us a happy anniversary and after they left we settled in to watch Narnia on DVD.
Sunday-The day of the big book party. "What is a book party?" I hear you ask. Similar to a tupperware party, candle party or an Anne Summers party but without the sexy underwear. People turn up, order these children books not available in shops, and as hostess Ella gets X number of books based on the sales generated by her guests. Unknowingly, Ella had planned her party the same day as Deep Cove Days which is a party down at the park, with local merchant booths, beer garden, entertainment etc. This had it's advantages and disadvantages. It was great because it provided Husband and children an outlet while Mum drank tea and ate biscuits, scones, etc. and oh yes spent money. The down side is the fair rides take up the parking spaces and by two o'clock in the afternoon there was no parking to be had and the traffic was pretty bad. Still a good time was had by all. Fin enjoyed watching the older kids play on the playground and down on the beach. The highlight of the day for me was watching the cardboard boat race. Teams built these canoe/kayak shaped boats out of cardboard and packing tape and one person from each team paddled these boats out past the swimming raft and back. A few made it and in impressive times. A couple capsized, but the crowd favorite was the one that just the tips were above the surface, I think the paddlers lifejacket had more to do with him floating then his boat building skills but there you go. Hopefully the BC Ferry we are about to catch is more water proof. Will try to fill you in on the rest later.

PPPPHHHHHTTTTTHHHH

Yes, this still seems to be his favourite form of communication at the moment.
Yesterday afternoon it took about an hour and a half to get him down for an hours nap somewhat counterproductive agreed, but persevere we must.
Ella was working late last night, and Fred and Brad came over for dinner. This meant Fin missed his bath, got to bed a little later, but with a bottle and a book went down remarkably easy(touch wood). Hopefully he's getting used to his restructured routine.
Swimming again, this time we were the only ones who turned up. I think Fin likes it better when there are other kids there, or perhaps he had to work just a little bit harder but he didn't seem as lively today. The going underwater he takes in his stride now, but floating on his back he needs more practice to get comfortable.
After his nap we had lunch. I decided to have some fun and went to the two spoon method and then let him just use his hands, very messy but not so effective. The strain veggies just kind of oozed through his little fingers, although his thumb was sucked pretty clean. By the time we had finished carrots, peas, blackberries and peaches there was quite a colourful display on his tray. I think we could get some money for his work, if I used canvas for a bid and table cloth. He took some wiping down, and we had to change his top but we both had a good laugh. PPPPTTTTHHHH It's funny he gets quite chatty after a good feed.
He enjoys playing "catch" with his Dad now, which really just involves him trying to chew the ball and me rolling it back to him when it slips out of his hand, but it's a start. He tires of this game before I do. The only other excitement today was when he was jumping in his Jumperoo and he got that face that says he was busy filling up his pants. We rushed downstairs to rescue him and clean and change etc. and pppptttthhh he dropped his foot right in the middle of the diaper rash cream, quickly proceeded by grabbing his toes and trying to shove them in his mouth. Diaper rash cream is rather stiff and sticky and once again he needed a pretty good wipe down. There was less wiping and mess with the initial mess then when he slammed his foot into the cream. I'm sure however, where ever that the little pot of cream was he would have found it either with his foot or his hand. He's making noises like he needs his afternoon nap, so until later...pineapples pineapples pineapples.

A Quickie While He Naps

Just talking about my blog. He's been napping quite well, recently. He went down yesterday twice for a while. He was a little grouchy yesterday but we all have days like that. I mean there were certainly smiles and laughs but he let me know when he wasn't happy, I probably wasn't proactive enough with his naps but there you go. He went down a little earlier last night and that didn't seem to do him any harm. He dropped off pretty quick, the time it takes Ella to shower, then me. I was able to visit Brad who is in town for a short while last night. When I left just after 8:00 he had been sleeping for a quarter of an hour. He slept through till about 5:30 so well done Fin.
He's quite funny with this new PPPTTTTTHHHH as part of his vocabulary. Doesn't really matter what kind of mood his in whether he's happy, chatting and laughing or annoyed about something. He can even be drifting off to sleep murmuring to himself and pppptttthhh.
We went swimming again today, no real new developments but he didn't lift his legs out of the water when he was on his back. On the way home we did a shot of shopping. I don't know how these Mum's carry these kids around the shops with bags of groceries etc., my arms kill me when I've only done a couple of minutes. Maybe it's something in the hips? We've got some laundry done, boiled some broccoli for Fin, done the dishes. When the swimming lessons are over at the end of the week hopefully I'll be able to get more painting done. Until later a PPPPTTTTHHHH to one and all.

Sorry Devoted Blogees

Busy, tired or just plain lazy, don't know but here we are back in front of the keyboard to keep you up to date with the trail and tribulations of a stay-at home dad.
Saturday Ella and I took turns exercising and looking after the young one. We had a BBQ Saturday night to attend so Ella was busy baking as well. Fin really does enjoy the weekends when we are both home. He had a nap in the afternoon after playing with bubbles out on the deck. He enjoyed that until a little of the soapy water got in his eye. The party was the fallout of Callum's fourth birthday and there were a lot of kids, Fin was very well behaved. He enjoys sitting and watching the older kids play and you can almost see him try and get involved himself. Chris and Jac had there youngest daughter Megan there, she is only a month or so older and the two of them smiled and girgled at each other. Ella and I took advantage of god parents to be Ben and Jen's devotion to Fin to chat to others without worrying about him too much. The late night and the car ride home made for an easy bedtime. Truth be told this bit of information comes second hand as I stayed behind to play poker until the wee hours of the morning. Didn't win any money, but only lost $10 so a cheap night and a lot of laughs, shared a taxi with Uncle Ben home. Ella was very good and let me sleep in.
At some point over the weekend his second tooth came through. He has also added blowing raspberries to his repetouire. He did this the other day while giving my nose a kiss(essentially gumming it), which quite tickled. He also did this yesterday afternoon over at Mum and Dad's after taking a sip of water from Granny's glass. There was a repeat performance this morning after taking a large spoonful of rice cereal with blackberries. Both of these followed up by grins and giggles.
Sunday evening we were over at Catriona and Steve's to celebrate Uncle Steve's birthday. Once again the young fellow was the centre of attention which helped the dogs steal food, when we were all enamoured by Fin. Following the dogs lead, I tried the same with licking my dessert bowl but was scolded for not setting a good example. In future, I will offer to clear the dishes and sneak off alone to the kitchen. Catriona put on a wonderful performance of guide songs which had the boy mesmerized, I'm sure he enjoyed the show but perhaps it was more like driving by an accident where you just can't help but slow and down and look to see what happened;)
Yesterday, after swimming we had our appointment at Robeez, were Fin earned his keep, two pairs of shoes for about half an hours work. I would share with you all the intimate details but I had to sign a disclaimer saying I would not discuss what occurred with any third parties but needless to say .... no I'd better not say, confidentiality and all. It's almost like working for the MI5 this raising a kid business.
Swimming lessons have gone well this week. We've done more floating with floaties and more underwater swimming and Fin is slowly getting more comfortable on his back. He has developed this disturbing habit of urinating on me when he's getting changed. He got me twice Friday, once Saturday, Monday and again today. I've not seen this happen so often since the days of visiting health officers. Maybe it's just because I'm around more so the odds are in favour of it happening more often, or perhaps he's telling me something in his own way.
Well dinner is almost ready so I'll sign off and will be back with more gory details later.

Two for the Price of One or a Two-four

I am back on track and on schedule so here we go.
Thursday morning- I did it! We finally left the house fully fed and watered, dressed, bags completely dressed(no forgotten underwear for Dad) and on time. We didn't try anything new at swimming but Fin is getting a bit more comfortable on his back. He still won't let his legs just drag behind him, he's got them sticking up in the air, holding onto his toes if not my face. He does smile when the instructors come and move his legs in a kicking motion for him.
We had a pleasant suprise Thursday afternoon as Ella was able to get away from the office and "work" from home. She has one of these blackberries that allows her portable internet access as well as phone daytimer etc. So while she naps with are son she can be in contact with her office;)
Ella and I then got ready for an evening out. This required almost military like planning as we were all sleeping over at Granny and Granda's. We packed for the evening out(harbour dinner/dance cruise), swimming lessons and the change of clothes for after swimming, as well as making sure the boy had dinner, breakfast and enough milk. It also required an hour and a half for one of us to get our nails done. Mum and Dad are looking after one of Kirsty's pups right now. His name is Monty and he is almost as big as his mother, when we saw him last he was only a little bundle of fur. It was another dog for Fin to talk to,so he was pleased. Mum and Dad babysat while Ella and I went out. By all accounts he was in bed sleeping by 7:30, and he only woke up once at 3:00. Again Mum and Dad looked after him then so Ella & I got to sleep through the night, which we both needed. Dad did sound a little horse this morning, what with all the singing he had to do to get him to drop off during the night.
Our cruise was fabulous. The food was decent, the weather was clear and sunny, and after a couple of drinks the dance floor seemed to fill up and a good time was had by all. The cruise left Coal Harbour(where the cruise ship terminal is) and we motored under the Lions Gate Bridge, around Stanely Park, along the beach in English Bay and up False Creek past Granville Island and we turned around by Science World and headed back. It's wonderful to get onto the water and view the city. You take for granted sometimes in what a picturesque setting we are based, with the mountains as a backdrop. I really don't think there are too many better cities to live in, we sailed by some forested acreage in Stanley Park, looked up at the North Shore mountains where people ski in the winter and passed people enjoying the beach and the seawall, and had folks training for dragon boat racing pass us as we toasted other boaters.
7:30 Friday morning came around awfully early, but was not as painful having had a full nights sleep. We packed our bags, we said our thanks, Fin gave hugs and kissed to Granny and Granda and we were on our way to swimming lessons. Today Ella swam with him. I didn't think I was much of a control freak but it was difficult just to sit there and watch and not participate. I think when Fin gets older and if he wants to play sports, I'll have to try coaching so I can yell from the sidelines without being seen a meddling parent. After nearly drowning the boy, by not having his head high enough out of the water, I think Ella settled down and Fin and I began to relax a little. At least I stopped pacing from the poolside viewing area. This place is like another sporting arena in itself. The mothers who have older kids taking lessons, sit at tables with their Starbuck's coffee and as soon as classes are over the next lot of mother are in the chairs before the first lot are even away from the table. It like a mothers version of musical chairs. It was me who didn't have a chair when the music stopped and had to stand against the wall. Not that I'm bitter,even though they weren't even watching their kids. No, they used up that prime real estate for gossiping or reading their novels, while I had to crane my neck to watch the boy. I think Ella found it difficult to let the instructor take Fin and swim around with him. I'm sure her eyes watered up a bit or maybe it was just some of the pool water. Ah bless;) She did however get to try something new. They took these floaties that looked like dumbbells and stuck those under his arms, so he could bob around without anyone holding him and he seemed to enjoy that well enough.
From there it was off the the Automall to get Ella's car serviced and we hopped(as easily as one can hop onto a bus with a huge stroller) onto the free shuttle bus that took us to the local shopping centre. There we picked up Fin's first toothbrush. We didn't make it home til 3:30 so a long day for all. You guessed it, family nap time!
After dinner tonight, bouystered by Mum and Dad's success in putting him to bed, we set about trying to re-establish a bedtime routine. So bath, bottle, book. The three B's. I have to admit I've been guilty of leaving Fins bathing up to Ella, as I usually wash up then but tonight helped her. I'll try to do it more often as it a lot of fun and he really enjoys it. Ella then gave him a massage with scented baby oil and I gave him a bottle and read Good Night Moon. We left the lamp on, turned on a CD, gave him a couple of cuddly toys and left him to drop off. I was amazed he didn't scream when I placed him in his crib, but he seemed happy enough grinning at his stuffed lion. That lasted about ten minutes. Then we started hearing his unhappy noises but we were washing dishes and chopping and pureeing beans so lots of noise to distract us. Another ten/fifteen minutes he was getting more upset so I went down for a cuddle and a rock. We went back to an old stand by "Twinkle twinkle little Star" and that with my thumb stuck in his mouth seemed to do the trick. He's been down three hours since then. Knock on wood(this is where you visualize me knocking on my head). Will keep you posted as to how the routine works out. Now tomorrow we'll be throwing it all out the window as we're off to a barbecue but there you go. Now, I didn't use it tonight but have had a lot of success recently with We'll be coming. As a special treat I've got the link to the website which is www.tartanspecials.com/well-be-coming.html Do yourselves a favour and play the cartoon it is hilarious and one of the characters looks suspiciously like me.
Having got Fin down Ella and I were enjoying the concert down in the cove from our deck. Now how's this for an image... Me and Ma on the homestead(back deck), citronella torch burning to keep the mossies away, tea lights flickering for atmosphere, each of us sitting back enjoy the music, sipping a beer...while straining pureed beans and spooning them into ice cube trays. Ah the good life.

A Day Late But Better Late Then Never

Sorry folks fell asleep on the sofa last night watching sports. 4-0 to England over Greece, great win but how much can you read into that, but non the less that is the way England should be playing. Nice to see the midfield set up that way with Gerrard on the right and Hargreaves(a good Canadian kid) playing that holding role.
Wednesday morning more swimming. Left the house on time with Fin fed and changed, bags packed nothing forgotten and fruit scone in hand, one of these days we will both leave the house fed and dressed. We increased our going under the water today. Not only did we jump in off the side of the pool and go underwater. We also put our heads under when we were doing our front starfish! The usual suspects were there, Hokee Pokee, Wheels on the Bus, & Simon Says, then chillin and playing with the bubbles in the hot tub.
Fin had a bit of a nap yesterday afternoon. The only problem with him not wanting to EVER go to sleep on his own is you have to pretend to be sleeping there beside him, eyes closed and the whole bit because he is watching you. So nine times out of ten, I end up dropping off as well. I did wake up before him though and was able to get a few things done.
We had a couple of friends drop by Kelly and her husband Dave. Kelly worked with Ella when she was at Robeez, the baby bootie company, www.robeez.com. We hope to get Fin modeling some shoes for them soon. Anywho they had been down in the cove for sushi and called to invite us down for ice cream, but seeing as I had this summer pudding sitting in the fridge, they came up to join us. The dessert looked great(picture to follow), Delia would be proud. I've never eaten summer pudding before so have no reference, but Ella assured me it tasted like summer pudding as well. She seemed quite surprised that I was able to come up with something so well put together or perhaps it was just because it wasn't part of my usual repatoire. There was nothing left by the end of the night so it couldn't have been too bad.
Again Fin was a little bugger for trying to put down, we may have to borrow The Baby Whisperer from our friend Jodi, who incidentally very kindly invited me out for a coffee the other morning. He'll fall asleep in my arms but try putting him in his crib and he wakes up crying as soon as anypart of him touches the mattress. I was almost in the crib myself last night trying to keep my chest against his, so as to try to not make it feel like he was put down. Third time lucky but I did have to stand(?) bent over the crib, one leg in the air, my chest against his, trying not to crush him and singing about the Tartan Army boys softly in his ear. And when he woke at 2:30 I don't think Ella even heard him and I was able to get him back to sleep and back in his crib first time! Without any of the contortionist bit. Thinking about it, there is probably a yoga move similar to what I'm having to do. Maybe I should take yoga instead of trying to run myself back into shape. "Back into shape" kind of implies at one point I was in shape. I digress, yeah Dad for the 2:30 back to sleep thing without waking up Mum. Goto go as the boy is getting restless and it's about our lunch time. May or may not write tonight as Ella and I are out later for dinner and dancing on a boat cruise, with my work. So cherio the now

Fin's restless nights are beginning to catch up with us. Ella went to bed early (as did Fin) and I'm not long away myself. I wish I had the time to write this during the day but then I suppose I'd miss some of the days events.
Swimming day two.
Left the house this morning with the boy fed. He was only wearing diapers but he was fed. More of the same, we did the hokee pokee and we turned ourselves about. The real exciting thing was today when we brought the young ones off the side of the pool, we got to put their head under the water. I don't think Fin loved the experience but he certainly didn't create a fuss. Perhaps he hadn't got over the shock. He was better today about being on his back, still not over the moon with the idea but no fussing, just the occasional grab of Dad's face. I think he was tired today because there were fewer smiles in the hot tub after. He did reach out and touch the other young fellows' hand, which was kind of sweet though.
After swimming we came home and Dad had lunch, did some laundry and headed over to Mum and Dad's to take the van in for an oil change, etc. Had a nice visit with Mrs Hall who was over visiting my folks. She's a lovely lady and I don't think had seen Fin since she hosted a baby shower for him back when Ella's folks came over when he was born.
Went to the post office, recycling depot and picked up some lamb chops for dinner(mmm lamb) and filled up with cheap (huh) gas (petrol for those of you who are Canadianese impaired)on the way home. I'll rant about fuel prices one day when I'm less tired and had a couple of beers. Right now the oil company pays the bills and we thank them for it.
Was organized for dinner, and Ella wasn't starving when she came home, so we put off dinner until after my run. After dinner I made a summer pudding with my home harvested blackberries and some other fruits. Hope it worked. will find out tomorrow and report back. Until then .... don't worry I'm won't mention pineapples oops there I go writing the pineapple again. dooh

So Much To Tell

When we left you last we were all recovering from a late night/early morning. It felt like a hangover day but without the headache. Before you now it, it's five o'clock and where has the day gone?
We had a very enjoyable evening Saturday with Auntie Cathy who is over visiting her sister Louise who also came over. We also enjoyed the company of Meredith and Dave who are a wonderful couple. We ate well, with Loo supplying homeade homous and salads, and the Ultimate Carrot Cake made by Merediths' capable hands. Fin was a little fussy but charmed his Aunt Cathy, who he had never met before. He recieved a lovely soft toy train from her that makes train noises, which he thought was great and rocked his body in time to the noises like he was riding right along on the ride. He also had fun watching and trying to touch the bubbles from the giant bubble bottle his Mum had picked up at the store earlier in the day. I had forgotten how much fun bubbles could be!
Sunday found us back over to Granny and Granda's so I could continue cleaning the van. Catriona came over and enjoyed an hour or so playing with Fin. He loved every minute of the attention he got from her. I'm not sure who had more fun. We came back home via an "open house" in a nearby neighbourhood. It was a quite, level street with newer homes. It would be nice to live in a place were we didn't have to do any renos etc. Character building stuff. It is nice having people visit who saw the place before we started any work and where we are now. Back home and the three of us worked on clearing an area at the side of the house that Ella had started last weekend.
Fast forward to today (leaving out the gory details of a 4:00 am session). We had Fin's first swimming lesson. It started at 9:30 and we had planned to leave around 8:15 to take care of traffic, change time and unforseen obstacles. Now past readers will have an understanding of my lack of early morning fluidness. Needless to say we left the house at 8:25, Fin just out of bed still in pj's and unfed. Luckily we arrived at the pool at ten to nine so had time to feed him in the car before we went in and got changed.
It's a wonderful facility with a family changing room. There are about ten different cubicles with their own shower and change table...top notch. Suitably attired and impressed we congregated with the other parents and kids waiting for lessons. Fin was taking it all in watching the older kids and bouncing in my arms with excitment waiting to get into the water. We started off by wiping water onto our ears, nose cheecks and forhead and then on top of the youngsters head. We then moved to deeper water and practiced the floating starfish on our front and back. Fin wasn't so keen on being on his back in the water but he did without crying. Then we put our face in the water and blew bubbles. We sang some songs and did the hokeey pokeey. We (Fin) jumped into the pool on my count 3, 2, 1, go. We practiced our kicking and spent the last five minutes in the hot tub relaxing. By the end of our two week session, depending on how the kids do, we will be jumping into the pool and going in over our heads. We may also get to do a short topedo swim, where the kids swim a short distance underwater from the instructor to parent. lots of fun though. Thanks shorty!
The other first today was Finlay finally cut his first tooth. Bottom middle right. Ella was very excited. Her little boy is growing up. This may explain his and our recent sleep depraved nights. It's a sharp little thing pushing through his gum.
Getting off the topic of Dad stuff, I was somewhat justifiyily attacked, gently attacked by members of my family who will remain nameless regarding my spelling and grammar. Both fair enough points, however I remember as a kid, Mum telling me when I did get around to writing letters not to worry about such things. The thought being, whoever read the letter would be just pleased that I had had taken the time to do so. So here is another disclaimer. Read at your own risk. Teachers and others who don't nag -beware. Poor spelling and bad grammer lye(just kidding) ahead. The author takes no responsibility for damage or injury occured by the afore mentioned spelling and grammer mistakes. I would like to state that in no way did his upbringing or current domestic situation are in any way responsible for such poor written english.
Also there was no sucking up last weekends blog. Spending time with my wife and child bring me much happiness and it is a joy to see the pleasure they bring to each other and me.
On another note. I'm trying to get back into my running routine; three times a week, slowly building up time and distance. The goal being to get up to 10 km. Inspired by Ella, who for those of you who don't know completed a 10 km run a couple of months ago, not having ever really run before. Visiting grand parents, hot weather, new routine,(sounds like excuses) have kept me from hitting the pavement, the last couple of weeks. Tonight, after chores and Fin going to bed, out I went. When I go out, I take the ipod which has a stop watch so you can time your walk/run sessions. I was running through the park, clearing my head of diapers, laundry, dirty dishes when all of a sudden I hear "I've been working on the railroad" coming through my earphones. I quite like the song but enough is enough. I did however listen to it just to see how close the version downloaded was to what we sing to the boy. The only problem in this version, the tempo picks up(steam) and gets obviously quicker and quicker. Makes it difficult to run to, when you are trying to paise yourself and run a nice easy pace. Oh well. pineapples pineapples pineapples. It doesn't seem to be working so mabye I'll give up on this...maybe

belated friday

Here we are, Saturday afternoon. What happened? We made it to the end of the week and the boy tired us out.
We had a really good start to the day. We went looking for a Discount Diaper shop but had no luck in finding the place,(in my defence I was given the wrong adress) so Ella has gone today to stock up. Don't worry eco-friends we are still using cloth but in this hot weather Fin has developed a bit of diaper rash for the first time. The doctor suggested using disposables when it is hot out as they wick better. We are getting unbleached and ones made from recycled material, so still trying to do our part. You have to be a tree hugging, granola eating hippy when you live on the North Shore.
We then stopped in to look at an antiques store to look at the pretty things and then onto the mall to pick up a pair of trousers for Ella. By this time Fin was getting hungry. He drained a bottle of milk and was still fussing. So we made it home and had lunch. I'm certainly getting more confortable taking him out. Me with just diaper bag in tow, as opposed to the first time we went over to Granny and Granda's were we went with diaper bag, seperate bag for meals and bottle, another for toys and his chair. It is also nice getting all the compliments and smiles from everyone, as he is such a charming character. When we picked up Ellas trousers the sales ladies even commented on his wardrobe. That is something his dad is not used to hearing ;)
After lunch we got a fair bit of laundry done, then Fin decided he had had enough and had a melt down. After about half an hour Dad developed a headache and realized he had made it through most of the day without eating himself. So it was a late lunch for dad and Fin had his third meal of the day when Mum came home. She get her usual warm welcome, and then it was back to the fussing. I think he was still suffering the effect of the immunisation shots and his gums are hurting. You can just see the white knubs of teeth just trying to poke through on his middle lower gums.
It was early to bed for Mum and Fin. Dad went to the shops (yes that hiddious, hell hole that is RCS) and picked up a few things for tonights barbeque. Dad got an early night for him. I think Ella and I both had visions of getting up early to get on with things but not quite as early as Fin thought was appropraite. He woke up at 5:30 and didn't drop back off until almost gone eight. For the most part he was fine, quite happy to be awake, chatting quite loudly to himself, which I must admit does make us chuckle. Then as he became more tired, he became more demanding. Not happy to lye in his crib, he wanted to share his vitality. Arms flying and thumping mum and dad. Pulling his Mummys hair. Baldness does have a couple of advantages, think of the money I save on haircuts and shampoo. So when he finally dropped off, we all had a bit of a lye in.
Now I must run and start my errands before Ella and the little one get back from doing their half of the list.

Thursday(lack of insperation)

pineapples, pineapples pineapples...I forgot to do that yesterday.

The day started off with great promise. I slipped out of bed without waking the boy(Ella lyes him next to me when she leaves in the mornings) and got some laundry started.
At breakfast, again tried this two spoon approuch to feeding. The theory being feed the child with one spoon, if said child feels the erge to grab the spoon and flayl it around widely, great, we are encouraging the child to feed themselves sooner. It is wonderful stuff, we are encourging their sense exploration and developing motor skills. Never mind the child goes hungry while the food(painstakingly and I might add lovingly prepared) ends up in their hair, ears, eye lids, nose, neck, hands, arms, legs, on the floor, wall, back of the high chair, and under the tray. But it is important for them to feed themselves. Oh yes, the two spoon method. Said child is having so much fun shoving the wrong end of the spoon in his mouth, he will feel resentment if you try to take the spoon from him. It's amazing the grip a six month old can have. So the idea is let him throw food all over him and the floor with one spoon and load up a second spoon and he will loose interest in the first spoon and let you take that away while you replace it with a reloaded weapon. Now I'm not sure if the author of this book ever came across an ambidectrous child or not, but Fin is not favouring one hand over the other. In fact, his drumming skills have devoloped at a very early age, banging on the tray with one spoon firmly clasped in each hand. I didn't have the courage to try the three spoon approuch as I was quickly loosing sight of him behind the layer of blackberry/rice cereal. I'm sure it would have worked though as he would have had to let go of one of the spoons, wouldn't he? Anyways, waiting patiently for one of the spoons to drop under his thigh or onto the floor we eventually finished off breakfast. Needless to say Fin doesn't get dressed until after his morning meal. In fact, I will even take off his nightcloths before brekkie, as blackberries can stain quite badly and as the book says it is easier to was skin than wash clothes.
pineapples, pineapples, pineapples
Once again I relied on Fin's Granny to babysit, while Granda and I finished the fence. I spent the rest of the day washing the van I bought a year or more ago. First time I had washed it so it took some work. Tomorrow I was going to try the inside but I don't think I'll be able to make it over to Burnaby. Which will disapoint Fin and his Grandparents as I think they all are enjoying these visits. Finlay is certainly becoming more interested in the dogs, he chats to them and grins and follows them with his eyes. He harldy flinches when they bark or move quickly. They quite like him now too, although I think they were confused by his arrival a couple of months ago. When they get close to him now, he reaches out and trys to pat them or at least grab a handful of hair. When Granny was holding one of the girls paws for him to reach and touch, which he did, he then tried his usual next step which would have been sticking it in his mouth.
He went down fairly early tonight, only battling back the one time.
Tomorrow nights dinner is in the fridge ready to go. A big pot of chile (con carne). I think I've out done myself this time. If it turns out as well as preliminary tasting have led me to believe, we could be on the verge of a historic(with respects to Micheal Winner) meal. Will keep you posted. Until then......pineapples, pineapples,pineapples

Six months check-up

Well we did it. We finally ventured out on our own. Don't know what I was thinking, Fin was his usual good self. It doesn't make for very entertaining stories but he really is very well behaved. Our first stop was a government office to drop of some paperwork so they will support us through this time. Things were going so well, we stopped by The British Butcher Shoppe and picked up some lorne sausage and a couple of scotch pies. Again good as gold, so off to Kins Farm Market for broccoli and beans for Fin, in the hopes of getting him to eat more "green" green veggies.
We had just got home got changed and were busy folding laundry when Mummy came home. She had been quicker than she thought doing her site visits and worked from home, which meant I handed over lunch feeding duties and had someone to hold my hand when the needles came out at the doctors office.
It was a good visit to the doctors. Fin had fun chatting and smiling to everyone in the waiting room. The doctor was pleased with his progress, she said to keep doing what we've been doing as he was obviously happy and healthy. Now for you pool players. He measured 65cm long so just over two feet and sat quite happily on the scale weighing in at 17 lbs. His immunization shots weren't fun, but he stopped crying as soon as we left the examination room. He wasn't happy and pouted on the walk home but he made his mum and dad very proud. We had given him childrens tylonol(pain killer) before and that seemed to help but he slept for a couple of hours through his dinner even, though that was to be expected. We don't have another immuziation until he's over a year old, and our next appointment in in 3 months but just a check-up.
When he did wake up his appetite certainly wasn't suppressed by all those drugs. He sucked on a banana while we finished our dinner, then threw back carrots and his new favorite broccoli. He followed that up with apple.
Ella had a brownie planning meeting this evening so Fin was stuck with me. He doesn't like feeling he is missing out on anything and we only got through one story before he decided it was more fun upstairs. After a short visit with the ladies he settled down and fell asleep with me watching sports. Despite the fact that we all had a nap this afternoon, a family that naps together...., I'm off to bed.

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Tuesday

I'm going to have to be careful. Mum went out to look at our fence "in progress" and questioned Dad about the crooked post after reading my blog the other day. Maybe I should change the names to protect the innocent. Or I should get more creative and outrageous so nothing is taken at face value?
The fence is looking good. We managed to straighten posts and I'm quite pleased how its turned out. Will add photos when I know or look into how to do that. Good news downloaded Nellie the Elephant and I've been working on the railroad. Coming soon to a blogspot near you.
Yesterday left Fin with Ella for a lot of the day. I was over to Mum and Dad's to help on the fence for a few hours. Came home and did some more painting. After dinner ventured into the wilderness that is our back yard, and picked six pints of blackberries. We struggled again to get Fin to bed Sunday. He just decided he wanted to stay up. According to one of our parenting books once babies figure out how to keep themselves awake, they will.
The boy was a treat once again today. We woke up an hour earlier then we were last week, but managed to leave the house only 15 minutes earlier then previously. I don't like those numbers. It hardly seems worth an hours lie in. Dad and I pretty much finished up the fence today but got rained out about lunch time. Only two planks and some post caps to go. Afterwards we traveled down to Fontile (Dads workplace when he's not stay-at-home dad) to pick up some paperwork and show my boy off. Most of the office girls are on holiday so Fin avoided a lot of passing around and made for a shorter visit. Home in time for dinner, diaper change and bottle, then Mums home! Yeah... It is so much fun to watch his little face light up when Ella comes through the door. Pure pleasure and joy. He does look over at me and grins, just because I think he's bursting with bliss. We're playing peekaboo with him and that seems to make him laugh. Drove back into Burnaby this evening to get Fin's passport form signed by Kerry, and to drop Dad's ladder off to him so he can pick some apples. Mum had made some blackberry jelly, so will try tomorrow on toast and let you know how it is. May even post recipe.
Tomorrow will be interesting. We are going to the doctors for Fins six months check-up, and immune shots. I hate needles, but must not let my heeby geebees be transferred to the boy. Interesting note the google ad today is for Springsteen tunes. Maybe I should talk about pineapples in the next few blogs and see what happens. pineapples, pineapples, pineapples.
Will be back tomorrow with Fins length and weight. Anyone want to take any guesses?
One last thing. I would like to take this opportunity to publicly apologize to Fin for the photo Ella has passed around of him trying to pass some thing round.

Long weekend update

Thanks for all your kind words everyone.

It is Sunday evening and we are all enjoying the long weekend. Fin is still up despite Mum and Dad's best efforts. He was almost down for the count, on his back, arms stretched out wide, eyes closed, murmuring nicely, but then his legs started. He has this habit of lifting up his legs and slamming them down on his cot. When this happens there is a about a 50/50 chance he will wake himself up. Sure enough an hour and a half latter here we are. He's a bit of a rogue though. After trying verses of twinkle twinkle little star and the tartan army boys downstairs, I decided there was no use in forcing the issue, his eyes were wide open and he was holding his head up, we started up the stairs. As soon as he saw his mother at the top of the stairs he broke into a huge grin, very pleased with himself that bed time had been put off a little longer.
He not upset yet, which is good.
Saturday was a fairly mellow day. The weather has been gorgeous. We had our local "block watch" lady around Saturday morning for a cup of tea. She also doubles as a realtor, estate agent for those overseas, and there are a couple of houses on our street that have recently been put on the market, so we had a chat bout what ours could fetch and what we could buy, and to summarize we will be staying put for a while longer. A perliminary trip to the hardware store followed in the afternoon looking for ceiling fans, wasp spray, doors, for closets and possibly one for the side of the house that is more sturdy than the bear pushed open. We only got wasp spray but we didn't see any wasps today so it must have worked.
Today was a little more productive. After morning chores, we met Uncle Ben and Aunty Jen at Cates Park for a picnic. Fin showed off his new skills of sitting up and chewing his own feet. After lunch of carrots and peas, followed by blackberries and apples, the boy and his Mother, who had a less healthy lunch, slept off the effect of too much food and sun while Dad did some painting. Then between Fins evening meal and ours, we all had a nice splash in the hot tub. He really enjoys that. I'm not sure teaching him to splash was such a good idea, as Ella had to extend his bath time the other night to accommodate another new found pleasure, and had to change out of her own wet clothes.
I've been looking at other blogs and I'll see if I can hunt down and iload Fin's favorite tunes, so you can all enjoy I've been working on the railroad, Nellie the Elephant(which was written in 1957), the Tartan Army boys, some song about pretty girls at the fair in their underwear, as well as Thunder Road(Springsteen hit off of his Born to Run album, great tune, Fin has good taste in music already) If he does get grumpy which doesn't happen all that often, or you just want to make him smile, breaking into one of these songs usually does the trick.
For Aunty Louise and any one else who was concerned, I was needlessly worried the other day about his apple portion size. Apparently I keep feeding him until he looses interest. If there is any left over, I'm just to leave it in the fridge for the next meal. I will check with the powers that be before worrying anyone, myself included, before writing late night thoughts on the blog.(see Fridays post for disclaimer)
Any who, the boy is a joy. A real treat and we do enjoy our time together as a family. It is hard not to feel good about life, with the sun on your back, the woman you love by your side and your son on your back, admititly he's too wee for piggy backs, so son in your arms, the rest is really just details.
Till tomorrow

For the Record

Let me start of by clariclitcy (sp) underlining the fact that my wife is NOT, I repeat NOT a nag and does not lecture me. Any disparaging remarks made about Ella, my good lady, her indoors (although that doesn't seem to be appropriate anymore), the love of my life, are made with tongue firmly planted in cheek. There we are, legal disclaimers out of the way.

I really do love how organized Ella is and how lists are a good thing. We were all out together this morning running errands. We took my good ladies car, as the car driven by him indoors does not have a stereo and we were on a bottle returning run so more room in hers.
This afternoon we went our separate ways. The love of my life had a couple of things to pick up and I was to do the grocery shopping, with said list in hand.

Fin and I where dropped off at home, to get changed and get ready for the great shopping adventure. Ella had left and I was just checking emails when my cell phone rang and I was informed that I had left my wallet in Ella's car. Another day without venturing into the hell know as Real Canadian Superstore. and I wonder why I get nagged at ;)

Another day...

Left the house just after 11o'clock again. This time I was fairly organized. We traveled a little lighter today. Problem was the boy was sleeping when I was ready to leave earlier in the morning. You know the saying, "let sleeping cats lie" or don't wake a napping kid. So I packed the car, with breakfast made and in bowl, change of clothes at the ready and turned up at Granny & Granda's for another days work and a child unfed and still in yesterdays dirty clothes. Bad Parent.
despite the long sleep in the morning, he just had a short doze in the afternoon and went down to bed rather easily tonight, much to Ella's relief. It also saved me from a lecture on letting him and myself sleep in too long in the morning.
For those keeping track of such things, the fence is coming along. The retaining wall is almost complete(we ran out of ties), the posts are in place, not one is straight. The next challenge will be getting the running beams attached to our rather sad looking skeleton.
Pears blended and put in ice cube trays before leaving this morning and with Ella's help the apples are well under way. An interesting note;not all ice cube trays are created equal. The trays we had been using, Ella picked up at Superstore, for a nickel. They've already cracked chipped, broke in half, but none the less have fulfilled their purpose of taking in blended and strained food and freezing them into handy portion sized cubes. Now, we have ice cube trays that we got in the UK that I've only used for making ice. They work a treat. No leaks, cracks or any other fault. The water freezes and with a slight twist of the tray the cubes jump out of their molds. What with the increase production of Fins food the good trays have come into play. Now, the old trays took two teaspoons to fill a single mold=1 portion; new trays 4 teaspoons or two table/dessert spoons. Here lies the dilemma is a cube a cube and therefore a portion, or does Fin just get twice as much apple as any other food or do we increase his over all intake of everything else to balance out the apple increase?
I've tried to take over more household duties. Some are going better than others, such as watering the plants, which so far has been successful, laundry much the same although despite being folded is not put away. I'm trying to take the hottub upkeep over from Ella but so far my ph balances or off. Too low according to the little litmus(sp) sticks. Shopping I've done a lousy job. The one time I ventured out after Ella got home the shop was closed. Next day got Ella to pick up a few things on her way home. To the point the good lady has made up a list for me to make my task easier. Actually Ella has a four day weekend so I'm sure the list is a master list for the two of us to go out and get what is needed. I've also managed to avoid having to have Ella worry about dinner all week, although rabid ready will note yesterday my Mum took care of that for me.
It will be wonderful to have Ella around for the four days and have the time at home to try and get caught up. The last of the camping things have to be put away, along with the piles of clean laundry. I need to be brought up to speed with the filing system that is Fins drawers and closet. The diapers I have under control. The floor needs a wash and I would like to finish cleaning the fridge. First three shelves still look great. Fin will like having his Mum around as well. She gets more and bigger smiles out of him in an hour then the rest of us all day. And next to his Grandma Patricia, she seems to have the gift of getting the most wonderful chortles and belly laughs out of him, a real pleasure to watch. I think he likes it best when he has the two of us to himself, he looks from whoever is holding him to the other with a great grin and if one of us bores him the next is there to take over the entertaining duties.
I've enjoyed being able to play my music when it's just the two days at home. Fin seems to like The Stones, Great Big Sea and he smiled and laughed all through Springsteen's Thunder Road, although he wasn't so fond of all the songs on his greatest hits album. We were just in the middle of Glory Days when Ella came home and turned down the volume, she's not such a huge fan. To be fair she was suffering from a headache.
Before signing off it's been interesting to see what google has been selecting as an advertising link. It is supposed to be based on the content of my blog. I don't think anyone reads it but they scan to see how many times certain words appear. The first advert was for blog tools, next was an apartment search. Yesterday's was for canadian carseat safety, more fitting I thought, but todays was for Surfboard Fins, I mean come on. None the less any readers feel free to press the link and help keep me off the streets. Enough tabs and I can keep on writing for a living and not have to go back to selling tiles in January.
Will probably give you all a break and just give you a summary of the weekend later on but tune in as I may have some little pearls to share or perhaps someone will have left a comment for me to reply to.

Wednesday

Finally, with car seat installed we venture out into the "real" world.
Not really, just over to Mum & Dad's (Granny and Granda to Fin) to help Dad with rebuilding a portion of the backyard fence. We were to spend the day there and have Mum (Fin's mum, Ella to u and me) join us after work for dinner.
Didn't leave the house till after 11 o'clock. Took longer then it should of to get the boy organized. To be fair, for me to get organized. He once again was as good as gold, chatting to himself in his high chair and rocking chair as I ran around like a loon, packing lunch and dinner, diaper bag, change of clothes for me, for him, making sure he had enough toys, diapers, teething rings, frozen milk to last a week. Also on the list was tools Dad had left here, which we might need on the job.
Fin seemed to enjoy his new carseat, although according to the instruction book, I need to find a stiff foam noodle (?)to prop up one end of the base so the chair is more level with the ground. Yesterdays yams went down a treat, so it was yam & peas for lunch and dinner.
It was nice to do some more physical labour as opposed to washing dishes and clothes, which I had seem to do a lot of the first two days. Having said that, I don't think I would last too long as a farm labourer. Did a fair amount of shovelling and pounding in posts this afternoon. As I didn't get any blisters either I developed some thicker skin the last couple of months at work or I didn't work as hard today as I thought.
Don't think I didn't get any house hold chores done though. I did get a load of diapers washed and on the line but I must amit that I forgot about them until a couple of minutes ago. They should go out again tomorrow as they are a bit damp seeing as it is close to 11pm. I've also got pears on the go but they are taking longer to cook then they should. They will get blended, strained and frozen tomorrow.
Back to the boy, he was quite happy showing off his new skill of sitting up by himself, on a blanket in his grandparents back yard while his Dad sweated. He again had a long nap after lunch and more sitting. He slept for nearly two hours which may account for his not wanting to go to bed early but I think it had more two do with his slight change in diet, probably getting less milk then he's used to,as he was a little backed up and the fact that his is missing his Mum during the day and wants to spend time with her when she gets home.
The challenge for tomorrow will be to figure out how to strap Fin into our cool, hip new baby carrier without the assistance of Ella. I'll try not to break or pull any limbs or muscles either Fins' or mine.

ps just had a close call. Almost managed to get Fin back to sleep by taking the bottle and dropping off. My downfall was in lowering him into his crib. He woke and needed his Mum, but progress non the less, although Ella might disagree... But then let here get her own blog.

In response to Patricia, blog comes from web and log. Please feel free to leave notes or respond to anything written here. I appreciate the warm response from family but am feeling the pressure to live up to expectations.

more tomorrow

Day 2

I know, not all that original title.

The boy(Fin) was pretty good today. Only one little melt down when we tried to get dressed. He's eating well and has taken to the bottle, which is a relief.

Still didn't venture out of the house. Busy making yams. Not making yams but peeling, boiling blending, straining and freezing yams. Got car seat installed finally. We only had the one but bought another recently and finally figured in out. No UAS bolt in older car, could of saved myself some grief checking first but there you go. Started cleaning the fridge. Three shelves done.

Woke up with a wicked headache this morning, felt like a hangover, but hadn't had a drink since Sunday night. Could have been a sinus thing, but wonder if it was stress related, new role and all. Realized I didn't have any coffee yesterday, usually have three or four cups, not sure how long withdrawal systems take to kick in but I heard they are quite bad. Took two ibruprofin(sp) and had a lie in, then drank usual three cups today. Head is much better thanks.

I think the boy missed his Mum today. He wouldn't settle tonight when she came home, I've got to learn to play more or better with him. He naps longer (I think) with me, I must bore him. He actually fell asleep in his high chair while I was finishing up feeding him. Head on tray, peas and yams on forehead.

tomorrow really will head out of the house.

First day

So far so good.
Today is a day of firsts.
It's my wife's (Ella) first day back at work after taking six months off for maternity leave.
It's my first day in charge as homemaker/parent.
first time posting anything on the web, never even read a blog before.

Fin has been quite gentle with me today. He had a nice long nap after his bottle late this morning and slept for almost two hours before waking up and having lunch. Lunch today consisted of mashed potatoes & peas mixed with breastmilk and pears for dessert.

Homemaking -wise caught up on some washing from our camping trip this weekend and dinner is prepped. The days gone by quick though. I'll try and get up tomorrow with Ella and get more done before Fin wakes up. I want to clean the fridge out. I can see I'm not going to get flying through all the chores in the first week though.

More tomorrow, I might venture out of the house with him, if I can work the nerve up. He's making cute noises whilst lying on his play mat so I'm going for a chat, play and a cuddle.