Claudia has been building things (very serious business):

Jasper crawls - not fast but he gets where he wants to go:

They hang out together,

chatting,

chewing paper

and watching too much TV.

John Lewis are having a half price yarn sale *swoon*

I was very restrained (read skint) and got 4 skeins of DB pure silk & some Rowan kidsilk haze for Mystery Stole Part 3

This is chart A in the KSH - it is the second one I’ve knitted, I did a trial of charts A & B in spare yarn because KSH hates being frogged. It blocks much clearer than that, but it gives an idea of waht it’ll look like (I decided not to do beads this time).

I’m having a total lacefest atm - I’ve got 5 lace projects (& 2 others) OTN

Had a great time at I’s birthday. The house is in absolute chaos, we’re all knackered (I’m still vaguely hung over) but it was fun

Had a very dull month

We’ve had a few lovely days, things are going okay but I’m feeling slightly burnt out. Fairly obvious why, I’ve spent the last few weeks focusing on the two major stressors in my life - Jasper’s sleep (which I honestly believe I’ve conquered, he’s even sleeping at night despite the tooth poking through ) and Claudia’s … well just Claudia I suppose, she’s fucking mental.

I’ve found myself pulling away from her mentally, being overly critical, irritable & always on guard for the next bit of insanity. It is draining. Anyway that obviously wasn’t working so I’ve adopted what the crazies on the Interweb might describe as ‘tomato staking’ (my - maybe charitable - interpretation of the method is that it gives you a chance to reconnect rather than just be angry). I’ve dropped all our activities that aren’t prepaid & she is stuck with me all the time - I can catch the praisable moments but deal with the other stuff immediately, before it escalates. There’s definite improvement but I’m exhausted by it, by 5 o’clock I’m on the brink Hopefully next week I can start giving her a bit more freedom again .

So that’s that, there’s been a few really nasty things happening on an online group (deeply traumatic & dangerous births, babies that didn’t make it) it gives me nightmares.

We need a holiday - instead we will be spending what little £££ we (don’t) have on new brakes for the Smart & a plasterer.

Almost forgot, 8 months old!

Had a pretty good day today The cats killed some small rodents, I reorganisedthe kitchen, Jasper slept for three hours this morning & then an hour in the afternoon (whisper - he’s sleeping all night now as well). Claudie has been lovely, day one of close supervision & random fun things complete . Si took them both swimming this evening.

We’ve had a total maths day - loads of mental maths & miquon - Claudia got a little calculator at G’s party yeterday & has been doing sums on it all day Lots of word problems & multiplication. She read well & has been doing bits & pieces in The Anti Colouring Book & loads of drawing (Stone Age scenes & Victorian dresses mainly). We read a load of Egypt books, played Lego (Val gave us another box of duplo), and did some BrainPopping.

Yesterday I baked in the morning (with various interruptions) then we went to my parents for brunch. Mum weighed J again (still slap bang on the 75% centile ), tried to make him crawl, then we hurried home for G’s party which was fun by all accounts . Ate cakes & caught up on happenings

Saturday, ballet, shelf building, moaning about the weather I think - the rest of the previous week and a half is lost in the mists of a bad memory.

SOTW Vol 1 & Activity Book
What Families Were Like in Ancient Egypt
Usborne BeginnerEgyptians
Great Rivers The Nile
Who Built The Pyramid? Meredith Hooper
How We Lived - Tribes & Empires John Haywood
History Detectives, Ancient Egypt Philip Ardagh & Colin King
A Journey Through Times, Excavating Life on Earth
Food & Feasts in Ancient Egypt R. Balkwill
The Mysteries of the Hieroglyphs Carol Donoughue
All in a Day’s Work Pharaohs & Embalmers
Living Long Ago
Horrible Histories #3 The Awesome Egyptians, Mummy Mania

When I was pg with Claudia I did the standard (it was actually new at the time) Barts/quad test at the end of the first trimester I came back with a whopping 1 in 16 risk for DS (my age related risk was something like 1 in 1500). I had a moderately high HCG MOM (which we also had with Jasper) and a very, very low PAPP-A.

It now seems that low PAPP-A is associated with placental failure, stillbirth, preeclampsia, IUGR and preterm delivery. I love clexane & placental function tests.

(with C we ended up with preeclampsia, placental failure & preterm delivery)

TTC boards really do bring out the worst - tickers, buttons, blinkies, bump pictures (you’re 5 weeks pg - it’s fat, moron!), sad tales of how she just *knew* it was twins but there was only one hb surely the dr is wrong!!! OMG!!! SIL picked the same nursery theme!!!!!, should the little darling be called Remington or Quinn?? (yes really) … but this is one of the most hideous I’ve seen

eeeewwwwww, yuck!

(I was only there because I’m seriously worried about my thyroid packing up completely )

Have been up since early cooking - I love getting up before everyone else to spend an hour or so on my own. This morning I had twenty minutes. What I was cooking is now in the bin. I can’t cook with children, I hate it - in fact it’s why I rarely cook now because there’s always ‘can I help?’, actually no you can’t; it turns something I enjoy into a messy, unhygienic palaver. Yet another reason I shouldn’t HE.

Si’s gone out for more ingredients.

School wouldn’t help unless it was boarding - she’ll be seven soon, that must be better than six.

(my sewing machine got smashed (not repairable) yesterday when she knocked the table it was on over - that was an accident (sob) & I’m not cross but the chopping off all the lily buds wasn’t & I’m very cross).