Right, I’m a day late. But it’s been a year (and a day) since we made the big move back to East Yorkshire. To village life. To family.
I went for a run this morning – no need to drive to the canal like I used to – I can run a perfect 5k route straight from the house. While I was being advised to Work Bitch by Britney, I was looking around and thinking about how much our lives have changed in the last year.
We’re a lot more relaxed about babyproofing this time around. Not that we don’t want Jude to be any less safe than Scarlett, obviously, but we know what was worthwhile from doing it all last time around.
Everything dangerous is clearly out of reach. There are a lot of extra cupboards in this house that we didn’t have in the last house, which is handy. They even left us a lockable medicine cabinet. Plug covers are contentious… we bought them last time, and then threw them away after reading that they actually make the plug live, so we haven’t got those again.
My daughter, Scarlett, will be two in a few months, and I haven’t felt the urge to publish her birth story until now, although a slightly edited version did appear in our local NCT magazine shortly after the birth. It might have something to do with my best friend’s baby being due any day, and making me reminisce. This is the unedited, gory version, be warned. Continue reading
…on a cloudy day.
That’s what I think when I look at the sunflowers in our flower bed, anyway. Scarlett was sent home with a tiny green shoot in a flowerpot for Mothers’ Day, back in March. And yes, I did cry. A couple of my friends (you know who you are) think it’s hilarious that I cry whenever nursery give me anything Scarlett’s made, painted or planted, but it makes me so happy! I digress.
So, we left it in its little pot and set it on the kitchen table near the window, where it started to grow. I’ve never been very good with plants, but I tried my very best with this one. You know, because my then 12 month old daughter planted it with her own fair hands (with help, granted) and such. Continue reading
Barry’s bedtime reading at the moment is looking at houses online. We’re not planning on moving any time soon (if any of my colleagues are reading this, don’t jump to conclusions!), but it’s nice to look. He went as far (too far, in my opinion!) as sending an email asking for more information on one particular house, which is quite near to where my mum lives.
The estate agent called and left a voicemail the next morning to say that they’d arranged for an agent from our local office to come and value our house on Saturday at 9.45am. Very proactive. A bit too pushy. But Barry thought, hey, why not? We were interested in seeing whether the work on the kitchen (in which we sacrificed a downstairs bathroom and hallway for twice the kitchen) would have affected the value.
Not our nursery this time, but the nursery where we shall be depositing our child until I finish work. We’ve had a few settling in sessions now, and Scarlett seems to be taking them better than me.
The first one was just for half an hour and I called after 20 minutes to see if she was ok. The second one, Barry found me crying and washing up (unrelated) when I’d dropped her off for a two-hour stint. Scarlett didn’t cry, she’s made of sterner stuff. Obviously gets that from her father.
The third session didn’t go quite as well, but I’m hoping it was a blip.
I can’t believe I’m back at work in two weeks, this time has flown by; it doesn’t feel like I’ve been “off” since last Christmas. I’m saying “off” in quotation marks because it’s been the hardest, but most rewarding work I’ve ever done. Non-stop, tiring, draining, emotional, hilarious, special, unforgettable work that’s made me question everything (what did they do before Google?) and been a huge learning curve.
And even though I’m a wimp myself, I’m so proud that Scarlett didn’t cry at nursery the first couple of times she went. Little soldier. Sob.
Our house is now stair-safe for Scarlett, but a hotbed of tripping danger for me and Barry. She won’t be able to get up or down the stairs until she grows about three feet and gets some serious manual dexterity going, which is excellent.
However, whoever designed the bloody gates with the bar at the bottom (and pressure gates STILL NEED SCREWING IN, don’t be fooled) had a real sense of humour. Scarlett’s in more danger from me falling flat onto her because I can’t pick my feet up that extra inch. I think Barry might have shed a little tear screwing gates into the house, especially into the black wall and the wooden bannister. I could tell he was wondering whether we could move house before fixing the holes.
We’ve also got these things that go in the electricity sockets so she doesn’t electrocute herself. Good job I’ve got nails for leverage, otherwise there’d be no getting those bad boys out. And then I would never be able to iron. Now, where are those nail clippers…
I can’t believe it’s already been six months since Scarlett was born – it’s flown by! We’ve started giving her proper finger foods now, and she proceeded to throw carefully prepared pitta bread and soft cheese all over the floor last night. Followed by a carrot stick. And a carrot puff. And some water.
She’s also moved into her own room now, which was seemingly more difficult for me and Barry than for her, she doesn’t mind!
Here she is today with her best Zoolander impression…
Following my success with the recipe scrapbook, I decided to get cracking with my wedding scrapbook for a bit more cathartic organisation. I started filling it with my wedding ideas from before the day, along with some memory bits like ribbon from the bridesmaids’ dresses, our flight stubs and honeymoon itinerary. We only got married a mere six and a half years ago. I did do a bit when I was pregnant and on maternity leave, but other things soon beckoned (like the SATC boxset, hello Helen!), and it fell by the wayside. I’ve found a renewed energy for wanting these things sorted now, firstly to keep them away from little sticky hands, and secondly to preserve them for when the owner of those little sticky hands becomes interested in mummy and daddy’s wedding and I can show her everything we (or I) did to prepare for it.
The last two weeks have flown by! I am most delighted to introduce you all to my daughter, Scarlett, who was born on 21st February after a surprise induction and scarily quick labour! She’s the best thing since sliced bread.
