Norovirus anyone? Anyone?!

It swept through the house last week on a explosive wave of gargling guts and rapid toilet visits.

[Apologies too graphic..]

Unfortunately I was the only one who got washed away in its path. First that horrible throbbing body ache, followed by an alarming bubbling of the digestive tract, culminating in the floodgates opening as the body screams 'Enough!!' I was lucky that Diz didn't shake anything further loose as she leapt on my stomach and kneed me in the groin whilst I lay in bed. My body needed no further help in sabotaging my day which culminated in being nearly unable to hold my head over the toilet whilst being sick into it..

I didn't fancy falling in afterwards, I can tell you.

Still, I recovered enough the following day. I went to an interview and promptly snagged the job which was offered. It starts in March, and I'll have to say goodbye to this free Wednesday I've come to enjoy so much.  Will update you more as the time approaches..

Here are some pics from our latest IOW visit.

X, D and I on the beach at Shanklin in the wind and driving rain.

 

Diz fresh out of the bath. Late Jan 2014

From Behind The Pushchair II

After a particularly eloquent paddy this morning, Little D taught me something new...

..she's starting to learn her letters.

With a grin on her face she pointed at the letter 'C' on my shirt and happily declared 'C!' And to emphasise the point she gestured to another 'C' on my shirt and said 'C!' again! My little girl is starting to read and I find that fact astounding. 

A.

What's going on behind those big old eyes?

Diz loves my phone. Her latest thing is to use the photo enhancer app to adjust the many pics I have taken and stored upon it. This is one of my favourites. Taken at Xmas, here Little D has an enigmatic Mona Lisa-esque quality about her which I adore.

353 days till Xmas..

(I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong. You know who you are!)...

Here's a rapidly pondered paragraph before I gotta deal with life (and a bawling Diz upstairs).

Life just goes by too fast, you know. You spend a month planning for Dec25 and all that goes with it, and boom! It's gone. Gotta take a few New Years breaths and gather some thoughts together for 2014. 

The Kids are going great guns right now. X is a mixture of energetic puppy and worldly teen who always has something intriguing to say (often in the most circuitous manner). D right now is in her bed, I've put her down for a nap after lunch, but she's just not having it. Every 20 secs I'm hearing a little shriek as she's expressing her displeasure (she's good at that). Hopefully she'll settle soon...

I've got my birthday coming soon (the 12th) and when asked how old I was recently couldn't give an immediate answer! Was it the result of poor sleep, or dealing with the needs of a toddler or do I care that much any more?  When you're keyed into the welfare of little ones about, a personal milestone tends to pass you by. X on the other hand is now focusing on his next bday keenly. He'll be 9, and a charming, fully faceted 9 at that. X reminds me of one of those no-frills sports cars, he'll get you to where you want to go, but the ride can be a hectic but satisfying experience at times.

Little D is 2 at the end of Feb and becoming more of a wonder every single day. The individual words she says are becoming clearer and more frequent amongst the toddler talk. Her word of the moment which she declares with some relish is "No!', sometimes with two or even three syllables, depending on how annoyed, upset or irritated she is. Another favourite is the name of her favourite TV character, Spongebob Squarepants can be a mouthful for those who have already mastered talking so Diz settles for 'Bobpants' instead. This has many different intonations (in a similar way to the fact that the Eskimos have seventeen different terms for 'snow':

• It can be jubilant as in 'I'm watching Spongebob, hooray!"
• It can be irritated as in 'Turn of the news, I wan't to watch Spongebob!'
• It can be despairing as in  'You're taking me upstairs to bed when Spongebob is on the telly!'

And a host of others.

And what about me? I'm plugging away at life. Expect another countdown calendar soon, this time for our move it the summer. What should I call it? Moving Day? Wight Day? Any ideas? X's final school day is Weds July 23rd, so that's 197 days to go...

We got so much to do so I better get on with it.

Cheers,

Alex