The Sam Camp

is a new thing - constructed every morning on the sofa, it holds room for 2 ba-bas (big), 1 owl and a little boy.

It's been a while

With one thing and another I haven't had time to write for ages - over a month in fact.  Life has been a mixture of unbelievably long hours at work, interspersed with brilliant moments with Sam.  Here are some recent pics of him.  one set when he decided to get dressed in kitchen role and the other enjoying an ice-cream.  He's utterly brilliant as usual.  Starts nursery and swimming lessons in a couple of weeks too.

Cornwall

Just back from a holiday in Cornwall.  Despite rain for most of it (of course), the  break was great. One thing you soon realise about holidays with young kids is that you probably won't come back feeling physically rested but with any luck you will have spent some quality time with your family and that's the best thing for giving you proper perspective on everything that's really important.

We had a proper laugh together and with his mum, dad, huge indoor ball pits, farm animals, the beach and sea to play in, Sam loved every minute of it. 

How to eat an egg

Sam only has two styles of eating.  I think many kids his age are the same:

1)  'Super Model'.  This involves eating one very small thing at a time, such as a pea / piece of sweetcorn, along with the occasional very carefully chosen piece of egg white.

2) 'Henry 8th'.  This is the opposite and entails scooping up as much as you can get your hands on and stuffing it into or around your mouth.

There is a third style but it's not really eating as such.  Based on the Hester Blummental school of food science it involves pouring things into other things and mixing ingredients that don't go together - marmite and apple juice for example.  Sam is really quite good at this.  Shame he doesn't eat any of it afterwards.

Home and away

Leaving your baby is one of the strangest feelings.   You miss them like mad but I am convinced that once in a while it does you good as a couple.  You can't really put a price on the ability to sleep and get a bit of perspective back on the world.  We have just come back from a week in Portugal which we both badly needed.   Sammy spent the week with Jo's parents in Cornwall and by all accounts had a brilliant time.

And although we thought he might be a bit off-ish, he loved seeing us when we got back too.

It's going to be all change for him soon.  Phase 1 is almost over with us getting a new nanny for a couple of days a week and him starting nursery.

And phase 2 will no doubt bring a new round of unexpected highs and lows.   His world and his curiosity will get bigger than ever.  I guess your relationship with your kids is one where you have got to gradually let them go, find their way, experience life when you are not right by their side.  Damn, that seems hard.

It amazing to think nearly two years has gone past.  I know most parents love their kids but he's truely an amazing little boy.

Nice one dad

Some sleep at last. Sam has got through that particular phase and seems to be sleeping a bit better lately which is great and means we both feel a bit more human. Which is nice.
Had a heart in mouth, oh-my-god moment yesterday when I accidentally caught him in the mouth with the end of a broom I was using to sweep the patio. He'd crept up behind me and I just didn't see him. The broom went back and boom. Poor little man. Can there be anything worse than you making you own kids cry???? He was pretty brave to be fair but he's got a bright red welt on his lip today and I feel like the worst dad in the world.

So tired

Parental tiredness is a special kind of tiredness, a slow, creeping, cumulative thing that gradually wares you down over the weeks and months until you can barely keep you eyes open. No amount of all-nighters when you are young prepares you for it.  And just when you think that you have everything under control, it comes back to hit you.
Both Jo and I are going through an on-our-knees-tired phase at the moment. It's a combination of us both having full-on, stressful and emotionally draining jobs, an office that is miles from home and the fact that Sam has started waking up in the night again and then very early in the morning so we never get a chance to lie in.
There is just no time to catch up with yourself and there seems very few opportunities to take a day off either,which means that we are like walking zombies at the moment. And this is with one kid.....
I am sure we suffer more than other couples where one of them is either at home or in a relatively relaxed job. There doesn't seem a great deal we can do apart from try and get into bed early but I find that difficult to do after a stressful day when I really need time to chill out for a bit rather than get straight into bed.
Sam is beautiful and amazing as usual. But he is at an age where he really demands constant attention. I think that we are good at sharing the load but it does mean that we are both as exhausted as each other. Cue short tempers etc. Frustrating.......