Busy day

After staying up until 2 am with various irritants including a tadpole that just wouldn't stop kicking, I was knackered this morning at 7 when it was time to wake up. And still knackered at 7:30, and at 8. Rob left for work, and Linnea went into her room, closed the stairgate and the door, and played all on her own.

So I turned up the monitor, turned off the radio, and went back to sleep until 09:20. That was unbelievable. I wonder if she could make a habit of it? She only called me awake - very politely - when she was pooey and so had to change horsey's nappy.

Now I need to dress, do my hair, drink tea and water, eat breakfast, brush my teeth, wash dishes, tidy the two downstairs rooms, put dinner on, put a load of laundry on, take two things back to Mothercare to exchange or refund (will get the train with Linnea and the sling, to see how it goes without a buggy in the town centre).

Then we need to have lunch and come home, in that order to avoid more washing up, and pack boxes in the spare room for storage.

Wish me luck.

(no subject)

I got the pushchair into town, with Linnea in the sling. We went for lunch first, as we passed the cafe on the way from the station to Mothercare.

The sling needs to be on just right not to hurt, and carrying a huge box in one hand makes that almost impossible. I need part of the fabric over my shoulder and down my arm, to distribute the weight across my back, you see - holding something in that hand works the fabric up again.

However, I'm sure it's just a matter of practice. Linnea really likes the sling and cooperates with getting into it. I'd appreciate any links to pages showing ways of getting big toddlers into the sling for a hip carry - she's about 35lb now, and most of a meter tall (rough measurement shows 92-95 cm).

I spoke to Rob a few times; the work he was doing took longer and longer, until eventually he only got two hours of the four "time off in lieu" he was owed. And he's back in work from just before 7 pm, too, so he'll be owed more for that.

While in town, we managed lunch, returned the unwanted pushchair and got a refund, swapped a top without nursing straps for one with, and looked in three toyshops for baby dolls. They almost all have soothers/pacifiers and bottles, but there is one really ugly naked one without any accessories at all. The main bonus of that one is that the whole doll is hard plastic, so can actually be bathed. I think it will be easy enough to get Linnea a baby doll with wardrobe and nappy change kit - it will just cost more than I had imagined. How naive of me.

After all that excitement Linnea and I went for a snack. She fell asleep on my lap, and Rob showed up, and with his aid in getting the scissors out of a bag I trimmed her fingernails. First time in over a week - they were incredibly long. Then we trekked home and Rob cooked and we ate and Rob put the computer stuff that's not going into storage into the attic. Now I can pretty much box up everything that's left in the spare room and we can shove it in storage for later sorting. It won't be pretty by the time the houseguests arrive but it will be there and habitable. And it will be a sitting room soon, too.

Now Rob is out, and we have no idea how long he'll stay out. I fully intend to put Linnea to bed forcibly again, though the thought of it is making my stomach knot up. She's old enough now not to be seriously damaged by it; she knows that sometimes she has to do what she's told even if she doesn't want to.

Rob has made a doctor's appointment about his knee and his medication. Tuesday morning, the day after he gets back from Canada.

By the time we go on our camping holiday, at the end of the month, we'll really, really need the break. It's a nice, restricted campsite, though, so we'll get that break :)

Sleep!

Rob brought Linnea up to bed this evening, and returned her to bed four times in total, repeating "Nighttime, time for bed." It took 25 minutes for her to stop crying and fall asleep.

That's five minutes less than last night.

We can survive this, all three of us, and in the end it will be better. It will, won't it?

(I chose the phrase because staying in bed is an attainable goal; going to sleep may not be).