Christmas Day 2009 was a special day as it was our first Christmas with my son Harry. Although not yet of the age to get very exited he certainly new that it was a ‘different’ day with all the people that were coming and going.
The started like any other I suppose. The only difference was that I felt terrible in the morning. I have had a cold and bunged up nose for about 3 – 4 weeks now and it is really starting to annoy me now. I think this is the longest that I have had a cold for and it really is a touch little virus. Anyway after a Hot Lemsip (well Asda’s version!) I was feeling a little better and got up to.
Then it was time for Harry to start opening some of the presents that friends and family had given. We started with the Winnie the Pooh ride on truck that Helen and I bought him. It took ages to get into it as you can see from the below:
The annoying thing about this video is that I ended up sat in front of Harry and between him and the camera so although you get glimpses of the excitement he showed you can’t really appreciate it. Still I will learn for next year! After opening a number of presents we thought that we would leave some for when his grandparents arrived later on. Harry then feel asleep and had a good long nap.
Next to arrive where my parents, armed with a bag of presents, some for Harry and some for Helen and I which was nice. Helen’s parents then arrived with a similar sack full of goodies and then it was time to exchange presents and watch Harry open more and more of the gifts he received.
It was then down to me to get the Christmas Lunch on the go. Not a massive Turkey fan I decided that we would have a nice roast leg of lamb instead. This was accompanied by roast potatoes, carrots, brussels sprouts, and gravy. The gravy ended up a little on the thin side as we seemed to all out of Cornflour, something which we always have, but not when you really needed it. Still the meal was really good, and having not cooked a ‘proper’ meal for a while I was pleased that it worked out well. The meal was started with a Pear and Roquefort Salad with croutons and finished with a Morrisons Chocolate Cheesecake.
After some Trivia games in the afternoon and Harry playing with all his new toys, it was soon time for Harry’s bedtime. He was a tired boy after all the goings on. Once in bed Helen and I watched a little TV (Coronation Street, Mr and Mrs and The Royale Family) and then went to bed, still with my headache and sore nose.
It was a really pleasant day and one that I will always remember as Harry’s first Christmas Day. I sure that they will only get more chaotic from here!
Over the last few days in the UK we have had some snowfall. To people in the UK this is a massive event where everyone goes crazy for some reason, however I have to admit that it is rather nice, and a few days before Christmas as well!
It had snowed the day earlier but where we lived it was not very good snow and did not stick very well at all really. Today, the snow was what I would call proper snow, Large snow flakes falling to the ground at a rate of knots and then sticking to the surface like glue. Beautiful! I took a quick video to prove it, after all it was one of those Lazy Sundays!
Harry has been a little star today, and with the added momentus ocassion that he had his (almost) first solids, I thought that a photo and a little video was necessary.
Yesterday we tried Harry with some rusk mashed with a little milk, but today he has baby rice. He didn’t seem to mind it really although he didn’t really know what to do with it once in his month. It went down in the end though and therefore for him to have half a bowl was a success. He doesn’t seem to know what to do when the spoon is in his mouth and therefore I have to use the top of his month in order to ’scrape’ the food off the spoon. Its progress though and I am sure that with practice he will get the hang of it.
He also spent lots of time playing on his mat and also in his ring today. He is really starting grab at things now and really paying attention and reacting to noises and movements etc. He has been a sheer delight today.
This afternoon my wife was feeding Harry in the lounge with the TV on. It was a usualy bank holiday afternoon film, and this time it was the animated film, Chicken Run. Harry was engrossed for a good 20 minutes, which is the first time we have really seen him do this.
Over the last week Harry has changed so much. In fact he is almost becoming a little boy rather than a baby as he has learnt so much. He is now so alert and always looking round trying to find new things to see and interact with. We have had so many smiles this week. In fact it is wonderful as when I go into his room in a morning to get him out of bed I am greeted with the most wonderful smile.
He has also found his voice, as I wrote about earlier and he is constantly talking. We can;t understand him yet but he clearly knows what he is on about! This morning at his Grandma’s he found his hands. He was looking at them in a very odd way and then he learnt that he could move them. Apparently he was facinated with them for a good 15 minutes.
He is an absolute pleasure and is getting more and more rewarding as the days pass.
Harry is now getting rapidly towards 4 months old – how time flies! Anyway he is now more and more taking not of what is around him, we are getting lots of smiles and over the last week or so he has really found his voice.
He can talk to us now, although clearly we have not got a clue what he is actually saying he seems to enjoy having a chat from time to time. Being off work for the Easter Holidays I have been able to spend a little more time with Harry and he has been delightful. It makes you want to treasure every moment we had with him while he is still so young.
Today started much better than yesterday. Yesterday with both myself and Helen rather upset with Harry still not being settled and causing us much worry and lack of sleep we decided to take action! A friend down the road had recommended a Graco Baby Swing that she had for her little boy and praised it no end. So off I went in search.
First point of call was of course the Internet. Toys R Us was the first stop and yes they sold the Lovin MyBear version which was the one we wanted. It is a rather large contraption that swings at several different speeds, plays music, nature sounds, and even mothers heartbeat as well as having its own mobile of toys. Unfortunately it doesn’t feed or change the baby, but you can’t have everything!
So off to Toys R Us in Preston. Once I arrived it took me some time to wade through a number of the different toys in the store until I found the very items that I wanted. Problem. “I am sorry sir but we have none of these left in stock, although the line is still active so they should be in soon” said the lovely Beth (store assistant). No good I thought, we need this sorting today, so Beth rang around and found one in the Bolton store. Great I thought, near the Reebok easy to get too and reserved it.
On closer investigation of the location of the store it was clear that it was nowhere near the Reebok and therefore I would have to venture further afield to the south of Bolton. On the M61 I got and off I went. The journey was fine until I left the M61 at junction 3. There was a diversion going onto the A666 into Bolton, the very road I wanted.
Half an hour later I rejoined the A666 and finally spotted the store on my left. As I walked into the store, there was Donna and Julie the very assistants that I spoke to on the phone. I quickly located the item, and even remembered to buy batteries otherwise it would have been a wasted journey.
Then it was time to set off after a quick stop at Burger King (sorry I know not a good thing but it was 1430 at this point and I had not eaten!). The journey back was simply a nightmare. I ended up going round the houses all over as I could not get back onto the M61 at junction 3. So through Tyldsley, Leigh and finally onto the M6 at Haddock (Junction 24) and back home.
It was relatively easy to construct even with the crude diagrams that are supplied with the instructions. It is very funny watching Harry in it, and on the whole he seems to like it. Lets hope so and here’s hoping that he settles down soon.
For a long while I have heard an awful lot about Twitter. It has been all over the news and also I have heard peopel talking about it as well as seeing lots of “Follow me on Twitter” links on peoples websites. Therefore I thought it high time that I worked out what it was, and perhaps started using it as maybe I was missing out on something really good.
So what is Twitter then? Well essentially it is sort of a condensed version of Facebook I guess. The idea being that you can share with friends and other on the Internet what you are doing at any given time, by twittering and answering the question ” What are you doing”. You can also share photographs and links with other people and have many conversations with your contact, friends and followers on Twitter.
Having a iPod touch means that I can also Twitter on the move when connected to a WiFi hub. I have already downloaded the free Twittering application for the iPhone to uyse when on the move.
So what is my overall verdict then? Well I like it, however I can see it taking up rather a lot of time in order to update. Also when you read back your Twitters, sometimes you just think why on earth am I telling the world this? Look out for my Twittering on this site in the sidebar in the near future.
