A Great Day at the Fair

We had a fabulous day today at the Ohio State Fair and being a big kid again has really made me feel better, less stressed-out. We rode the rides and got to watch Jack squeal with excitement. I rode one that made me queasy and Craig admitted that the big slide was a bit faster than he had imagined. We both used to skydive and now we're nervous of kids fairground rides - how funny is that.

I also put Weight Watchers to the back of my mind for the day because at the state fair all bets are OFF.   Today I ate: a chicken gyro, a root-beer float and a funnel cake, which probably constitutes a weeks worth of points but I don't care and still have the icing sugar on my shoes to prove it. I could also have eaten: deep fried ravioli, deep fried Oreos, deep fried Buckeyes and deep fried dill pickles. Notice a theme here? 

For English people - a gyro is a kebab, a root-beer float is pop with ice cream floating on it and funnel cake is a big squiggly donut the size of a dinner plate, cooked in fat and then covered in icing sugar. 

Jack had the absolute time of his life and he came home with an inflatable pirate hammer and  a Sponge Bob Square Pants bat and ball set. I wish I could remember all the things he's saying and the questions he's asking at the moment because he's dead funny. The very last thing we did was a big bungee thing that we paid for and then he got frightened and didn't want to do it. Then the attendant tried to pick him up and take him over to it which made him hysterical but we told him he absolutely didn't need to do it if he didn't want to. On the way home I asked him why he changed his mind and didn't want to do it and he said "the lady was scary". I silently agreed, seeing as she had no teeth and was sun burnt bright red.  If I was 3 she'd have scared me to death too.

Craig & Jack on the big slide...

Schooling my English Lads

We've been talking a lot about schools for our lads.

Here's the conundrum: we love our house and our neighbours and our neighbourhood has one of the best primary/elementary schools in the state but the middle and high schools in our school district are a bit rough to say the least. They don't rank well and people generally don't say good things about them. So we could enter the Charter and Lottery system for middle and high school or go private (insert hilarious laughter here) or move.

I really don't want to move, just thinking about it makes me heart-heavy. I don't think I could ever find my house, my garden, and my neighbours anywhere else. I have no direct neighbours for starters. My little house sits alone and means we can be noisy and naked whenever the fancy takes us. Not that we walk around in the buff a lot but it is nice not to have anyone within peeking distance. My garden is a life project and I love my plants. I have plants that we bought to mark babies' births and birthdays. I have plants that have grown into breathtaking specimens of shape and color and scent. My trees and large shrubs feel like family and I couldn't leave them behind.

Also, we live in a liberal neighbourhood that cares about things and has festivals and outdoor concerts and farmers markets. Moving to a posh neighbourhood surrounded by women that do coffee mornings gives me the willies.

So, we are going to stay put. Work on the school thing and hope that our kids get a good mix of diversity, life challenges and education without too much of either one.

By the way,I use the term "English" lads because one of my colleagues saw this picture of Danny and said "he looks English!". I'm not rightly sure if it was a compliment. I think he looks like a little gem, but we probably shouldn't mess with him when he's older. I'm not going to tell him to go to bed early - would you?

The Kindness of Strangers

Our friends, Debbie & Lynn, have a friend Martha, who lives next door to a family that have kids over 10 years old and have outgrown their play set. Somehow all the stars aligned so that they knew we wanted it and they gave it to us FREE. How fabulous is that! 

Craig and Debbie got their tools out and dismantled it. Debbie got stung by a wasp in the process so we got wasp killer out and nuked the little bastards. I hate wasps and I can't see what purpose they have on this planet. But I digress. The hardest part by far was lifting a really heavy cumbersome thing onto a truck bed. It required 4 adults and lots of grunting.

All it needs now is a rocking chair sat on top with an old lady in it!  People walking on the pavement were literally stopping and staring, mouths agape, like they'd never seen a truck overloaded before. I'm just glad a big chunk didn't fall off or we may just have to have driven off and disowned it. Debbie & Lynn were very brave to drive this across town for us. 

Ta da! All back together in our garden. The boys LOVE it. Jack is beside himself with excitement and didn't even whine about not being able to watch telly tonight. He scooted up the ladder into his tree-house yelling "the dinosaurs are coming!", then he used his big yellow telescope to keep an eye on things in the garden. 

I Do Like a Bit of Pomp

We took a picnic and a big blanket and we trundled off to our local park for the weekly summer concert that's free and very jolly indeed. I do love to sit on the grass and listen to a band, especially one like this that is comprised of talented teenagers from high schools across Ohio. 

The American flag was fluttering from a tree and the evening was a perfect 75 degrees with a cool breeze. Jack danced like only a toddler can dance and he was in awe of the drum major as he twirled his baton. He looked at me and said "I want to throw a big stick mama!" Danny played on the blanket and got lots of admiring looks from all the grandparents that sat around us. 

It's one of my favourite things about the neighbourhood. Our little bit of Americana.

I'll Sleep When I'm Dead

Ohhhhhh, I feel bad today. Jan and I sat up until 2.30am this morning talking and watching British comedy on YouTube. It seemed like such a good idea at the time, and if I had a quid for every time I'd said that I would be sat in the Bahamas right now watching my cleaner lady hoover up all the damn pet hair in my house.

I got up at 7am with the kids and they were 110% all day so I took at least five Exedrin Migraine, drank 15 pints of water, ate grease all day (there goes my points for the week) and managed to smile like Mrs Perfect Mommy at the park, even though I had a bastard behind the eyes at the time.

And really, I don't regret it. Jan and I had a right laugh. Big belly laughs and knee-slapping stuff. I was torn which clip to add here. I nearly added the clip of "Cats that look like Hitler" but you can look that one up if you like. I miss British comedy terribly but thankfully I have YouTube.

Danny-D at 6 Months

As my friend Emily said on a recent post, these blogs are actually baby journals for the modern woman, so I'm going to record our Danny's stats from this weeks doctors visit and a few milestones.

I've give him a nickname and I have no idea where it came from. For about 3 weeks now I've been calling him "Danny D"  which is odd considering his middle name is Lewis. I tried to convince myself it means Danny Darling but that wasn't the original idea - it just seemed to rhyme or something. It must be catchy though as Craig calls him Danny D too. By the way, Jack's nickname since he was a newborn is "Munchie" or "Munch". Again, I have no stinking idea where these things come from but it's stuck.

Anyway, on to Danny's stats:

Height = 28 inches so he's in the 95th %-ile

Weight = 21 lbs 10.5 ozs so he's in the 97th %-ile

He's now on number 2 baby food and eating three meals a day. The pediatrician told me Danny will talk me into feeding him normal food probably much sooner than Jack did. He'll probably be on t-bone steaks by Christmas and might a future contender in the international hot dog eating contest.

He's sitting up now which means he'll be able to sit in a shopping trolley and I can ditch the car seat. With Danny in it, it weighs a ton and I'm beginning to look like Fatima Whitbread by lugging it around everywhere. 

He's so cute and so friendly and got such chubby kissable cheeks I just can't get enough of him. Today in the park a couple were cooing over him and the man said to his wife "Awww, can we have another one?"

Bring Out Your Dead!

If this was the year 1340 someone would have been and painted a big red cross on our door this morning.

Danny got me up four times overnight and barfed this morning. I didn't think it was too bad as he did it while I was contact lense-less. Then I put them in and said "wooohhh". He ate his breakfast though and seemed okay, so I took him to daycare. He has his 6 month visit this afty at the Docs so it's just a half day. Selfish of me probably but I can't cope with 2 sick kids today.
Jack hacked his way through the night with a dreadful cough and seemed to struggle to breath at some points. So even less sleep for me because I kept listening for him taking ragged breaths. It was frightening. He's currenty at work with me but not sure how long I can keep a 3-year old satisfied in my workplace before he goes nuts. Sometimes I nearly go nuts.

To top it all, I have had an upset stomach for two days and Craig said this morning he feels a cold coming on.
SO, anyone wish to socialise with us this weekend? No? Didn't think so.

My Boy is Better

I was strapping Danny's seat into my car this morning, trying to hurry up as it was pouring down rain and my back was getting wet. I looked over at Jack, stood at the end of the garden path near the road waiting for me to go and get him. He refuses to walk on wet grass and isn't allowed on the road without me.

He was wearing his red plastic raincoat with monsters on. The hood is peaked and makes him look like a pixie. His bare skinny legs were protruding from the bottom and he was wearing his blue dinosaur crocs on his feet.

He was waving his inflatable space sword at the sky and singing "rain rain go away, come again another day!"

I thought "yep, he's better"

Monday Morning Madness

It's Monday and I'm late again. Craig's already left for work.

Danny's fussy, wants his breakfast and some entertainment mummy-style. Jack woke up crying and padded into the bathroom looking miserable and sleepy.  I said "go and get into mummy's bed, watch Noggin and I'll bring you some warm milk". I grab Danny out of his crib and put him in bed with Jack. I have a routine in the morning that's a bit nuts but it works for me and means I can get out the door with everyone fed and happy in about 1.5 hours.

As I'm in the middle of drying my hair, I hear an odd noise and turn just in time to see Jack leap up onto his knees and barf all over my bed. Many times. Thankfully he missed Danny, who was very quiet now and staring intently at his distressed brother. 

There's not much you can do in these situations, other than comfort your child and repeat over and over "it's okay, it's okay" as you rub their back. I did call Craig and we organised a day of work and Jack-sitting between us. Once again, for the 1000th time this year, I thanked God that I have a partner to share this with.

Now it's 1pm and my shift at home with the little fella. He's still got a temperature and looks fed-up. The Docs told me there's  a virus "going round" and to keep an eye of him. Feed him crackers and iced water. They've told me that the last 3 times I've rung them. It's a standard response I suppose, to deter mums from running into the practice every time their kid looks pale.

His dad made him homemade chicken soup but he doesn't want any. And he fell asleep on the couch. I know my son is sick if he falls asleep on the couch. He doesn't normally sleep anywhere, anytime for anybody! 

It's time to go & sit with him and cuddle up I think.

Lazy Weekend, Plebs in the Park, Danny Sits Up

We had a great weekend overall. We finally watched some telly - most importantly we caught up on Shameless by watching episodes on YouTube and we watched the recent episodes of Nurse Jackie, which is fabulous. I'm not really into telly that much but I absolutely love this new show.

Craig's mates came over Friday night for a BBQ and beer but other than that we've been a bit anti-social. I like that sometimes, want to hole-up and not see anyone. It's weekends like this that I wear clothes I'd never wear in public like sweat shorts and scruffy t-shirts. I did venture to the park several times and once got caught in a fierce storm but it was fun to get really soaking wet with Jack and we treated it like an adventure.



Talking of adventures - did you ever read "Lord of the Flies"? Well, the children from the book were at our park tonight, along with their 12 siblings and parents from hell. They took Jack's toy and would have grabbed his bike had their mum not half-heartedly intervened. It was twenty kids and three adults not watching the little savages play. Craig asked Jack if he wanted to go and get his toy back and he said "no, they're too scary". When I heard that I thought "too scary? If you want to see scary watch your mum turn into a Liverpudlian again and sort these muppets out". Fortunately, the toy got returned voluntarily before it got ugly. I was a bit miffed too as I said a cheery "hello" to one of the mums and she snubbed me. Totally looked right at me and blanked me out. The good thing is that I've never seen them before so hopefully they won't be back. Our little park is a haven for the kids and for us to meet parents from the community so I hope these idiots don't keep coming and spoil it for us. Okay, rant over. It does make me feel better to write about it.

Danny-boy. When he wears this t-shirt at daycare they say he looks like Charlie Brown. I suppose he does a bit. The kids had a good weekend and seem to be bonding now. Today we put Jack's new car-seat in the back so he can now lean over and touch Danny. At one point, both of them were laughing their heads off and it's just lovely to hear. 

Danny is changing every day now. He's been laughing a lot, which warms your ginnels and he loves to sit up as you can see in this 30-sec video. He's still a bit wobbly, but then who isn't?

Snakes on the Brain

As we were looking over Craig's handiwork in the garden tonight Jack shouted over to me "mummy, is this a snake?"   I looked over at him, crouched down near some bushy lavenders at the top of the garden. 

Snake? Bloody snake?? 

I immediately think of rattlers and copperheads and run hell-for-leather up the hill towards him. I get to him panting, heart racing and ask where he saw the snake. 

He says "No, it's a spider. With big spots" 

I ask him where, he says "here" and opens up his empty palm for me to take a look. "Look mummy, a big spider!"

I suppose this means his imagination is kicking in. I should probably start taking aspirin.