LEJOG Week Two...

On my travels this week I managed 91km, two more than last week! I basically only spend four sessions (some as short as 10 mins, longest was 80 mins)in the saddle during the week, mixing it up with some other stuff. I'm starting back on the running (which I used to do lots of in my prime!!!)on Tuesday when I join up with the aptly named Newcastle Veterans Athletics Club.

Here is this weeks map...


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Overall progress map...


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... and a postcard from Launceston!



(If you are wondering what on Earth this is all about. I've decided to try and cycle the same distance from Lands End to John O'Groats on an exercise bike! Don't ask me why... it's not for charity etc ... just something silly that I decided to do one day!)

Zzzzzzz.... Zzzzzzz.... Zzzzzzz....

Alfie has always been a pretty good sleeper, although getting him to sleep has been something of a struggle. Often we were faced with a 30-40 min rocking session and while I might want to get fit I'd rather not do it with a wriggling, crying 9.2kg in my arms!



The good news is that he has started to settled himself most of the time and give us much clearer signals about when he is tired. We love watching him sleep and try to watch him as he wakes up, but we are always to quickly spotted peering in through the door and rewarded with a smile!

Green Fingers...

After the veg patch was completed (... yet to be filled!) we decided that it was time to start planting some of the seeds that Beth bought me for Christmas. We picked up a plastic greenhouse for about £25 and managed to get all the right bits in the right places so that it looked just like it did on the box. Getting inside the thing to tie on the cover and peg it down was like entering a sauna!



.... Still with the greenhouse up it was time to start planting. Now in the future we hope that Alfie will want to get involved in growing stuff although at the moment he doesn't seem prepared to wait for the stuff to grow preferring to attempt eating the seeds rather than plant them!



We now have a tray of herbs on the go as well as a selection of salads, pumpkins, peppers and butternut squash. We'll be taking planting and growing advice from Jamie Oliver's new book "At home with Jamie" which is excellent! We'll keep you posted if anything actually grows...

Smarty Pants...

On Friday Alfie got to meet up with some of his birthing class chums at Smarty Pants. It was a good opportunity to catch up with the other mums, and let the bubs have a good "safe" crawl around. Mums and dad get a coffee while the little-uns get the run of the soft play area. There was plenty to do... some ride in cars, padded things to climb and fall off as well as a small ball pool! You'll see that Alfie is not over keen on the ball pool from these pics...

... It was certainly interesting to see the differences between them all, as there is about three months spread between the oldest and the youngest - Alfie. They are all at different stages and rapidly developing their own little personalities. Cuties all of them!

Virtual LEJOG 2008...

In trying to get fit Beth and I decided to buy an exercise bike, getting out on real bikes can be a bit of a hassle (see previous post!) and with the new job starting next week getting home and then dashing out again to go running, cycling etc isn't really an option. At least with the flexibility of keeping fit at home you can stop and help out with what ever needs doing at any time, watch tv and basically exercise whenever.

One negative about cycling on a stationary bike is that you never actually get anywhere, it can get monotonous! I've managed to listen to a fair bit of music to pass the time and watch a bit of the Australian open tennis, but I am worried that my enthusiasm for being the hamster spinning the wheel will wain! So I proudly announce my LEJOG 2008 Virtual Ride! Basically this will involve me riding the distance from Lands End to John O'Groats (hence LEJOG!), which for Aussie readers is the distance between the bit down south near where we lived up to the bit up top where the Scottish people live. Okay so there won't be the hills, the traffic, the rain and the rolling English (and Scottish!) countryside but it's a challenge and something to aim for!

I'll update each week but last week I virtually managed to get from Land's End to Truro covering 89km. Here's my virtual postcard of Truro Cathedral...


Check out my progress map -


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Crab names...

Despite not seeing one of them for several days all three have survived long enough for you to have a go at naming them. It was a hard choice and so we've tried to be very diplomatic with the choices!!!

Thanks to Hannah and Toby for the name Shelly, although Beth has insisted that it should be spelt Shell-ee! We considered Butterfly Fairy for a long time but it just didn't seem to suit any of them! ;0)


Thanks to the aBeckett's for Perri. We considered Winkle but it made Beth snigger for some reason!!!


Thanks to Theo for Nipper, very apt and as he rightly pointed out it can be shortened to Nip when we need to call him back!



We are currently throwing the words Sand Sea and Surf around at the moment for a name for the whole tank, so thanks for those Ozzie. Beth says that she's going to make a sign post from a lolly stick for them!

Pushbike Problems...

After a week of terrible weather (..no really raining all day but still nearly 30 degrees!) we decided to get out of the house and on to the bikes we shipped half way around the world but have sat idle for over a year. By the time I had fixed the rack to the car and loaded the bikes we had kinda missed Alfie's "sociable" window! Still we ventured on, we parked the car, Alfie had his helmet applied and it was off without too much fuss. Despite having an increasingly large noggin his helmet was still a little loose and would fall down over his eyes blocking out the wonderful view of the lake. Beth said that at one point he was peering out through the holes in the top!


The sun came out and so time to apply the all important sun block, which we had left behind in the nappy bag, all of Alfie's other supplies had been loaded into a rucksack. So before we could do anything else it was off to the supermarket for the lotion. At this point I lost Beth and so she was forced into wheeling her bike (without lock!) through the shopping centre and up and down the supermarket!

With lotion now applied it was back onto the open footpath past the picnic-ers who would often point at Alfie which was somewhat disconcerting as I thought that he may have escaped, be standing up or just dangling precariously. I bet you can imagine the scene the perfect family cycling together alongside a beautiful lake. Well it wasn't quite like that as mummy always seemed to be at least 50 metres behind despite my best efforts to go slow! A later investigation of her bike identified a loose brake part damaged during shipping which meant that her rear brake was on continuously!

After about twenty minutes it went very quiet on the back and the repeated head butts from a cycle helmet in my back told me that Alfie was nodding off. It was time to get him home. With quite a way back to the car, and an exhausted Alfie (... and Mum the brake situation made any forward movement hard!) I decided to go and get the car to save them the cycle. Beth threw me the keys and I was off eventually making it back to the car. The bike was loaded, secured and it was at that point I noticed that Beth had given me the house keys but not those for the car. So it was bike off the rack and cycle all the way back to get the car keys, before turning around again and cycling back to the car.

We eventually all made it home exhausted... a great time was had by all (...I think!) ;0)

A laughing matter...

Since telling you all about Alfie's new laugh a couple of weeks ago he's decided to try out a new one! It basically involves screwing up your nose, grimacing, closing your mouth and sniffing several times! (...Try it out!)It looks more like a sneeze than a laugh but each to their own I suppose!

Update on Alfie...

After Alfie's troubled start to life frequent follow up visits to the hospital have been needed to check that everything is as it should be. We started off with monthly visits, which became three monthly until todays six monthly visit.


The good news is that he continues to thrive and progress exactly as he should, in fact in the words of the Dr. we need to "remind him he's only 8 months!". He now has another visit just after his first birthday and then the doctors are confident that that will be it! In the meantime Alfie will no doubt continue to push his boundaries and collect a few more bumps and scrapes along the way.



... The pictures are of Alfie test driving the walker/rider that Uncle Matt and Auntie Sharron bought him for Xmas.

The Good Life...

Our neighbours would probably say that living next to us is like living next to a real life sitcom, and at the moment we are probably most like the 70's sitcom The Good Life!

Beth and I out in the garden...


Inspired by our neighbours who grow a lot of their own stuff we thought we would have a go. We think it would be nice to spend more time out in the garden (We have this distant dream of a Jamie Oliver type veg patch with me coming in laiden with vegetables to create something pucka!), and it will also be nice for Alfie in the future watching things grow etc. Anyway I managed to get hold of some old fence bits off freecycle and transform them into compost bins and a veg patch...



There was a whole heap of cutting to do using only a handsaw in 35 degree heat. It was OK though as Mitchell came around to help briefly before collapsing on our front lawn! (I kid you not!)


... all we need now is some dirt, seeds, a bit of water and some sunshine! ;0)

Two years ago...

Amazingly its only been two years since Beth and I tied the knot, that may not sound like the most romantic way to open a blog post about our Anniversary but we've crammed in so much that it seems so much longer ago than that!

Our anniversary kicked of with the exchanging cards and gifts before we got down to the harbour for coffee and some amazing cakes. It was great to be out and about and to have a walk along the foreshore. Although it was all too much for Alfie as he crashed out in the stroller.

Later in evening Beth and I took a rare opportunity to get out without the boy. Aunty Amy and Uncle Mitchell came over to baby sit, and did a great job has Alfie has had an interesting week up to that point! We went to a lovely bar and Beth sat in the window supping champagne with strawberries. We then headed off for a meal at our favourite Mexican. It was a little strange being without Alfie but nice to have an uninterrupted conversation and chat about the wedding. For some reason we went in the 4x4 and not Beryl. Beth is still to have her first proper ride in the beetle, I think she might be using Alfie as an excuse!!! Back at home we dug out the Wedding video and chuckled along to that until late.

I've reposted the slide show of our big day... enjoy!

Discussing Diets...

Thought I better update you on the progress of our diets one week into the new year. We managed sensible eating and some exercise and saw some promising results.

I managed to lose 3.9kg which was nearly all that I put on over Christmas and Beth weighed in with a loss of 2.3kg. We'll update again next week!

Out of interest we weighed Alfie (He sat still momentarily on the scales!) he weighed in at 9.2kg!!! He has more than doubled his weight in eight months!

Alfie Month by Month Album update...

I've updated Alfie's month by month Facebook album, but you can check it out at...

Alfie's Facebook Album - Linky

The typical mealtime...

You can no longer have a meal in our house now without a small person inching up your leg to get in on the action! So we decided that we should all eat together with Alfie tucking into his own bowl of finger food, which goes something like this...

"My own bowl thanks...."



"Almost empty..."



"Can I have some more?..."

Convicts....

This weeks educational writing has been about Australia and the arrival of the first fleet of convicts from England (Beth has been writing about dangerous animals!... seems like we are well placed for both assignments!)



There were some interesting discoveries...

The first fleet stopped off in Plymouth (...to pick up most of the cargo no doubt!)While there were no Ivey's on board there was a certain John Walker from London serving a seven year term for stealing a loaf of bread! Most of these convicts were guilty of very petty crimes that were the result of trying to survive the conditions of England at the time. It was hoped they were the pioneers who through hard work and perseverance would make the colony survive and expand to the stage of self sufficiency.

... anyway history lesson over. Class dismissed! ;0)

Fireman Alfie...

...Ready to extinguish any Bush Fire with a constant river of drool!

A is for...

Garden visitors...

Its been a pretty busy week work wise, there is something of a rush on to get Hamilton work finished before the new job starts on the 22nd. Beth and I are now both working in the spare room with the doors wide open to catch any passing breeze, which is lovely and makes me wonder why I denied myself daylight in the corner of the back room for so long!

Anyway one of the trees in the garden is bearing fruit which is obviously far more interesting than the seeds I've been putting out. With camera primed and ready to go on my desk here are some of the birds I've managed to snap...







... (...apologies to all the Australian readers who must be wondering why I've bothered taking pictures of the Aussie equivalent of a Sparrow, Pigeon and Seagull!)

Name Alfie's First Pets....

Choosing a pet for children is always a tough choice, and knowing that Alfie won't be ready to help out with the cleaning and feeding duties for a good few years yet so whatever we decided on needed to be easy to manage! ... so out went the rabbit (...Sorry Beth!)and we decided against birds (... for a while!)

So here they are ... three hermit crabs! They are pretty easy to look after, change the water every day, give them a few sprays of water and some dried shrimp and they're happy! We managed to most of the set up cheap, the tank was free from Freecycle and the sand taken from Alfie's sand pit. Other bits and bobs were picked up cheap from various places. The other things in the tank are to keep them busy as well as a selection of potential new homes for them to move into! The shell doesn't grow with them, they swap it for a larger one as they grow!



Alfie seems quite taken by them and watches them scuttle along.



We got three in various sizes: big, medium and small. Any likeness to their owners is purely coincidental! ;0)

Crab A...

Crab B...

Crab C...


In Blue Peter style it's now up to you to come up with three suitable names before next Monday.... leave your suggestions as comments! Sorry no prizes just the satisfaction in knowing that you named a Hermit Crab which could be with us for the next thirty years!

Sunday ...

Hiya Blog Readers,

Alfie here! Daddy said that it was Sunday and he was right cos the sun came out. Daddy did lots of running around with the mower and other noisy jobs (I don't like loud noises but I was a big boy and didn't cry!) while mummy did some work jobs on her lap top. With all the big people busy I had to amuse myself down at my private beach... check out my sand castles!



Then Daddy fixed my new seat to his bike. He got it for £4 on the eBay. It is very comfy and I loved it but mummy and daddy wouldn't let me go anywhere because I wouldn't keep my hard hat on. Daddy said that I'd had enough bumps for one week! Looks like I'll need to wear the skid lid or no daddy powered rides for me!



Here's a nice picture of me and my mum. I love my mummy...



... lots of love to you all and happy new year!

Alfie
xxx

Yeeee-ow-ch...

I think we have alluded over the last couple of weeks to the fact that Alfie has become much more mobile and in turn a handful. Until last night we had managed to keep any damage down to small bumps requiring "there there" treatment.



I was supporting him at his usual spot where he manages to pull himself up on the entertainment unit. He was pretty steady there with me crouching behind him, that was before he wobbled and fell... I managed to catch him but he caught his head on the now obviously sharp and therefore dangerous metal handle! It wasn't a heavy knock but what appeared to be a graze became a trickle of blood. This was upsetting for Beth and I was devastated because I wanted to have done a better job of catching him. We managed to stop the flow with some cotton wool and attach a plaster. Beth and Brett (who arrived just in time to help out!) made lots of soothing noises which helped.



We removed the plaster this morning without any fuss, he doesn't seem that bothered about the cut, in fact he's struggling more with his cold and the fever he's running. As you can see it hasn't shifted the smile!

The whole incident has made us think even more about the house and how safe it is for Alfie. Many of the cupboards already have child locks, while the dangerous handles have been removed and rubber corner guards stuck to sharp edged furniture. We also plan to buy a proper first aid kit just in case. I guess it also makes us think that accidents happen in seconds and that not all of them will be avoidable!

It wont be Alfie's only accident that's for sure, we were only chatting on New Years Eve about how children need to learn for themselves and in that there is a certain amount of learning the hard way that needs to happen. You can't wrap him in bubble wrap for the rest of his life! Despite being a relatively minor scrape it will certainly live long in the mind as the first!

Creepin Crawlin...

Alfie seems to be learning so fast at the moment, no sooner is he doing something with our help he's doing it all by himself. Here's another a crawling video. He seems to be getting up onto those knees more often, although he likes to move his right leg around in front of his hands at times. This results in a crab like sideways shuffle or a mouth full of carpet!!! .. Come on everyone "hop on board the animal train..."

... Alfie has studied the video and says "Note to self: at no time should legs move faster than arms."



... and check out mum's crawling action!

Christmas Present...

As the Christmas decorations start to come down, strangely most of the locals here took theirs down on Boxing Day, it's time to find places for those Christmas presents. I started by putting up the canvas that Beth bought for me. I love this picture of Alfie with his fist raised defiantly in the air. He's a tough little fighter and that picture captures it. It looks great next to Beth's birthday canvas of the three of us.... professionally hung I think you'll agree!!



The pictures were taken by Jake Thomas - check out Jake Thomas Photography and click on number 8 in the portrait section to see another picture of Alfie.

New Years Resolutions 2008...

Right this year Beth and I mean business, we might update you on progress more frequently to keep them fresh in our minds...

Paul:

1. (Conbtinue to...)Be a good Dad.
2. Get fitter (.... than I managed last year!)
3. Reach target weight though the above and sensible eating.
4. Score a goal for the team. Not really my job but it would be nice!
5. Go surfing (... no this year I mean it!)
6. No beer... during week. (... no small print this year!)

Beth:

1. Reach target weight through sensible eating and exercise.
2. Get out on my bodyboard.
3. Do some crafty things.

Alfie:

1. Start to walk.
2. Be better at putting myself to bed.
3. Leave the DVD player/mobile phone/remote controls alone in favour of my new toys.
4. Keep smiling!

Happy New Year...

So that was 2007... the observant of you will note that its taken me two days to post this message which is closely linked to the fact that our party for the neighbours and assorted chums didn't finish til 3:30pm and Alfie decided to see in the New Year at 4:30am. We've been cat napping since...

Its time to look at some New Year resolutions for 2008 but before that lets take a look back at those from last year...

1. Be a good Dad.
... I did my best. I'll let Beth and Alfie be the judge on that!

2. Get fit!
... Failure! oh dear! I got pretty fit during January, maintained a fitness level during the football season... rubbish since!

3. Get good at Wake Boarding!
... Achieved! Okay so maybe I'm not good but every session I got better!

4. Get a game at any level for the local football side.
... Achieved! Played all season minus a few games missed when Alfie arrived, playing at a higher level next season for another team. Must have done something right!

5. Surf three times a week... dependent on weather conditions/ probability of being eaten/stung!
... Failed! pah board not wetted (is that a word?) since late 2006. I'm lost for an excuse!

6. No beer... during week. (Small print... unless out socialising!)
... Failed! I'm glossing over this one!

Beth's far reaching New Years Resolutions were:

1. Eat an apple everyday!!!
... Beth says that she has eaten more apples but not one every day!

2. Do thirty minutes of something everyday!!!
... Achieved, but she she is including drinking, eating and breathing as I pointed out.