Some people may be wondering what 'SAHM SAHM but different' actually means.
"Same same" is an English saying that Thai people use, and it's used like this.
'So...zucchinis and courgettes - are they different?'
'No, same same.'
'OK... what about oranges and mandarins?'
'Ah...same same - but different.'
And of course SAHM stands for Stay At Home Mum.
Last night we went to Thai on the River for Jules's birthday, which was pleasant enough except that I had to ask three times for more water before any arrived. This affected my enjoyment a LOT as I was in the middle of a very hot curry at the time!
The whole experience made us appreciate our local thai place, Spicy Basil, even more than we already do. For a start, they make everything fresh in front of you, mains cost £4.20 and they're happy to do a pad thai without peanuts on request. And the food is just so good - far and away better than Thai on the River, which is a lot more expensive and doesn't provide as quick and friendly service.
So yay for Spicy Basil, the Queen of Kilburn High Road!
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Conclusive proof - we're having a cat!
Our baby, like its mother, is clearly a cat person. I know this because, while I was waiting for Jules to have his hair cut on Saturday, the hairdresser's spaniel jumped up on the couch and sat on my lap.
Maybe this panicked Bump, maybe s/he was just in a playful mood, but the next thing the spaniel was rearing up, having received a sharp kick in the ribs! I thought it best to transfer the dog to the floor at this point - but I was very proud!
Maybe this panicked Bump, maybe s/he was just in a playful mood, but the next thing the spaniel was rearing up, having received a sharp kick in the ribs! I thought it best to transfer the dog to the floor at this point - but I was very proud!
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Bump's first outfit...
...plus some scary pregnancy photos are up on flickr to celebrate the 32 week mark. Not long now!
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Antenatal classes - good clean fun
We had our first antenatal class last night and it was very entertaining and not at all scary.
I didn't get off to the best start, squashing one of the realistic newborn baby dolls as I sat down on the couch! Then I temporarily forgot one of the three things I was meant to know about the person I was introducing to the group, but at least everyone laughed.
Each couple (everyone was part of a couple) were given a baby doll at the start of the class and told we had to treat it like a real baby while we were in class, (i.e. support the head, in particular) for the rest of the course.
Our baby is the freaky-looking one, with its hands stretched out zombie-style, but at least we didn't get the crying one that you have to comfort to make the noise stop.
The funniest thing was the tea break. J had the baby so I got the drinks. He asked for a black tea, so I thought I'd better have cold water - which was fine, as I don't like caffeine at night anyway. There may have been decaf tea on offer, I'm not sure.
I came back to J and the guy he was talking to with a water, a black tea and two jaffa cakes. I put the tea down on the kitchen bench and gave J the jaffa cake. Then I put my drink down too and took the baby so he could drink his tea.
To pick up my drink, I had to wedge my jaffa cake between two fingers of the baby-holding hand. So I put the water down again and carefully transferred the jaffa cake to the other hand, trying hard not to get melted chocolate on the baby's suit.
Other guy: You did that very skillfully - and I like how you prioritised the safety of the jaffa cake!
Our leader is really nice and not at all Thou Shalt Do It This Way. There were no scary videos - but from now on we'll watch one 'normal' birth a week - water birth, caesarean, home birth etc.
I've got one of the latest due dates in the class. Some people are due before the last class and noone is having a home birth. So weekend homework is packing our hospital bag...
I didn't get off to the best start, squashing one of the realistic newborn baby dolls as I sat down on the couch! Then I temporarily forgot one of the three things I was meant to know about the person I was introducing to the group, but at least everyone laughed.
Each couple (everyone was part of a couple) were given a baby doll at the start of the class and told we had to treat it like a real baby while we were in class, (i.e. support the head, in particular) for the rest of the course.
Our baby is the freaky-looking one, with its hands stretched out zombie-style, but at least we didn't get the crying one that you have to comfort to make the noise stop.
The funniest thing was the tea break. J had the baby so I got the drinks. He asked for a black tea, so I thought I'd better have cold water - which was fine, as I don't like caffeine at night anyway. There may have been decaf tea on offer, I'm not sure.
I came back to J and the guy he was talking to with a water, a black tea and two jaffa cakes. I put the tea down on the kitchen bench and gave J the jaffa cake. Then I put my drink down too and took the baby so he could drink his tea.
To pick up my drink, I had to wedge my jaffa cake between two fingers of the baby-holding hand. So I put the water down again and carefully transferred the jaffa cake to the other hand, trying hard not to get melted chocolate on the baby's suit.
Other guy: You did that very skillfully - and I like how you prioritised the safety of the jaffa cake!
Our leader is really nice and not at all Thou Shalt Do It This Way. There were no scary videos - but from now on we'll watch one 'normal' birth a week - water birth, caesarean, home birth etc.
I've got one of the latest due dates in the class. Some people are due before the last class and noone is having a home birth. So weekend homework is packing our hospital bag...
Saturday, January 06, 2007
Henry the historic horse struggles under an uneven load
Give the people what they want - that's my motto. When I blogged Jules falling off a tiny plastic chair and nearly giving a cyclo driver a hernia in Vietnam, the comments flooded in from all over the place.
So here's another girth-related story, complete with illustration. The sign above the historic merry-go-round at Jardin des Tuileries said children under seven must be accompanied by an adult - but I don't think it meant on the same horse! Poor Henry probably hadn't carried such an uneven load in all his 135 years. I particularly like his startled expression and the way his front legs are rearing up and his back legs nearly dragging on the floor...
Thursday, January 04, 2007
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Friday, December 22, 2006
Ice skating at Somerset house
At lunchtime, after Trafalgar Square and before the Tower of London. Yesterday they took in Big Ben, the London Eye, the changing of the guard, Downing Street and Westminster Abbey.
Did someone say it's impossible to see anything if you've got kids with you?
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Full house
Four Heath-Dyers, one sheep and one panda present and correct - and asleep upstairs. Apparently it's been a very long Wednesday...
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Six months pregnant
...looks a lot like this. More detail on flickr for anyone who desperately wants to know.
Sunday, December 03, 2006
Pheasant, potato and artichoke dauphinois and braised cabbage with pancetta
Jules has been badgering me all afternoon to post his culinary efforts of yesterday, so here they are. The dauphinois and the cabbage concoction were delicious, even though the pheasant dried out a bit while waiting for its accompaniments...
PS - a photo of the replacement ring is now up on flickr.
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Friday Wombat Blogging
Some people have complained about the silence, so here's an update on our very exciting November.
We've been looking for a house. We nearly bought a flat in Queen's Park, after seeing it on a fabulous sunny Sunday morning with the doors flung open from the living room into the garden - but then we went back at night and came to our senses. Something about the way the resident cat picked her way carefully between the furniture made my fantasy of a small child gambolling across the living room evaporate.
So now we're going to explore the wilds of South London, where we can afford more than 60m2 which - let's face it - is just not enough.
Jules thinks the baby can recognise the sound of a violin now - mainly because it woke up and starting waving its limbs about during an episode of Grey's Anatomy, which featured a long violin solo while a professional violinist was having heart surgery.
We went to see Arsenal thump Liverpool a week or two back, which was excellent.
We are in intensive testing and fixing of the new content management system at work. So far I've checked about 100 web pages in the new system and I've ticked the 'page ok' box 12 times, so I think it's safe to say the launch date of 11 December is looking unlikely.
I picked up my new engagement ring last week, designed by me to the value of the 3 rings I lost when we were burgled and paid for by the insurance company. It's impressively sparkly - and has to be listed separately on the house insurance. The band is a bit thicker than my wedding ring, but apparently upgrading your wedding ring is frowned upon for some reason so I will just have to hope everyone is so dazzled by the sparkle they don't notice...
Friday, November 03, 2006
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
G'day from WA
Well, we all survived our jaunt to Western Australia. At least two of us are bigger than when we left and one is a lot more wriggly but the important point is - no DVTs.
At 12.45 and 5am today, I was wondering if the baby had jetlag, when I remembered the helpful pie chart in The Pregnancy Bible called 'Waking and Sleeping Patterns of a Newborn'. It's in two different shades of orange (crying and feeding) and green (sleeping). There is a large orange wedge between midnight and 3 am and another one from 4 to 6 am. Then it says 'Your baby does not know or care about your normal sleeping patterns.'
But I digress. We had a good time in WA, even though Jules had to buy a polarfleece on day 2. We swam in the sea three times - twice because it was hot and once in the Southern Ocean at dusk in a moment of insanity just to say we'd done it.
We saw a lot of wildlife - this particular humpback came to visit the whalewatching boat we were on but we also saw them from the shore at Cape Naturaliste. Plus kangaroos and big lizards and random emus at the side of the road and a wide selection of parrots in the national parks.
Yawn - fading fast and it's only 9 pm. Watch this space for Friday Wombat Blogging.
Monday, October 09, 2006
Fetal anomalies, goo and mutterings
We went for the fetal anomaly scan today. Apparently the baby is very active and the following appear to be normal: heart, head, face, spine, neck and skin, chest, abdominal wall, gastro-intestinal tract, kidneys and bladder, extremities, skeleton. They're going to have another look in three weeks, just to make sure.
There were three doctors at the scan, one of whom seemed to be there specifically to look at the heart. They examined that for about ten minutes, muttering under their breath the whole time, then breezily declared it all looked normal. By that time, I was imagining open-heart surgery at six weeks...
It has a smaller than average head and abdomen and longer than average arms and legs. It is already sucking its thumb, and is lying the wrong way up, but it's a bit early to be worrying about that.
No pictures this time - will order some at the next one on 3 November.
There were three doctors at the scan, one of whom seemed to be there specifically to look at the heart. They examined that for about ten minutes, muttering under their breath the whole time, then breezily declared it all looked normal. By that time, I was imagining open-heart surgery at six weeks...
It has a smaller than average head and abdomen and longer than average arms and legs. It is already sucking its thumb, and is lying the wrong way up, but it's a bit early to be worrying about that.
No pictures this time - will order some at the next one on 3 November.
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Honorary Gooners
Two of Matt's gooner mates had a baby recently. They have called her Scarlett, but apparently that is just because they liked the name, nothing to do with Arsenal at all.
So we have been to the new stadium on their tickets twice in a week and had a fab time at each game. We have even had a gooner burger (aka chicken balti pie) each in a flash red box and we can sing along to all the chants. We have, however, stopped short of buying one of these...
The new stadium is very impressive, especially when full (always) and at night. Instead of lights on four posts at the corners they have a circle of lights right around the top edge of the stadium, so you don't get any weird shadow effects.
Saturday's game was against Sheffield United, who were not much good really, and Arsenal scored 3 times at the opposite end to us. But then at last night's Champions League game, Henry headed a goal in right in front of us, which was just as well as I missed the other one due to trying to hear Matt's explanation of the chant that ends with a very complimentary line about Martin Joll's mother.
Jules even tried out his finger pointing at the opposition fans. Maybe next time we go he'll even be able to carry it off.
So we have been to the new stadium on their tickets twice in a week and had a fab time at each game. We have even had a gooner burger (aka chicken balti pie) each in a flash red box and we can sing along to all the chants. We have, however, stopped short of buying one of these...
The new stadium is very impressive, especially when full (always) and at night. Instead of lights on four posts at the corners they have a circle of lights right around the top edge of the stadium, so you don't get any weird shadow effects.
Saturday's game was against Sheffield United, who were not much good really, and Arsenal scored 3 times at the opposite end to us. But then at last night's Champions League game, Henry headed a goal in right in front of us, which was just as well as I missed the other one due to trying to hear Matt's explanation of the chant that ends with a very complimentary line about Martin Joll's mother.
Jules even tried out his finger pointing at the opposition fans. Maybe next time we go he'll even be able to carry it off.
Sunday, September 17, 2006
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
The Cinque Terre (well, four of them)
We arrived by train into Monterosso mid-afternoon on a fabulous hot Monday. Found the hotel easily and then went straight out for a swim, which was wonderful and cold. The beach at Monterosso is mainly stones - there are a few sandy patches of private beach where you have to pay for deckchairs, which seems a bit mean because if you have a deckchair, what do you care if it's stony underfoot? So we lay on the stones and came away with interesting pink indentations.
The next day we caught the train to Riomaggiore, the furthest away of the five villages and walked back through Manarola to Corniglia for lunch. At Manorola there was a fantastic-looking deep patch of sea that you could climb down a ladder from the rocks into, and we thought about it, but there was nowhere to change and we thought we'd get uncomfortable walking the rest of the way in wet togs. A bit foolish, as all the way from Manorola to Corniglia you could hear the thunder and see the storm coming. It struck just as we got to Corniglia for a nice pasta lunch, so that was good timing.
After lunch we walked on to Vernazza, getting progressively wetter. It was probably the most interesting stretch of track, with old olive groves to look at on both sides, but very slippery in the wet. At Vernazza we discovered there was a train in 5 minutes and leapt on it, as the rain was only getting heavier.
Walking back to the hotel, Jules got waylaid by the sight of someone else's roadside tiramisu so we stopped for a bit then went back for hot showers. Bliss. No swimming that day.
Today we have got a couple of different trains to Parma, and we will be having a look at Modena and Bologna over the next few days.
The next day we caught the train to Riomaggiore, the furthest away of the five villages and walked back through Manarola to Corniglia for lunch. At Manorola there was a fantastic-looking deep patch of sea that you could climb down a ladder from the rocks into, and we thought about it, but there was nowhere to change and we thought we'd get uncomfortable walking the rest of the way in wet togs. A bit foolish, as all the way from Manorola to Corniglia you could hear the thunder and see the storm coming. It struck just as we got to Corniglia for a nice pasta lunch, so that was good timing.
After lunch we walked on to Vernazza, getting progressively wetter. It was probably the most interesting stretch of track, with old olive groves to look at on both sides, but very slippery in the wet. At Vernazza we discovered there was a train in 5 minutes and leapt on it, as the rain was only getting heavier.
Walking back to the hotel, Jules got waylaid by the sight of someone else's roadside tiramisu so we stopped for a bit then went back for hot showers. Bliss. No swimming that day.
Today we have got a couple of different trains to Parma, and we will be having a look at Modena and Bologna over the next few days.
Sunday, September 10, 2006
From Lucca to Monterosso
Having a lovely time in Lucca, where it is quite hot and there is a gelati stand on every corner. Have done all the things you usually do in Tuscany - climbed the tower and walked all the way around the city wall. Tried to visit Puccini's house but it was closed for restoration. Someone had crossed out the 'opening Spring 2006' with a vivid marker and written 2010 in its place!
Today we are off to the Cinque Terre, having found somewhere to stay in Monterosso at the last minute. This will involve 3 trains, but all quite short distances.
Late last week we got all excited when we got home to find two delivery cards, indicating that the rest of our insurance replacements had arrived. So we leapt in a minicab and went to one depot in Cricklewood to pick up my ipod and then down to Park Royal to pick up what was meant to be Jules's laptop and digital camera. By the size of one of the boxes it was clear someone had stuffed up and ordered him a desktop PC (weighing 30kg!) but the depot staff insisted you could only refuse both items or take both items, and as he wanted the camera for our holiday, Jules thought we should take them. Got home to discover the smaller box contained someone else's ADSL modem...
So now we have a huge box squatting in our spare room. According to Geoff (who has actually done this) if you ask them to collect it and they don't within 30 days, it is yours and you can then sell it on ebay!
Today we are off to the Cinque Terre, having found somewhere to stay in Monterosso at the last minute. This will involve 3 trains, but all quite short distances.
Late last week we got all excited when we got home to find two delivery cards, indicating that the rest of our insurance replacements had arrived. So we leapt in a minicab and went to one depot in Cricklewood to pick up my ipod and then down to Park Royal to pick up what was meant to be Jules's laptop and digital camera. By the size of one of the boxes it was clear someone had stuffed up and ordered him a desktop PC (weighing 30kg!) but the depot staff insisted you could only refuse both items or take both items, and as he wanted the camera for our holiday, Jules thought we should take them. Got home to discover the smaller box contained someone else's ADSL modem...
So now we have a huge box squatting in our spare room. According to Geoff (who has actually done this) if you ask them to collect it and they don't within 30 days, it is yours and you can then sell it on ebay!
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