Telectroscopes and Dinner Parties

Well it's been another few exciting days.

Monday we had Andy and Chris over for dinner. I made nachos and cheese, followed by fajitas. We had a pretty chilled out evening ,though we were all so tired that we kind of sat in a bit of stupour by the end!

Tuesday I had clinic. It was great to see everyone and they were all very excited to see Edward. he had marvelous time lapping up all the attention. My lung function is holding steady around the 35% mark however we've decided to add in another drug to try and calm my asthma down, with the long term aim of getting me off steroids.

Wednesday we went to see the Telectroscope. It's an art installation based on the child-hood dream of being able to dig a tunnel right through the center of the Earth and coming out of the other side.

This fantastical contraption is the end of the tunnel that apparently goes from London to New York. You can look down it and wave at all the Merkens the other end.

I had hoped to be able to arrange to time a visit with out family that live in Brooklyn so that we could wave at each other down the 'tunnel' but it wasn't possible in the end, so we just made do with the random people that happened to be there at the time. Unfortunately Luke's hayfever was so bad that we had to head home straight away as he was miserable and in a lot of discomfort.

I left Luke at the tube station and headed off to Camden to finish off getting the last few bits for my planned dinner party. I took Edward with me so that he got more time out of the house looking at the world. Popped into the umpteenth chemist we've looked in, in recent days and FINALLY found poor Luke some flixanase so hopefully that may make him feel a bit better.

Then to the thai shop which is absolutely fantastic and very reasonably priced. I managed to get everything I needed and stock up on coconut milk as our local supermarket is always running out. The staff there are also all really nice, friendly and helpful.

We then stopped in at a little organic cafe and I had some very yummy tomato and basil soup. Edward had a bit of a lay down on the sofa while I ate. We also got a chocolate muffin to take home to Luke to cheer him up as I'd snapped at him and been a bit mean because I was annoyed that he was ill!! I know I know terribly unfair, coming from me of all people, I just get annoyed with his hay-fever constantly stopping us from doing things, but then in the grand scale of things it's nothing compared to what CF stops us doing so I shouldn't be so nasty.

Some other people sat around the sofa's with Edward and I. Edward thought the woman in the group was fantastic because she spoke in French, he got all excited and started jabbering away to her, it was very cute. Not even six months old and already bi-lingual clearly :o)

I then had to put Edward back in the sling, which was a bit of a nightmare as the very kind people sat with us tried to help! I know they meant well, but I got all flustered and embarrassed by the fact it looks so complicated and like you are going to drop your baby when you put it on, and so it ended up being the most dodgy tie I think ever done, but it was enough to hold him on till we got home so it kind of worked.

Today has been equally exciting. I had meant to go to the baby-cafe but didn't in the end as I had a bit more of a read of their website and found out that if you aren't currently breastfeeding and seeking breastfeeding support then they don't encourage you to come and advise you seek a different group. I was a bit disappointed as I'd hoped to go along and meet some other mummies, but I shall find another way.

I have decided it is time to wean Edward, I have tried to give him some rice-crackers the last few days but he hasn't been remotely interested and so I bought some butternut squash and some sweet potatoes which I pureed and froze this morning, I also did some apple.

However I didn't really have time to feed the purees to him, and didn't do it at the right moment in the day, and so in the end just decided to see what he did with a rusk.....

The answer.....spread it all over his face, legs, sleeves, tray, carpet..walls!!! haha I'm joking about the walls, but everywhere else was fair game!!

It was VERY cute and amusing, however prompted me to go out and buy a scoop bib as it became apparent that cloth ones are no use with food!

We first went to John Lewis to see if they did them, they didn't but we did get him a doidy cup which I may try out tomorrow. I almost got him some PVC matting but when I called Luke to ask him what colour to get he said not to get one as it would be a pain to wipe down, and that we could just sit his chair on the table and wipe that instead. I remain unconvinced but we will see how it goes, and hopefully not trash the cream carpets in the process.

We then went to Boots and got a scoop bib, and a variety of porridges, baby rices and rusks as I had a bunch of vouchers. I did debate buying Edward a different teething ring as most of the ones we have are too big for his mouth, but in the end decided I'd spent too much money recently and that he could make do with what we have for now, especially as ice-cubes wrapped in a hankie are the best thing really and practically free.

After I'd finished faffing in there and admiring other tiny babies that made Edward look huge, I went to HMV and met up with Luke and Vince who'd gone to buy Company of Heroes so they could play together. Then a quick trip to The Ginger Pig (the best butchers in the world!) and Waitrose before heading home. It was by now about 5pm and I had to get cracking on the dinner so it would be ready in time.

The menu went as follows...

Starter

Thai Prawn Crackers
Thai-Marinated Skewered Chicken
Home-made Sweet Chilli sauce and Home-made peanut sauce
Spicy Coconut Soup

Main
Thai Red Duck Curry with Coconut Rice

Pudding
Lemon Torte
Lemon Sponge Cake

It all took quite a while as it was the first time I'd cooked most of it, and I made everything including the curry paste from scratch, however it was well worth the effort as it was utterly gorgeous :o)

It was also fantastic to have Raj over, as it was the first time we've seen each other outside of hospital for about 18 months! He is such a fantastic friend and ALWAYS visits me when I get stuck in, so it was nice to be able to return the favour and make a big fuss of him for a change.

All in all a lovely evening spent with our gorgeous friends....and to top it off Raj bought me *cough* sorry EDWARD a present :o) It's a very funky cube that makes lots of noise and has lots of different textures on it no doubt it will keep me *cough* sorry EDWARD amused for hours hehe!!