Beach in Gairloch & videos of Clement

Last week Peter had to go to the dentist in Gairloch, and since it was a beautiful day (hot & sunny) we decided to pack a picnic and spend the afternoon at the beach there. Needless to say, Abigail was thrilled - she loves the seaside! Her & Benjamin both had so much fun playing in the sand and water. The water was very shallow quite a long way out, so they got to walk quite far into the sea. The water was lovely & clear - so you could see fish, crabs, starfish, and jellyfish etc.

Peter and the children, soon after we got down to the sand (we had our picnic up in the grass first, to avoid sand in our sandwiches! LOL)

I love this pic of the 3 of them together! :-) ... they were looking at what Abigail has in the photo below:

a starfish!

walking in the water, before they got totally wet!

Clement in the pushchair - not sure if he was sleeping then or unhappy (he's not very keen on being in a pushchair!).

a view of the sand and water

Clement on his tummy, wearing his new (to us) "Very Hungry Caterpillar" nappy! :-)

his face, since it wasn't visible in the photo above!

Clement being very pleased that his mummy finally got the box of baby toys out of the attic! (Yes, a bad mum - waiting until he was 10 weeks old to unpack the baby toys! [blush] Abigail & Benjamin were just so close together that I never got a chance to pack the toys up! ) Anyway, Grammie gave us this lovely "Boppy" cushion and arch before Abigail was born, and now Clement is the 3rd baby to enjoy it! I was amazed at how alert and in control of his hands he was - the first time he saw toys hanging in front of him! He just started swinging his hands and hitting the toys and showing great excitement.

Hanging out together! :-) Clement really enjoys the company of his big sister and brother.

11 weeks old (last Saturday)

On his tummy, chewing his arm. He seems to be really teething (already!) and wants to chew his hands/fingers all the time - getting a bit frustrated when he can't get them quite how he'd like them to be!

And now for some videos! Blogger has put them in reverse order (not to mention that I was trying to put them at the top of this post!). Anyway, the first one was taken today and the second one was taken on Saturday.

Talking to his daddy

World's youngest pianist! lol He was actually playing it a lot better before we got the camera out. But by the time we'd gone and found the camera he was getting rather tired - but he was really enjoying it at first and getting quite excited.

OK, better get some sleep, as it's nearly 1am.

a post of photos

Having only posted words last time (about Clement's time in hospital) I thought I'd do (nearly) photos only this time. Seems I've got about 2 weeks worth. Been trying to get back to normal-ish routine around the house, now that I'm feeling almost better and Clement is more settled too. He seemed loads happier today (having finished his 5 day course of antibiotics last night) but was a bit unsettled tonight, after taking his first dose of the semi-long-term antibiotics. I'm hoping they'll not upset his tummy too badly. Anyway, photos!


Clement after his bath, at 8 weeks old - a fat little boy!

Again at 8 weeks old, wearing his lovely pair of wool shorties that I bought him. I love how wool can be worn directly over a cloth nappy and doubles as both clothing and the waterproof cover! :-)

I took the above photo from the window upstairs, it shows a cute scene (in my opinion anyway! LOL) Abigail and Benjamin decided to hang their toys on the clothes line (using their slide to stand on so they could reach the line). Everything from Pooh, Kanga, Pilchard ... and even an umbrealla and a plastic chair got hung up!

Clement again (of course!) - 8.5 weeks old

Wearing a pair of woolies that I crocheted while we were on holiday last month! I used plain (undyed wool) to crochet and then "painted" them with Kool Aid afterwards.

a cute face! :-)

Abigail wearing a dress I made for her, a few days before Clement got ill. She'd been playing outside, hence the red face!

Abigail & Benjamin having a cuddle and playing in the pushchair - the evening Clement came home from hospital

Sitting up like a big boy, day after coming home

Playing a noisy song for Clement! :-)

Sitting in a car seat (in the kitchen!), watching mummy cook (I need to pack the car seat away until Clement actually is the right age for it - but for now it can be a useful seat for him! lol)

And concluding this post with the lovely smile above! :-) He's getting such a big boy, and does lots of moving about (kicking feet and waving arms), he had his hands in Benjamin's yoghurt twice this morning and nearly kicked my cup of juice off the table! He's always smiling at his brother & sister and looks as if he can hardly wait to be big enough to be playing with them.

Home from hospital!

Some of you might have heard that Clement was just in hospital. Just thought I would post an update to say how he is.

Only just home from hospital this afternoon, after spending 3 nights with him in the children's ward at the hospital. It was the first time I've ever been away from Abigail & Benjamin (overnight), so was a bit traumatic, but Peter looked after them wonderfully! And I was pleased to be able to stay with Clement the whole time. So, here's a recap on events (copied from something I wrote earlier)

Saturday he had a low temp (higher than he normally would be, but not an actual fever) but went up to about 38.4C (101.1F) around 10-11pm. We phoned NHS24, but they weren't much help. His temperature seemed to drop a degree or so, so we decided to just go to sleep for the night (as other children were already in bed etc and he seemed OKish). So, night seemed to go OK and Clement slept. The temp was still fairly up on Sunday but not any higher than the previous night (tho thermometers seemed to be giving conflicting readings). So we just went directly to the local out of hours that afternoon and got seen by a doctor there (one of the GPs from the clinic here). He assumed it might be just a virus (since there were no visible signs) but he thought he should be seen by a paediatrician, since they might be able to notice something he couldn't. So he phoned the children's ward to let them know we were coming and gave us a letter so we could go straight in and be seen immediately. The 2 doctors there said they needed to do blood & urine tests since he's such a young baby to have a high temp like that and no visible signs - they assuming it was likely to be a UTI. Clement's temp had gone up to 39C (102.2F) by then, but it's no wonder, as the ward there was sooooooo hot (often over 25C/80F in some rooms)! Anyway, I managed to catch a sample of his urine while holding him without a nappy on (a relief to get, since they said if I didn't get one quick enough they'd have to insert a needle into his bladder!). So next was to attempt to get a cannula into him to get blood samples and also so it would be there if IV was needed. However, the registrar tried to insert it in both hands and both feet and his arm, with no success! Afraid wee Clement and I were both crying together! :'-( (The doctors were asking me if I wanted to leave the room, but I would much prefer to cry *with* my baby than let my child cry alone!) Anyway, the registar finally gave up and got his (kind & capable!) consultant to come, and he got the cannula in the first time (in his ankle) - and allowed me to feed Clement while he did it, which helped to calm him down a bit. Anyway, urine came back that evening with preliminary results to say that there were lots of white blood cells (to indicate infection) so they decided to put him on IV antibiotics until further results came back to say which oral ones would work etc. So, me and Clement were admitted to the ward (thankfully in a private room, with bed and toilet/shower for myself!). Monday they did scan on his kidneys/liver/bladder to make sure nothing was abnormal. All looked OK, though furter tests on urine did prove a positive urine infection. He did have a temp spike to 40C (104F) on Monday and was still looking quite poorly. On Tuesday though (after 2 IV infusions of antibiotics) Clement was looking quite himself - back to lovely smiles! (just a bit of upset tummy from antibiotics, which have made him a bit more restless). I had hoped to get home yesterday but the results to say which antibiotics were suitable didn't come till late yesterday and they also wanted him to have another IV dose. So, at last, this morning we got discharged! He's gone home with oral antibiotics for 5 days (though he seems to hate the taste of them!) and then probably 4 months at least of prophylactic antibiotics while they do various tests (injecting dye into urinary system and another time to inject dye into his veins) and then to see the consultant about conclusions. Apparently it's not common for newborns to get urine infections, so they first assume that something might be not quite right inside (physically), so they do all this!

....and now I'm home sick! Vomitting at 2am last night and generally feeling very ill/weak. Don't know if it's a bug picked up from hospital or food poisoning (beginning to think it might be food poisoning, as I've not vomitted since - but still feeling sicky/weak) - in general, pretty rotten. Oh well - at least Clement seems to be well! :-D

Enjoying warm & sunny weather ... and now back to rain!

Just a bit of an update of pics here. I ought to be in bed (as always when I'm blogging!) but seems the only time I get quiet *and* two hands to type is in the wee hours of the night/morning! So, just a quick post and then maybe I can get a few hours of sleep before Benjamin wakes up again.

We've been having beautiful weather for about a week. It's been a bit more dull and damp the past 3 days or so, but before that (since about the middle of last week) it was lovely - actually hot! Several of the below photos show Clement in just a shirt & nappy - and we just don't get very many days in the year that allow that little of clothing! LOL But it has been fun while it lasted. Abigail and Benjamin spent nearly the entire day for several days in a row just playing outside. It means more space for them to play and a bit of quiet for me to get cooking/cleaning done inside!

Clement at nearly 7 weeks old - looks like he wanted to kick the camera!

Benjamin telling Clement the story of "The Three Bears" - it was soooo cute to see and listen to! And Clement is obviously enjoying it too! :-)

A really big laugh from a really big boy! He's so sweet!

Abigail peeking from behind their very big doll's house

Sharing their snacks with Pooh and Kanga, who occupied the doll's house that afternoon

A rainbow of colour on the washing line - I like photos of washing hanging out! ;-)

My big little boy - nearly 8 weeks old, already!

Not the best of photos, but it was the best I could get - seemed impossible to get all 3 of them to look at the camera at the same time and not have a silly look on their face! :-)

My bookworms! :-) Books are something they never get tired of looking at!

OK, off to sleep - I hope! Though sleep is quite unpredictable these days - but that's because of Benjamin rather than Clement. Clement actually slept for 7 hours straight the other night, which was quite impressive. He's been a bit restless in the evenings for the past couple of days, but he sleeps very well at night. On the other hand, Benjamin continues to wake at midnight and various other unwelcome hours in a fit of scratching, now that he's got eczema up and down all limbs and on his face! Often takes a good hour before he settles again, and it can be hard to keep him from scratching, as he's quite strong! Often a back rub and relaxing his legs/feet helps him get back to sleep more peacefully. We'd hoped to see someone in the dermatology dept at the hospital next week but the appt got cancelled (due to person going off sick permanantly) and they only let us know about 6 days before the date we expected to see them! Anyway, we've now got a new appointment for the first week in July. Doubt we'll get anywhere, but can always hope! OK, goodnight.

Back home ... with remaining holiday pics!

We're back home! Well, arrived on Saturday last week but life has been too busy for me to post any sooner. In fact, I uploaded the below photos days ago but didn't have time to put any words to this, so left it till now. Benjamin and I both came down with colds early last week and they've rather taken hold of us, nasty coughs and all - I seem to have both a sinus and chest infection. Seems we're both rather prone to colds - and once we get one, it is difficult to get over it. Oddly enough, Peter and Abigail seemed quite OK, though this week something has got hold of them (at least Peter). Clement got a bit of a cold - poor wee thing. Thankfully he seems to be over it now. I'm glad it didn't last long with him.

Anyway, life continues as usual. I've been trying to get the house clean and better organised. It was quite a mess before we went away and I'm slowly getting things in order. I think I'll have to stay on top of things to keep up with the busy job of being a mum to 3 littles! I'm *hoping* that if I can get things a bit better organised around the house, then perhaps it won't take as much effort/time to keep up with it all. But as of now, it's already Wednesday (well, the wee hours of Thursday morning now) and there's still loads to do - tho I feel I've been working all day and all night since Monday morning! Oh well. Must just persevere.

Benjamin's eczema is quite bad at the moment - tonight in particular. :-( He just finally settled (just past 12am) after nearly 2 hours of rubbing his feet together and scratching his neck and wrists ... all in his sleep nearly! :-( He gets quite frantic at times and can do a lot of damage quickly. I always hope that something will help him get better, but it seems to forever get worse. Not sure if it was the hard water we had in the part of Yorkshire we were in on holiday, or just the lack of sleep (disruption of routine etc) that made it get worse recently (spreading further up arms, to his toes and knuckles etc), or if it just would have done it anyway. Also, we're worried that Clement is developing eczema as well. The health visitor seemed to agree that it looked like that yesterday, but I'm still hoping the rash on his face/neck/head will go away. We see the GP tomorrow for his 6 week check, so maybe she'll have some idea. He's scratching it a bit already too, which is a bit scary for me - can't bear the idea of *2* scratching boys. However, apart from Clement's rash, he's as happy as ever and a very good baby. He slept for 5 solid hours the other night - and might have slept longer if I hadn't picked him up! lol

Well, here are the remaining photos from our time away.

Drax Power Station - largest in the UK. The chimneys were quite impressive looking actually! We happened to drive past it one evening.

And a mile or two up the road from the power station, we stepped back in time when we met this horse drawn carriage! Peter wonders whether it was slowly making its way across the country to the upcoming Appleby Horse Fair, for which there were illuminated warning signs regarding horse drawn traffic at the junction of the A1 and A66 a few days later.

Front view of either the same one as above or another one that was travelling together with it

On Wednesday last week Mr and Mrs Mohon took us to Big Sheep Little Cow Farm in Bedale, along with their granddaughters. It was a lovely place with both outdoor and indoor play areas. The best part was that adults could go on all the indoor things too! :-)

Benjamin "driving" a large wooden combine harvester

Abigail going across the rope bridge in the indoor play area

Benjamin and his daddy in a tunnel (after mummy and Clement in sling came out of the tunnel first!)

Benjamin and daddy on the rope bridge

Chloe & Anna coming down the big slides (which I didn't dare try)

Benjamin enjoying a crawling/climbing netted tunnel of sorts!

Clement looking very grown up here! Having a break from the sunshine

and smiling at his mummy too. :)

Chloe, Anna, Benjamin and Abigail sitting on straw bales - and it was completely impossible to get them to all look at the camera at the same time!

A truly ancient church - St Gregory's Minster in Kirkdale (just outside of Kirkbymoorside). The original part of it was *rebuilt* by Saxons about 1,000 years ago!

inside the church

The oldest grave stone I was able to find and read - from 1699.

Benjamin hugging a tree! He wanted his photo taken by the tree, but then wouldn't turn round to face the camera.

An old windmill (now turned into a house) in Kirkbymoorside. We had a lovely evening walk here a couple of days before we came home (it was only a mile or two from where we were staying on the farm). We tried to see if we could get close to the above windmill but it was someone's garden around it. However, later I got this good view with the zoom on my camera.

All for now. Goodnight.