Tinkle, Tinkle little star....

I woke at 6.30 to the tones of a three year old singing “Tinkle tinkle little star.” Usually cute but not so much at 6.30 on a Saturday morning! The endless rounds of feeding began not long after that and finally the adults got to eat at 11. By this time my stomach thought that my throat had been cut, but I was the polite guest and waited patiently for my warm croissants! I thought I was the only one in my group of friends who had too much butter, but it turns out that Hels is on the railroad to heart disease too! Washed down by another mug of tea I was finally satisfied and waited to see what the plan was for the day. We were all sat in the kitchen whilst Christopher ran around like a mad thing in his welly boots, Bethan was having a kick around in her play pen and Hels and Pete were exchanging sentences in code. “Shall we do the thing now”, was one of said sentences. Minutes later Helen disappeared and then reappeared with Bethan grunting in her arms, holding an envelope. I assumed we were going to have a walk into the village and post a letter and have a trip to Somerfield whilst we were there, but Hels came over to me and gave me the envelope. On the front was written “Aunty Cath”. Thinking it was an invitation to the christening of Bethan I opened it to find out when I’d need to book holiday for. I pulled the card out (handmade with a picture of Bethan on the front), opened it and read “Dear Aunty Cath, please will you be my Godmother? Love and hugs, Bethan xxx”. It was at this point that I welled up and asked in a squeaky high pitched voice, “Really?!” So I was passed Bethan who grunted in my arms for a little while before she wanted her mum again and later in the day we celebrated with a bottle of champagne and a Chinese for dinner.

The day was wonderfully sunny so Helen and I took the kids out to Tesco. Not much of a trip but she needed to stock up on a few bits for the kids. I felt so proud as I pushed Bethan in her pram; people would look in and coo over how gorgeous she is. Both were as good as gold when we were going round, Bethan slept a lot and Christopher just chewed on a cucumber which was still in its wrapping!

When we got home we sat in the garden with the kids. It amazed me how many birds they get in their garden. Back down south we only get a couple of robins, a pair of doves and the occasional blackbird with a scattering of dunnocks. Up north though they had doves, blackbirds, woodpeckers, sparrows, wagtails, loads!

Evening time came and so did the time for the kids to head to bed. We’d already put in our order for dinner so that was sorted. Bed time there is run to a set routine.

First it’s antibiotic time for Christopher, then teeth time, then night night water. After that we have puffer time and finally nappy time. I’ve never truly appreciated how gross poo is until it’s on a nappy infront of you stinking the room out! Grim stuff! Progress tonight though, Christopher lent over so I could give him a goodnight kiss! So cute!

Once Christopher goes up they bring Bethan down to the front room to sleep coz Christopher has a habit of banging on the wall which’ll just wake her up and set off a whole chain of screaming. At 10.30 it’s time for the last feed before bed. That takes about 15 minutes and is usually completed with Bethan sleep feeding! It amazes me because she didn’t even wake up when her nappy was changed either!

At 11 it’s flake out time for everyone. Bethan comes upstairs and we’re all so shattered that we head to bed fighting to stay awake till we’re changed and safely in the bed, whilst trying not to tread on squeaky floor boards and wake sleeping little people.

Today I feel that Christopher has got a lot more used to me. He’s happy to play peek-a-boo round the side of the house and plays around me rather than on the other side of the room. That has to be progress.