A high drama of new youth, parenthood and smelly nappies

Posts from March 2008

12:10am Monday, 31st March 2008

Well, tonight young Gethin spends his first night in a proper, grown-up bed. Au Revoir and schlaft gut cot – you served us well – and a big hello to Mr Bunk Bed.

Some fraught flat-packing later (the most stressful bit was trying to fit the ruddy thing into our Fiat Panda after baulking at the £50 Ikea wanted to charge for delivery) and wee G has a not-so-wee bed to call his own and commandeer the majority of floorspace in his bedroom. He took to it well and went to sleep soundly. Looking forward to the not-having-to-get-out-of-bed-to-get-G-out-of-bed first thing tomorrow morning although that will almost certainly just mean him coming in to wake us both up. Well, at least it won’t be the sounds of his head hitting floor that wakes us up as happened when he tried to clamber out of the cot.

Getting set for a manic week. Sadly, Cole’s gran Blanche passed away on Tuesday so Cole is heading down south for the funeral on Thursday after a day spent celebrating Gethin’s second birthday. Wish us luck and let’s hope it’s not too early a start in the morning…

09:54pm Monday, 24th March 2008

At the end of a quality long weekend for the three Henleys. After some moments of satanic behaviour last week wee G has been on his best for dad’s extended weekend for the Easter break.

Friday saw a trip to soft play for G with friends Casper and Wren before lunch and energy-burning activities at Henley towers. Cole headed off to Alloa to see friend Dan on their latest web project – mum’s the word at present.

Saturday we all headed into Edinburgh for some pampered chef action – a bit like Tupperware but with a touch of class – at P’s friend Elspeth, as well as Easter related goodies for the bairns. It was great to hang out with lots of other parents and wee yins and probably the first time Cole has been around other dad’s and kids for socialising. Sadly the pampered chef goodies were outwith our budgetry range (even the bamboo toaster tongs) so settled for some free nibbles and a quality time with the bairns.

Easter Sunday we awoke with some hot cross buns before Gethin’s first Easter Hunt. Peta The Easter Bunny had done a good job stashing various ovoid chocaltey things around the garden which Gethin promptly found and less promptly ate. Scrambled eggs (not the chocolate kind) for lunch to continue the Easter theme (stopped short of some Crown of Thorns soup for dinner) before Peta had to head to work for her occasional Sunday shifts and a night out with her work mates bowling (P succeeded in retaining her title of Muirhouse library bowling queen).

In the meantime, Cole and G spent some quality time together in which G did his first poo on the loo (perhaps too much information for some of you). We did lots of running around, playing football, listening to the footy on the radio and bouncing around on the bed. Good quality father-son stuff.

On Monday we embarked on G’s first trip to the cinema to see Horton hears a Who, a thoroughly entertaining film for all three Henleys although G fell asleep on Cole for the end of the film after eating his body weight in salty popcorn.

All round a stirling weekend for us all. Great to spend more than the usual 2 days a week with G for Cole, particularly just the two of us on Sunday. It is reassuring to see that Gethin’s moments of terror are blips in an otherwise upwards trajectory.

10:29pm Wednesday, 19th March 2008

what the blazes is going on? wee yin has been a right terror this week. up at 6 monday and tuesday, screaming hab-dabs from sunrise to sunset. where has out little fella gone?

01:12pm Tuesday, 18th March 2008

In the past two weeks we have had a busy ol’ time @ Henley towers. Time is moving so swiftly at the moment it seems hard to catch up sometimes. Gethin is at once being angelic and demonic – a raving 2-hour long tantrum commencing at 6 this morning being a good example. At the same time he is providing many moments of hilarity. He has perfected a true villainous streak – cackling evilly when he knows he has done something naughty – and has the funniest affected walk when he wants to move swiftly, much like something from Benny Hill.

Last weekend we went over to Livingston for some shopping, only for Cole to be offered a last minute freebie to watch Scotland against England at Murrayfield. A great game (and a great result) as the Scots triumphed and suffice to say a fair few alcoholic beverages were imbibed. On Sunday, as the sun was shining, we three went on our almost weekly stroll down to Carriden House to espy the flora and fauna of springtime. The Highland Coo was quite elusive at first but turned up in time to see Gethin jump into increasingly deeper puddles.

Sunday also saw P start to work occasional Sundays to help with the coffers, much needed after ongoing boiler issues and the lost slates (and subsequent water damage) caused by the howling gales. Sadly it was a stressful day and one which put P in two minds of doing again – no one should have to put up with verbal or physical abuse at work but it seems par for the course at the library, as testified by this recent article in the Edinburgh Evening News. Anyways, before P returned from her tour of duty at Muirhouse we were paid a visit by Denise, a lovely treat as her first trip from home since she was rushed to hospital in January. She is making a wonderful recovery and it is great to see her out and about again.

That evening Cole also embarked on his first Filmhouse film quiz with friend Neil. Suffice to say on the grounds of only making it to the flicks biannually (and then only usually seeing popcorn fodder) and the quiz being quite arty felt a complete thicko but it was fun and think got one question right that the others in the team didn’t manage :)

The last week saw a visit from Moomin and some fun-filled shopping was had by all with a couple of trips to Edinburgh and our gazillionth trip to Ikea since we moved house last September. Finally got round to putting some pictures up which have been lying around and am happy to say that the living room is at long last looking the way we want it.

Anyway, back to Gethin. The wee lad is doing well. He can quite happily entertain himself and loves his books and building blocks/bricks, although he is developing a perhaps unhealthy obsession with Pingu. He is proving quite stubborn at times (mmm, a trait he has got from both his parents) and is also the master of some quite quality strops. Yet he is beginning to show that he knows right from wrong and quite often apologises unprompted if he has been naughty. Still doesn’t stop him having a raging fit if he doesn’t get his way sometimes though. As all bairns his age he has become quite possessive and most things are ‘mine’.

Well, the terrible twos have definitely onset (and we did witness our first official Ikea tantrum on Sunday – we’re so proud) and we are still a few weeks away from the birthday. Not sure what plans are afoot to celebrate the wee ones anniversary but no doubt cake and candles will feature, and hopefully a new bed for bairn as he is outgrowing his cot (physically and metaphorically).

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02:57pm Monday, 3rd March 2008

Profound apologies for the relatively quiet state of 2008 on the bairn blog. things have been quite stressful and hectic in the henley household this year so blogging opportunities have been quite rare. the last few weeks we have seen a few visitors to Henley towers with aunty jo coming up from Londinium before P meeting up with Kate and a visitation of Uma and Oompa from deepest, darkest Leamington Spa.

Aunty Jo ventured up a couple of weeks ago and we all had a fun-filled weekend with trips to Five Sisters zoo in Livingston before a spot of shopping and the obligatory Sunday trip to South Queensferry for coffee, cake and chilled coastal vibes. Last Thursday Peta headed up to Perthshire with G to meet up with friend Kate and pay a visit to their old school master from CH, the Mundells.

This weekend Uma & Oompa ventured north and after the long drive we all set about an action-packed weekend. We made a couple of trips to Ikea to resolve our lack of book storage at home (care of some lovely new bookcases). The highlight of the weekend was a trip to East Links Farm – http://www.eastlinks.co.uk/ – where there was fun galore to be had for both adults and bairns. Cole and P delighted in some of the swings and slides – whilst G was content with the tractors, trains and small furry creatures.

It has been quite a tough weekend with Gethin who has been fairly challenging of late, particularly for Peta who has him for over half the week and does more than her share over the weekend. His last few teeth are coming through (much drooling ensues) which is clearly upsetting him but everything is now becoming a battleground for negotation. Dressing, eating, bathing, going to bed, leaving the house and getting in the car seat are all becoming a battle of wills. It is really draining and whilst there have been massive highs with G’s behaviour – he is really empathetic and quite a considerate wee child – there have been many moments of exasperation and frustration.

I suppose the frustation is as much his as he struggles to come to terms with new words and new abilities (this week he has perfected the art of jumping) as well as the physical and mental limits that come with being a proto-2 year old. Anyway, he is definitely going to hit the terrible twos running and whilst – as everyone tells us – this is all quite normal it is really difficult to manage on a daily basis so any suggestions/tips/hints through the comments are more than welcome….