WOW!

The Baby has had a particularly unsettled week.  He seems to have been talking to his sister, who as a baby rarely slept during the day, as he's not been sleeping much in the daytime.  Yesterday he hardly slept at all and I even resorted to going on a 'magical mystery tour', about which more later.  I think he must be on a growth spurt as he has been feeding as if he's afraid that milk supplies are about to dry up: 37oz in a day as opposed to what it says 'on the label', i.e. 30oz: and not vomiting much of it up either.

BUT joy of joys (although doubtless a one-off), last night he slept from 8.30pm to 4.30am.  OK, it would have been better if it had been 10.30pm to 6.30am but he seems to have established a bedtime for himself so I'm happy to go with the bedtime for now as he's bound to start sleeping through the night sooner or later, and he only needs to sleep for a couple more hours to be there.  I'm sure tonight will be a totally different kettle of fish but it was nice to have unbroken sleep for as long as I did, and it was a pleasant surprise to look at the clock and find that it was getting on for morning rather than only just past midnight.

The weather has been most peculiar this week.  On Wednesday we had every type of weather except hail or thunderstorms; yesterday we had every type of weather except snow or thunderstorms; today we've had every type of weather except hail or thunderstorms again and the sleety snow which fell early this evening even made a damp whiteish layer on the ground for a while.  Every day I've thought that the children and I would 'walk home from school' (really from the Lane End pub) or go for a walk at Talkin Tarn, but the Baby and the weather between them have conspired against us.  We also intended to go to the after-school service which the local church has started holding each Tuesday, but the Baby was too unsettled.  Older Son was really upset to miss out on the pancakes.....

Yesterday having had an afternoon which alternated bright sunlight with pouring rain, I decided we'd go to buy Daughter some new shoes after school as her other pair has completely disappeared so her footwear for school has been quite odd (she hasn't yet gone in or come home in slippers).  A trip to Off the Wall became necessary first as the Baby wanted some milk, and it was an excuse to get someone else to do the cooking and clearing up for the children's tea rather than my trying to get them some tea and feed the Baby at the same time (impossible: something has to give and it's normally their tea, as I can't stand leaving the Baby crying.  It's nothing to do with discipline or the Baby having to learn or the fact that you should pick babies who are crying up because they generally only cry for a reason, even if it's boredom: it's because I can't stand the din.  Daughter's piercing loud cry as a baby was enough to make me want to do something quite drastic (thank goodness I never did and she is still here and well today) - the Baby is, luckily, somewhat quieter but I'd still rather he didn't cry).

So after their tea we headed to Hamiltons, the shoe shop (which I have to recommend to anyone with children reading this as they really do take care over measuring the children's feet and making sure they have correctly fitted shoes).  However having satisfactorily come away with a pair of purple shoes with flowers on and bright pink wellies with purple soles, both purchased at a reduced price, the children proceeded to squabble and the Baby - who by now was completely over-tired - started crying again.  I decided we'd go out in the car on a magical mystery tour, and having mentioned the ford, which got the approval of both children, then had in the back of my mind that maybe we could go up to Bewcastle, in the real heart of Border Reivers country.

The ford was running quite high so we had a big debate about whether we'd get through or not and whether we should, both children (the Baby was by now, mercifully, asleep) insisting that we should risk it.  In fact it really was quite high - though not dangerously so - as the outside-air-temperature sensors started playing up after we'd gone through and for a while I got some weird readings.  We headed up a road which went through Askerton where we saw some llamas or alpacas (I wasn't sure which they were but the children were insistent they were one or another because of the length of their necks, and I'm sure they know) and then to Bewcastle.  By now the relatively bare, rolling countryside was bathed in golden evening sunshine as if we were just getting to the end of the most glorious spring day, and the children were happily on the look-out for a haunted house.  We went through some beautiful but remote places - such as, on the way back, Kirkcambeck - with some attractive old properties, but a sense of realism reminded me how cut off this area could get in snow in the winter.  I think I've been watching too much daytime TV - Homes under the Hammer, Escape to the Country, Wreck or Ready - as I keep wanting to move house.  The trouble is I'd need a considerably larger budget than we could feasibly garner at present.

Today the Baby and I met up with Running Friend P., who hadn't seen him since he was a couple of days old, saw some people at my former office, and then went to Keswick for lunch with the friend who adopted a girl this time last year.  The daughter is about a year older than mine, and the friend had brought some of the clothes she had grown out of for mine.  When we got home this evening there were lots of excited exclamations as each item of clothing was taken out of the bag and admired.  Daughter's summer wardrobe is sorted!  I'm sure there are some clothes in her wardrobe that she has hardly ever worn, and some that she will never wear: she has far more clothes than I have.

The Baby also has lots of clothes, and having sorted out the 3-6 month clothes for him (he's been eating so much he's already in the smaller end of size 3-6 month clothes now, having mostly grown out of 0-3 months) I realised that all the ones we'd been passed on from the little boy down the road are actually not needed, as we've been given so many.  We've had two more parcels this week, one with a pair of 'tigger' slippers for him which are dead cute (but fall off rather easily, unfortunately).

I was going to write my Opera Programme this evening and I really ought to do some singing practice, but despite the not-too-bad night last night the fact remains that being awake at 4.30 a.m. for an hour is not a normal part of an 8-hour sleep, and I was awoken again by Husband's alarm going at 6.30, so I think I shall do the Baby's bottles and hang up the washing and go to bed.  I am getting very bad-tempered - impatient, frustrated, resentful - and it must be a lot to do with tiredness.  I just wish there was more time to get everything done that I want to do, but then there never is enough time - nor money - for absolutely everything.  At least I'm planning on living to 100, so I shall do my extra degree in French and Italian joint honours some day: I should still get 30-odd years post-retirement.  Roll on the days when I get a new job paying a huge amount and whereby I only need to work a few hours a week.  Everybody's dream!