A trip to hospital

We spent Saturday night in the children's a&e with C as he had a fever that was not going away and the lymph glands in his neck were the size of eggs.

It started with a bad night on the 26th Dec, we'd come to my parents' house in Wiltshire and as he was in a new bed I didn't think much of it, just calmed him when he cried and brought him into our bed at around 2am when he consistently kept waking up.

On the 27th he was bright enough, happily playing with my family and showing them his new trains. It was a miserable day for weather but we had a quick half hour splashing in puddles with my bro and went to see the sheep. C did not want to go near the sheep and I carried him, muddy boots and all, to look through the stable door at a large lamb and a pig.

He didn't eat much, but I put that down to the fact we were away from home, it wasn't his usual meals and he always eats terribly at my parents.

The night of the 27th he was hot and showed signs of a sore throat as he cried whenever he coughed. I stayed in his room all night and neither of us slept well.

On the 28th we had a big family day with 17 of us at the house. The boy was not well, he had calpol every 4 hours but most of the day he sat snuggled on my lap. Before guests arrived T took him upstairs and they both had a long nap.

I slept with him again on the night of the 28th and we had a better night, only waking occasionally. His glands were swollen but I thought it was probably a bad cold and that calpol would help get him through.

Sat 29th was another family day with 14 of us. We had planned to leave for home just before tea time, but C seemed to be getting worse so we left a couple if hours earlier after presents had been shared. C got given a Thomas takeaway pack, and you could tell he was feeling v poorly as although he showed an interest he didn't want to leave my lap. He did clutch hold of the new Thomas engine and hasn't been far away from "little Thomas" since.

On the 3hr drive home he slept most of the way and we said we'd see how he did on Sunday then take him to the doctors on Monday. When we got him out of the car his glands were even more swollen and his neck was at an odd angle. I gave him a warm bath whilst T called NHS Direct, but all he got was a recorded message. The bath didn't help so we bundled the boy into the car and drove the 20 mins to our nearest hospital.

Here's our experience of the children's a&e.

- It was 7.30pm and there was nowhere to park, the main carpark was closed. We drove a couple of circuits feeling desperate and looking for road signs, eventually T dropped me off two streets away, as close as we could get and I carried C through the rain to the emergency entrance.

- I queued in the wrong section. My mistake, I missed that the kids section was on the left, so for 5 mins I was the only person queueing in the adult a&e. There were people on reception but no one called me forward. Nurses and orderlies walked passed me, I was clearly holding a sick toddler and not one of them said I was in the wrong place. After 5 mins (which felt like a lifetime) I turned around to see if T was arriving yet and noticed the closed door to the children's a&e.

- The receptionist was good. There was no queue here and she took my details efficiently. T arrived and we went through to the waiting room together.

- The waiting room was packed. We got a seat but families after us sat on the floor.

- One of the first messages we heard on the tanoy was for a porter to go to the child resuss room to take a body to the morgue.

- We waited for over an hour to see the nurse.

- Kids were running about all over the place, there was a seperate play room full of toys but the most popular game for two girls was to run out the back door, through the busy corridor and through the front door.

- Others were like C; really subdued and sitting on mamas laps. One toddler had a nasty head injury, one had an asthma attack next to us.

- C hated being seen by the nurse. She took his heart rate and he cried when I got him to put his finger in the monitor. Taking his temp was accompanied by a mass of whimpering, it was 38c, and that was with the calpol we'd given him earlier.

- The nurse gave C ibuprofen and told us we'd see a specialist doctor. She said it would be a long wait and we should get a sandwich but actually when we got out the Dr was waiting for us.

- She checked over C and said it was lympoditis. She said it was just a symptom of something else and because it was so close to his brain we needed to get it under control so it didn't spread (my heart stopped for a bit after that). She said they could take him in and put him on an IV drip, but if we felt we could give him the medicine then it would be better to take him home.

- We left with a 7 day course of paracetamol and a 10 day course of antibiotics, along with an antibiotics prescription as the bottle only lasted 7 days.

- We were told to take him to the doctor on Monday to check he was getting better and to come back to a&e if he couldn't breathe or seemed to be getting worse.

- In my rush to see the nurse when we were called I left my coat in the waiting room. It was still there.

- Then we left, C and I stood in the cold and rain whilst T retrieved the car from the street miles away from the a&e he'd had to park it on.

C is much improved now, his glands finally went down on Tuesday and in between medicine he's almost back to his usual self. The follow up appointment went well, we now have a bottle of ibuprofen to add to the list of things to take.

Giving medicine to a toddler is no mean feat. He spits out, makes himself sick and has to be held on a lap if we give it on a spoon or in a syringe. He's more likely to drink it disguised in a milkshake, but then takes at least an hour to drink it with us cajoling him all the way. This was the first time he's been scarily ill and I'm so relieved it's over. A nasty end to 2012 but a good start to the new year as he was so much better on the 1st.

A weekend of family and trains



Eek, just found this post languishing in my drafts folder, I wrote it ages ago but forgot to press publish!

Credit - http://www.bluebell-railway.co.uk/

It finally arrived, after more then a month of crossing off the days, we took C-bear to the Bluebell Railway and met up with my parents, brother and his wife. I was slightly worried that after so much excited anticipation the day wouldn't live up to C's expectations, but he's two and LOVES trains and grandparents, so the day didn't disappoint.

There were two trains running up and down the nine mile track. We rode the 'green' train first and got a compartment just for us - perfect to keep a toddler contained with freedom to wiggle off seats and push a toy train around. We rode to the end then came back to the middle station for a picnic lunch. This came to a sudden stop with torrential rain and a dash back to the platform for shelter. We then ride the 'blue' train back to the start, this one was v busy and slightly hellish as no seat for C to sit in, he refused to sit on my lap and look out the window, so spent a lot of time on Grandad and then passed to Granny and Auntie N.

Back at Sheffield Park station we watched another train taking on water and then looked in the engine shed, this had rows of engines carefully preserved, C-bear was in his element. There were some massive engines with wheels taller than me and C particularly liked finding a black and red engine just like his own toot toot, the little wooden train he takes everywhere. After tea and cake we left and drove round London to Buckinghamshire to stay the night at my brother's.

On Sunday we went for a walk around the village and dressed on his wet weather gear C splashed in every puddle he could find.

 

A Winter Wedding

A couple of week's ago we journeyed to the Newbury countryside for the beautiful English winter wedding of our friends from uni. As I was watching the little man not many photos were taken, but here's the little memories I want to remember.

- Tom and Charlie wore their suits from our wedding in February. I had to take the hems down on C's trousers but otherwise the suit still fitted him.
- I wore a red dress from Monsoon with the same cowl neck as my wedding dress. I also wore the cream furry bolero I wore as a bride and my brown boots, so it was easy to run after the little man.
- The church looked beautiful with evergreen floral displays and candles.
- Charlie was captivated when the usher lit the candles.
- My Kindle Fire kept the little man quiet through the service, the jigsaw and picture book apps were the ones he used most.
- The bride was absolutely stunning in her beautiful dress. It had big silk skirts and lacy sleeves. Her long hair was up in a bun with tendrils down at the front and a mid length veil.
- Charlie was captivated by the bride and even though he knows her, constantly asked 'where's the bride' and watched her progress as she made her way around the room.
- After the church we had a couple of hours in the village pub. We could choose between this and the bride's parents cottage. We chose the pub so C could have some down time rather then us worrying he'd break something at the house.
- The groom was wonderful with C in the pub. They had hugs and fun and kept teasing Daddy with a funny name.
- Other friends stayed in the same hotel as us and we gave them a lift and spent much of the day together.
- There were lots of young children there and this proud mama can report that C was angelic compared to some :)
- Wedding favors were homemade damson brandy and gin. Each bottle had a personalised message from the bride and groom.
- The meal was delicious, perfect for a cold day, hog roast with roasted veg and apple crumble.
- C was given a winter colouring book and pencils.
- T took C and I back at 8pm once the speeches were over, he got a cab back to the wedding and shared a cab back late with L&T.
- Little man was exhausted, he fell straight asleep on our bed as I got him changed. I tucked him into his bed and he barely woke.

The boy and the chips - we shared these with friends after the ceremony

A winter weekend at home

Last weekend we had nothing major planned, no weddings, family visits or Christmas shopping trips, simply a chance to catch up with friends old and new and it was lovely.

On Saturday we met up with Charlie's best friend and her parents for lunch in a gorgeous family friendly pub in Herne Hill. The Florence served delicious food (aubergine goats cheese lasagna and bread and peanut butter pudding for me, hot dog and choc brownie for T and fish fingers and ice cream for C). It also had a kids playroom, but we didn't use it as little Mr C and little Miss C were pretty awesome throughout the meal. It was nice to talk properly to these new friends we've made through our son!

We went for a chilly walk in Brockwell Park (where C was sick...) And then back on the train. At the station we saw a donkey and some sheep, C could be enticed to touch neither!
We spent the afternoon snuggled on the sofa watching The Incredibles whilst I put the finishing touches to the cat baubles. C is obsessed with a black and white one, so we've called it Jess and have given it to him early. A ring on the bell announced the arrival of the friends who got married last weekend. It was lovely to chat about the wedding and they invited us over for mulled wine on Sunday.

I took C to a craft fair in Mayow Park on Sunday. It was small and not great, but we did get a wooden present decoration to hang on the tree. C was addicted to the two fires, one a metal stove and the other a bonfire with a mud and straw dome over it. This kid is obsessed with bonfires and happily watched the flames and chatted about the smoke.

After nap time we called on our friends and enjoyed mulled wine and cheese and biscuits (C had milk and gingerbread) it was nice, another friend was there and the bride's sister and partner, but the stress of having a small child in an adult situation was immense. There were cat's to chase, baubles to tap, noses to pick, stairs to climb and crisps to lick and put back into the bowl (yes he did, mortifying!) Making small talk was really hard with an excitable toddler and I spent most of my time reading books to him on the kindle fire or telling him off.

Back home and exhausted, once little man was in bed I watched the finale of The Killing season 3 which was brilliant and I'm not appreciating the inevitable long wait until season 4!

Homemade Christmas - cat baubles

I found some really cute papier mache cat models in Hobbycraft and thought it would be nice to paint then in the colours of friends cats, dip them in glitter and give as tree decorations at Christmas.

Credit - HobbyCraft

What started out as two has become a whole army/herd of cats. Here's how to do it:

1. Paint a base coat. If you're getting a toddler to help this is a part he can do. I used kids poster paint and needed to do 2 layers. Leave to dry.

2. Paint on distinct markings (too tricky for my toddler). The black cat was easiest as he just needed a few white whiskers on his chest. Eyes and noses are painted now but go easy on the whiskers as they'll get glittered on later. Tabbies were the trickiest as lots of different stripes, so lots of drying time in between building up the colours. Leave to dry.

3. Paint feet the same colour as cat and then add paddy paws in pink paint.

4. Paint with glitter paint. I bought the already made up in bottles of gold and sparkly white. Choose the glitter to suit the cat's colours. Black and ginger cats got gold, tabby and grey cats got white. Leave to dry and if needed add another layer.

4. Draw on whiskers, I used gold and silver metallic sharpie pens.

5. To make the collars I bought some little red and gold ribbon bows with tiny gold bells from Hobbycraft. I then pulled each bow loop further, so the two ends were hardly showing and used a dab of superglue to secure the two loops at the back of the cat's neck.

6. Tie on the decoration hanger (this bit turns them from being a cat model to a Christmas tree decoration). I found some gorgeous red and white striped string in Waterstones. Cut between 20 - 30cm string depending on how long you want the hanger to be. Put the centre of the sting under the cat's tummy and tie in a double knot, the knot the two ends at the top together and snip off any excess. (I tried putting the string around the collar, kitty looked like he'd hung himself and around the tail, kitty did a nose dive, so round the tummy gives the best hanging position).

 

Homemade Christmas - wrapping paper

I want to get Charlie involved in all the Christmas preparations so a couple of weeks ago we started off with homemade wrapping paper. I had a roll of brown paper left from last year, bought some gold and red glitter paint and dug out the foam Christmas shapes. We made lots of different pieces of paper, green Christmas trees, yellow angels, blue snowmen, bells and bright red Santa Claus.
We also added the finishing glitter touches to the heart wrapping paper we made with the help of cookie cutters and C's best friend a few weeks ago.
When the presents are wrapped I'll use glitter glue pens to add features onto the shapes at the top of the parcel.
C loves getting the paints out and this was a fun way to start talking about Christmas with him.