No time like 10 months!

So the last few weeks have been a bit hectic.

I had yet another tummy bug (luckily Mabel and G Kisby were fine) which led to my usual teary trips to the toilet (I am incredibly bad at being sick, it makes me panic leading to G Kisby rubbing my hand whilst telling me to calm down - I can almost imagine the eye rolling behind my head. I certainly would have been doing so at the drama I make of it).

We have had pretty busy weekends involving some splendid sunday lunches and excellent company.

And G Kisby has been working lots on his assignment for uni - in true student style he has left it to the last minute to write.

Oh and not forgetting the ongoing moustache growth, ooooooh it is really freaking me out now.

Mabel is clearly not impressed and this photo was about a week ago. It has got worse.

The other day he asked me to lick his moustache. I think I was a little bit sick in my mouth. I don't think there will be many babies born in August.

Oh and Mabel turned a big 10 months old. She is becoming funnier and more strong willed by the day. I find myself employing the 'chop' to get her in the car seat / pram / high chair on a daily basis. In fact when at the Trafford Centre last week, due to the very public nature of the screaming, I did give in and try to carry her whilst pushing the pram. After a few minutes of getting no where fast I suddenly asked myself what the hell I was doing and regained control. A short tantrum later she was back in the pram (probably thinking, "hmm, I will let her win that battle but let's see who wins the war).

She copies you with "uh deee" (oh dear) and "aaaa ioooo" (a'tish'oo) and a personal favourite 'm, m, m'
"Ahh look babe, she is trying to say Mummy"
"Yeah. Or maybe 'more'?" he kindly suggested as she lurched towards the spoon with a wide open mouth.

She will point to lots of the right pictures if asked when reading a book (pussy cat is a favourite) and the flamin' Vtech walker continues to be her favourite toy. We did have a small face plant into the wall incident leading to our first blood whilst it was in use. It was absolutely nothing to do with a lack of supervision should G Kisby ask.

And as always, we wonder where on earth 10 months has gone...

'Sick' of nursery

So no one told us about nursery sickness. Pretty much ever since Mabel started nursery (a month ago already) she has had a full on cold...or an ear infection...or a tummy bug.
In fact I don't think there has been a day she hasn't woken up with snot dried all over her face.

We almost didn't send her again today since she had a temperature when I collected her last night and wasn't great first thing. But we dosed her up with our trusty friend (calpol IS our friend, even the doctor told me so, grrr to the midwife who told us to try and avoid it) and she got through the day.

I just feel really sorry for her and a bit of that old guilt thing about sending her in when clearly her immune system has only just started to recover by the Sunday. Apparently in time her immune system will get stronger and this will be less of a problem, I really hope so.

Source

On a slightly more light hearted note I texted G Kisby this morning, whilst sat in the car waiting for her to wake up so I could take her into nursery, suggesting he text Radio 2 for the chance to win some tickets for Chris Evans dine and disco as part of Children in Need.
"Text DISCO to this number babe, we might win tickets" I sent across by text.
"Is that definitely the right number?" came the response.
I checked.
"Oh no, sorry I've given you one of the digits wrong" I replied
"Good o. I appear to have just text Disco Gary to a gay dating number and if I just send my DOB they will get me set right up."

Uh oh.
Of all the things to text - disco. Love it!

Glorious North Yorkshire!

We are at home this weekend so decided to do some homely stuff.
I finally made chutney with the bag of apples we got from the charity shop (fill a bag for a £1, great idea to give your spare apples to charity)

I made spiced apple chutney ready for our legendary boxing day ham.

Then today we went on one of my favourite family days out – a gorgeous circular walk (hate retracing my steps) including a river, some fabulous countryside and a great pub. Mabel has an ear infection in both ears (sent home from nursery this week) so when she wouldn’t keep her hood up we had to improvise with a scarf...

For lunch we had thick cut ham sandwiches with plenty of real butter, home made piccalilli and chunky chips, washed down with a pint of local ale. All in front of a roaring fire in a gorgeously quaint beamed room.

Appletreewick, near Skipton, was a lovely little village with an even better name and a campsite right on the river which we hope to visit at some point and we also passed Bolton Abbey on the way home, a future visit required there too!

On the way back to the car we passed a field of sheep and I decided to impart a little animal knowledge on Mabel and G Kisby. About half the field of sheep had green dye on their behinds. I explained that dye is put onto the ram in an appropriate place so the farmer can see which of the ladies has been ‘fertilised’.

“Really?” he replied, half bemused, half doubtful (fair enough, I famously once told Alfie when about 3 years old that the large mammal we saw at the safari park was a buffoon).

“Yeah seriously. You can’t tell if a ewe is preggers until about 6 weeks before giving birth so this way they know” (o.k I admit I had to google this last bit because I only knew the first part)

I was sounding seriously credible until we walked out the other side of the field and G Kisby drew my attention to this:

Ah man. Really glad I didn't have to try and explain what might have gone on here!!!

Movember!

So G Kisby is sporting a moustache to raise money for Movember. I am all in favour since it is a great cause (supports mens health charities like Prostate Cancer) but lets face it, it looks terrible. Like some sort of 70's pxxn star. This picture was a week ago, it is far worse now. And according to G Kisby this morning, it might need some wax (OMG does that boy need any more excuses to buy products?)

"Do you not think I look like Tom Cruise with his moustache?"
"Erm, don't remember him having one?"
"In Top Gun?"
"...nope don't recall one?"
Strange how you can make yourself believe anything isn't it. Like when you go to the hairdressers, as I did last week, with a picture and say, "I want my hair to look like this?"
What you really mean is, "I want to me to look like this"
Funnily enough I was disappointed!

G Kisby was wrong on two counts.

Tom Cruise didn't really have a moustache in Top Gun (correct me if I am wrong - turns out he is quite handsome here, or maybe it is just the whole fighter pilot thing?)

Secondly, who is he kidding, Tom Cruise in Top Gun was about 18.

Couldn't in fact find a picture of TC ever having a moustache so I had to improvise.


See the resemblance?

No me neither.

For those who haven't heard this story, G Kisby 'claims' that on a number of occasions random strangers have approached him to ask if he was TC. Once in Starbucks in Manchester (because TC would be just popping in for a coffee), once in a slightly dodgy greasy cafe (begs the question what he was doing there in the first place) and apparently on a couple of other slightly less than clear times. 

I was never there.

Make of that what you will...

Knit Granny Knit!

Granny has been knitting! Mabel has a new cardigan and hat set which are just gorgeous - though obviously she won't keep the hat on so behind the scenes G Kisby is putting on a performance just to keep it on her head for 30 seconds for a photo.

We have been lucky to receive not one but two cardigans. This little green number was also knitted by the Granny, excuse the pale (sick feeling) parent in this photo - it was taken last Sunday morning.



So we have got through another week of work and nursery. Mabel has become much more settled and can be found happily playing when we arrive to collect her. Aside from the ongoing snotty face, and another tooth (5 now), she is making lots of new noises, will try and feed you food and give you kisses.

On a slightly separate note I have done a number of things this week which have made me cringe / laugh out loud. On Tuesday on a call to America in work I spoke to a lady who introduced herself as "Paaaadee". Now we all know that isn't her name but just the way she pronounces it, and I especially knew this since I had already emailed her earlier. Her name was Patti. And if unsure I could have just introduced myself back and left it at that. But no, for reasons I am unsure of I decided to say, "Nice to talk to you Paaadeeeee".

I couldn't believe it came out of my mouth. She must have thought I was completely taking the pxxx when I genuinely wasn't. So wrong.

In a similar vein I had another car breakdown on Monday night. Now it so happens that I didn't have a breakdown, I just thought I did. I swear there was a large clang then something dragging on the side of the car, like the noise when your exhaust falls off. Only when the guy arrived there was clearly nothing wrong. He asked where I had come from (think he might have thought an asylum?) and despite my assurances that it must have fallen off again just down the road (no of course there was nothing there but play along with me) he nodded along but with a slight look of fear. So when we were filling out the forms I decided to try and endear myself to him. How you ask? By using his broad Yorkshire accent. Now it wasn't a conscious decision but it just happened, and I really don't do a good Yorkshire accent - my "I was just turning th 'corner" sounding way too forced and unnatural. I was made to feel worse by the fact that he asked me before I went, "so you're not from Huddersfield then?"

"Hmm, what gave it away?"

Then finally, after a week of humiliation, yesterday I smiled at a dog. And not in a, "ahh cute dog" kind of way. In the way you would smile at a fellow human being when passing in a shop entrance. In a way that says 'hi there". I looked at the dog and smiled to be polite.

I was polite to a dog.

What is wrong with me? I am so not cool...