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Monday I took Edward to the baby clinic where he weighed in at a hefty 7.32kg. I was impressed with the clinic overall as it was much more professional than the one we used to go to in Caterham. I then went up to the gym to register and then the library for the same purpose, whilst there Edward spotted a gorgeous puree book which we got out. That evening I had planned to go and see the very sexy Freedom High, however sadly I was so shattered I didn't feel like I would enjoy it if I went, also Luke was raiding and so wanted me to keep Edward out of mischief. I felt a bit guilty as the band are friends of mine and I haven't seen them in so long, however I'm sure I will make it along next time.
Edward posing with one of his old vests' before we packed it up for Oliver....this used to be BAGGY on him!!!
Tuesday Luke and I had the understandable whim that we wanted bacon sandwiches, however sadly did not possess a frying pan, so together we braved the outside polleny world and headed out to Debenhams which I'd heard had a sale on. The rumor was true and so we were able to afford a nice tefal one, we also got a carving set as we often eat roast and so we thought it would be a wise thing to own, as trying to carve without one is annoying, difficult and actually kind of dangerous. We started looking for clothes for Luke but his hayfever got too bad and so we had to head home to closed-window safety. Abandoning the plan for bacon sandwiches (despite our new pan) we stopped in at Baskin and Robins and bought some ice-cream yay! That evening we invited Karolina over and had roast and used our fantastic new set. Edward joined us at the dining table and covered himself in asparagus and broccoli, it was so amusing that we decided we should hire him out for corporate entertainment!
Baby for hire ....weddings, Bar Mitzvahs and corporate functions!
Wednesday Another busy day of tootling about doing paperwork type things. I posted a box of tiny baby bits to my gorgeous friend Charlotte as well as arranging Edward's child trust fund and his modeling contract, sadly Halifax have made a total mess of his other savings account so I'm going to have to start from scratch with that tomorrow. I made a nice dinner however Luke didn't like it as it had too many veggies in it and so I had to nip out and get him something else as I didn't have much else to feed him. I've had lots of fun with Edward today,he's been really cute, smiley and chatty, he also rather impressively managed to roll all the way over and has looked highly pesty and pleased with himself as a result ever since :o)
Argh Mummy I'm going over!! Not even the blanket can't save me now!
Looking back on this now I actually realise I've done a lot more than I thought I had, haha no wonder Luke says he never sees me and I'm always busy!!
Tomorrow I'm going to meet some mummy-chummys, it's very exciting, but I'm VERY nervous as under all my loud noisy front I'm actually quite shy....best not to think about it too much or I will woss out!
I had a pretty chilled out weekend. Saturday I floated about not doing much for most of the day as I felt kind of tired. Luke and Karolina slept in till gone 1pm after their late night WOW exploits. I spent the morning trying to find something to do for Fathers Day as well as just looking at general things to do in London for free or very little. In the evening I made a nice dinner with lots of help from Edward, Shellie and Simon came round as they had a party in Camden and so were staying the night with us. It was most amusing as Simon said hello to Edward who though it would be delightful to smear rusk on Simon and his nice party clothes, and when Simone exclaimed 'ew' Edward burst into tears, obviously very distressed that his 'decorating' efforts were not appreciated!
Sunday we had planned to go to a posh restaurant who were doing a special Father's Day lunch, however poor Luke felt so ill with hay-fever that we canceled it in the end. However he did of course still get his lovely card which Edward 'made' me cover in glitter hehe, as well as some hankies with 'Daddy' embroidered on them which I ordered ages ago specially.
I think Luke felt a bit down, a bad combination of hay-fever and his ongoing struggle with being a daddy, that wasn't helped by the fact it was Father's Day. He is a perfectly good and capable daddy and he loves Edward very much, just in typical Luke fashion he constantly thinks he isn't good enough and that he's not ready, as always it just comes down to self belief and self confidence, both of which I'm sure will grow in time.
As Luke wanted to sleep, and we were hungry, we left him to it and went off down the road to the same Thai place Shellie and I went to last time she was here, and yet again had a very scrummy lunch. We then walked across Hyde Park, where we parted ways, Shellie and Simon went off to Victoria to get the train home and Edward and I had a think about what to do. I was going to just go home, but then decided it was such a nice day it seemed a waste to stay inside, and that I was bored of being inside, so we went to the Marylebone Summer Fayre.
I have noticed that I'm almost a bit manic at the moment about 'doing stuff' I think that I'm just so aware that my lung function is really low, and having seen the stories of so many end-stage cf people who just become totally trapped indoors I am desperate to make sure I don't waste the time I have. I'm going to be trapped inside for months if not years capable of doing next-to-nothing, so I feel I should make the most of the freedom I have now, while I'm still lucky enough to have it.
The fayre was very busy and there was lots going on, mostly foodie, Edward particularly liked all the people Salsa dancing in the street so I lifted him out of his buggy so he could get a better look. Overall though it left me feeling a bit bummed out and lonely, as though Edward is fantastic company you can't really chat to him about stuff, or appreciate things on the same level, so we walked home. It did make me look forward even more to this chummy-mummy meet next week, and more determined to be brave and go ahead with it.
That evening Luke and I had a bit of a chat about stuff, as I've been getting a bit frustrated with doing stuff on my own all the time, and him being apathetic about almost everything. His hay-fever, daft as it sounds, is a major obstacle as it just prevents us going outside and all the free stuff is outside really, such as park visiting. He is also painfully shy and not really into going and meeting new people. I'm shy too, but much better at forcing myself to be brave and ignore it, and I REALLY want to make some new chums in London. Though the ones we have are awesome we don't have many, and they are often busy so it would be nice to have more.
Overall it turned out to be quite a constructive conversation and left me feeling a lot better about things. Luke is very sneaky and does things in the middle of the night and never tells me about them...like applying to Google....I wish he would tell me as I always get cross with him for doing nothing and then find out actually he's done loads!!
I will never learn :o)
Well as you can see, down on the right, I've started a new blog http://edwardtedward.blogspot.com/ to track Edward's weaning. It's not going to be hugely exciting I don't think if you aren't into the gory details of the process but will be worth checking out for the many amusing photos of the boy smeared in food!
In other news the council have confirmed/granted our housing benefit claim. I was pretty certain we would qualify but it is nice to have the worry gone from the back of my mind. I really feel confident now about putting down roots here and so have started looking into making some more friends. I have found a mother and baby group who meet up informally, there is a trip planned for next Thursday which I'm pretty tempted to go to as it would be a good opportunity to make mummy-chummies :o)
I've had a productive day, and got lots of paperwork sorted, including things like paying the huge water bill and getting the TV license, though not very exciting it's nice to know I've got things sorted and in order. The next task is to change all direct debits and benefit payments over to our joint account.....yep you read that right Luke and I are a proper official couple now we have a joint account....because obviously the baby didn't qualify us as such hehe!
And finally, very excitingly, our dining table and chairs bought for a stunning total of £6 on my beloved Ebay were delivered today hurrah!! It will be so nice to eat at a proper table, and set a good example for Edward, I'm planning to sit his little chair in the center in the hope the food he throws everywhere will land on that rather than the carpet.
Right I think I'm going to head to bed, leaving Luke and Karolina to a late night of WOW....it will never to cease to amuse me knowing how much it would make most WOW players dribble if they knew just how gorgeous Karolina is, and that she plays.... the perfect girlfriend hehe I'd best watch myself :o)
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!!
Yesterday Edward-Tedward and I went to the park with Alex and Faith and had a yummy picnic, even Edward had some, he tried the pitta-bread and some carrot, he didn't really eat either but sucked them very convincingly.
In the evening Aaron came round for a bit, though was stressed as he was having problems with his girl and about to fly out to Hong-Kong to represent the family at his grandfathers funeral. That aside though it was lovely to see him, and he had fun playing with Edward.
Today very excitingly Edward went swimming for the first time. I had really hoped Luke would come, but he felt too ill in the end so we left him sleeping. Thankfully the life-guard was really nice and took some photos for us so the moment is forever captured :o) We swam for about half an hour then Edward got a bit cold and tired, so we got out and he had some milk and then went to sleep and stayed that way for most of the day!
I then did some bits and bobs round town, before coming home and having a rest :o)
I meant to tidy the house this morning but got utterly distracted into planning for my dinner party tomorrow, well I thought it was tomorrow, turns out it's actually next Thursday, but at that point I was still blissfully unaware of this fact and so Edward-Tedward and I headed out into the sunshine to buy in the bits I needed leaving a very poorly Luke sleepily dying of laryngitis at home.
In need of wooden skewers I headed to Woolies, who I also thought, quite correctly, may sell baby sunglasses. After trying on all the ones they had we finally settled on the ones in the above photo, tempting as the Spiderman ones were we thought that at five months old velcro straps were going to be alot better than plastic ones.
The supermarket didn't have everything we needed so we headed up to get the bus to Camden. As we sat waiting Aunty Shellie called to ask if we were still on to meet up for lunch. I'd totally forgotten about it, but said 'of course' and that I'd meet her down by Marble Arch in about 20 minutes time. I nipped home to change Edward and pick up some of his milk then up to Marble Arch where Shellie was waiting.
We decided to go out for lunch and started looking for a nice place round where we were. Nothing really took our fancy, and by that time we were almost level with our flat, so I took Shellie in to see it. She liked it lots, though as we arrived the oxygen man was also there so he gave me my new cylinders which are not liquid booo!!
Mummy called while we were there to ask how Shellie's appointment at the brain hospital had gone. The doctor decided that she just had a very severe type of migraine, (the type that makes you lie bed bound in a dark room for almost 4 months straight!) and that he had a few drugs he could try, however he didn't know why she was getting all of the wierd symptoms that she gets and he can't offer her a follow-up appointment for 8 months even though he would like to see her sooner. Grr it's such frustratingly crap service, it makes me realize how lucky I am being looked after by the Brompton.
After I'd suitably showed off my lovely new (though still very messy) flat we headed out to a nearby Thai place I'd seen in my scout of the area that I did when we moved in. It was VERY tasty and very reasonably priced, the staff were all lovely too and made a big fuss of Edward. He had such a good time that he started to drool!!!
After lunchie munchies we decided to wander down to Hyde Park, which we did, it was very lovely. You just don't realize how big it is, and it's amazing how you can be in the center of the city and yet just see trees, it's fantastic :o) We just both kept exclaiming that we couldn't believe how nice the park was and that it was so close to my house. We eventually came to the lake where we had a nice long sit down, we also had lots of fun looking at the geese and ducks :o)
We then mooched very slowly and in a very lost fashion all the way to Victoria!!! I can't believe how far I walked, but like I said to Shellie seeing Sam waiting for her transplant and tragically not making it combined with my horribly low lung function has made me even more acutely aware that I have very little precious time where I will even have half a chance to wander about as freely as I do now, all too soon I'm going to be tied down to a wheelchair by oxygen tubing permanently, so few and far between as days like today may be I'm going to do my up-most to enjoy them.
Once at Victoria we went to Costa upstairs to get a drink and wait for Simon to finish work. I did wander off for a bit to see if I could buy some milk for Edward as he was getting hungry, but nowhere sold it. Simon then arrived so I sent he and Shellie home, and resumed my original plan to go to Camden and get the last few bits for the meal tomorrow.
While on the bus I got a call from Luke to say the gang were coming round as agreed and when was I going to be back as they were going to be there in 20 minutes. I don't actually remember remotely agreeing they were coming round today haha but then I don't appear to have a good grasp on what I've arranged of late so it's quite possible! I was unfortunately already on the bus to Camden and though I abandoned my plans to go there it meant it took me ages to get back as I had to go a very convoluted route.
The gang were already here by the time I arrived. We spend the rest of the evening chilling and chatting, and ordered some yummy noodles from a place recommended by Vince. Karolina got very excited as Luke helped her with her WOW account so now she can play all summer while she's home in Poland missing Vince, and Rabia entertained us with tales of how she was planning to work in immigration and decline the entry of all Canadians to the country!!
It is most certainly now time for sleepies......goodness knows if my legs will actually still work when I wake up tomorrow!!!
Edward all packed up and ready to go for Sunday lunch in Greatham :o)
Edward 'hanging out' in Greatham after tasty Sunday lunch.
We haven't made it down to Greatham for FAR too long! Between various people being ill, and general disorganization it just hasn't happened , but finally this weekend we made it down and had very tasty lunchy-munchies :o)
It was nice as lots of the family were down, including Cousin Emily and Duncan, and Luke's Uncle Tom who usually lives in Thailand, aswell as Luke's Aunty Deb, his other cousin Camilla is getting married on Wednesday and so everyone has gathered there before heading over to Ireland for the big event. We wanted to go but sadly in the end just couldn't afford it :o( however we were treated to seeing Uncle Fred in his fantastic and very dashing outfit....sadly not with a pink shirt despite Tom's valiant attempts!
We thought it would rain but thankfully the weather picked up and we ate outside on the big table. We've done it before, but still there is something just a bit wrong about eating roast outside like barbecue food, my brain just doesn't like the break from tradition!
We all sat about feeling nice and fat for a while before heading home 'accidentally' kidnapping Aunty Thea on our way out of the door YAY!!
Aunty Thea and Edward on the sofa, I suspect that Edward may actually be sneakily laddering Thea's tights which is why he looks so pleased with himself!!
When we got home Luke went to bed as he was feeling really tired and rough. Thea sat up with me while I did my treatment and we looked through the photo albums I've made. I know I have them all on the puter, but there is just something special about proper printed out photos. We made it to bed around midnight me in the full knowledge Thea was going to sort Edward so I would get a lie-in in the morning yipee!!
The next morning after my lovely lie-in we all headed out to do something touristy in London. We stopped in at the photo shop to get Thea and the family some proper photos as they only had one rather naff one printed on normal paper. However we'd failed to actually put the photos on the USB key and so had to go home and try again. At that point Luke decided he was actually feeling to rough to come with us and so we left him and went of to Selfridges where Edward flirted with the models that were advertising hair-care things while Thea and I looked at lots of overpriced clothes and tasted the most vile chocolate stilettos ever made.
We had wanted to go to the Tate Modern but there sadly wasn't time as Thea had to get home and there were some delays on the trains, so after collecting our photos we headed to Victoria. I bought us some lunch, and some polos for Uncle Fred as he hadn't been able to come to London and packed her off home. Edward and I then sat in Victoria and ate our lunch as we were both starving, we then got the bus home. I 'popped' into the supermarket to get some milk and Ribena, and ended up burying the sleeping Edward under a weeks worth of shopping haha!!
That evening Luke and I had roast dinner again as I'd picked up a reduced 'posh' chicken, though it smelled a bit strong it was actually ok, and the best chicken out of the three we've had recently :o)
Edward posing with one of his old vests' before we packed it up for Oliver....this used to be BAGGY on him!!!
Baby for hire ....weddings, Bar Mitzvahs and corporate functions!
Argh Mummy I'm going over!! Not even the blanket can't save me now!
