You know, when things are going well, the inclination to write (either fiction or blog) decreases exponentially. Everything is pretty good here at the moment: the extension is being well used; the kids are being cute (most of the time); it’s half term and we’re being half organised with a bit of tidying, cooking and general faffing. All in all, nothing much to report.

By the way, if the fates are listening, this is not a request for more “interesting” things to happen just so I have something to write about, okay?!

Am I the only one that has to resist temptation to set up a game of Pick Up Sticks whenever I get the dried spaghetti out for cooking? Ah, that’d be just me then, eh?

Well, pretty impressed with the pictures from the new camera phone (why do they call them that – after all, isn’t the phone the primary purpose – so why aren’t they called phone cameras?!) – you can see a few up on my Fotothing pages.

I’ve also been playing with the video mode. Frustratingly they’re in MPEG4 format, so you’ll need quicktime to view (and I don’t have anything to hand at the moment which will convert to an .avi) but they’re not bad quality considering. Sound is a bit quiet on them, but otherwise not bad at all.

Brief clip of Li’l Bhaji with his walker.

I’m an incurable eavesdropper, I have to confess. I love hearing random snippets of conversation completely out of context and making up my own background for fun.

Today I walked past a woman with two children in tow, with a crumpled up raincoat draped over the buggy. I heard “well, Mummy is hoping it doesn’t rain as her coat is filled with glue.” As I went by we shared a wry smile in a “kids, heh” kind of way. I sooooo want to know the background to that one, sounds like her day was interesting…

Yes, Li’l Bhaji stood on his own two feet without holding on today! I’m not 100% sure that he even realised what he was doing and was too busy playing with the toy in his hand. He certainly looked bemused enough when I cheered. He seems to be doing so much at the moment – walking confidently holding on to his little car, making more sounds (and words, ish! Proto-words maybe). Even cut a new tooth (he’s getting them all out of order – doesn’t the kid know he’s supposed to read the book?!).

As a knock on effect, Akra Jr has been feeling rather sensitive and has fallen out of love with his brother somewhat, just as I was feeling smug that actually, they got on pretty well. This week has been all “no, that’s MINE! I had it FIRST! GO AWAY!” – I’ve got years of this to go, haven’t I?! Argh! We had a sit down and a chat, he informed me that Li’l Bhaji wasn’t his friend and I reassured him that it was okay not to like his brother sometimes, that of course it was acceptable to be cross with him (as long as it wasn’t expressed by hitting or pushing) and that yes, sometimes it did suck to have a brother who shared his toys, his space, his time, and his Mummy. We also discussed alternative activities he could do if he felt he needed to get away from Li’l Bhaji for a short while so he could cool down.

I just hope it helped a little.

The BBC is on strike today, and I’m amazed at how disorientated it has made me feel. Am suffering withdrawal symptoms from the Today programme and I’m sure that was instrumental to me getting up late and that has impacted all the way through my Monday routines. It does make you realise just how much the BBC is part of your life when a one day strike makes you miss it like crazy.

Just curious – what activity helps you unwind, take stock and generally make you feel much better about yourself?

I think my favourite activity of that ilk is a little strange – I like being a passenger on long car journeys. Maybe because when I was a teen, one of the few Sunday afternoon activities both my parents and I would tolerate regardless of weather would be a car trip exploring all the “unsuitable for motor vehicles” roads in our area – I would plug myself into my walkman and drift off into a world of my own, gazing at the scenery around.

It’s just such a mix of different relaxants. It’s time to think, to mull over recent events, to assess how things are going with my life. The lulling feeling of being in a car anyway. Suitable music on the car stereo (I find music a huge natural mood altering substance anyway – if I’m feeling low then cranking up cheery loud singalong music can be a big help to getting me back on track) and if I’m really lucky, bright sunshine through the glass to warm your skin (while having perfect climate controls inside of course, although that’s a relatively new development!) Hopefully, the kids have dozed off in the back as well, so responsibilities are nil for a little while.

It may not be a particularly environmentally friendly way to get chill out time, but as long as we had to take a trip anyway, it’s a great way to find a little sanitized bubble of existance for a couple of hours – it’s not as if you can get on with anything else.

What do you do when you need a little time out?

Sorry I’ve been a bit quiet of late. It’s been birthday birthday birthday birthday here (it was Akra’s and my brand new baby nephew’s on Monday), oh and I’ve been on a nice relaxed go slow mode too now we’ve got lots of lovely extension space.

Have you noticed how, when you’re young – the best presents are BIG. Whereas when you’re an adult, the smaller the gadget the better? What’s with that? And at what age does it switch over?

Talking of small gadgets, I’ve felt very jealous of all these birthdays in the household when mine was all the way back in February, but then I realised that I’d had my mobile for almost TWO YEARS without an upgrade. So I’m switching to 02 and getting a Samsung E720 to play with. Much smaller than my current phone and has a megapixel camera – because I was getting a bit short of cameras in this household…

This entry is a bit disjointed – I do apologise. My mind is just elsewhere today. If you find it, please stick a stamp on it and post it back to me… ta.

Just a quickie…

… is a recipe with oyster sauce in it suitable for a one year old?

Well?

Li’l Bhaji has been saying “Dadadadadada” with abandon and occasionally “Dadadee” while looking directly at Akra. But also babbles those consonants whenever he feels like it too. Does he associate some form of “dada” with Akra? Sometimes I wonder if he thinks it’s the word for window, because whenever he approaches the front window while being cuddled (the place we go to wave Akra Jr off to nursery in the morning) he’ll wave one arm madly in an approximation of a wave and say “DADADA!” Does that count?

He also makes DEFINITE “brum brum” sounds when rolling a car on the carpet. Very deliberate and no mistaking his intention. Does that count?

I’m also *fairly* certain he made a “RAR!” sound in connection to a toy lion the other day too. I’d been going through a set of plastic animals saying what they were and the sounds they made, he seemed to like the lion best though. Does that count?