Almost 8 months old

 Well, what a fabulous 8 months it has been. Our Grandson is the most placid, clever, cuddly, busy boy who is coming on in leaps and bounds. He is the double of his mum, my gorgeous daughter, when she was a baby and is very quickly following in her little tiny footsteps, around the furniture! 

Here’s the little snow leopard watching the snow yesterday! 

By 6 months he was sitting up, had 2 bottom teeth and was rolling over roll poly style, back and forth to get to where he wanted. He then by 7 months was crawling and pushing him self back up into sitting. He has been pulling himself up cruising round the furniture for two weeks now and he’s not actually 8 months old until the 30th! 

He’s very pleased with himself! Especially, my daughter says, in the middle of the night, when cruising round his cot, bobbing up and down singing Yar Yar Yar at the top of his little voice! 

That is where he and she differ - he’s yet to sleep absolutely through, whereas she was by now. He’s still breastfed 80% of the time - he will take a bottle when out and about so she can enjoy a coffee with both hands! He is enjoying exploring all kinds of food. Wearing it, smushing it, haha. 

Very refined! 

Clean up committee on stand by! 

I am wholly aware that I have the privilege of looking back with very rose tinted specs on but she and her brother, were easy babies. It’s all new fangled tummy time and baby led weaning these days, but each generation will parent their way. 

We see him every four weeks or so and face time once a week. He does smile and babble at the camera and respond to our voices. He is just a little darling boy. 

Christmas will be different this year as for the first time ever, we won’t be at home. We are going to stay with our daughter! I suspect I will still be hands on for the Christmas Dinner though. I am looking forward to it. It will be hard not seeing our parents on and around the day but it is just a day. When my daughter was worrying about not having a table, I said we’d borrow a fold up one, or bring my one from ikea from my craft room or they could get one themselves. They are good - a tabletop and screw in legs - not very expensive. Their house is lovely and in the kitchen where a table would go, is a breakfast bar that’s not practical for dining! Her and her Dad said we could just have a buffet. She was aghast! I guess she wants to recreate her childhood Christmasses like I did. They will take him round to see his other Nanna and Grandad on Christmas morning. They are spending it with their daughter. 

Two things I have made very very clear to my two is never ever worry about accommodating us at Christmas in the form of ‘well we had them last year, it’s now your turn’ and to not even flinch or feel guilty if the time comes and I need to go into a care home. I’ve said quite forthrightly, I do not want to die at home and I do not want them to feel like they HAVE to deal with me at home for my sake. I mean, if I die at home by accident then no one can do anything about it. I said that they have to detach themselves and know that it doesn’t mean they’ve failed me or love me less. Feel no guilt. When it gets to the point I cannot manage, or I’m left on my own for hours between carers popping in, I’d like them to get me in a nice comfortable Shady Pines ( have always said they better earn mega bucks to pay for a decent one haha ) and visit weekly so they can live their lives and be my children not my carers. Same for their Dad. Obviously this will never happen because me and him are invincible and will naturally live forever!  Gosh this all got a bit dark! 

Storm Bert proved intrusive in the night. I was woken by a scared Bluebell sitting on my head pawing my face. I could hear her tail wagging and hitting the headboard…only the HG was waking up too and said that the noise was not her tail it was the noise of the rain coming in! Well we both leapt up. It was 1am ish and the noise was the rain coming in through the roof and hitting the plaster board of our bedroom ceiling! Fortunately it wasn’t coming right  through but you could definitely see where there was a sag! So the HG got up and got the ladders and a bucket and went in the loft to install emergency rain drop storage. He will have to go up once it’s light to have a proper look see at the damage! I might suggest he get the tree down whilst he is up there!) 

I’ve never ever put my tree up before 10th December and part of me is thinking should we even bother if we are not here? And also part of me is thinking well I have spent a fortune over the years on decorations, and it is so dark, let’s get them up early to cheer ourselves up! But no, I do think, I will resist and maybe wait another week! 

TV - I have to say I am really enjoying this Year’s I’m a celebrity jungle programme. Most years I’m not reet arsed about it but I like the people they have in this year and I’ve just been entertained which is what it is for! I’ve not watched Strictly this year after being a super fan for 4 years haha- that’s all I’ve ever watched. 

We love Taskmaster on ch4. I do really like Greg Davies. Well they have a Taskmaster for children and although some of the children make my teeth itch, it is again, good entertainment in a world of war with Russia and Gaza, cost of living crisis doom and gloom, energy hikes etc. look I know I am a whole lot luckier than others; I get to moan about going to work but it pays for what I like to do. My wants rather than needs. I work bloody hard for it too. Often far more than my contacted 35 hours. My role has evolved into some kind of family support worker/social worker/children’s counselling service and the trauma I am taking home with me some days is epic. And the paperwork and admin that goes along with it is epic. And the thresholds to get help for families and children are so high it is frustrating beyond belief. But would I want to be teaching again in the classroom? Good grief no way! I am lucky I have been able to evolve in my role at the same school which I can get to in two minutes walk. 

Reader, I am lazy hahah 

Other updates, I am knitting a cardigan for my little cherub. He’s outgrown most of his others so they do take me a little longer now. This one is fisherman’s rub with a cable up. I love knitting fisherman’s rib. Cabling is a pain in the arse but I never fail to be impressed with how the magic happens from just manipulating sticks and wool. Sewing - I have started on a fabric advent calendar with pockets ( I say started - I’ve ironed the fabric ) and a stocking for the baby. 

Deciding which colour way for his stocking - I chose the blues.

I’ve already done one Christmas jigsaw 

This was the last jumper I knit for him. 

and am itching to start another but have given myself a deadline of finish the cardigan first. I’m on sleeve number one and most people on here who have been here for years will k ow I’m not a fan of sleeves! I can’t do two at once because I’ve only got one ball of wool. I’m going to add some photos to this post, make a brew and put an episode of something on whilst the rest of the house sleeps and I’m going to knit. Then I’m going to go in my craft room for a bit to sew. Then it will be off to make ma in law’s lunch - she really has deteriorated with her dementia/Alzheimer’s. She doesn’t remember our names. She thinks the HG is one of her brothers. It is soul destroying actually. I’m making Roast Pork for tea for a change with veg and trimmings. 

I made the HG some cheese and bacon scones yesterday thanks to a certain advert on the telly with Dawn French in it. Mine did not look like theirs but he said they were delicious. I had one with some veg soup for my tea last night and it was tasty. It was an online recipe. 

I am having to be careful with food at the minute but more on that next time. It’s 7.28am. Madam is squeaking at me to let me know it is well past her breakfast time ( she slept in a bit after the middle of the night shenanigans! ) but 7am means food! 

Hope all is well in your world x

Rachel

The best 9 weeks ever!

 I have been a Nanna for Nine Weeks and I flipping well love it! (And a dog Mummy for 6 years now! ) 

He is a sweet natured adorable little boy. My girl is doing a brilliant job of being a Mummy. He looks like a perfect mixture of them both and I can see his other Nanna’s face a lot of the time! We always say truthfully he looks like his Dad when he’s crying and his Mum when he’s smiley haha 

Round up of stuff I normally speak of! 

Garden - the irises bloomed brilliantly. My native bluebells got fewer and Spanish ones got rampant. Have got some more native bulbs to put in the back end. Peonies were lovely. My rhapsody in blue rose is heady and bountiful. My rhubarb is a bit weak this year. 

Kitchen - not done so much baking. We have a new air fryer and I think it’s brilliant. I cook lots of things in it - not just sausages and chips etc I’ve just got some coffee capsules for my machine to make iced coffee. I’ve never had it and not sure I fancy it but most people say it’s nice so I’ll try owt once ! 

Diet - well same old nonsense as per

HG- best Grandad ever! 

Son - most reluctant Uncle so far hahah resists the urge to pick him up but we’ve seen him looking at him with love! Work is going well and he now has one of the work’s vans. Still single but he seems happy. 

Dogs - Freddie will soon be 8 and Bluebell just had her 6th birthday. They are the same daft Spanners as ever taking up all the room they can! 

Work - interesting every single day! Soon be the big hols but 7 gruelling weeks to get through - which I will be far too hot ( see diet above ) and moody - see menopause below )

Menopause - still not permanently paused sadly! Got to 112 days then back to it! Currently waited 2 weeks now to get an appointment through for a blood test at the GPs. Will contact them tomorrow to see how long I will need. 

Knitting - show and tell next post

Sewing - see above! 

Misc - mind gone blank! Till next time! 

Sat 30th March 11.04pm

 The date and time of my title marks the moment my beautiful daughter gave birth to my beautiful grandson. He is absolutely gorgeous and I LOVE HIM! 

He was due on the 28th but was ok where he was. She had been for a sweep from the midwife two days apart and was 1-2cm on the first and 2-3cm on the second and ‘stretchy’. ( makes me wince! )

I broke up from school on Maundy Thursday 28th and we drove up on Good Friday morning. 

When we got there - the midwife had told her to keep active as her hind waters were leaking so we walked the dogs at a favourite haunt and then once home, she bounced on the big gym ball she had. We had chippy tea which was lovely and all went to bed. Up bright and early I was on Saturday, busy knitting a little hooded jacket as I thought the cardi I knit was going to be too small as they had predicted he weight 8lb 11oz at her final growth scan at 39 weeks. 

Anyway all along I have been convinced it was a girl. Convinced. So I’d done the girl version. It’s Irish moss stitch and I was on my third front. Third because I had gone wrong on my first attempt flipping between pages of the pattern - started the left front for a girl which you had to continue as left front for boy from ** to ** - if you knit, you will know what I mean. But I’d done left front then Co to her as right front which I was baffled at the time because it didn’t make sense but I battled on. New pattern so yanno, was going with it. 

Started again. One side finished. Started the third, went wrong! Had knitted the same side twice! 

Normally I would have turned it over but there’s no bands! Anyway I am now an expert in Irish moss stitch. 

So

Saturday morning she came down stairs saying her waters had broken - no pains so she’d rung the hospital and they told her to lie on her side for 2 hours and then call them back. 

Two hours passed. No pains. Rang them and they said to go in to get checked. This was about 10am. 

They came back. To get her hospital bags! Half an hour later off they went leaving me and the HG all of a dither! We walked Bluebell and Freddie round the local park. They both had a frolick in the stinky ducking and got shouted at by a barnacled goose. They got shouted at by a none barnacled me and put back on their leads! 

Back at the house and hosed off. The HG did some jobs round the house they wanted doing and I sat and knit and washed and waited! She was great - she texted updates not that much updated and indeed what transpired was almost a repeat performance of when I had her! 

She wasn’t progressing despite strong contractions, epidural, no progress, off for c section. The only difference being her epidural never wore off like mine because they didn’t keep her waiting as long as me. She was an emergency in the end - smash and grab and as the HG has kept telling me this week really really traumatic and how poorly I was after. My memories are vague and none existent of her first two or three hours. 

But here they seem to be much better at their care and she went to theatre with her beau and more slice and gently lift a perfect little baby boy was born at 11.04pm 

( she was born at 10pm ) 

He weighed 9lb 8oz ( she weighed 9lb 7oz )

There was a delay between them telling us what they’d had but both the HG and I had said all day that all along we said she was having a girl but we’d changed our minds and decided strongly on a boy! 

Anyway meet Baby GS for anonymity ! Some of my lovely regular readers are now fb and insta friends so will know his name! 

He’s had jaundice like she did so had been in hospital with mum and dad ( dads can stay 24 hours !! ) and is able to

Come home today! 

So the HG been spring cleaning the house that was tidy and clean to start with and that I spring cleaned yesterday!! 

We wait! 

Love from Nanna Rachel!! 

Baby update with 6 weeks to go

 

The wait is unbearable for the HG. For me it is zooming by so fast. Mum to be is blooming nicely. She’s a lovely big round bump and she’s sent me videos of that magical happening of the visible movements of baby. My sister drove my mum and I over for the ( new fangled these days ) baby shower. Her best friends had taken the reins and organised it. It was at the South Causey Inn if anyone knows it. We’ve eaten there a few times. It’s a lovely big sprawling destination pub that does weddings and occasions as well as traditional pubness! 

It gladdened my heart and soul to see she is so loved dearly by all her friends. There were 22 of them! She had expressed that she was not expecting or wanting gifts but if people wanted to, then they were invited to bring a copy of their favourite childhood story, to write a message in it, to start off their own library. I didn’t buy her anything because I don’t believe in baby showers ha. I’ve already been buying little bibs and bobs when I’ve seen them in the sale and not forgetting we bought her the excruciatingly expensive travel system! 

Anyway, what I did gift to her was the baby record books I’d had when she was born. There were two. I’d diligently filled them in until she was probably walking! We used to use double print or triple print photos - you’d send your film away plus a cheque or postal order - remember those!!!!- and you’d get your photo plus a smaller print back and we used the smaller ones in these books or to give to relatives! 

( Poor child of mine number 2, Mr 26, I think had a book but it was nowhere near as filled in as Miss 29! )

Anyway I also gave her the record book from the baby clinic too. Mr 26’s was one of the new ‘red book’ style. Her’s was just a paper book. 

We had afternoon tea. They brought it out on tiny little picnic tables. I say tiny- they were huge. I gasped at how much there was between two only to double gasp when I discovered it was one each! Needless to say xtra boxes were provided to bring things home! It was one of the best Afternoon Tea’s I’d tasted. There was a warm cheese and onion quiche that was divine. The bread was fresh and soft. The fillings were generous. There was cheese and grapes, macarons, raspberry buns, lemon meringue, divine chocolate tiffin, scones, sausage roll, a huge chocolate chip cookie, chocolate mousse tart and then the friends had organised a baby shower cake too! There were games of guess the baby. A little hopes and dreams and a-z baby names booklet to fill in for her to keep. I started off the names sensibly but think the sugar rush from the cake or prosecco sent me giddy and I went rogue and completed the rest with comedy names! 

Her friends had organised those little Polaroid cameras and each guest had a picture taken with mum to be and it went in a little guest book keep sake with a message. There was also a surprise video message collection that her friend had organised in secret! That made us all tear up a bit. It was a wonderful day. 

This was the first point in all of this that made me sad she lives away from me. I know her mum in law loves her and is such a wonderful mum to her too - to be fair she is spoiled by her - she’s been and done the garden, decorated for them and used to take her a cup of tea in bed every morning when they lived with them for a while. I’d not do the tea thing! But I am wallowing and allowing myself to do so because I am two hours away. 

She has a great family support from his family. Her work friend and uni friends are an amazing bunch of wonderful souls and her school friends from here made it over too. We will go over as much as we can and we also have a halfway meeting point set up at Carlisle for impromptu days where it’s only an hour and a bit each for us to travel to it. 

I’ve been busy knitting and in my last post I alluded to it. She requested a Pregnancy Temperature Blanket. Now I’d heard of Temperature Blankets before and my old school friend has made one for last year but in crochet. Now I can crochet a little bit. I don’t love it as much as knitting - so I decided to knit it. Basically you choose colours of wool to match the daily temperature recorded. It took us ages to fully choose and eventually after much debate and photos back and forth between us and at an eye wateringly cost I ordered the wool. I mocked up using paper the finished estimated size ( now I know how much I UNDER estimated ) and decided on 132 stitches - wish I’d done a few more but the internet seemed to agree and what I seem now to be making in essence is a super long striped scarf…..or stair carpet! It won’t be as thin once off the needles obviously but we’ve decided I’m going to sew it folded in half so it’s warmer and smaller! I had planned on backing it with soft fabric. The HG said I should restart it and  double the stitches. After telling him my own suggestion involving long runs off short piers and the fact that the blanket would cost over £100 in wool, he now keeps his opinions to himself! So here’s some photos to share the progress thus far. Annoyingly they have not come out in order! But you get the jist! 

Mum to be’s idea

We did eventually made the temperature gauge smaller to allow for more stripes! 

This is what £60 of wool looks like! I bought some for a little jacket project too. 

Using an old diary for the notes so ignore the October! 

My estimate!! Ha! 

Originally planned on white border - I didn’t like it! So did two starts….

It does keep me warm as I knit! 

Love the cooler shades. 

Of course they don’t happen in the nicely graded colour way so next time I wouldn’t be so stressy over it! I’d also use reds! But Madam didn’t want reds. 

That’s about half done! The deep gingerbread stripe is their week away in Cyprus 30C* daily! 

 I also decided as it is being folded in half I would not be sewing in the ends. The get a smooth colour change I knitted it in stocking stitch just one row each of k and p. Maybe I’d do it differently next time! Maybe I would crochet it and then it would fit a double bed! 

When looking through for photos I found this one of Bluebell carrying her Christmas  frog toy about and it made us laugh like drains at the time! 

Love from 

Rachel *Nanna to be* Radiostar xx