Fishies

My new pre-loved fishes arrived yesterday and we took it out for a walk today. So far I've managed three different wrap arrangements and haven't settled on a favourite yet - I'm sure as the days go by I will get more proficient at it. And of course Charley will grow and it'll get easier to wrap him up!!

I also managed to wash my hair quickly this morning and I'm really pleased with the haircut from yesterday :)

So today:

Interesting night - Ben wanting milk more frequently than Charley who actually slept like a dream. I'm exhausted and finding I'm sleeping deeper more quickly, although I'm told that an unsafe level of tiredness (relating to safe / unsafe cosleeping) is when you are so tired you are unable to leave the house.

That's quite tired.

But Charley is happy to snuggle for milk and then is actually able to lie on his back briefly to sleep without waking, so at least he's being easy!

Lazy morning this morning although I managed for the first time in about 9 months to get dressed before going down for breakfast, and that was despite Steve being out by 9.30am to get to church to start setting up for this afternoon's multicultural Christmas event. Despite not having any agenda it really was a case of lurching from one crisis to another again as nappies needed changing, boobs were needed, food and coffee needed, and then moments before the doorbell rang Ben slipped off a chair and bashed his ear. Doorbell answered, speakers collected by Stuart who knows enough about kids to just let himself out again rather than stick around and chat, child comforted, and then the phone rang before I got a chance to really cuddle Ben!

By the time we got round to going out it was gone lunchtime. Thing is if we stayed in and ate, we'd never actually leave the house so we just stocked up on food beforehand (well, I did, Ben is still not hugely interested in food) and I figured we'd snack again when we got home.

Managed all our jobs - presents for my twin nephews, and collected a parcel from the post office - and got home again all without fuss! Then it was a quick snack and back out again, this time me chasing Ben on his bike to Ede's house and from there to church.

And the day was actually going pretty well (apart from the crises this morning) until I got there :( Too noisy, coming in from the cold, not knowing what the deal was, not knowing what I was supposed to do or where I was supposed to be going, Ben wanted this that the other, my brain just started going into its automatic shutdown that it does when faced with overwhelming social situations. I just wanted to get our stuff back together and run home! Of course halfway to Christina's house (Ede's mum) it dawned on me that afternoons are much colder than mornings at the moment and it was going to be dark when we went home and we were walking. And the car was in the opposite direction. Hey ho. So no car to quickly escape in.

Thankfully Steve came to the rescue and installed me and Charley in the quieter of the two rooms church was using for the event, and once Ben knew where I was he was able to roam freely because he kept coming back to me anyway. Once we'd eaten we decamped into the main room and I was installed at a table with the rest of our small group, and others in the group took turns at keeping an eye on the older boys (Ben and Nat and Ede) which was a huge relief for me. And I managed to stay for the whole event and actually started enjoying myself! So grateful for the little things that make the bigger things bearable.

Home and Ben and Charley have had their cuddles and Ben declared he was tired and was happy to go to bed, he specifically asked for Twinkle Twinkle on my phone tonight which does tickle me somewhat :) Got downstairs thinking ooh I've got time to wrap those presents! to remember that on Friday I didn't have enough hands to bring everything home from the car parked two streets away, and the wrapping paper was therefore still in the car. Sigh.

Bed earlier than expected then! Although it's still managed to get to 11.30pm...

Charley is grumbling again so I guess it's bedtime...