les derniers jours de l'annee!

En resume....

Elias n'a pas du tout aime son sejour dans la "New Forest"! Il a mal dormi, peu mange, beaucoup pleure, pas rigole et j'oublie surement quelque chose! ah, et il fait ses dents, alors des jours c'est plus dure que d'autres! ah puis il avait un rhume! Paul et moi on etait creves! - On a quand meme reussi a faire une jolie marche le 25 - Puis on a tous recu de tres jolis cadeaux (j'ai recu une magnifique montre Raymond Weil de Paul!)! Ah...les cadeaux...Ouverts le 25 dec a 17h!!! Ca ne m'etait jamais arrive!!!!

Depuis notre retour tout s'arrange - Elias a retrouve son sourire et rire! ourrraahhh j'avais peur! puis hier soir on a passe une excellente nuit! ourraaahh la aussi, car avant de partir on avait reussi a etablir une petite routine...lit 19:30, reveil/lait 23h env, reveil/lait 3h env, puis reveil 6h ou 7h!....Durant Noel tout ca avait disparu! ca ne veut pas dire que depuis notre retour c'est facile mais, ca revient.

Depuis Noel Paul et en vacances! ca m'aide beaucoup! je me repose les poignets et ca fait du bien d'avoir de l'aide durant toute la journee! C'est crevant d'etre maman!!

Puis, maintenant Elias se tourne et retourne de sur le dos a sur le ventre et vis et versa! Ca a commence le weekend de Noel! Et, quand il prend un bain il arose toute la salle de bain!!!

Elias a maintenant presque 5 mois (21 semaines ce soir a minuit)- Il pese 8kgs - dans un mois on va commence le "baby rice" (ris pour bb) et des petites purees de legumes, etc.

Demain le 31 Dec. - notre soiree va dependre de la nuit qu'on passe ce soir! Soit Oxford chez Simon, Vanessa et Cassius avec Lucky Ben, Penel et Jude. Soit chez Martin dans la journee.

Bonne Annee a tous!

Parents Chillout Afternoon

Finally managed to organise a combined trip to the Heath with Ackers and Jude. It was icy cold but we spent a good hour walking.

Afterwards we were all hungry and adjourned to Ackers for some lunch, which gradually stretched into the whole afternoon. Jude and Elias looked at each other and Jude held Elias' hand and then took my hand to Elias. Very sweet. A very relaxing afternoon - just what was needed to be out of the house just chilling with some other folk. As Ackers said "it's like parents chillout afternoon here".

First Christmas

Christmas knocked Elias' routine for six. He hated the car journey down to the New Forest and just would not settle. The change in environment compounded by some teething. Anyway, less eating and less sleeping led to less smiling and more crying. A bad combination.

Upsides were learning how to make a proper whisky mac, a Christmas Day walk in the Forest - sunny and cold, seeing the family and Boxing Day with my brother's clan, my Godfather and family and my mother's cousin and wife...... oh and of course presents :)

Unusually we had fish on Christmas day and turkey on Boxing Day. Frank Sinatra's Christmas album was on rotation. But no snow until we were on our way back to London and drove into a snowstorm in Chiswick which made the place look like the setting for A Christmas Carol.

My friends with babies tell me it gets easier with age. Roll on next year...

Aidan

I said I'd post a pic of my friend Paul's baby. Here he is, Aidan, with his elder sister Zoe.

Christmas Cheer

Got my first Christmas present last night in the shape of the Kraftwerk CD/DVD box set, from the Ackers :) We went out for a Crimbo jar in Hampstead.

Work was like a ghost town today and we finished up at 1pm after which I went and finished my present shopping and met Ackers for a coffee and gave him his present which was ........ the Kraftwerk CD/DVD box set! Everybody's happy. Got the crucial present for myself too!

Auntie Darling had come to visit Stefanie.

When I left for work this morning Stefanie and Elias were in hysterics. Same when I got back tonight. It was as if they'd been laughing with each other for 8 hours.

This evening we opened presents from Stefanie's family. I'd already been relishing the Brian Eno album from Stefanie's aunt Anne-Marie (and Renee) and the winter coat for Elias. But this evening the Africa wildlife baby gro came up trumps along with the dancing lion. And we are already laying into the chocolates from Evelyne :)

I never did write my Christmas thoughts so, condensed to a sentence, here they are. Having Elias around is making me enjoy preparing for Christmas more...

Guinness

Today the local health visitor recommended that Stephanie drink Guinness to promote better, more nutritious milk! Stephanie barely drinks at the moment so this is an interesting development. Hope she doesn't get a taste for the Irish juice else it all could go horribly wrong over the Christmas period ;)

Btw, our local doctor couldn't find a working thermometer today. Hmm, like a carpenter who can't find a working hammer or an accountant who can't find his Excel or LIKE A TRAVESTY OF POOR PUBLIC SERVICES.....rant over.

Aujourd'hui je suis allee peser Elias car j'avais peur qu'il perde du poids car ces jours il mange peut, il me semblait....mais a ma grande surprise la courbe de son poids ne fait que monter et monter! il pese kgs7.870!!! - La sage femme responsable m'a suggerer de boire de la Guinness pour promouvoir un lait nutritif si je m'inquietais!! hahahaaaa...alors ce soir je me suis bue un petit verre de Guinness avec plaisir (meme que je ne m'inquiete plus!) -

A part ca tout va bien - Elias a un petit rhume mais rien de grave - Paul et moi on a eu des gros rhumes donc c'est innevitable! - La on est tous prets pour Noel - on part dans la "New Forest" samedi pour 3 jours.

Hier on a ete visiter Susanna (d!) a son bureau a Camden - on a mange un take away de chez Wagamama! yum! J'adore aller voir Susanna et la, ca faisait une eternite! - Demain auntie Darling Sue is coming round for tea.

Thoughts on Christmas

Today Elias saw his first music video. The first two songs on the new U2 concert DVD had him totally mesmerised. I only put it on because he wouldn't wake up so I thought we could watch some of it with impunity...as soon as he woke he was transfixed - must have been those long strobe light sequences ;)

Tomorrow I'll finish this post with my thoughts on Christmas...

Oh, btw, news just in my friend Paul has a new son, Aiden, as of yesterday ... congratulations to Paul and to Karen.

Clearly Gifted

There's nothing more annoying, for parents and non-parents alike, than parents who bang on about how they think their child is gifted... They'll come out with all sorts of claptrap (n.b. use of Dad vocabulary) such as he's only 4 and half months and he's already crawling, walking, talking or reading...

Christmas Shopping

This is the kind of thing I count as an achievement these days.... today, 7 days before Christmas day, I took Elias out on a visit to Selfridge's on Oxford Street. Whilst Stefanie was in Maida Vale and I had 2 hours to play with. It was busy - no surprises there. People were a mix of helpful and unhelpful - no surprises there. And I came back relatively empty-handed, which means no lunchtime trips to the gym this week until I have got all my present buying sorted. One thing to note for any London-based males reading this who still have presents left to buy - ground floor of John Lewis seems to have augmented it's sales staff with models...

I hope at least someone reading this has done enough yoga to appreciate my trompe l'oeil Elias in Supta Virasana photo ;)
****
Mon fils et mon homme on passe l'apres-midi ensemble sur Oxford Street! hmmm...et son revenu mains vides (le seul achat de pyjamas pour Elias doit etre retourne car il n'y pas de boutons sur les jambes! pas pratique! (oui Maria...c'est mon genre de souci...les boutons de pyjamas!!!! ha) - et a part ca...pas de cadeaux pour moi! :(

ouuuhhh c'est bientot Noel - Notre salon est decore, on a meme des petites lumieres puis, un abre de Noel (ficus!) avec boules et guirlandes et lumieres!) -

Ce matin Elias etait reveille a 5h environ...(du matin!) - a 6h j'ai decide d'aller chanter des chansons avec lui dans le salon!

ah...ai-je eu le temps de parler de notre visite a la ...piscine! Vendredi passe...premier cours de natation...Jusqu'a 6 mois apparement les bb ont toujours le reflexe de respirer sous l'eau...hmmm...je crois que Elias a oublie le reflex...il a sorti la tete de l'eau en toussant et n'avait pas l'air de revivre ses mois de bonheur dans le fluide amniotique!!!...Mais il avait l'air d'aimer etre dans l'eau par contre - il faisait des grands sourires! - Les douches froides et les vestiaires froids ne me donne pas envie d'y aller tout les jours je j'avoue! mais de temps en temps....

Ma prof de gymnastique appelles Elias "Mr Smiley" car il sourit et rigole beaucoup!

Samedi soir 22:22...hmmmm...j'attends 23h pour donner a Elias son "dream feed" (allaitement en dormant) si il ne se reveille pas avant! Cela dans le bute qu'il dorme au moins 4hrs d'affilee apres ca....

xx

December weekend

Saturday morning we went up to Hampstead Heath, but for a change continued on to Kenwood House. There was light mist London but the sun was shining. Walked slowly through the grounds enjoying the tranquility and the view onto central London which looked like a ghost city in the mist.

In the afternoon I left Stefanie and Elias to go down to my folks in Hampshire to visit my brother in hospital. I was pleased to see him looking so well.

Last night Elias cried from 03:30 to 05:00. Was awful. Poor neighbours.

Misty Morning

ourrrraaahhhh! mon amour tout d'un coup dort beaucoup beaucoup mieux! Avant hier soir il a meme fait une nuit complete ! - ca veut dire 6h d'affilee!!! Quand JE ME suis reveillee a 4h du matin, j'ai du ecouter si son coeur battait bien!!! quelle peur!! ...Hier soir aussi une tres bonne nuit!

Auntie Darling Sue and Maria came round yesterday for tea! It was lovely to see them both - Auntie Darling taught me a new nursery rhyme "raw raw your boat gently down the streem...lalalalalalalaaaaa...."! (I must get a picture of auntie darling on this blog!)

Aujourd'hui, vendredi grisailleux, je suis determinee a aller a la piscine pour 11:45! Elias dort, ca lui a pris 45min pour s'endormir pour sa sieste du matin et beaucoup de pleures!!! oh nonnnnnnn! je vais le reveiller pour y aller sinon ca va faire comme. hier j'etais determinee a aller a notre cours de massage pour bb mais une fois arrivee au centre, Elias dormait paisiblement, alors je suis repartie pour la maison - une fois arrivee...il s'est reveille!!!!!...
C'est Noel dans 2 semaines! Waow que le temps passe vite!!
x


My friend Chris is over from France. Last night he came round for dinner and told us how he's getting on with his five-year old and six-month old. We talked about the relationship between parents and child and he thinks more distance is better than we do.

The Baby

Things we don't call Elias....... "the baby".

Last night he slept really really well. Unfortunately I was out with work and didn't get to bed until 1am so I didn't get the full benefit of the previous three hours.

My post yesterday about the Dire Straits album prompted an email from a former colleague of mine, Tim Leigh, to say how he also had given it a listen recently and been pleased it lived up to his memories. When I get a mo I'll reclaim my credibility with a few mentions of choice cutting edge tunes I've been listening to ;)

Dad styles

Elias updates:

- had his first dose of Calpol following his injections last week. Been glad to keep him off it for that long and hopefully won't need again for a while as it seemed less effective than homeopathic remedies. Apparently it helps with teething pain.
- unrelated to that, slept better last night
- likes to hold and shake things
- has a favourite toy called Moche (thanks Stefanie!)


Last night the following made me feel like an old-school Dad:

- wearing slippers
- listening to Dire Straits' Alchemy which, although a great album I hadn't heard in years, is itself like a pair of comfy slippers.
- going to bed, shattered, at 10:30pm

I won't bore you with all the cool things I was also doing and thinking yesterday evening...

45min

Aie aie aie....Jeudi passe Elias a recu ses premiers vaccins (tetanus/polyo/dypfteria/hep b/wooping cough (une forme de toux grave!) et meningite c) cela ce fait en 3 sessions! Depuis ce jour la, comme par coincidence, nos nuits sont un cauchemar! et mes journee un peu aussi! Elias dort par coups de 45min/1hr et le soir max 2hr! - J'avoue qu'aujourd'hui ca va un peu mieux mais la nuit passee, un cauchemar aussi! Chaque fois qu'il se reveille il pleure, pleure, pleure! MAIS, on a aussi realise que...il nous prend un doigt et se frotte les gencives avec!!!...signe qu'il fait ses dents! Et il parait que les bb dorment tres mal durant ce stade!.....alors c'est peut-etre bien ca -- ce soir je lui ai donne un remede homeopatique (camomilla) et j'espere que ca va aider!

Moi je suis morte de fatigue (Paul aussi) et quand je pense a nos nuits passees avec 2 reveilles par nuit, c'etait le reve! et quand je pense au passe et a une nuit de 8hrs, j'ai l'impression que je fabule! - Maintenant c'est plutot, des que l'on part dans un sommeil profond, pouf! il se reveille! et cela 5 a 7 fois par nuit!!! :(

A part ca - des que l'on te voit le matin au reveil (au vrai reveil!!) on t'aime toujours autant et meme plus chaque jour! Nos journee sont toujours aussi superbent meme que en ce moment tu es un petit peu plus collant que d'habitude - mais apparement normal quand un bb fait ses dents!!

On a commence un cours d'exercices pour mamans pour se refaire le ventre, les fesses, etc!! et les bb sont la aussi sur la matte de la maman - Puis on fait un cours de 2 sessions d'homeopaties afin de comprendre un peu mieux comment administrer les remedes - puis on va recommencer les cours de massage pour bb et yoga pour maman - Nous esperons aussi aller a la piscine bientot, un cours organise par une sage femme pour les petits bb.

oh mon Dieu! ca fait 1h30 que tu dors Elias!!! je devrais etre au lit!

J'y vais!

Dark

7am this morning and it was still totally dark. How depressing. Surely it must be the shortest day soon and we can start movnig towards longer days again. It has always struck me as strange that the longest day is right at the beginning, rather than the height, of summer. Feels the same with these short days.

With an offer accepted on the flat, we went looking for places to live on Saturday and saw a bunch of places with a lot more room, which would be ideal for Elias who, although yet to roll himself over, I can imagine is going to need space! Needless to say prices in London are ludicrous.

45 minutes

You wouldn't think it from this picture but this boy barely sleeps at the moment. He had his 5 in 1 injection on Thursday and since then we've been lucky if he stays asleep longer than 45 minutes. This is starting to take its toll and makes me wonder whether or not to attend the second appointment. Besides that he is fine and plays and smiles as normal, but this sleep thing is weird.