Some days things just don’t go according to plan. And when you have an eight month old baby, this can make things quite a challenge.
A couple of weeks ago, we decided to take advantage of the fine weather to feed the ducks in Ellesmere. What could be better – and more relaxing – than a leisurely stroll around the mere on a Sunday?
Things started to go wrong the moment we arrived. I lifted the pushchair out of the boot, only to discover we had a flat tyre. Had we remembered to put the pump and a puncture repair kit in? No. We’d had the pushchair a few months with no problems and we’d got complacent.
Unfortunately, as nice as Ellesmere is, finding a puncture repair kit and pump on a Sunday is no easy task and the best we could manage was stopping at a garage and inflating the tyre at the air and water station, attracting some very strange looks from motorists in the process.
The tyre stayed up for approximately one minute.
Determined not to let it spoil our outing, we dragged the pushchair to the mere to feed the ducks. When we arrived, however, a dog show was in full swing, which meant the ducks had all disappeared to the other side of the mere.
As the old saying goes, though, every cloud has a silver lining. Melissa decided to put Harry on the swings in the play area and he loved it. In fact, he laughed almost non-stop for half an hour. It was great.
We then retired to the Black Lion pub for an excellent Sunday lunch. Thankfully, the staff were more than happy to heat up Harry’s lunch, which meant we could all relax.
It rounded off what turned out to be an enjoyable trip after all; the ducks will have to wait for another day.
Monday 21 September 2009
Sunday 13 September 2009
You either love it...
According to the advert for a well known ‘yeast extract’, Marmite, you either love it or you hate it. Now I happen to be a fan of this savoury spread, which really does divide opinion.
Melissa, on the other hand, cannot abide it. In fact, she refuses to kiss me when I’ve eaten it. It’s obvious, then, that this would be a bit of a battle ground for Harry.
So, last week, I decided to get the first shot in by surreptitiously giving Harry a taste of my Marmite-smothered toast. Ha, I thought, get him used to the flavour now and I’ll have an ally for life.
Harry, however, had other plans. He’d just finished seven ounces of milk and a generous bowl of porridge. After tasting the Marmite, his breakfast came straight back up while I hastily tried to clean the worst off the high chair and Harry himself, watched by a smug-looking Melissa. Poor old Harry did not look impressed and he’s definitely had an air of suspicion when I’ve fed him since.
Of course, I tried to blame the sudden sickness on teething troubles – he’s now the proud owner of two surprisingly sharp gnashers – but I don’t really believe it.
So it looks like I’ve lost the Marmite battle. From now on, I’ll be concentrating my efforts on the cricket battle – if I can’t turn Harry into a fan of this fine sport, I might find myself having to listen to Test Match Special in the garden shed.
Melissa, on the other hand, cannot abide it. In fact, she refuses to kiss me when I’ve eaten it. It’s obvious, then, that this would be a bit of a battle ground for Harry.
So, last week, I decided to get the first shot in by surreptitiously giving Harry a taste of my Marmite-smothered toast. Ha, I thought, get him used to the flavour now and I’ll have an ally for life.
Harry, however, had other plans. He’d just finished seven ounces of milk and a generous bowl of porridge. After tasting the Marmite, his breakfast came straight back up while I hastily tried to clean the worst off the high chair and Harry himself, watched by a smug-looking Melissa. Poor old Harry did not look impressed and he’s definitely had an air of suspicion when I’ve fed him since.
Of course, I tried to blame the sudden sickness on teething troubles – he’s now the proud owner of two surprisingly sharp gnashers – but I don’t really believe it.
So it looks like I’ve lost the Marmite battle. From now on, I’ll be concentrating my efforts on the cricket battle – if I can’t turn Harry into a fan of this fine sport, I might find myself having to listen to Test Match Special in the garden shed.
It's feeding time
Feeding time with Harry is a pleasure – most of the time. He loves his food and will eat just about anything we give him, including cauliflower, courgettes, broccoli, potatoes, fish, meat, porridge and so on. There’s something really satisfying about watching him enjoy his food – and you can tell he’s enjoying it because he just sits there with his mouth wide open between spoonfuls.
His real favourite, though, is dessert. Harry’s definitely inherited Melissa’s sweet tooth and it’s now got to the stage where we have to hide his sweet while he’s eating his savoury food, otherwise you’ve got no chance. He can even recognise the ‘pop’ of a lid when we open a jar of rice pudding or egg custard, which means we have to take extra care when preparing his food.
As I say, generally feeding him is easy. He has, though, developed a new trick while eating which has made the experience more of a challenge. Basically, while feeding, he, for want of a better description, blows a raspberry. This can be extremely messy, as I found out while feeding him his cheesy broccoli bake the other night; I ended up wearing most of it.
The problem is, the first time it happened, both Melissa and I laughed. I know that’s completely the wrong thing to do, but it was comical watching Harry screw his face up while spraying food everywhere. Anyway, whenever he does it now, we both try to ignore it – although in reality we’re both trying desperately not to laugh.
I’ve no idea why he does it. It’s not as if he’s full – it can happen with the second mouthful of his food – and I don’t think it’s because he doesn’t like the taste, his mouth will be wide open again waiting for more food seconds later. Interestingly, though, I’ve not seen him do it with a dessert yet; presumably that’s just too valuable to waste.
His real favourite, though, is dessert. Harry’s definitely inherited Melissa’s sweet tooth and it’s now got to the stage where we have to hide his sweet while he’s eating his savoury food, otherwise you’ve got no chance. He can even recognise the ‘pop’ of a lid when we open a jar of rice pudding or egg custard, which means we have to take extra care when preparing his food.
As I say, generally feeding him is easy. He has, though, developed a new trick while eating which has made the experience more of a challenge. Basically, while feeding, he, for want of a better description, blows a raspberry. This can be extremely messy, as I found out while feeding him his cheesy broccoli bake the other night; I ended up wearing most of it.
The problem is, the first time it happened, both Melissa and I laughed. I know that’s completely the wrong thing to do, but it was comical watching Harry screw his face up while spraying food everywhere. Anyway, whenever he does it now, we both try to ignore it – although in reality we’re both trying desperately not to laugh.
I’ve no idea why he does it. It’s not as if he’s full – it can happen with the second mouthful of his food – and I don’t think it’s because he doesn’t like the taste, his mouth will be wide open again waiting for more food seconds later. Interestingly, though, I’ve not seen him do it with a dessert yet; presumably that’s just too valuable to waste.
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