day in the life - 3.7.12

Dulcie and Patch, two of the day's major protagonists.

1.30am - Dulcie wakes up for a feed and it's not the first one of the night either.  Ugh.  I'm so tired after a few nights of this behaviour that I take her into the big bed with me and sleep while she feeds.  Eventually she falls asleep too.

3.30am - Dulcie wakes up for another feed.  Again, ugh.  This time I put her back in her cot to sleep because I never fully sleep when she's in bed beside me for fear that I smother her or kick her out by accident.  I go to the toilet and meet Patch the elderly three-legged cat on the way.  He says, "Miaow."  We're at my mum and dad's house by the way, in case you were confused that our cats had changed name and lost a limb!

5.30am - Yup, you guessed it - milk time.  This is like the dark days of many months ago.  So tired.

7.00am - You have got to be kidding me, Dulcie.  

7.30am - At least she goes back to sleep afterwards.

7.40am - Or does she?  Nope, she's decided it's time to get up for the day and she is inexplicably full of energy.  Surely she's had as little sleep as me?  We go downstairs to change her nappy and we play with her toys on the floor.  My dad is up already and offers to look after Dulcie for me, but I don't feel like I'd get back to sleep anyway, so he makes me a coffee instead.  Patch comes to investigate what we're up to.

8.30am - My mum gets up and gives Dulcie (now grumpy) a bit of a cuddle, where she falls asleep.  Not fair, I say.  I go and have a shower and get dressed.

9.15am - Dulcie is still sleeping on my mum's shoulder.  My granny is up now, telling stories about people from Islay, where she lives.  The postman arrives with a birthday parcel for my granny and a book catalogue for my mum, which I open and read.

10.00am - Dulcie is still asleep so I decide to make myself some breakfast - veggie bacon and a buttery, a local high-fat delicacy (the buttery, not the veggie bacon!) - but as soon as the bacon hits the pan, Dulcie wakes up and decides she wants to be fed.  I wolf my breakfast and feed Dulcie.

Two of Dulcie's favourite songs, filmed last week.  She does usually react more than this (what I was trying to capture) but she got distracted by the camera.  I hired a professional singer for the recording, naturally.

10.45am - I get Dulcie dressed and we play on the floor and then sing some songs.  She likes the ones that involve being thrown in the air.  It's not easy to throw her around when I feel this tired.  All through the day I hear everyone humming Eyes Nose Cheeky Cheeky Chin and The Little Green Frog.  This just goes to show just how much time I spend singing ridiculous songs these days.  My granny gives Dulcie a cuddle while I get some food out of the freezer for her lunch later.

11.15am - Dulcie is getting grumpy so I take her and give her a cuddle and almost immediately she falls asleep on my shoulder, where she stays for about an hour.  Tired much, Dulcie?  Hmm, I wonder why that might be...  My dad has to go to a funeral today so he heads out.

Dulcie, her great-granny and that helium balloon.

12.15pm - My mum takes Dulcie while I finish getting her lunch ready.  The paper boy sees Dulcie through the window and rings the doorbell so he can meet her.  My mum tells Dulcie to look out because he is a bad boy.  He says, "Look out, Dulcie, she's a bad granny!"  My mum and dad's paper boy is funny.  I give Dulcie her lunch (a random vegetable medley followed by slices of nectarine, her favourite dessert) but she's not massively interested today.  I eat lunch (sandwiches made from leftovers from my granny's birthday buffet followed by homemade shortbread and carrot cake) while Dulcie plays on the floor and has her grasp of gravity threatened by watching a helium balloon.  She's happy for a while, but then starts shouting for food.  Other babies I know who are on solids have just two or three milk feeds a day.  Dulcie is now on feed number seven for today and it's only lunchtime.  I'm so tired!

The Fisher Price big wheel.  Look at the grumpy expression on the face of the boy who is destined to crank the handle for all eternity.

1.45pm - My mum offers to take Dulcie for a walk so I can get some sleep.  I go to get Dulcie ready and she gets distracted by a vintage Fisher Price big wheel.  It plays a very pretty tune and keeps her entertained in a very quiet way for a good ten minutes.  I get Dulcie into her pushchair and she heads out for a walk with my mum and granny.  I receive strict instructions to go for a sleep, which sounds like a good idea, but I catch up on a couple of blogs and type up my day in the life so far instead.  Very silly of me.

3.00pm - I decide a nap probably is a good idea after all.  I get slightly distracted reading a few pages of my book (The Tiger's Wife) but then doze off in my mum and dad's bed.

Reading in the back garden.

4.00pm - I hear Dulcie and co get home and get out of bed.  The nap has not made me feel any better.  I come downstairs to find Dulcie is still asleep in her pram so I make myself a cup of tea and take it out to the back garden where I read my book until Dulcie wakes up and demands to be fed.  I feed her in the back garden then take her inside to play on the floor.

My mum and dad circa 1971.  Check out the pins on my mum!

Oh no!  They're snogging!

5.00pm - I take a fruity concoction out of the freezer and start boiling some sweet potato sticks for Dulcie's dinner.  My dad has taken out some old photo albums for my granny to look at so I have a look through them.  I reckon my mum should have been a model.  I do look like her, but a version of her that's been beaten with the ugly/lumpy stick!  Ha!  There is an old menu in the photo album and I am shocked to discover that a fancy pizza in an Italian restaurant only cost 40p in the 1970s!  I get so engrossed in the photo albums that I forget all about the sweet potato sticks on the cooker.  Fortunately my mum is efficient as well as good looking and has rescued them just as they were about to boil dry.

Dulcie's very first high-chair experience.  She does well, but does need to be wedged in place with a cushion.
(Edit:  I just noticed the big pink pants in the background!  I apologise to whoever they belong to!)

5.30pm - Dulcie tries out a high chair for the first time and does very well with it.  She eats a few sweet potato sticks (she's only ever had pureed sweet potato before so it's a very good attempt) then wolfs down a huge portion of mushed up banana, mango and grapes with wheat flakes.

6.00pm - More singing, but Dulcie is on the turn so I take her to play with my dad's computer.  That perks her up and then she plays on the floor with her great-granny for a while.

6.45pm - My mum has made dinner for us.  Dulcie is shouting again so my mum and dad take turns to walk around with her while the rest of us eat.  They would both rather cuddle Dulcie than eat dinner and always race to finish their food first, though they would deny that.

7.15pm - My mum and granny give Dulcie her bath.

7.30pm - I feed Dulcie until she falls asleep looking like an adorable version of Mick Jagger.  Trout pout!

8.10pm - I take Dulcie up to her bed thinking she'll want more milk, but she falls asleep when I put her down so I head back downstairs with my fingers crossed.  I take some photos of the amazing printing sets my mum got for me recently (more on that in another post) until I hear Dulcie screaming blue murder from upstairs.

My mystery printing sets, a present from my mum.
8.20pm - Another wee feed for Dulcie and then she settles into bed sucking her thumb so I go back downstairs and finish photographing the printing sets.

9.00pm - Graham phones from Glasgow.  He didn't sleep well last night either so we yawn at each other for a few minutes and then hang up.

The very tiny foal.

9.30pm - My mum and I walk to the end of the street to see the tiny new foal.  I have a very strong aversion to horses normally, but this foal is truly tiny and freakin' cute!  It comes up to the fence to see us, wobbles about on its ridiculously long legs and chases rabbits round the field as though it was a puppy.

10.00pm - Back in the house I finally cave in to offers of whisky.  Just a little one.  Bah.  My dad cracked open his collection of single malts when he retired recently so there are a few very nice bottles on the go.  I am generally enjoying being a booze-free zone but I do so love nice whisky.  And nice wine.  Beer has its place in my heart too.  I had a glass of champagne on Sunday for my granny's 80th birthday, so this has been a very boozy few days for me - at least two units of alcohol over three days!

11.00pm - I show my mum and dad the Egyptian Playmobil set I've got my nephew for his birthday so that they don't buy him the same one and then head to bed with fingers firmly crossed that Dulcie is not quite so hungry tonight.

11.25pm - Dulcie wakes up for a feed and when I put her back in her cot just before midnight she looks decidedly awake.  All I can say is that you're lucky Day In The Life finishes at midnight because it's a long and sorry tale from midnight onwards!  Yawn!