(no subject)
On Thursday evening I woke Alex accidentally while fishing all the detritus out of his bed, and he wouldn't go back to sleep as he was convinced he was going in the car again. I settled him eventually, and I'm glad we didn't have to do it again on Friday. We were supposed to be going over to Strensall for the NCT on Friday, but Cath and I were both knackered, so we went over to hers for the morning instead. Eva really isn't settling to Alex at the moment, probably because she is fed up of smaller kids!
We went down to the station, fed Alex and left Brian reading him a bed time story, as he said he was happy to settle him. Apparently it took Brian, Libby and 4 stories to get him to sleep, as they didn't just go and leave him awake with his torch and a book like I told them. Oh well, he was happy! We had a nice meal at the Horseshoe with my parents and Simon's. I think Janet enjoyed the distraction.
On Saturday Mum, Janet and I took Alex to Flamingo Land. It cost us £20+ but we were there for 5 hours! We let him run off a bit of steam in the playground, then went for a walk around the farmyard. We timed it really badly as they were testing the rides, even though they didn't open for 30 minutes. After watching them test the helicopters and the merry go round, we walked away and they started testing the tractor ride. Alex would not move after that. The man testing them let us on 10 minutes early after Alex had stood with his nose pressed to the gate for 15 minutes! He loved it, as he got to sit in the front and steer and I had to sit in the back. Then we went down to look at the fish, and back to the helicopter and the merry go round before an early lunch. We met Lynsdey, Dean and Xander over lunch, from the local NCT group, and as Alex and Xander get on so well we ended up hooking up with them to go round the zoo proper. Alex loved it, the giraffes bent down to have a good look at him, the hippos were wallowing in mud and there was someone else to run round with. He sat still for about 30 minutes, including lunch and the rides, in 5 hours! We dragged a push chair around for nothing, but it was useful for our bags!
I persuaded Janet and Eric to stay for dinner, and we had a very pleasant evening.
Sunday was a lot quieter, except for Ruth turning up with Megan and Aiden. We ended up helping Dad finish a trench and lay in the cable so the kids could back fill it with Alex's tractor! They were pretty filthy when they'd finished. After lunch, pretty much everyone left, so it was just Alex and I. I send him up the yard to his Daddy so I could go cook dinner, the next time I saw him he was sitting on Stephen's knee driving the mini digger back down the yard!
On Monday we had a quiet morning catching up with the washing, then we went off to Oaken Grove, where we only saw one mother with her 7 week old, who was finding her second child so radically different from the first she wanted a bit of reassurance. On the way home we stopped in at Haxby memorial hall to try out the Boogies session the sure start centre were running. Alex had a great time actually playing with Grace and not biting her, and here was another girl there about the same age. There was also a huge gym ball, which he loved lying on as I swung him round and bounced him up and down by his legs, then it was onto, under, in and over the parachute for the 3 of them. Its a shame its the only session we'll make as Alex did enjoy it. I went to bed with a really tight Achilles tendon. I have no clue why it was playing up.
On Tuesday we did the supermarket run, and Alex was great again, walking and being helpful before climbing into the trolley. Tuesday afternoon was Earwigs, and it was another quiet session. People keep leaving early, after the snack, so we might push it back a bit so it does signal the end of the session.
Yesterday I dropped Alex off at Ladybirds, with a sore ankle making the decision to drive really easy, then set off for Hob Moor children's centre. The interview process was quite interesting. We had the presentation to judge based on a rather long winded question, another panel was doing the interview. Of the 3 candidates, one was competent, one was blatantly out of her depth and one was outstanding. We've offered it to the outstanding one, and I was pleasantly surprised how well the sure start bosses listened to me, but I did seem a little more eloquent then them! I also made the point that clinched our candidate, who was on equal footing in the interview, that she was the only one who mentioned the attached school as an important resource.
I got back home earlier then expected, after a quick trip to Booker's, and Mum and Alex were just having lunch. After that we took Alex out to feed the ducks, and had a quiet afternoon after that long walk. Mum stayed over night, so we all had dinner together and she and I watched Skyfall, as she hadn't seen it yet.
Today we got Alex up, dressed, fed and headed into town. We got there about 9:30, did a bit of shopping, and to kill some time we took him to the Disney store. That was not nearly as interesting as 2 lorries with dropping loading stages and the 2 bin lorries he spotted. Good lad! I went to the Osteopath and Mum and Alex went into museum gardens. After Will had a go at my ankle and realigned my spine, we all met up again, bought some lunch and had a nice picnic back in the gardens. Then we got the bus home, and Mum left. We spent 3 hours in town without the push chair and Alex was brilliant. He was good on the bus, good in the shops and good at walking, it was really nice to have him around. Of course, bear went with us. Alex now has an imaginary friend, a bear named Alex, who often needs a seat at the table and eats all Alex's treats so he needs more of them. The bear has been with us for over a month now! Mum packed some bits in her car and left, taking Alex's ready bed with her which he was not happy about and he was watching sadly from the window saying 'my Thomas' over and over again. Oh well, he'll be reunited with it on Saturday afternoon!
We went down to the station, fed Alex and left Brian reading him a bed time story, as he said he was happy to settle him. Apparently it took Brian, Libby and 4 stories to get him to sleep, as they didn't just go and leave him awake with his torch and a book like I told them. Oh well, he was happy! We had a nice meal at the Horseshoe with my parents and Simon's. I think Janet enjoyed the distraction.
On Saturday Mum, Janet and I took Alex to Flamingo Land. It cost us £20+ but we were there for 5 hours! We let him run off a bit of steam in the playground, then went for a walk around the farmyard. We timed it really badly as they were testing the rides, even though they didn't open for 30 minutes. After watching them test the helicopters and the merry go round, we walked away and they started testing the tractor ride. Alex would not move after that. The man testing them let us on 10 minutes early after Alex had stood with his nose pressed to the gate for 15 minutes! He loved it, as he got to sit in the front and steer and I had to sit in the back. Then we went down to look at the fish, and back to the helicopter and the merry go round before an early lunch. We met Lynsdey, Dean and Xander over lunch, from the local NCT group, and as Alex and Xander get on so well we ended up hooking up with them to go round the zoo proper. Alex loved it, the giraffes bent down to have a good look at him, the hippos were wallowing in mud and there was someone else to run round with. He sat still for about 30 minutes, including lunch and the rides, in 5 hours! We dragged a push chair around for nothing, but it was useful for our bags!
I persuaded Janet and Eric to stay for dinner, and we had a very pleasant evening.
Sunday was a lot quieter, except for Ruth turning up with Megan and Aiden. We ended up helping Dad finish a trench and lay in the cable so the kids could back fill it with Alex's tractor! They were pretty filthy when they'd finished. After lunch, pretty much everyone left, so it was just Alex and I. I send him up the yard to his Daddy so I could go cook dinner, the next time I saw him he was sitting on Stephen's knee driving the mini digger back down the yard!
On Monday we had a quiet morning catching up with the washing, then we went off to Oaken Grove, where we only saw one mother with her 7 week old, who was finding her second child so radically different from the first she wanted a bit of reassurance. On the way home we stopped in at Haxby memorial hall to try out the Boogies session the sure start centre were running. Alex had a great time actually playing with Grace and not biting her, and here was another girl there about the same age. There was also a huge gym ball, which he loved lying on as I swung him round and bounced him up and down by his legs, then it was onto, under, in and over the parachute for the 3 of them. Its a shame its the only session we'll make as Alex did enjoy it. I went to bed with a really tight Achilles tendon. I have no clue why it was playing up.
On Tuesday we did the supermarket run, and Alex was great again, walking and being helpful before climbing into the trolley. Tuesday afternoon was Earwigs, and it was another quiet session. People keep leaving early, after the snack, so we might push it back a bit so it does signal the end of the session.
Yesterday I dropped Alex off at Ladybirds, with a sore ankle making the decision to drive really easy, then set off for Hob Moor children's centre. The interview process was quite interesting. We had the presentation to judge based on a rather long winded question, another panel was doing the interview. Of the 3 candidates, one was competent, one was blatantly out of her depth and one was outstanding. We've offered it to the outstanding one, and I was pleasantly surprised how well the sure start bosses listened to me, but I did seem a little more eloquent then them! I also made the point that clinched our candidate, who was on equal footing in the interview, that she was the only one who mentioned the attached school as an important resource.
I got back home earlier then expected, after a quick trip to Booker's, and Mum and Alex were just having lunch. After that we took Alex out to feed the ducks, and had a quiet afternoon after that long walk. Mum stayed over night, so we all had dinner together and she and I watched Skyfall, as she hadn't seen it yet.
Today we got Alex up, dressed, fed and headed into town. We got there about 9:30, did a bit of shopping, and to kill some time we took him to the Disney store. That was not nearly as interesting as 2 lorries with dropping loading stages and the 2 bin lorries he spotted. Good lad! I went to the Osteopath and Mum and Alex went into museum gardens. After Will had a go at my ankle and realigned my spine, we all met up again, bought some lunch and had a nice picnic back in the gardens. Then we got the bus home, and Mum left. We spent 3 hours in town without the push chair and Alex was brilliant. He was good on the bus, good in the shops and good at walking, it was really nice to have him around. Of course, bear went with us. Alex now has an imaginary friend, a bear named Alex, who often needs a seat at the table and eats all Alex's treats so he needs more of them. The bear has been with us for over a month now! Mum packed some bits in her car and left, taking Alex's ready bed with her which he was not happy about and he was watching sadly from the window saying 'my Thomas' over and over again. Oh well, he'll be reunited with it on Saturday afternoon!