Barrow Boys

This is just another picture post really, but one thing I've noticed lately is how much Jack is into playing with his brothers, he goes into their room first thing he wakes up now, rather than just lounging around with us, he loves running about with them and Daniel and Phil also seem to be enjoying his company much more. Here they are in the garden the other day (before the heavens opened on what appears to be a long term basis) with the wheelbarrow. He's so fair skinned compared to his brothers, Daniel and Phil have the family Romany gene in spades, especially Daniel, people are always surprised that Daniel has blue eyes because he's so dark skinned. He has been subjected to a few questions and a few taunts at school, I don't know why, there are many children much darker skinned than him, but he's been called "half a suicide bomber" in the past because some kids assumed his dad was from the middle east, in fact their dad is from a place called Iden, near Rye in East Sussex and has skin paler than mine!! I'm so jealous of my boys with their skin, they never burn during the summer and have such good complexions (though Phil has a few cute nose freckles). I seem to have inherited the welsh/irish colouring, blond and freckly and prone to burning under a 60w bulb!!!

Jack in this picture, decided to try sitting in something, a bit more his size!!

My gorgeous gorgeous boy (and one of his girlies).

I looked after Jessica this afternoon and the kids had great fun in the garden playing. Took a few snaps

Here is Jack, in his element, as he usually is and I am so glad I was taking pictures at the time (for Jack and Jessica's birthday invites).


This is Jack and Jessica together

And the gorgeous Jessica who is probably one of the most photogenic children I've ever come across.

Jack has too many gorgeous girls to choose from, Olivia and Jessica are firm favourites but unless he becomes a Mormon he's gonna have to do "eenie meenie miny moe" to chose one. There is one other, Lesley's little girl Lydia (always makes me think of the Prince song "Most Beautiful Girl in the World"). but it would seem Sally's little boy Oscar is winning on that score!

Will do a proper post later, just wanted to share the photos

Good Luck Boys

Good luck to my gorgeous boys, Daniel and Phil, who are sitting their SATs this week! Starting with Science today. Good luck also to Sami, Becky's young man, who is also sitting his SATs. I'm sure they'll all do absolutely great.

Oh and I suppose good luck to moi, who has to go into the hospital today for my usual barrage of tests, I don't know which is worse, the appointment, or the long trek to the hospital in the first place. Please please please let things be the same or even better.

And finally, big huge CONGRATULATIONS, to Susannah, Andy and Olivia on the arrival of Luca Georgia on Saturday 6 May at 9am, weighing a strapping 8lb 5oz.

That's all folks!

A Really Pants Bank Holiday

Well as the title suggests we didn't have a great bank holiday weekend. Started of with Jack getting poorly, I wasn't entirely sure what was wrong with him, but on Saturday he had a terrible temperature but there didn't seem to be any apparant cause until later in the day when a cough developed. I had planned on potty training him this weekend (see My_Space for more details) but it went totally up the swanney that idea because there is no point in doing it when they are poorly, I had bought him some pants as well, Thomas the Tank Engines ones which he absolutely loved and put them on wherever they would fit, over his bum, round his neck, on his head...!!

On Sunday, Jack slept until 12.45pm, with two little wake ups for a drink, that was a total sleep of around 18 hours!! When he woke up his temperature had gone down a bit, but um, his hair looked a little worse for wear

By this time the cough he has is awful, he sounds like he's being strangled and I was unsure to what to do, take him to hospital, or phone the EMDoc. In the end I rang NHS Direct who went through his symptoms and suggested he could have tonsillitis, bearing in mind his ear problems, he could also have another ear infection. The man I spoke to said that if there was a temperature present then it was bacterial tonsillitis, which would need treatment with anti biotics immediately and I was to refrain from kissing him etc, though this changed when I told him that neither I or his eldest brother were in possession of our tonsils and so were not at risk, but there is the risk of getting a throat infection of course. Because it was the bank holiday he advised me just to keep an eye on his temperature, if it rose and he became floppy, extremely lethargic etc then I was to take him to A&E. He really seemed to perk up Sunday evening and on Monday he was, whilst not his usual self, a whole heap better. Then came tuesday, and on Tuesday he woke really really ill, so I took him up to the doctors and was told he had bacterial tonsillitis and an ear infection in his right ear, and so we've been prescribed anti biotics. The doctor did consider giving him a higher dose of anti biotics as he's 2 next month and they can go up to 5ml then, but just to be sure he weighed Jack and it was a total non starter!! I won't say what he weighed, it's mortifyingly low for a child of nearly 2, compared to what his brothers weighed at this age anyway which was around 35lbs!! Jack is growing upwards now, and the doctor said if I haven't got any meat on him yet, then I won't get any on him, he's going to be a skinny one - just like his big brothers! But I do think it scary when he lies down that his belly goes concave to the point where if I poured water on it, Sindy would have a paddling pool!!

Today he's been much more lively, so much so that after putting brand new pristine white bed linen on my bed last night, Jack decided it was too good an opportunity to miss, and so this morning, pooed on it!! I was sat checking my emails, and he came in and lobbed something in my lap, can you guess what it was.......??!!! It immediately went in the washing machine on a very hot wash, but it just won't ever be the same again!. Went round to my friend Jackie's house for the afternoon, and he was a little live wire, almost to the point where I'm completely run ragged, we nipped to Waitrose and he was a complete nightmare, other customers laugh and say "bless him" or "isn't he just a little cutie" and I'm tottering along in my wedge sandals wondering if I'm going to go arse over tit and make a complete nonce of myself. Whilst I love my son to bits, don't get me wrong, I just wish he'd master the art of sitting still, even if just for 2 minutes! Got home, hoovered downstairs, put him upstairs because he was badly behaved (he got a packet of jammie dodgers for the baby and toddler group out of the cupboard and took a bite out of every single one of them!!) and when I came upstairs, I found this, on my unmade bed

I did put the trouser leg over his bits and pieces, in order to preserve some of his modesty, but I love the typical bloke sleep position, along with one shoe and sock remaining on, almost like he fell asleep before he could finish the job. He's asleep now and I don't know whether to wake him or just let him sleep on, perhaps he'll sleep til tomorrow morning now. But it's little incidences like this that make all the, dare I say "naughty" stuff he's gotten up to seem insignificant. I have quite a lot of mummy friends who think the world of him and always worry about him when he's ill, but should they actually see him in action they might change their tune! But thanks to everyone who asked after him, Ess, Sally, Becky etc, he's much better now.

On a good note I bought a new phone on Ebay YEAH! It's a Sony Ericcson Z520i complete with pink cover as well. Brand spanking new with seal still on box, I just hope to god this one survives longer than the others!