Julie's Boggle

In the UK, the school / college term that runs from Christmas until Easter, is known as the Spring Term.  Puts a nice positive spin on the term that begins just after the middle of winter!

Jonathan’s school term started on the 3rd of January, and after a week back he seemed to be getting into his stride.  He’s not complaining about how long the days are (like he was this time last term), and aside from his, er, lively personality, which keeps the teachers on their toes, he seems quite interested and engaged most days.

The college students, on the other hand, only start back for their Spring Term tomorrow, having had a full month-plus off.  This generous block of time is slightly illusory though, because for many of them the assignments for next term are all front-loaded (i.e. due in the first few weeks back) so they’ve been having to commit significant chunks of “holiday” to writing essays.  Tom is no exception with 4 assignments due in the first two weeks (then another 4 due, 4 weeks later), and he’s been back in his office at college since Jonathan went back to school.

The holidays have been enjoyable but there are perks to college going back.  Personally, the biggest one is the free meal provision which tends to cut down our grocery bill as well as cooking effort!   By June last year, our weekly schedule (charted in some detail here in November 2010) had been extended to include as many as 4 evening meals in college a week!

Unfortunately, with the whole school bedtime thing, we’ve had to scale back to just Friday night, but nevertheless, it does make Fridays feel more special! Of course Tom still gets all his lunches there, and we all get up super-early twice a week to rush in for breakfast.

Our schedule is also expanding this term to include a weekly half-hour swimming lesson for Jon, and a separate Mums-and-baby weekly swimming lesson for Jessica and me.  So overall, while Spring is making its slow but steady progress to Durham, our respective Spring Term activities have us all going full speed from the outset!

I have to admit, even if I say so myself, that I’m very pleased with Jessica’s updated fringe (above right).  It’s been driving me a little crazy for ages now but cutting it is such a performance that I’ve been putting it off for weeks.  I strongly debated trying to get her to a hairdresser’s but I’ve yet to find one with the special gift of dealing with children in Durham (except for the barber who does Jonathan!) and without that, dealing with a wriggly under-2 is just too painful to watch!

In the end, I did my familiar trick of getting her into her high-chair with a pile of potential distractions nearby and attacked her thick fringe with my home-hairdresser scissors.  Jess was, as usual, unimpressed and despite my wetting the hair, soon had little bits all over her face and (somehow) stuck to her tongue.  At this stage she started to gripe and swat the scissors away and it was just luck that I’d managed to get enough off, and roughly feathered, and in a straight enough line, to leave it be.  Whew!

When it all went a little too quiet in the lounge where Jon and Jess were playing this morning, Daddy went in to check what absorbing game they were busy with.  It turned out that they had discovered a forgotten gift behind the tree: a bag of chocolate Christmas figures…  Mmmm.

Witness the foil debris littered beneath the tree.

Unfortunately we missed getting a picture of Jessica, covered from cheek to cheek with chocolate, chocolate dribbles down her pyjamas and clutching a melting figure in one sticky paw.

The run up to Christmas has felt fairly chaotic for the last month or two, although Jonathan’s first term of school finished a week ago, so we’ve enjoyed some time being free of that routine at least.  Finally I feel like I can relax a bit and let Christmas happen without any more interference from me!

This Christmas, our lovely friends in York have offered to host us once again.  They’ve multiplied since we last did this though (in 2009), so while we’re really looking forward to spending time together, we’re only staying over for one night and hoping not to cramp their style too much.

Tomorrow then, we’re driving down to York laden with goodies for our much anticipated Christmas get-together, then rolling back to Durham in the evening on Christmas Day.  And then on Boxing Day, we’re driving across to the other side of the country to spend time with Tom’s cousin and extended family.

We’d really hoped to visit London as well this holiday, but once we’d pinned down York, we realised that there really wasn’t enough holiday left to fit in a week in London too.  The County Durham schools all broke up last week (16 Dec) and go back on the 3rd of January – this turns out to be different from a lot of other counties, and is surprisingly inconvenient where holiday planning is concerned.

Anyway, the end result is that instead of cramming in three trips away, we’ve all had a fairly relaxed week at home.  We took Jonathan to see the local “Jack and the Beanstalk” pantomime last Sunday (which went well), and we took the train for another little jaunt around Newcastle yesterday.  Other than that, it’s just been getting through our Christmas to-do lists, enjoying the Christmas season bounty of mince pies and mulled wine, and spending time with friends.  All good.

All that remains then is to wish you all a very special Christmas and may you know the peace and joy that Christ’s arrival brought into the world at this time.

Jonathan (4y 5m) and Jessica (19m) in their second school portrait setting

Just eight months on, and we have another set of school photos, this time with Jonathan in Reception class.  For the record, I was far less impressed with this photographer than with the one who did Jon’s nursery portrait.  (The guy who took that photo made it look so easy, and I have twice as much respect for his easy manner with children – it’s a gift!)

The latest school photographer didn’t seem to have any flair for interacting with youngsters, she wasn’t particularly quick off the mark with capturing her shot, and she didn’t have a helper either which made it all a lot harder for both of us!

For the shot above, Jon was quite delighted with having Jess on his back, but he quickly started wriggling madly from side to side, laughing crazily.  Good from the perspective of making Jess giggle, but not at all useful for focussing.  He wouldn’t listen to my pleas for him to stop, and the photographer’s response was to look hopelessly at me!

We did try other poses too, but the annoyance factor was definitely rising.  Jon took his opportunity to crawl off amongst the lights, wires and umbrellas behind the photographer giggling like a lunatic, and once we had him back, Jessica kept crawling towards me whenever I called out to get her to look at the camera.  (The nursery school photographer had a fluffy toy on a long stick which achieved smiles and attention in one – this one had nothing!)  Sigh.

I came out feeling shattered – not to mention guilty about the long queue of parents and children behind us who we’d kept waiting during all the mucking about – but at least we managed to salvage a picture.  Jonathan’s solo portrait (right) taken later in the day is actually a much better shot of him, but the price for one set is extortionate, never mind two.  So we took our hard-won combination photo, and here’s hoping next year’s will be easier!

While I am forced more and more to put Jess in the rank of “toddler” lately, I do rather like to think of her as a baby still. This is aided by her lack of vocabulary and her petite stature (she only weighs a little more than 10kg) which generally has people thinking of her as younger than she is.

On the other hand, Jessica is becoming an ever more complicated little person, developing an understanding of all sorts of things.  This now begins to include a knowledge of our habits and daily rituals and also a firm belief that things should be done in the way she has come to expect.  This is not a new trait, but the level of detail is definitely increasing.

Jess has always been one for strong opinions, but some of her dislikes have been growing incrementally with her.  These include any sort of splashing in her face, long periods in her car-seat and – regrettably, because they occur most frequently – nappy changes.  So while she will chuckle heartily as she “runs” away from the would-be changer as fast as her little legs will carry her, once caught, the laughter quickly turns to howls of protest, real tears, and thrashing about on the change table like a cornered cat.

Jess has about 6 words at the moment, “Bye” being a fairly reliable one, with the occasional “Hello”, “Uppa” for anything relating to lifting her, and a good strong “Ah-men” at the end of grace when the mood suits her.  She’s quite familiar with the Dear Zoo story (a new favourite) and will say the appropriate “Woof-woof” when she gets to the final page.  The rest of her requirements are filled in with a language of her own devising.

Not being able to communicate better with us is definitely a cause for frustration, and the eloquently babbled request quickly develops an undertone of vexation if she perceives we’re not doing what she would like us to do.

The crosser sounds are then accompanied by the expressive lower lip, which protrudes further and further as irritation heightens (along with corresponding frown), and if one is not quick enough to figure it all out, little feet will be stamped in frustration.  The next step is to lay herself down on the floor (rather more carefully than she used to do – she’s not trying to hurt herself after all), and the full blown wail of anger will commence thenceforth.

Jess is definitely sturdier while walking now although this is very much relative.  She does like to use some sort of support, like her little pink stroller, which seems to help curb the rebellious traits of her legs.

Her love of climbing is undiminished (perhaps to make up for her lack of height?) and she’ll have a go at pulling herself up onto just about anything.  The less stable it appears, the more likely we are to find her doing some sort of little victory bounce on it!

Jessica has always been keen on having company when she’s playing and lately this has taken on the new aspect of wanting their participation in her games.  The current favourite is playing with little plastic pots that I used to use for freezing baby meals, and in this case she can put the lids on but not take them off.  So she’ll put something into one (or more) of them, put the lid(s) on and then bring it over to request that its lid be removed.   Have a guess who gets tired of this one more quickly.

She is very partial to her dinky size 3 shoes now that we’ve got some for her, and will loudly insist that they be put on for her if she sees them lying around.  She also has rather a fondness for other accessories like hats.  Together with the little handbag that she’s very fond of carrying (generally filled with all of the round sticklebrick pieces), our little miss looks as cute as they come.

Ever since Jess took her first few little steps back in August, I’ve been poised to write this article; just waiting for the day to arrive when I could say conclusively that she’s a toddler.

Jessica however, in fairly typical fashion, is refusing to be pigeon-holed on this one, and reserves the right to be a fully-crawling baby whenever she pleases.

When we left for South Africa at the end of July, we thought that proper walking was imminent, and were expecting some displays of it daily.  Jess was not to be rushed though, and aside from the occasional lurch across a small gap, she definitely preferred her “all-fours” approach.

Indications of Jess’s balance improving were shown more and more frequently over this period.  These were the times when she’d absent-mindedly let go of her support, and stand alone for several seconds before realisation, and gravity, brought her down!

Finally on our very last day in SA, Jessica decided that it was time to stand up and have a go at the walking thing.  She didn’t manage more than a step or two, but there was plenty of determination to get herself up from the floor on her wobbly little pins, and she tried over and over, beaming in delight at all the attention she was getting.

Jess was 16½ months then, and now at almost 18 months, she’s just about convinced herself that walking really is the best option.  We love to watch her little figure tottering all over the place, generally taking her minor crash-landings bravely and persevering with getting herself back onto her feet and going again.  There is still a great deal of wobbliness – the uneven or sloping surface is not her friend – but on the whole we can definitely say that Jess is mostly walking now!

So our glorious summer holiday is over, and with it our days of freedom from school timetables…

It’s now two weeks since Jonathan started at school and although we’re still coming down slowly, the new term is well and truly under way.

The biggest difference for Jonathan is not having any days off.  His nursery slots which covered 2½ days a week meant that he was used to doing some “full days” away from home, but the relentlessness of the current 5-day week is definitely wearing him down.

The school day begins at 8:55 (in line with UK office hours of 9:00 – 17:00)  when the head teacher rings a big clangy bell in the playground for everyone to line up in their classes, and pick-up time is 15:00.  During these 6 hours, along with assembly, they have 4 blocks of “lesson” time allocated for various activities and an hour given over to lunch.

Apparently the Reception class get to do a lot of playing, and for the first couple of days Jonathan was very keen.  He wasn’t at all interested in taking the shorter days offered to us for the first, abbreviated school week, but by the time we got to the end of week 2, all he wanted was to come home earlier.  By the time week 3 started, all he wanted was a day at home.  Poor lad.

I can’t help comparing what Jonathan is experiencing with what I had as a child in SA.  I didn’t start until I was 18 months older than Jon is now, and for the first 2 years we only did 4½ hour days.  What is realistically added to a 4- or 5-year-old’s academic experience by making them stay at school for 6 hours every day?  I’m sure a more gradual introduction would be more helpful.

Okay, rant over…

Jonathan’s school is closer than his nursery, so we have more flexibility in how we get there.  Conveniently, one of the available routes is also one of the very few almost-level stretches that exist in Durham, so Jon gets the opportunity to use his scooter on our daily commute and he does rather enjoy that.  The 1.2 mile walk, done this way, takes about 25 minutes and when the weather is good it can be a very pleasant part of the day. (Pushing Jess in the pushchair without Jon, I can shave another 5 minutes off that time.)

Back in the holidays, when I was thinking ahead to the weekly school routine, I had certainly not planned on spending 90+ minutes of every day getting Jon to and from school.  However, the traffic outside the school is hellish, aggravated at the moment by an intense set of roadworks – just moved up to outside the school gate! – taking out half of the road and necessitating a traffic-light-controlled one-way system.  Result: for as long as this lasts, Jon and I are working on getting fitter.

At the moment a lot of the little ones are suffering with tiredness, and it does feel hard watching from the sidelines feeling a bit helpless as the system crunches over them.  But the teachers are relatively sympathetic to their plight and we’re watching keenly to see if some “breather” days will help out.

In the meanwhile, I think for at least some of the time, our little guy is enjoying being one of the school-going gang and we’re hoping he’ll make some friends to help him settle in more quickly!

In many ways, the summer break we’ve had this year feels like the most complete holiday I’ve had in a long while.  To be sure, there were some little stresses at the start — like the too-short night spent in a hotel in Dubai, en route to South Africa, which involved minimal sleep all round — but that feels like an insignificant complaint compared with the many ways other things went smoothly.

Confusingly, it was actually winter in South Africa, where we spent 4 of our 5 weeks away, but realistically there were minimal differences between the “summer” we were leaving behind, and Durban’s winter days if you discount the hours of daylight.

Overall, our time in South Africa (photos here) was a wonderful break from the daily grind of running a family during term-time.  Not only were we surrounded by lovely family and friends with whom there was lots to catch-up, we were very well looked after in terms of food and accommodation.  We had grandparents on hand to help with keeping the children entertained and there was lots and lots of time for relaxing over good meals in enjoyable company.

Tom completed a two-week placement at a local church while we were there and he found that to be an interesting and enriching experience which saw him getting involved with an area very close to where he grew up, yet which he knew nothing about.

Once we arrived back in Durham, feeling a little depleted from another set of sleep-deprived aeroplane flights, but otherwise refreshed, there was just one slightly-stressed day left to unpack and repack before we jumped in the car and drove the 500 km south to London.

This part of our holiday was not as easy as SA on the catering front, given that we were largely looking after ourselves in this regard(!) but thanks again to generous friends we had a lovely house to spread out in, replete with all the baby-gear we needed and lots of toys.

Time was tight for fitting in all the people we wanted to see, even with a number of them being away on holiday as well.  On top of that we had hoped to get in some good park visits but the weather defeated us there on a number of days.  Fortunately we had one day that was sunny enough for Jon to have a “big paddle” in the Ravenscourt Park paddling pool.   (The day before we’d got as far as taking his shoes off when the heavens opened!)  He loved it.  “It’s cold, but I don’t mind.”

All importantly, we got to see most of the babies that had arrived since we were last in London, and Jon got to spend time with many of his Shepherds Bush friends, re-establishing connections and refreshing young memories.

As August came to an end, we at last we made our way back to Durham, leaving one last week at home before school started.  A last few days to chill before school term (and another placement for Tom) began and fresh commitments started to fill our diaries once more.

In 15 months, Jess has become such a fun little person.  She’s full of personality and willing to hold forth in baby-babble on virtually any topic.  Passionate and feisty too – she is a lass who knows her own mind and is not shy about sharing her opinion. (Early weather warnings indicate tantrums ahead!)

We’ve been lucky in that Jessica has always enjoyed her sleep, but we’ve curbed her naps during the day to help push her later in the mornings.  For quite a while now she’s been having just one solid lunchtime nap of 1.5 – 2 hours, and then she goes down around 19h30 and will sleep for about 12 hours.  We’re officially encouraging the dummy habit at night (by providing it) but whip it away quickly when she wakes up.  Jess seems to have bought into our arrengement, and part of her waking up routine is handing her dummy and its chain to us. *So cute!*

We’re currently running the teeth gauntlet again – a process designed to test the parents’ as much as the baby’s threshold for pain and irritation!  Jess is cutting the top two of her four front molars, and the last of her front incisors has also just appeared (it’s been just 3 at the bottom for ages now) taking her up to a total of 12.

While Jess is a lot more of a trial to feed than Jon was, I feel we still have very little room for complaint.  She generally is happy with a wide variety of foods, lumps and all, and eats 3 full meals a day alongside 3 milk feeds. It’s only when we keep her waiting or when she’s feeling tired and irritable, that a spoon offered incautiously can be smacked out of the air with a fierce forehand sending it and its contents flying.

We haven’t had a lot of success with getting her to feed herself with a spoon, but give her a plate of pasta or finger food chunks and Jessica is quite happy to feed herself.  Once again, you just need to watch her carefully to gauge the mood… Warning signs of mushing food up in her hands (boredom?) are usually followed by frustrated wiping of food across face/table/hair (or all three) or simply sending the bowl flying.

Jessica enjoys company and is not often happy playing in a room by herself.  She loves to fiddle with all sorts of things but in the typical way of babies, anything that isn’t a toy takes preference!  She has nimble little fingers and very long arms, all the better for reaching things that we try to put out of her way!  (And she’s not above climbing onto/into whatever is available to reach inaccessible surfaces.)

Jess really enjoys the freedom that crawling gives her and loud yells of outrage will be heard if she feels she’s being denied access to somewhere she wants to go.  She’s lightning fast up the stairs, not pausing to lead with the dominant leg like Jon used to, and has perfected a fluid left-right movement that belies her non-athletic heritage.

She’s just recently started walking with the help of Mum/Dad’s hands and even more recently with a baby-walker.  Ever more confident, she’ll now walk hanging on to adult trousers as long as they don’t move too quickly!  But don’t ask her to stand alone just yet.

While Jess is very chatty, and capable of copying noises (usually Jon’s), the only truly recognisable words we’ve had out of her so far are “Bye-bye” and “Boo” (as in “peek-a-boo”, after uncovering random parts of her face).  Both very cute.

My favourite times are seeing her in the morning, in Daddy’s arms, rumpled from sleep but with a beautiful smile when she sees me.  Then there’s when I wake her from her nap – first there’s the outstretched hand seeking contact, then she’s quick to try to pull herself up in her sleeping bag assertively grabbing her dummy to hand over as the ultimate sign that nap time is over.

And best of all, there’s the post-bathtime playtime while we wait for Daddy to finish reading a story to Jonathan – then she’s all warm and cuddly but also full of laughs, hugging me while I try to dress her and later throwing herself down on the bed in her room over and over, and chuckling hugely when she gets tickled.