Monday....Urgh

New week again! I know weekends can go fast but why do mine seem to last for a couple of seconds and are them over and it's Monday morning again? This morning wasn't helped by my alarm clock playing up yet again! My alarm went off at 6.30 (as normal) and I went into snooze mode (again as normal) until it said 7.02 when I thumped the sleeping man beside me and asked if he was going to get up this morning! The response I got was 'Have you checked the time on your phone?' and when I did it was only 6.21am! 'm not sure why my alarm clock is not running 40 minutes ahead of itself as it is supposedly set by the atomic clock and is completely accurate!!! I guess this evening it'll be battery out and re-set time! I really don't want to be woken up 40 minutes early again tomorrow! (Thinking back Mikey was being very quiet whilst I was snoozing…..)

One thing I did have time for over the weekend was a quick hair colour change! I had noticed far too many grey hairs last week whilst it was being chopped, so I decided to do some cover up action! It is now allegedly mid auburn… as I dried it yesterday morning it started to look pink!! That led to a minor panic, but as I dried the rest it looked slightly more normal (well for me anyway!!) Not sure I'll try this colour again…maybe next time I'll do for brown again as my hair is far too good at going red… I think it's a genetic thing as my Grandmother and Uncle were both red heads!

My original plan of having a photography session didn't happen. Probably mainly due to the weather - everytime I stepped outside I got rained on and after the 1st couple of times it gets decidedly boring and I take steps to avoid the dampness as much as I can! I did get some photos back that I've had printed, but I've bought a new album as the 2nd Mikey album is nearly full now, but Mikey kept 'helping' which mainly involves folding pages up so I didn’t get the photos sorted or slotted into their new homes - maybe I'll make a start on them this evening!

One other think I need to do this week is make a Drs appointment. I took my prescription application form into the GP surgery about 3 weeks ago and haven't heard anything since. Based on their normal 'helpfulness' I would imagine they have lost this as well as the original one I took in just before I found out I was pregnant. They would be totally unable to arrange the proverbial in a brewery without someone telling them what to do. The sooner the new management team are put in the better…but all that seems to have gone quiet again although the girls in the pharmacy did tell me they have now managed to get a few more permanent Drs now….

And seeing how many different things they seem to think I need to take to keep going I would quite like some help paying for it all as at £7.60 (I think) per item it all mounts up scarily fast…Or they can just give me more per prescription so I don't have to get it all renewed so often. It isn't as if any of it is exactly dangerous….I stopped taking all that stuff when I first found out Mikey was on the way and haven't had any of it since (and don't intend to) so I'm hardly likely to try and deal in any of the stuff I'm on! None of it gives an artificial high…mainly it keeps my blood pressure, uric acid and cholesterol levels down and keeps my blood sugar on an even keel… nothing earth shatteringly desirable there really!

Mikey is now really into speed crawling - and I am going to have to get him a baby crash helmet! He simply doesn't look where he is going and seems to know no fear right now (and no - that does not mean you can fly him from a kite….) This weekend he has crawled…at speed…. into the sofa (again) the dining table and Daddy and Mummy. What I find totally hilarious is the fact he doesn't stop when he hits something, just keeps going as if he will simply go straight through whatever the obstacle is! He has also started trying to work out how to climb over Daddy…I think wrestling may commence soon and my money is no Mikey! For one thing I doubt he’ll be very sporting…and he has nails!

Am I glad it's Friday!

It's been a tough week this week….but the beginning wasn't too bad thank goodness, it's just gone downhill from Monday really!


The first disaster was a husband with toothache - never a fun experience and I'm afraid I wasn't exactly sympathetic as it's been going on for weeks (possibly months) and he hasn't bothered to go to the dentist (which is within walking distance) He finally booked an appointment for Wednesday evening which meant he was miserable for Tina's Birthday evening (sorry about that) and didn't make it to work on Wednesday as he was dizzy from the pain killers he was taking and it was hurting (his sympathetic wife just said to phone the dentist and see if they had any cancellations to get in earlier)

Thursday didn't start any better - even after his treatment he was still in pain (so I didn't get much rest as he was up and down during the night) and then Mikey decided to fall over and bump his head. He stopped screaming as soon as breakfast was shovelled into his mouth and by the time I delivered him to the childminder he was totally fine, although he did have the start of a nice egg/bruise on his forehead poor little mite. Wonderful Debbie kept a close eye on him all day for me but he ate all his lunch (plus some of the other Kids lunches as well) and had a nice nap before being educated in the joys of skateboarding….He is not having one of those until he is old enough to leave home!

Debbie also pointed out once he is walking he will get even more bumps and bruises…but it didn't stop me pretty much going into shock and by the time I got to work I was a wreck and had to have a bloody good cry. (and get some reassurance from my Mum and Dad….) Yesterday evening Andy was out and I was so scared about changing Mikey I insisted on getting him ready for bed in his cot - talk about a confused little boy who really didn't want to be helpful…he was also confused this morning when after changing his nappy on his changing mat we moved back to his cot to get dressed - but it was better for mummy's sanity as she couldn't let him fall when he's sat on his mattress!

Andy has gone back to work today, although I think he had less sleep than me last night, and Mikey has gone to Nanny and Grandad so is probably having a wonderful day, I know he was going to the supermarket which he loves as there is so much to see, loads of colour and plenty of people who are likely to make a fuss of him (my son can be such a tart!) The only thing you have to do is watch what he puts into the trolley! If something catches his eye he grabs it…or makes a good try and can get ratty if he can't get hold of it! I think he is close to having a shopping addiction at 1!! We may have created a monster….

Not much planned for the weekend…I may try to catch up on some sleep which is a bit of a waste of the weekend but I am just feeling a bit drained and this morning the nicest description I could come up with for my complexion was grey and washed out… or I find somewhere comfortable and sit and soak up some sun trying to change colour!! And with the amount of painkillers my husband has managed to get through he’ll probably be asleep too (no change there really!!!) Or I may try to get a few more photos of Mikey (it isn't like I haven't already taken 100's…) especially as it gives me an excuse to play around with the black and white setting - I know colour is good, but there is just something about black and white that I love! Plus being a proud Mum I quite like taking photos of my little monster, especially as he is changing so fast and growing up so quickly, I was looking at some 24 hour old photos last night and I could hardly recognise him as the same little boy. He really won't be my baby in looks at least for much longer!! I can be an embarrassing mother and call him my baby for the rest of his life though - And believe me, I will!!!

All Change!!

The hair has now gone!!! And so far it's working, the only reaction I've had from Mikey was Wooooo as I waked in and he hasn't tried to grab my hair at all. I haven't really had any reaction from Andy yet, hopefully I may get one eventually!

We went out for lunch today, I wanted to just have some time for the 3 of us but I couldn't get a babysitter of this evening so we went out for lunch. We went to 'The Atrium' in Rochester and it was wonderful. It's a small restaurant but I'm afraid I can't comment on the beer selection as I don't think it's high on their list of priorities!

The place is right on the High Street and quite close to the Cathedral so we had bells pealing through most of lunch as there was a rather large wedding happening, they had good taste in Wedding cars as the one parked by the main door was from Odds cars, the firm our wedding car came from. But it didn't inspire and romantic gestures from Andy - he didn't even hold my hand :(

Getting over to Medway this morning was fun...the M20 was closed so we went via Faversham and the M2, I'd forgotten how much I hate that trip but at least it meant Mikey could have a nap on the way there and coming home the M20 was re-opened so it was much easier! It also meant that he arrived at Nanny and Grandad's ready for lunch which he demolished pretty thoroughly!

Mikey had a wonderful time with Nanny, Grandad and Barley (who is still missing the other part of the family whilst they're in the US - I think Nanny is looking forward to having a dog free bed eventually!) We've hit the next milestone and have finally mastered crawling forward on hands and knees rather than commando crawling forwards and reversing in the correct position, so tomorrow we need to pick up the stair gates and blitz the lounge as now he know what he's doing I have a feeling stopping him is going to be pretty much impossible! Luckily Barley has had sofas and the garden as escape routes, Mikey can't get outside on his own yet...although he has mastered opening and closing doors so long as he remembers to keep his legs out of the way!!

Whittering time....

Time for a whinge…so I apologise now! But this page is for me to whitter on and right now that's what I need to do! For some reason at the moment I am absolutely exhausted, lethargic is an understatement and I could easily sleep around the clock - plus my infamous headache seems to be trying to reassert it's dominance. There is no point talking to my GP as if you mention headache they simply shut down and ignore you (oh and prescribe paracetamol which do precisely nothing to help)


Mikey isn't helping either bless him…he is getting more and more vocal now and seems to think Mummy and Daddy understand every word he says. And if for some reason they don't he just repeats it louder again and again until they do! He's also getting more and more mobile…Andy is really going to have to bring the stair gates home soon as I don't think it'll be long until he tried to pull himself up the stairs and if you take your eyes off him for a second he is off! I suppose I could just get an extending dog lead and tether him somewhere (I'm being a bad mother again :( sorry)

I'm still totally shattered - Mikey was awake at 4am for the 2nd morning running and he seems to be thriving on it! Me on the other hand - not so good! I went to bed at a sensible time but couldn't fall asleep…and even when I did apparently I was talking in my sleep so relaxation wasn't happening. I have no recollection of any dreams so I have no idea what I was being responsible for or who the staff were that I was worrying about. It was probably another Norfolkline flashback/nightmare, one day I'll grow out of them and at least I'm not screaming in my sleep! (That'll probably be tonight!)

I've just read a report on the 'man' (In the loosest possible term) who carried out the attacks in Norway. It's starting to look as thought his defence is going to be insanity. He believes that his actions will be totally vindicated in 60 years time…I'm sure the families of his victims who were pretty much randomly selected will have forgiven him by then and will understand that their loved ones had to die - or at least they will if the world turns into cloud cuckoo land. What also annoys me is Norwegian law restricts his sentence to 21 years unless he's convicted of crimes against humanity, then it can go up to 30. In reality he should be locked in a nice dark, damp dungeon somewhere and left to rot… and then I'm happy to keep the key somewhere safe! It'd never be seen again…such a shame! The events in Oslo really upset me, it is one of my favourite places in the world and when we were there in 2009 on Norway day it was packed with thousands and thousands of people, some celebrating rather hard! And I never felt in even the slightest bit of danger - even with my map reading skills trying to get us back to the ship! The Norwegian people I have met have always been very very friendly and helpful, you never feel as though you are a stranger ion their country, you are just a welcome guest they want to get to know. I guess in a naïve way that's how I['d like the whole of this planet to be… We're all the same species so why should there be issues and problems between countries??

This is all getting a little deep for a Tuesday with a headache! Maybe it’s time for the big pink pain pills (try saying that quickly with a headache!!) After all I really don't think you can rattle too much every day… And I'm seriously considering running for office in Norway so I can deal with the big. blond bully.

My last 2 weeks have only been 4 days…last Friday I had to have a diabetes eye test - not fun as it was VERY sunny and the drops really stung and then I have very dilated pupils so the sun seemed even brighter than it really was! Thankfully my eyes seemed back to normal (well normal for me) by 4ish, I have to admit nappy changing when they were at their worst was fun - Mikey wriggles at the best of the time but at one point I could see several of him!


Monday was Mikey's turn to go to the Drs - it was injection time and he had to have 3 - one of which was the famous MMR. He also had the Meningitis C, HIB and pneumonia vaccine - I was advised to give him a dose of Calpol before I took him and a chocolate drop per injection seemed to cheer him up fairly quickly (Maybe Mummy should have had some as she got traumatised too when he screamed) The silly nurse also thought he was jaundiced as he's got a tan…and when I said it was a tan and nothing worse I got lectured about putting sun cream on him….do I really look this stupid? (Answers not required!)

When we got home Mikey decided the best way to deal with injections was to fall asleep. I have to admit that I just watched him breath for ages - something I haven't done since he was first moved into SCBU (told you I was traumatised) But since then he's just got on with being Mikey! He is getting more and more talkative and we are crawling backwards fairly quickly - forwards is a pretty impressive commando crawl! And I'm convinced he was eyeing up the sofa this morning to see if he can pull himself up. But I guess the next stage has to arrive at some point whether I want it to or not! The photo is Mikey sleeping off he trauma!!

As for me at the moment I feel rough and look rougher…Much as I love and adore my son when I had my week off I would have loved a day when all I had to worry about was me… Does that make me a bad mother? I'd just like a day when I can be the me I used to be rather than being someone's wife or mother… But I guess I'll never have that again - I will be Mikey's Mum for the rest of my life, but then again I did want that and have been trying for a very long time to achieve my desire!

It's been a quiet day at work today… I had a very productive morning but now I am tempted to just put my head on my desk and sleep…If I switch desks and borrow Tess' desk nobody could see me and I may get away with it! But then again my manager did say I could leave at 4 as I'm feeling so crap so I might just go home and sleep… I just need to wake up while Andy is out so I can put Mikey to bed, in another bad Mother moment I hope he's tired so he'll want to go up a little early and then I can go to sleep again!! He really deserves a more caring Mum, poor little mite (OK, not so little now - yesterday he was eating chicken, chips and salad - (lunch at the pub!) and apparently got angry whenever Debbie stopped feeding him - we may well have created a monster!!)

Nothing planned for this weekend or the foreseeable future - although I am now seriously thinking about getting my hair chopped off. I seem to have got into the habit of shutting it in my car door for some reason - and have taken to swearing in German because of the small ears usually sat behind me! Plus I want a change, I'm fed up with usually having it in a pony tail so I think it's time to actually get a style of some sort again…this time comments are invited as I have no idea what I want other than it just to be different! And not the grade 2 someone suggested last night! But I'm not going blonde again - been there and done it, I think I may stay as a brunette now, with just home colours to hide the signs of aging as they grow…But if I get round to making an appointment hopefully it'll happen next weekend so I'll at least have that to look forward to.

Milestone achieved....

Well I survived! I was supposed to see my neurologist on the morning of my birthday but he got a puncture! OK, so it was in Belgium and he never actually made it over the channel so it wasn't the greatest of starts! The day vastly improved when we got to Mum and Dads though... the first glass of bubbly always helps plus one of my favourite things for lunch followed by Mums version of Eton Mess with Raspberries rather than strawberries and I was in heaven! The cake was made by my younger sister (as she keeps reminding me) and one small person was VERY fond of the over sized chocolate buttons....

In the Evening Sue and Dave came over so I hit another bottle of the bubbly stuff and it's safe to say it was strong! One glass and I was slightly off balance.... two and standing was a slight challenge!! Thankfully Friday wasn't a very early start in Mikey world and I got up, changed him and left Andy to do breakfast spooning into mouth type stuff! I retired back to bed for a while before venturing downstairs to see if my head could cope with early morning Disney Junior! (It couldn't...It is safe to say it hurt!) The original plan for Friday had been to go to Leeds Castle but the forecast wasn't brilliant so we chickened out and had a veg out day at home! It has been nice this week to just have time to be the 3 of us... something we don't really get much chance to do!

Yesterday was a challenge for Andy as he organised his first ever BBQ!! Dad had got us a charcoal chimney for starting the coals off which made things easier for him, but he did all the cooking and even did things like hard boil eggs for the salad (OK, I put the salad together but he was cooking the meat at the time!) He handled it all really well and even cleaned the grill afterwards! Once it starts to get warmer again I feel another BBQ coming on!!

Coming up stuff is not so much fun I'm afraid... on Friday I have my diabetes eye test. So far I've avoided having to have the drops to dilate my pupils as I was pregnant, that excuse is no longer valid so thankfully Mum is coming over to drive me to the test. I am capable of driving there but I can't drive after it and then next Monday poor Mikey has his next load of injections. The 3 he should have at 12 months plus his first MMR, which is spposed to be 13 months. I wasn't happy about them all being done in one go, but I've had a strong recommendation for get the MMR done as there is a good chance a measles epidemic is on the way and it can still be lethal for small people so I want him protected asap.

Bloody awful Mother...who cried for most of Sunday

It appears that I'm a terrible mother. I have let Mikey have a few treats as I'm having a birthday. He has had a tiny amount of birthday cake, the cream off a slice of banoffee pie and a taste of a doughnut. Apparently he is now going to be obese and his teeth are going to fall out. The person who made this accusation has never seen my son and has no idea that at his 12 month check up his growth and weight were classed as perfectly normal with no need for any concern - and this was at the end of June so not that long ago! I am proud that I have a happy, friendly child who so far has no sign of any fussy eating as he is trying a wide variety of foods - mostly in very small amounts and well controlled so he has an interesting and balanced diet, with the odd treat and a supply of fruit which he happily eats (more than me to be honest!) These accusations left me in tears for most of yesterday afternoon but my family and a wonderful friend jumped to my defence - something I am very grateful for. I am now seriously considering cancelling/closing my facebook page and wish I had a way of passing on just how hurt I am. I would have preferred to have had a private message rather than being accused publically of making my son obese etc.

Sorry for the rant but I have been hurt by this - those people who actually know me will know that we waited a very long time to be lucky enough to have Mikey and had enough scares during my pregnancy....add in my past medical history and Mikey is, in my mind a bit of a miracle and there is no way I will ever put my son at any risk...If someone has a problem about how I treat my son I'd happily discuss it calmly with them in person - and they really should at least see how Mikey and I interact and how healthy,happy and normal weighted he is.