Stewarts in Cardiff

The Power of Sticker

2010-11-08T14:44:00.000-08:00

I find it truly amazing that a little bit of shiny paper with some tack on the back has the ability to almost utterly control the behaviour of a 2&3/4 year old.

But it does. Even when the brain controlling the behaviour is half asleep, the voice still says "sticker", in a feeble and distracted manner.

Little Moo, bless her little cotton socks, has learned to climb out of her cot. Pitch black middle of the night or bright dawn, side all the way up or sitting on the bottom. Floods of tears or bright and bouncing. She's out.

Actually, to be fair, I kinda encouraged her. Showed her how and helped her a couple of times. I figured it was about time she was doing more than lying there waiting for us to come in in the morning.

Hm.

Well, it seemed a good idea at the time. And to be honest, I still think it was.

However, she's taken about five years off my life. Or at least the apparition that greeted me twice right outside our bedroom door at oh-dark thirty when I got up to go to the loo has. Or the one that appeared at the foot of our bed whispering "daddy....daddy". (Did I mention she's mastered bedroom door handles as well? Time to install doorknobs.)

Not on.

So one slightly tired morning I mentioned this little problem in passing to the excellent staff at the Welsh Nursery Of The Year (aka Marnie's Day Care). I got as far as "Not staying in -" when the lady said "Stickers! Stickers'll sort it." Yeah right, I thought.

After another couple of nights, Lil'Moo and I had a conversation, which ended in me promising her a sticker if she stayed in bed all night. I wasn't expecting much reaction, so the bright light that lit up the depths of her eyes and the "sticker" repeated rythmically as she drifted off to sleep kinda took me by surprise. OK, I thought. Well, we'll see.

Well, it didn't work out exactly from the get go. We had a bit of forgetfulness about the idea, and then about the time (it doesn't really make it better that she's asking for a sticker for staying in bed when she's standing at the bottom of our bed at what-the-hell-time-is-it?). And then a bit too much rigour in applying the idea, so that she lay in her cot screaming after a nightmare.

But gradually the idea's sunk in; she gets a sticker (and we get a massive grin and a bounce) each morning she kinda gets it right, and now she's pretty happy to be in her bed awake until we come in to get her - unless like last night, she has a bad dream and then the noiseless ghost appears again. But we can live with that.

The coda to all this? Advice from Day Care comes at a price. Daddy has to do a dance for the day care ladies each morning Lil'Moo gets a sticker. And given Marnie stomps in shoving her sticker in everyone's face yelling "STICKER!" whenever she gets one, there's no way of avoiding it. But if it means a peaceful night's sleep...

When I Grow Up, What Will I Be?

2010-10-01T14:57:00.000-07:00

It's perhaps a little early to start thinking of Lil'Moo's long term future, but certain interests are (currently) strong in this one. These include:

Trampolinist - Everywhere has to be bounced to (or on - speciality - the Moo-Slam!) by our little fizzy bottle of pop. Trampolines and beds just add extra height, although they do take the breath away when bouncing continuously for half an hour. Pretending to be a menagerie of animals while bouncing just adds to the respiratory problems.

Assassin - A recently developed penchant for climbing up people's backs in the swimming pool and shoving their heads under water suggests a darker streak...

Baker - Very keen on baking cakes and biscuits, which is great. As long as she actually manages to bake things rather than just eat all the raw ingredients.

Climber - Anything, anywhere, any time, including people, faces, chairs, climbing frames, railings...

There might be a touch of the mafia don in the mix too...

...and, surprise, surprise, there's shoes in there as well.

Oh, and whatever she goes on to do, sounds like there'll be a bike involved. That's nothing to do with me, that's what she's told us. Every time a motorbike goes past. Bike and a hat, she says. So at least she's got the safety thing down. Sometimes.

But, according to the little lady herself, she's going to be - sorry, is - a boy.

Whatever else awaits her, I think there may be a shock waiting...

We're baaack (again) (maybe) (just don't count on it)

2010-09-03T16:28:00.000-07:00

It's been a while, and I'd be surprised if any-one's reading this anymore, but maybe if we start writing again...well, it would be a start, wouldn't it? Anyway we will attempt to write more regularly.

So what have we been doing the in yawning chasm since the last time we wrote? Lots of stuff, really, seeing as it's been over a year. I'll try and fill in some of the more interesting stuff in the next few posts. A sort of Back to the Past in the Future, if you will.

But for the moment, a little on our trips around the UK this year:

a (Glasgow) family holiday to North Wales (pics here). A week of Marnie being well-looked after, beautiful weather and visiting spectacular places like Prestatyn, Chester and Chester Zoo, Liverpool (much more impressive than we remember it), Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, Llangolen and the valleys, the Glassblobbery, Snowdon (on the mountain railway, of course) and Portmeirion (Much smaller than it appears on The Prisoner, very good camera work there, but what a place - that is what I call art on a grand scale)(pics), with a final visit to the sea at Rhyl (a downmarket Blackpool...)
a week in Northumberland with friends (pics here), visiting Alnwick Castle, the peaceful Holy Island of Lindisfarne , the wonderful Cragside House and estate where Marnie got lift a mini (car) and ate in the fantastic Treehouse restaurant, which will now go down in history for those who were there.
another week with the Ratagan family in West Wales (pics here) at St David's (if ever there was reason not to call a place a city just because it had a cathedral...) and the humbling Cathedral, Saundersfoot and Whitesands beaches (amongst many others this summer - South Wales is hooching with excellent beaches), Fishguard, Strumble Head and its ponies, Ramsey Island and the Boat trip, Tenby Dinosaur Park.

So, what with trips to Glasgow and London thrown into the mix as well, we've been about a bit this year. All this, work and raising a daughter too. How do we manage it, eh?

Of Galloping, Gates and Gurgles

2009-05-11T10:52:00.001-07:00

Well it's been a while, but our excuse is that the Lil'Moo has been keeping us on our toes by being on hers. In the last month or so she's:

started climbing stairs - about a minute for 13 stairs is probably not a bad time, including a couple of "ooh what's that" stops...
picked up an amazing turn of crawl-speed - inclduing down the rough concrete garden path!
been cruising like mad around the house - gates are now in place at the top of the stairs and between the front room and the living room to protect the glass cabinets and our sanity - they provide us protection from her
discovered the joy of puddles
begun walking forwards holding our hands
started eyeing up the gate handles - at the moment she's too short to reach them, but when she can...well hopefully she'll have learned what not to touch by that point
gurgling, clicking, squeaking and vowblerising like a demented Robbie the Robot - we think I won the first word competition, but I say it doesn't count until she know what it means. At the moment, everything is Dadadadada. Not so flattering when she's pointing at the toilet.

So, given all this recent development, she's due to move up a class at Day Care in June. She's doing wee visits at the moment to get her used to the idea, and there haven't been too many tears so far. She's also had the first round of MMR jabs on top of several other immunisations, which she takes very well. Us not so well, as at least one of them keeps her awake.

Other than the ususal work and looking after the house, we enjoyed a week in the Peak District with the Glasgow family before Easter, doing touristy things such as visiting Chatsworth House - if you want to visit a spectacular stately home that's run as these things should be, Chatsworth's the one to go for. It'll also take my knees a long tmie to forget the visit to Treak Cliff Cavern, carrying Marnie in a backpack...

On a lighter note, for those who know my taste in nibbles, you won't be surprised that I'm following the 2009 Salt & Vinegar World Cup with interest. I was, however, surprised to find there were other people with such a passion for S&V - I thought everyone was cheese and onion fans...

Oh, and if you're into CSI et al, we highly recommend The Mentalist. Imagine Derren Brown instead of John Nettles and you're there. Latest episode we saw put Jane up against a psychic with enjoyable but not predictable results.

Now prepping for a visit north, for a week's boating on the Caledonian Canal with the other side of the family. Who knows, maybe Marnie mightbe tempting enough for Nessie to make an appearance...Will let you know.

Now We Are One (and a Day)

2009-03-09T23:45:00.000-07:00

So, Marnie has made it to her first birthday, well, just. Not that we ever doubted she would - though there were times we doubted we would.

She is developing a neat sense of timing, and fell asleep for a solid two hours 15 minutes before her guests arrived, and so only just made it to her own birthday party. I'm sure there's a saying about being late for your own..., well, maybe not.

In her defence, she hasn't been sleeping well, having yet another cough (someone once named day care centres as viral exchange programmes, and I'm beginning to agree), as well as four teeth now. (Two each top and bottom, front and centre, since you ask. And they are little chisels - no way are our fingers going near her mouth now!) so she really doesn't stand a chance of sleeping well at night. During the day is another matter, usually just as something exciting is about to happen.

But we had a pleasant time. And a useful test run of the toddler-proofness of the house. It isn't, the glass doors on the bookcase and the DVD cabinets being the most obvious. Oh, and the chairs which collapse when you sit on them.

And then this evening, the follow up to our last post. Yes, she's up, and oh boy, it really is beginning. The first steps. Well, a sideways shuffle, and a lot of leg waving. I'm told this is a significant milestone, otherwise, of course, I wouldn't mention it. At least she's learning the cardinal rule of always having three points of contact...

I think that's it for now. Is it not enough? OK. Some pictures will hopefully be forthcoming, courtesy of award winning photographer Rachel Thomas. Will let you know when they're on Flickr.

She's Up!

2009-02-28T21:45:00.000-08:00

Well, we're in for it now. Lil'Moo managed to pull herself for the first time this week...only to promptly pole-axe backwards when the Carer couldn't reach her in time. Luckily another wee girl gave her a soft landing :~

So this is now her favourite pastime - pulling herself to standing - and falling on her butt. About 30 times tonight. Apparently it can be difficult for kids learning to stand to get back down again, well, safely at any rate, but she seems to manage OK. Maybe the nappies she's in give a bit more padding.

So now we really have to crack on with Moo-proofing.

On more fun fronts. I wonder whether Marnie will be 18 before she sees enough snow to recognise what it is? (It has been a while since we posted...) She certainly wasn't fussed about it this time - if I understood her facial expressions, it's too cold to play with and it tastes of nothing. So what use is it? Snowy gloves, though. They're fun! You get a reaction shoved in people's faces! (Assisted by Mum.)

She's having a bit of a growth spurt, getting longer and heavier. Her nursery is coming along, but we'll need to be quick as she's pretty much out of her crib now. She wakes up with the cloth surround covering her head, looking like a very small nun caught in the act of wrapping her head. Doesn't help she's taken to sleeping with her hands behind her head - I guess it helps her find her dummy which is usually under her somewhere.Very comfortable, I'm sure.

She is definately developing her own ways of dealing with the world. She had two run ins with an energetic wee boy she knows. First time, he pinches her dummy (while she's watching, nonplussed) and gives it back with encouragement from his Mum. Second time, a few days later, he's standing on a bench as she sits on it beside him. His dummy's hanging free. While he's distracted watching something over the back of the bench, she leans forward and very gently takes his dummy and sits there sucking it until it looks like he's going to move, when she lets go and then pulls a face of pure innocence over her face when he looks her. Twice.

I think we're going to have to watch those tendencies, but it is good to see she's dealing with things rather than just accepting them.

Found an interesting story about being careful how you discuss things with chidren. Blue Peter does it again.

A slightly mixed rugby weekend down here, the Welsh dream shattered, but the Scots finally win something reasonably convincingly.

And finally a piece of news which may be good, or may be a really bad idea. We'll have to wait 'til Easter to find out. Red Dwarf is returning for a two parter - where they return to Earth...

More pics when we get them off the computer that isn't working...and yes, I can hear the groans / laughter down here.

A Grand New Year to You

2009-01-15T06:35:00.000-08:00

It's just struck me that, if I'm going to stick pictures of Marnie on t'web to satisfy demand, it might be an idea to let people know they're there...

So a quick post to let you know that there are some Christmas pics, and they are available on a new area of Flickr here. What I'll try and do is put all the new pics of Marnie here, and move 'old' ones to here. (If there can be such things as old pics of a ten month old...)

And, in case you were wondering, the last post was wishing you a Merry Christmas in Welsh. And no, I'm still not going to try pronouncing it!

Apart from that, everything's pretty good here now. We've pretty much recovered from the colds that were Marnie's gifts to us, which clobbered us just before Christmas the best laid plans and all that don't survive contact with a child.

We were a little put out by the joy with which Marnie greeted being back in day care; we're obviously not entertaining enough. On the plus side, they must be running her ragged as she's sleeping through the nights pretty well now.

So, a short post, but a longer one soon. Honest, guv. I'm off to write a presentation.

We hope this New year is a grand one to you all.

Nadolig Llawen!

2008-12-25T19:15:00.000-08:00

And no, I'm not going to give a pronunciation guide. If you thought Gaelic was ... different ... OK, let's leave it at that!

Anyway, it's Christmas Evening, Lil'Moo's out for the count, and Christine's cooking up a storm in the kitchen, so it's time to kick back with the Wychwood Plum Duff and report on Lil'Moo's first Christmas...

Really started a couple of weeks ago wen she met Santa at Day Care. She handled the idea of sitting on the knee of a strange man in dressed all in red really well, the jaw only hitting the floor when she got a present - and that was only to make sure she could fit it in her mouth for a good tasting. (She started teething a couple of months ago, so everything but everything goes in there for a good dribble and rub.)

Next up was C Eve, when we all went to Llandaff Cathedral for the Festal Service of Nine Lessons and Carols. A special treat, on two counts - first, we were seated in the Lady Chapel, where the choir processes from, and therefore where the solo starting the whole thing is sung from, and second, because Lil'Moo got to play with anything she wanted to keep her quiet - by that time all she wanted to do was sleep, so glasses, button, hymn sheets, everything was fair game to keep the noise down. But we made it all the way through, and there's something very John Masefield about hearing a Welsh cathedral choir at Christmas.

Then was last night, the first night she's really given trouble in going to sleep - it's quite impressive that a nine month old already has the idea that Christmas Eve might be an exciting time...

However, she did sleep through to 8 am, so we've still got the trick of the stocking at the end of the bed to deflect the 4am start.

She thought it was just another day, until about 30 seconds after she flew through the curtain to the living room and clocked the tree (which went up after she went to bed) and all the presents. Cue three hours (interupted for breakfast) of wripping, wrapping and chewing. To be fair, presents got as much attention as paper and boxes, and everything went in her mouth!

The day then disappeared somewhere, between feeding, sleeping and playing; we did manage to get out for a walk after lunch, but we've delayed our dinner, Doctor Who and Wallace and Gromit until we have a little quiet...here's hoping the programmes are up to the goose dinner...

Whatever you're up to, we wish you a Merry Christmas, and we promise Santa's Little Helpers will be more organised and on time next year!

What Might Have Been

2008-11-15T00:24:00.000-08:00

What can one say? How close can you come to beating the world champions but not actually do it? This would have been a famous victory, if two out of three missed penalties had gone over, or if one of those other efforts had given a try. But you get used to the might-have-beens as a fan of Scottish Rugby. Does make the games more exciting though. It must be boring being an All Black and expecting to win all the time.

Marnie certainly enjoyed the match, getting thrown about when Nathan Hines finally scored. Probably a good thing for her Scotland didn't win!

She's taken to growling and ARRRing like an octogenarian pirate, though it's a little pitiful at the moment as she's starting another cold which is taking her voice. So instead of her usual range of dulcet tones, there's a barrage of effort accompanied by a collection of grunts and squeaks like a church organ with a bad attack of field mice. And a flashing smile and occasional single tear for effect.

The roof appears to be holding well, the rooms are drying out nicely, and we're now on the hunt for a plasterer who will actually tum up to look at the walls and tell us what needs doing. Then Marnie can get on with sleeping in the fantastic cot / bed / sofa Dad made her. The fact that it's not in our room has nothing to do with it!

On a final note, if you've a fan of clever, pun driven comedy, I highly recommend Another Case of Milton Jones, which is back on BBC Radio 4 on Monday. Not sure if the downloads work outside the UK, but give it a try. It's some of the most entertaining stuff I've heard in a long time - but people tell me I have an odd sense of humour...

I'd also recommend Fags, Mags and Bags. Corner shop as found nowhere else but Glasgow. Ah, it takes me back... "Do you want your Tiger Tokens?"

About Time Too...

2008-11-02T10:34:00.000-08:00

Apologies for the interruption to our (ir)regular service. It's been one thing after another for the last few months - holidays, visitors, roofs, cars, building work, with Marnie growing and changing (and deploying her Time Absorption Field* amongst all of it.

I won't make this a long post, but thought I'd better get something up to let you know we're all OK, just finding there's only 24 hours in a day when you need about 37.

Marnie's started Day Care since Christine went back to work in September. She's absolutely loving it - painting and making pictures, babbling and playing so much she doesn't sleep too much! In fact she's seems to be enjoying herself there so much we suspect she's a bit bored at home - I'm sure she'd mark our report card must try harder.

We were warned, and it did happen, that when she started at Day Care she'd pick up colds and sniffles for a few weeks, and true enough, she's had a terriffic cold / cough for quite a few weeks, which thankfully seems to be clearing. But trooper that she is, she never let it get in the way of finding fun, just sleep. So she'll crash out at night only to start coughing hard from about 02:00... As she's still sleeping in our room, that doesn't do much for our sleep patterns, and I think we're both just a bit run down.

And she's still sleeping in our room 'cos hers has a damp problem. But we've now had part of the roof rebuilt, so hopefully the multiple problems built in to our roof and the gulley to next door by bad workmanship have been rectified and we can start drying out what will be the nursery and the living room. Redecoration activities should take up most free time in the run up to Christmas.

On happier notes, Marnie is now sitting up quite happily and steadily, babbling like mad, dribbling like Rooney on a plumber's course, communicating fairly clearly (whining like a little puppy when she's not happy, smiling and laughing most of the time), trying to stand, performing vanishing tricks on bottles of milk (I bet she'd give you a run for your money over a timed pint, Neil, although I'm not sure what beer would taste like from a baby's bottle...) and bowls of real foods and scarily quickly figuring out how all her toys work.

Not much apart from the home stuff to report, except I am keenly following the US election, and yes, I probably will be up late on Tuesday. I have to admit to finding these a little strange, but definately skillful. Oh yes, and going with Chantal to see the Cardiff Blues defeat Gloucester in the Millenium Stadium was quite something, especially as a victory wasn't expected. Couldn't speak clearly for a few days afterwards. The Stewart Voice does come in handy when trying to fill the Stadium...

I'll post some more pictures on Flickr soon, and we'll get back to posting more regularly. Plenty more news to pass on, but must go and do the housekeeping. Those nappies don't wash themselves. Unfortunately.

(*Time Absorption Field - I'm sure it's not unique to Marnie, but she seems to have come equipped with a Field Within Which Time Disappears. Proximity doesn't seem to be important, nor activity - you don't have to be doing anything with her or near her for time to just evaporate. Given most parents lament about how the time just flies past, and wish they'd done more while the kids were young, I guess children come with this as a common 'feature'.)

Cameras Lie

2008-07-22T12:24:00.000-07:00

Well, whoever said the camera doesn't lie was being economical with the truth. Cameras are just selective in what they capture. Marnie's been putting us through the mill a little recently, changing from being very easy to get along with to being extremely difficult in the evenings. Of ocurse, my point of view is slightly biased in that that's when I see her.

Maybe she's starting on the weaning road, it may be the touch of nappy rash she's had. Maybe her character is starting to show; who could have known she might have an obstinate and grumy persona? (Just like her Dad! - Christine).

Maybe she's just having some hard days at the office. She's certainly playing and interacting a lot more, is quite insistent on practising her standing and has a beautiful smile and gurgle when she wants them. Which to be fair is quite a bit. Nothing's safe from her mouth now, everything just might be edible and has to be drooled, even her feet. And our faces are just fantastic - there's mouths to be filled with clammy hands, glasses to be pulled off, hair to be pulled, lots of fun!

She had her first major trip out the other weekedn, when we went down to Brighton for Wendy's birthday. She did OK in the car, though it took us all day to travel. And it's not terribly glamourous stopping on the hard shoulder of a dual carriage way to feed her.

But she did get to see the sea, and sit on her first beach. She's was very popular with the guests at Wendy's party, and although it was all too much for her within about ten minutes, she handled it very well, with not a lot of noise but quite a bit of coorying.

She's off to her next beach tomorrow, as we're off on our holidays, heading for Glasgow via Lytham, and the vast sands of Lytham beach are calling.

Oh, and as you can see, there's obviously a lot of planning going on behind those grey eyes.

Other than that, I've been doing more writing, trying hard to get a rough draft out before I go back and edit in depth, which is what I usually do and which takes months longer than it should so. Oh, and completing the business accounts which is always fun.

Christine is gearing up for going back to work in September; while she's looking forward to it, she's a little sad that she's only now getting her feet under her and that Little Moo is now a lot more active and she could do a lot more with her. But it will all work out, hopefully for the best.

Took the camera for a walk around work the other day. The Formula Student car the undergrads have built and modify each year competes in the Formula Student trials and endurance race. Apparently they do pretty well each year, and it's understandably quite popular...

This is part of the rather imposing entrance to the Engineering School (Queen's Building). Just a pity it's only a piece of facade with a hideous '60s monstrosity strapped to its back, but hey, civils don't always have the best aesthetics.

And an answer to the space problem in a Smart Car has been found. Now, apart from the publicity benefits (hey, I took a picture and you're looking at it...) just who in their right minds thinks to strap a luggage carrier to a Smart Car. It just ...defeats the logic, doesn't it?

No, We Haven't Drowned The DLP

2008-06-27T06:26:00.000-07:00

no matter what she says.

The DLP's now been swimming four times; twice at a Water babies class and twice Christine's taken her with Dylan and Katie, his mother, who we met at the ante-natal class. Well, we met Katie and Steve, but you know what I mean.
Marnie does seem to like being in the water - she's kicking nicely and doesn't really complain when she's submerged, unlike other babies who seem to spout water, not having been ready to go. And when her (water) nappie fits it doesn't drag her back too much... Martin / Helen, wet nappies don't have to sag to their knees, even if it does help with the civil engineering :-)

That's really the big Moo news. She's growing nicely, if a little on the petit side. She protests loudly at going to sleep at night, but is pretty quiet other than that. She's been grumbly over the last couple of days and is going through another change of routine / feeding times, but she's also interacting a lot more - playing with things, grabbing, munching (the record so far is a blanket, a hand and a dummy in her mouth at the same time). She likes flying, but we haven't gone as far as sweeping the floor with her yet, Peter.

All in all, Christine said it best the other day. Things seem to be settling down a bit. I'm sure there're a few surprises down the road, but it feels like we've got the basics covered. Unfortunately, that means Christine feels like little more than a feeding machine, but she is doing a fine job of looking after The DLP and the house. Not sure what's going to happen when she goes back to work in September. Well, one thing's pretty sure - we checked out the university day care centre and it looks lots of fun. Spending the day playing in jelly or painting yourself - what more could a baby ask for?

On other fronts, my new role at the University is...interesting. I didn't realise as a research assistant I was basically a dogsbody, albeit one employed as a supposedly vaguely intelligent one, but it's rapidly become clear I need to set out some of my own objectives to get what I want from the next 12 months, otherwise I'll be doing nothing but helping the others in the group achieve their goals. Which I have no problem with, but I'd like to get something from my time there as well.

Check out John Watt's newly revamped photo website and the fancy '3D' interface. You'll need to download an app called piclens, but it looks a fun interface for an image heavy site. Not sure about the resolution of the '3D' images, but as an idea I quite like it.

I've also been tinkering with a site called Squidoo, putting together a lens (page) on the reality behind the Indiana Jones movies. I shared a Lens of the Day when Skull was released, but it doesn't seem to have much impact!

As always there are more pics of The DLP in the Marnie Flickr set.

The DLP's Cheating. How Can I Reprogramme Her?

2008-05-29T05:20:00.000-07:00

So I'm sitting here at 0-dark-thirty having just 'fed' The DLP, and I'm reminded of an old comment about a lecture being the perfect way for the notes of a teacher to be transferred to the notes of a student without passing through the minds of either.

Christine had her first night out last night, going off to the movies with Jayne and had a great time. So I'm looking after Marnie. Which is fine, but involves bottle feeding. Which seems a really effective way to transfer milk from Christine to The DLP's vest via the excellent pump of The DLP's mouth without going anywhere near her stomach.

I can see I'm really going to struggle with child logic. You know the kind of thing I mean - I'm hungry so I'll spread my food across my face; I'm tired so I'll scream until I knacker myself asleep; I want fed so I'll make sure my mouth isn't in the right place. Maybe it's just me, but it feels like someone needs to do a little redesign on the programming. Oh, wait, isn't that what I get to do over eighteen years of growing up...oh joy.

As I say, it is rather early in the morning, and that may be shading my thinking. On the whole, The DLP's being very good. There's usually a reason for what little yelling she does, and she's mostly in a good mood.

She's turning into a petite baby, long, and slightly on the low side weight wise but well within average. You know how some babies have disproportionally large heads and faces? Well, The DLP is not one of those. She's a small, perfectly proportioned little human, and it can be quite unsettling just how often you think there's a tiny wizened ancient sitting on the sofa.

At 2 1/2 months, she's had her first immunisations, which involved some positive yelling due to the nurse vigorously using the same size of needle despite commenting on The DLP's skinny legs.

Christine was back in hospital yesterday for a final check on the abdominal pains she was getting a while ago. She's been fine for a while, and she got the all clear yesterday. Other than that, she's doing the Mum thing well, and is meeting up for Mum-coffees.

She's taking The DLP to water babies with one of the other mums and her son next week, so hopefully The DLP will enjoy that and take to being in water early. It seems babies can take to it quite naturally - returning to a liquid environment and all that, so here's hoping.

I've started my new part-time job at the School of Engineering, but I'll come back to that in later posts when I've got my head round it. In the meantime, I've been tinkering away with a few things in the wee small hours, including a webpage looking at the reality of the Indiana Jones movies (can't think why I started that at the moment...).

I also found this lecture by Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor "Faith in Britain: A Personal Perspective" an interesting view on modern faith and atheism and the doubt that connects both. (if you're interested in reading the transcript, due to poor web design you need to click on the red lined box under the Caridnal's name on the RHS of the page).

And on a lighter note, I'm afraid I've been back trawling the LOLcat archives...I blame you, Zan. What I want to know with this pic is - this looks like fun. How can I get a similar pic of Glaikit without Christine killing me?

Cheers.

Groan

2008-05-23T22:29:00.000-07:00

I have no intention of turning this into a joke page, but in the spirit of a bank holiday weekend, I thought you might appreciate this one, courtesy of Helen Jones.

"A thief in Paris planned to steal some paintings from the Louvre.

After careful planning, he got past security, stole the paintings, and made it safely to his van.

However, he was captured only two blocks away when his van ran out of gas.

When asked how he could mastermind such a crime and then make such an obvious error, he replied, 'Monsieur, that is the reason I stole the paintings. I had no Monet to buy Degas to make the Van Gogh.'"

Over the weekend, I will get on with a posting bringing our activities up to date. In the meantime, have a good one.

When Marnies Attack....

2008-05-08T22:53:00.000-07:00

the first signs are a strange glazed stare, followed by a horrible but oddly unscary sliming....

When she's not oozily threatening the world, Marnie's smiling a lot more now, like she's getting to know what it means. She's standing (with balance support) as well, getting quite upset in the morning when she's not upright on her own legs.

She's recovering from her first bad cold - snuffling through feeds and sleeping. Not very pleasant, but it has its bonuses - she's discovered she can move her nose even when her head's held to administer the saline drops. Chasing a nose around a face is a new experience for me.
More's the pity for Christine, Marnie's got wickedly pointed fingernails she'll want to keep in later life, but she doesn't have control of them yet. Luckily she is recovering nicely from her schlager scar.

Christine's doing much better - the antibiotics seem to have sorted most of the pain in her abdomen so she can move a lot more easily now. Back driving again, she says she never realised how house bound she could become without being able to drive.

Mum and Dad were still visiting until Tuesday, doing sterling work. The garden got its first mowing and looks the better for it. Pimms on the lawn, we think?

The garage (yes, we finally have an operational garage again! Yay!) is pretty organised and full of boxes, and loads of little jobs were knocked off as well as the day to day cooking, washing, etc. Of course, those all went by the wayside whenever M wanted to play or to be taken for a walk. Who says family don't make good visitors?

We did allow the workers a few days off. We visited the Museum of Welsh Life, where they've just re-erected St Telio's Church (pictured) after moving it from Glamorgan.

We spent another pleasant day in the Independent Kingdom of Hay-on-Wye (most famous export, second hand books). Not the most organised bookshops, but if you've time to browse (and, to be honest, you don't go to Hay in anything like a hurry), you'll find all sorts of odd books. Except magic books. I believe there's a conspiracy to keep the secret from the public. Even in a shop with hundreds of thousands of books, only two on magic?

On the work front, I've submitted the final report for my industry engagement project in the School of Engineering, and that project is now successfully closed. We managed to interest 40 odd companies to look at collaborating with the School, and I'll be interested to see what comes of those contacts over the next year.

I start a new contract at the School on Monday, this time with the Knowledge Engineering Systems. I'll be a research assistant with them part-time for 12 months, looking at artificial intelligence and eLearning as well as engaging with industry for that group. I'll also have a a couple of days a week to pursue work through our own company, or more likely, look after Marnie!

And just in case you were wondering, Glaikit has found a very naice new home right outside our door on top of the cupboard - just at head height...quite disconcerting at 3 am.

(I can haz hom, perhaps? - OK, I've been looking at the wrong websites, Zan, or maybe it's the right ones...)

It's Been A

2008-05-01T04:57:00.000-07:00

Busy Few Days.

We've had loads of family visiting - they keep muttering something about wanting to visit a new arrival? Barbara and Linda were down last week for a few days, having done the run from Glasgow in one day. Although it gave Linda (still to pass her test) some good experience driving as they came down through central Wales, having done a similar trip over Christmas, I don't envy them the journey. Though we were very pleased that they had.

We had a quiet few days with them doing sterling work around the house doing fascinating things like the washing, which left us to look after Marnie - although there were a few interesting experiences for Marnie along the way...

They disappeared back up the road again on Thursday and Mum and Dad arrived on the bus that evening. They'd travelled all the way from Sheilbridge by bus, stopping off overnight with the Glasgow Aunties. They'd just about time to meet Marnie when Peter and Chris arrived after a flight from Vancouver delayed by 6 hours. Which gave Dad and I a chance to witness Cardiff on a Saturday night as we waited at the train station for them...

During the usual whirlwind visit where Lots Got Done (many thanks for all the work, next time we'll try and do things you actually want to do rather than just stuffing Marnie into your arms to listen to your (very effective) singing), and we had a meal at the Pearl of the Orient in Cardiff Bay.

Marnie seems to have enjoyed all the attention, and certainly never let it get to her head. She griped and gurned as usual, but did take it upon herself to practise her smiling, even though she sometimes resorted to booting me in the stomach to get my attention first. And she's not too fussed about formal family photos, either...Yes those are her arms and feet moving at an incredible rate of knots to go with the screaming.

She's certainly growing - she's out the first few babygros already. And we discovered Christine eating cucumber really doesn't agree with Marnie - cue room shattering bottom booms. She likes standing, taking her own weight with assistance to balance, but I can only hope that's a reflex which will fade and come back - it's too early to even dream of her making her own way around our house at the moment. As you can see, she's also practising for a starring role in a popular TV show:

L: Marnie R: Sontaran

We're getting back to a good night's sleep - although that's a relative idea; when you're woken from 5 hours sleep and then get back to a further 3 hours, technically you have had 8 hours, but it's not quite the same...

If you're interested, I've posted more pictures on the Marnie set on Flickr. Check out the link at the top right of this page as well.

Cheers,

TheStewarts

Wheee! It's Meee!

2008-04-16T02:05:00.000-07:00

As this blog was started because of me,I thought I'd contribute a post.

I'm quite happy at the moment, my favourite things are eating, and gurning ready to tell my parents I'm not happy about something. Quite what I'm rarely sure, but there's always something when I'm crying. I like playing games with Mummy and Daddy, hiding what's wrong to give them more of a challenge.

I do like songs - my favourites being "The best things in life are free / But you can save them for the birds and bees / I want Marnie... etc" and "I was born under a wandering star" except when it's sung by my daddy 'cos he sounds like the Kurgan; which as you can see, is quite frightening - and being bounced and played with (thank you to my Auntie Barbara and Cousin Linda for their commitment in showing this to my My Loving Parents who just didn't get it).

However, even though I'm five and half weeks old now, I can't quite manage a camera, so I'll have to leave that to MLP.

Right, off to sleep now. It's been a busy day.

Look forward to meeting you soon.

M

Goodbye sleep my old friend...

2008-04-12T10:02:00.000-07:00

And with you goes the sound of silence.*

Our little piece of stardust is coalescing nicely, and with that growth comes change. And with change comes noise. What routine she had has gone out the window, to be replaced by seeming randomness. We're still coping, and truth be told, she's still pretty good, but she doesn't sleep so much now, and that seems to be in 10 minute power-naps. When she's awake it's a mix of silent concentration or gurning ready to split the air with "sonic knives of nigh-unendurable intensity".

I exaggerate a little, but when she's very unhappy Marnie has learned to use her standard issue ear-splitting spectacular. Think cartoon baby face / siren wail and you're not far wrong. Doesn't happen often, but when it does - well, I'm surprised more parents don't suffer hearing loss - like having a hornet in your ear-drum.

Apart from keeping us awake at odd o'clock, we're doing OK. Marnie's lost some weight so we're now almost forcefeeding her rather than pacifying and we'll see what the health visitor has to say next week. The mark on her back isn't as angry, but still there.

C's doing a lot better, the antibiotics seem to have made a big difference. But since the feeding routine has stepped up a gear, she's now getting less sleep, and it's more painful. We'll start expressing and bottlefeeding to see if that works in giving her a break.

My first technology transfer workshop with industry seems to have gone well, although we did realise one mistake - the idea of the whole project is to kick off connections between academics and industry, but we didn't have a way of recording those connections which might go somewhere... improvement required for the next one. Speaking with folks afterwards suggests it worked well though. We've a few meetings to arrange during the wind up of the project for the end of April, and then a new bunch of projects should go forward. Hopefully I'll still be in the School to see what happens.

On lighter notes, as a long time fan of Robin Williams, it's nice to see him still doing his thing.

And it's amazing what you learn when baby-pacifying and surfing at 02:25... apparently cats obey the Law of Grabbity.

* Apologies to Simon and Garfunkel

A Word from the Christine

2008-04-04T12:58:00.000-07:00

Well I have finally manged to grab a few minutes to myself (Smurf is upstairs trying to get Marnie to sleep after nearly drowning her during her bath). I expect I won't have long as I am beginning to realise why I have such an affiliation with cows!

Firstly I'd like to express my thanks to all those who have wished us well and sent lovely gifts we are truly overwhelmed.

I'm going to try my best not to ramble on about the whole motherhood experience, however anyone interested in the gory details all you have to do is ask! I can confirm that your brain does wipe the memory of labour from your mind. It is a really strange thing as I remember quite distinctly screaming the place down but really can't recall why! I can also remember offering to have the anesthetist's babies after getting my epidural ( a huge thank you to Louise you were so right!).

I had joked before hand that I would take my work with me and be in labour whilst using brown paper and post its to map out the process! I was otherwise busy! However I have to say that the way in which I was looked after was fantastic, everything was explained very clearly every step of the way and the care was second to none. Well that was until I got into the general ward! But even there they did their best they were just rather understaffed which considering there is a bit of a baby boom going on at the moment bodes well!

I also have to say that I could not have got through it all with out Smurf. His hand must have been black and blue and I know his back wasn't up to much cop having spent a night trying to sleep in a chair! But he kept me sane and string throughout.

It was good to get home after all that and for Marnie and I to find our way together. She is a strong willed little thing and we have had our battles but we are reaching an understanding. We are managing the whole breastfeeding thing but whoever said it was natural had nipples of steel! Literally!

This has been the first week of just Marnie and me and at the moment I have been pretty much tied to the chair not just cause she is very active during the day and likes to see what is going on or otherwise wants to try and suck your pinkie off but also I do not appear to be recovering from the C section as well as hoped. I ended up at the hospital last night after being referred by the doctor for abdominal pain. They are wanting to ultrasound me but they think it is a re occurrence of my urinary infection that I had during my pregnancy. This has meant that I have not been able to get out and about as much as I had wanted only a couple of walks into the village so far. Which Marnie has loved as Smurf says she loves being outdoors but has a tendency to start to cry as soon as you step into a shop or walk through the front door.

Anyway I shall sign off for the moment as I am sure the walking milk machine will be needed any second now!

An Outward Bound Baby?

2008-03-24T05:55:00.000-07:00

Easter was a good week.

Christine was getting back to normal slowly, still in a bit of pain from her section, and her muscles from compensating, but doing quite well. Recovery doesn't come easier when it's coinciding with a lack of sleep. Marnie had a chance to cast her spell over a few visitors; Aileen and Nikki were down for the week, and were a great help around the house; and a couple of folks from Christine's work dropped in on Thursday while I headed out for the virtual head wetting / cigars.

But we also had our first family outing - to Cardiff Bay on Easter Monday. Despite a severe wind, from which Marnie hid in the buggysnuggle, she seemed to enjoy the trip (a relative term at the moment - she wasn't crying and slept for most of it). Didn't even complain when she disappeared completely on rumbling over some cobbles - the snuggle's a little big at the moment.

She does seem to be an outdoor child - she likes to be outside (in the protection of the cot out the wind and rain) - stops crying on going out, and starts again on coming in to the house, to shops (there's a problem...). When she's a little older we'll introduce her to the hills around Cardiff and see how that suits her.

Marnie's started sucking her thumb, something I'm not sure is a totally great thing, but a great relief for pinkies across our household (believe me, trying to sleep hanging over the side of a bed with your pinkie in a very small mouth to keep it occupied so you can try to get some sleep isn't the most comfortable position in life), and apparently another sign that she's surprisingly advanced for her age. (Another one was almost turning herself over a couple of weeks ago - which is fine, except she was on top of a chest of drawers at the time, getting changed...)

Night routine has gone out the window, changing between one and four hours, maybe a bit of gripe, and definately sucking of pinkies - as I write I'm on the edge of the bed keeping her calm enough to sleep. But, being a wee Scots lass, she can scream blue murder when she wants. We're talking "Murder polis Mr Taggart!" (BTW, did you know about the Taggart convention?)

Other than that I'm now back at work, heading towards the end of my short contract at the School of Engineering setting up knowledge transfer workshops and meetings between the School and Welsh industry.

I missed the end of my evening class on Writing Mass Market Fiction, but I'm still developing a couple of stories with David (Melkevik - a friend down here who's also an award winning aspiring scriptwriter) which I hope Richard Asplin (the class tutor) will still review and advise me on. We'll see. Perhaps it's a little ambitious to be thinking of writing a novel while looking after a small baby, but hey, if you don't push things along you wait forever for anything to happen.

I'm not so sure Christine's so enamoured of the change in her activities and the new look to the garden...

And finally. Marnie's PC skills are starting early - she was keen to help write the last entry...

An Interesting Few Days

2008-03-23T01:24:00.000-07:00

We spent Thursday night back in the Heath hospital with Marnie. As you can see though, she's fine - pretty laid back about everything, even at the hospital.

A week or so ago, we found a few dark spots on her back which we had checked out. The doctors told us it probably wasn't serious but to keep an eye on them. On Thursday afternoon, we noticed that in about 24 hours they'd become a single large bruise. So we headed back into the Paediatrics unit where they kept us in overnight for tests and observation.

Now I'm not a big fan of needles, but having watched them taking blood from both hands (Marnie has her Mother's Fort Knox-like veins), I'm not going to complain about needles again. After some blood tests, an ultrasound, and a few examinations, they think she has a hemangioma, an odd collection of blood vessels, in her case close to the skin but not near anything dangerous.

It looks like a sort of birthmark, but it shouldn't cause her any problems as she grows up given where it is, and it may fade over time. Other than that, she has the all clear, except that we have to go back in a few weeks for final check up.

Christine's doing well, still recovering and in a bit of pain in her side, but she's moving around much better now. The combination of not sleeping much and pain seem to be slowing her recovery, but as several people have said, the magnitude of a C section is often overlooked.

Other than that, it's been a busy few days, getting used to having a baby around the place, trying to figure out what happens when and how to fit all the other stuff of life around it. We'll let you know when we work it out.

I thought I'd mention in passing one of the most unusual gifts Marnie's received: a baby blooms bouquet. Looks just like a bunch of flowers, but each of those curled white flowers is a piece of clothing, the small ones are the arms and legs of a body sut. Not particualrly easy to get into, but a very practical / attractive gift.

My sister-in-law Aileen and her daughter Nikki are currently visiting, which is great as Aileen's a nursery nurse and a reassuring presence to have around. They've been very busy around the house while we sort out Marnie, although she's been having a good few snoozes on their laps as well as ours.

As my contract at Cardiff University comes to an end in April, I've applied for new position at the School of Engineering with the Knowledge Engineering Group under Dr Rossi Setchi. The group is looking at semantic systems, computer imagination, document interpretation and creation and e-Learning, and the role I'm applying for is to help them engage with business as well as looking at future technologies and how they might be used to improve the sharing and storage of knowledge.

For those of you worried about Glaikit, she still hasn't settled too well, last seen haunting the living room window sill. Doesn't have the view of our bedroom window, but a cat has to find what she can. She is at least indoors most of the time.

BTW, I've now unlocked Comments to guests, i.e. anyone should be able to post comments, not just people with Blogger accounts.

And for those of you wanting more pics of our DLP, I've set up a new set, Marnie, on our Flickr account.

Cheers,

Smurf

Now We Are Six

2008-03-14T03:27:00.000-07:00

(days). Feels like months at least.

It's weird - not because Marnie's keeping us up all night - she's not - but more like she's been part of the family for ages. We both seem unnaturally unfazed by anything Marnie's pulled out of her short sleeves so far. Perhaps we have adjusted really fast; perhaps the delayed shock's waiting to pounce; perhaps we've had it easy so far. Whatever the reason, we're all pretty happy.

Glaikit's definately not in the same place; she's getting no peace from either us fetching and carrying, or Marnie gurning and yelling. She took up residence at the far end of the garden yesterday morning...in the rain.

On the whole, things seem reasonably OK. Marnie's being a little angel, and doing what babies do - sleep, feed and fill nappies. She can be a little madam - the first night home she cried for six hours straight - but since then as long as we pre-empt her on the feeding, she's pretty quiet. Although there's a definate feeling of a lot of calculating and figuring going on behind the silence, broken every now and then by an ripping eruption.

I've been trying to think who she reminds me of, and so far I've come up with:
for the weird rolling eyes / wavy hands schtick

certainly for a facial similarity, but also from a tactical point of view - when she doesn't want to be fed she dodges and uses her fists like a pro.

Folks, you've been very kind in welcoming Marnie, and your messages have been greatly appreciated. Amongst a range of comments from "she's lovely" to "she'll do" (no it wasn't me), several have noted cow-girl Marnie's apparent inheritance of Christine's fetish, and Christine had an expression of sympathy on the installation of her emergency catflap... And we've had our (admittedly biased) opinion that she's a beautifully baby-shaped-baby confirmed officially "Marnie is adorable! (I'm a neonatologist, so I should know.......)."

There've been one or two comments about what she's inherited from whom. Answers on a comment, please. Personally we're a bit confused about the ginger / auburn hair.

I'll finish with a parting question - Marnie usually starts hiccuping after she's fed, but just how does a baby drink out the other side of a nipple?

Welcome to Stewarts in Cardiff

2008-03-10T22:30:00.000-07:00

Life's rich tapestry just took on a third dimension for us. A daughter shaped dimension. Marnie Catherine Isabel Stewart joined us on Saturday 8th March.

Marnie apparently means "causing joy", but we chose it for a more mundane reason (but personal) reason. It's from a Hitchcock film Christine's Dad liked - although obviously we're hoping our daughter doesn't have the same kind of troubles as the heroine. The fact that the film starred Sean Connery didn't hurt much, as any of you who've worked with Christine will know well. (Although not even we would choose to call a wee boy Zardoz.)

And that changing tapestry is really why we're starting this blog. Many kind people have been asking how things are going, so we thought this might be an good way to let anyone who's interested know what's happening in our corner of Wales in a when-you-want-to kind of a way.

Don't get us wrong, this is no substitute for emails or phone calls, and definately not for visiting. But we're guessing that over the next few months we won't be going much of anywhere far, and Wales isn't the easiest place to get to. (Nice when you get here though.) And from all the advice we've been given, we'll probably be homebods for the next few weeks. On the other hand that does mean you know where to find us...

So as a small, small, partial replacement for seeing everyone on our semi-regular travels, we're setting this up. We'll try and update it frequently if not regularly, but don't use that as an excuse to let us off being in touch. Phone us up and shout at us if we haven't spoken for a while.

So, be glad if you want to drop by every now and then and catch up on what the four of us have been up to. Feel free to leave a comment to let us know if you do.

Cheers,

Smurf, Christine, Marnie and Glaikit