I Am That Dad

I received an early Christmas present from Noah last night and even though I've yet to open any others, I think it might be the best one of the year.   He slept right through!  I can count the number of times that has occurred on... well on three of my fingers actually. Needless to say I had to check on him repeatedly as I was worried that he hadn't woken as usual. So I still didn't sleep particularly well anyway, but I did sleep in my own bed for once, even though we had to share that with little Ellie. I really hope that she will be a better sleeper than Noah.

Christmas time is approaching fast, in fact it is just two sleeps away and I am delighted to say that all our Christmas present shopping is finally complete, no last minute Christmas Eve panic for us. Of course there is still all the food and nibbles to get, but I don't find that nearly as stressful for some reason.  However, a  couple weeks ago whilst out shopping for various nieces and nephews, Nikala was with Noah in a big toy shop and Noah saw a giant dinosaur. Noah took such a fancy tot his behemoth of a beast that he carried that t-rex all over the shop, even though it was almost as big as him. The only way Nikala could persuade him to put it down was to say: 'You never know, maybe Father Christmas will bring it for you.'  Fast forward a couple of weeks to last night and we are in the front room.  Noah is rooting around in Nikala's handbag which is hanging at the end of the banisters at the bottom of the stairs. Then this convers...

I may have mentioned before that being a working father like most other fathers, I usually miss all the "firsts" for our children. On Monday 3rd November 2014 whilst travelling to work, I received a text from Nikala informing me that Ellie had rolled from front to back for the first time. Great news of course, but once again I had missed it, and although I knew I would get a repeat performance it is never the same as being there for the first time when your child does something new or reaches one of those pivotal developmental stages. I appreciate that it sounds a little silly to be upset about missing something as "unimportant" as a child rolling from its back to its tummy, but when it is your own child these small achievements suddenly seem monumental and when you miss all those little things it begins to add up. Before you know it it feels like you are missing your child growing up. As I type this I can imagine my younger self, the one before children reading i...

I understand its fairly common for children to go through a phase of loving dinosaurs, but one of the side affects of Noah's ongoing obsession with all things dino that I hadn't foreseen is just how much I have learnt about them all. I know more Jurassic, or indeed Triassic or Cretaceous, facts now than I have ever learned in my previous 39 years. Much of this is due to having watched Andy's Dinosaur Adventures on Cbeebies several (thousands of) times. I know the theme tune and all his dino raps off by heart and so does Noah. Noah's ability to remember dinosaur facts is positively sponge-like. For instance, Brachiosauruses were very tall, reaching the heights of two double decker buses stacked on top one another, whilst a Stegosaurus was as big as a single double decker bus (I always thought they were more the size of a car). Velociraptors were only slightly larger than a free range chicken and probably had feathers too. I feel cheated and lied to by Jurassic Park! ...

We have been learning numbers for a while now, for the last few months Noah has been getting to grips with numeracy. Noah immediately grasped the concept of counting and recognised spoken numbers as a countdown (or indeed up) to something, the start of a race for example. Its just that he wouldn't necessarily say the right numbers in the right sequence. We would often be in the garden racing each other from end to end and he would stand there and "count" us in. 'Two, four, ten GO!' he would shout before tearing off down the garden, cackling in delight. He also quickly made the connection that numbers often referenced more than one of something. When a single piece of mango was placed on his plate he would immediately look up and politely ask 'Two, four, ten now?' Noah can now count from 1 to 10 and I am immensely proud, though I should probably acknowledge the fact that it is more of a recital of sounds rather than an understanding what th...

There we were, driving along, I forget where to, and Ellie was crying. Not an unusual occurrence in the car due in part to the fact that she doesn't like the car seat. Doesn't like it at all. But today there is another reason. Noah is making the most unpleasant of screeching sounds at the top of his voice. It went something like this: "yeeaaaaaaaaeeeeeaeeeaeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaeeeeaeeaeaeaeeeaecccch" only longer. So much longer. Words cannot convey the sort of noise that he was emitting.  "Enough Noah!" Nikala says.  "yeeaaaaaaaaeeeeeaeeeaeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaeeeeaeeaeaeaeeeaecccch" responds Noah "Noah that is enough. You are upsetting Ellie!" Repeats Nikala, trying again. "yeeaaaaaaaaeeeeeaeeeaeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaeeeeaeeaeaeaeeeaecccch" "Right, if you don't stop making that noise I am going to take away your fire engine!"  Oh dear, I think to myself, we've reached that bad stage of ne...

One of Noah's favourite games at the moment is Hide and Seek. Mostly his hiding places involve lying face down on the sofa with a cushion over his head, his bum and legs clearly marking his location. But if for some reason that wasn't enough for me to find him, his giggling would certainly give him away anyway. "Daddy... Daaaaaddddy! Hiding daddy!" Giggles. Of course I play up to it for effect: "Well, I cant find Noah anywhere..." barely suppressed giggling ensues... "phew this is hard work, I think I will sit on the sofa for a bit and have a rest while I think..." More giggling. "Gosh this is a lumpy sofa, and why is it making so much noise?" Giggling. "hang on a moment, this sofa has a bottom!" The giggles escalate to full laughter and wriggling. "Hey! It's not a sofa its Noah!" Even from the very beginning I have been impressed with his patience though. He would stay in his "hiding place" for a ver...

Bedtime. As most of my regular readers will know we struggle a little with bedtimes in our house. Noah hates to sleep, it just gets in the way of playing. He considers it a total waste of his time and to be fair, I find it hard to argue with him as I have felt the same way about sleep for most of my life. Until becoming a parent that is and somewhat surprisingly (to me anyway) I find it has gone up more than just a few notches in value now that I don't get any of it at all. Sometimes I stumble into work in the morning, only recalling the night before in a bit of a haze, and I have scratches and bruises I cant explain. I am beginning, and not for the first time, to wonder if I am living out the plot of Fight Club, though as those of you in the know already know. We don't talk about Fight Club. Anyway, back to bedtime. Since Ellie was born, bedtimes with Noah have regressed somewhat. Or perhaps it is because we have hit the so called 'terrible twos'. Maybe both. In any ...

So last night this happened. I am reading Noah his bedtime story, one of his favourites, Dinosaurumpus, when he decides he would rather have mummy put him to bed.  'Away daddy, away.' he says, 'Aww dont you want me to read you a story? Daddy hasn't seen you all day.' I reply. 'Away daddy away' this time emphasising his desire with an open palm shove to the face. 'Hey that's not nice, don't push me. Especially not in the face.' I say, trying not to make too big a deal out of it. 'How about I just finish this book then? We're nearly at the end and this is one of my favourites.' 'Kay. Finish book daddy.' Im pretty chuffed, I feel I have negotiated quite well there, with no drama or tears and Noah has been very grown up about the decision. Then, leaning across me Noah reaches over to the book and flips to the last page. Looking up at me with a look I can only describe as slyly smug he informs m...

Well some perhaps... Nearly a full month ago now, we bought Noah his first "big boy bed". We have tried to make a bit of a big deal out of how cool it is to have his own room and his own bed, and it seems to have been working. We have been reading his stories in there every night, but when actually going to sleep he  wanted to come into our bed still, with either Nikala or I transferring him to his own bed once he was asleep. Things progressed and he started to want to go to sleep in his own bed at first. Not all the time, but occasionally. He would of course still wake in the night and return to our bed, taking up most of it and pushing the covers right down as he hates to have his legs covered up. Sunday night on the 22nd June 2014 we had a breakthrough. Noah went to sleep in his bed. Stayed there all night and woke up after me when I was getting ready for work in the morning. Amazing! Let me reiterate just how amazing this was. For the last two years, one month, ...

You may recall that I was mid preparation for Noah's 2nd birthday party which was all arranged and happened to fall exactly two weeks after Ellie was born. So you can imagine the state of mind both Nikala and I were in whilst I was also running around frantically trying to put into action all my plans for the ensuing Minion madness. Yes, I was pretty stressed. Anyway as promised here is my Minion cake creation. I actually found a great recipe that froze well, allowing me to bake the cakes a week or two in advance and reducing the panic on the night before. A little. Well OK I was still pretty panicked and with panic comes just a hint of anger and frustration. So sorry to anyone that found themselves around me for those last few hours building up to the big event. Cakes wrapped and ready for freezing. And now thawing ready for the build. Beginning to take form. The sandwich layers are stuck together with chocolate ganache. And then covered with a "cru...

One month ago Noah's little sister Ellie was born and he has found it quite a challenge adapting to the new arrival. He has actually reacted very positively for the most part, but there are obviously warring emotions within. He is wrestling with the excitement of being a big brother, wanting his little sister to sit on his lap, to come with him everywhere, to play with him, to bath with him and to sleep with him in his new big boy bed. But at the same time there is a frustration and jealousy showing through. Occasional hitting and pulling of arms and legs and general roughness.  Which though difficult is understandable given that until a month ago he was the centre of attention for not only his mummy and daddy, but also his Grandma and Granddad. It has been a big change and for the most part I am very proud of the way he is adapting. That's not to say there hasn't been a a couple of undesirable incidents. there has been some pushing and fighting occurring with his cousins, ...

It was at about this time last year that I should have been preparing for Noah's first birthday party. But with nearly six weeks to go I thought I had all the time in world. At 4am on the morning of his birthday party, up to my elbows in icing sugar and green food colouring, staring at the myriad of bowls and cakey paraphernalia surrounding me like General Custer's last stand, I sorely regretted that cavalier decision. Furthermore I asked myself the very serious question of 'why on earth was I killing myself to make and decorate a dinosaur cake he definitely wouldn't remember and probably wouldn't even taste?' Well, I guess it was for me. I wanted to celebrate my little boys first birthday party. The making of that cake was so stressful that the thought of writing about it and reliving those events proved to much for me to bear! How awful of me not to write about Noah's birthday in the very blog I created to record experiences such as these. Well the time ...

Over the last couple of weeks Noah has become much more daddy oriented. I am definitely the one in favour at the moment and I have to admit, I quite like it. It can be tiring of course but its lovely when I get home after a hard days work to be excitedly greeted as I walk in the door. Little feet scampering as my key turns the lock, excited cries of "Daddy,daddy, daddy! Happy! Happy! Daddy, happy!" Ahh my little Noah! I exclaim. I'm happy to see you too. Did you have a good day? Come and give daddy a big hug and tell me all about it. We let Noah watch Despicable Me 2 recently, realising too late that it was probably somewhat inappropriate for a nearly two year old.  Since seeing it though, he has become completely obsessed with Minions. If you are unfamiliar with the film, the Minions are Dr Gru's (the main character), well, minions or henchmen if you prefer. They are cute little yellow things that generally mess up most of the time in a lovable way. Noah has a...

Sunday. It's raining and windy, a bad combination, cold. We wanted to do something fun with Noah, something out of the house, but it's raining and the previously planned outing to the park with the swings is a definite no go. I cannot take any more Pepper Pig and I want us to get out of the house and do something, anything. February is the shortest month yet manages to feel so very long. 'Never mind, why don't we go swimming, you can show me your excellent kicking.' I say. Noah had been telling me quite emphatically how well he was doing at his swimming lessons and by that, I mean he said 'kick, kick ,kick' and proceeded to demonstrate his very good leg work whenever anyone talks about swimming. 'Would you like that Noah?' I asked. 'Would you like to go swimming with daddy?' 'Kick, kick, kick' he said again. I took that to be a yes. Arriving at the leisure centre training pool, we were hit by a wall of heat and humidit...

Several weeks ago, on a morning much like any other, you know the ones, the kind when you are rushing around getting ready for work, the little one asleep upstairs, his grandma also asleep in her bed, and we were whispering to each other in the hushed, yet urgent tones reserved for tired and irritable parents trying to get out of the house to go to a job neither of us wanted to go to and without waking up the household in the process, all while still half asleep. That particular morning went something like this: 'Have you unlocked the door?' Nikala asked quietly. 'Yes.' I respond. 'What?' 'Yes, I've unlocked the door!', I hissed back. 'Ok. I need to get the change bag out of the car for mum.' 'What?' I ask. 'I need to get the change bag out of the...nevermind' 'Oh, the change bag. You need to get it out of the car for your mum remember', I whisper back. 'I know! That's what I said!' Nikala whi...

As has become somewhat customary, I shall begin this post with an apology for not writing more regularly. I actually have a number of half written posts that never made it to the light of day (or flickering light of an old monitor as the case may be), chiefly due to a simple fact I had previously overlooked, that being a dad is exhausting. Or perhaps I did write about them and have forgotten, as that is also a very real possibility with my soupy brain. Here are some of the topics I was going to write about but instead drooled in a corner: First steps / New shoes Summer holidays First flight in an aeroplane More water baby antics / getting his first swimming badge Learning to use a spoon / There is no spoon (a little Matrix quote there for you) The desperation of a parent on a road trip with no food and a starving toddler / My Kentucky Fried Shame Will we ever sleep again / I no longer have a bed. As parents we all eagerly await the next developmental stage for our children,...