Home at last

Yesterday Tobes, Rosie and I sat in Starbucks in the village and rewarded ourselves for surviving a very hectic day with Frapuccinos and caramel wafers. Our Starbucks is tiny due to the local council being terrified that if they allow a large Starbucks then something really dreadful like a McDonald's might soon follow! Oh no, we mustn't have that.

Saying that, the size seems to do the Starbucks no damage because if you sit there long enough the whole of Blackheath village will come in at one point or another. While we sat we saw another American Mom that I know and then my pilates instructor came in for a latte (with skim milk of course). It was so nice to recognise people and be recognised. It really feels like home here now.

We joined a playgroup at the big church on the heath and yesterday was our first day. Most of the children were younger than Tobes but he had a great time. I really liked the other Moms too. There were a couple of Australian expats and we seemed to hit off. I think it's that colonial thing, Americans and Aussies always seem to get along.

Then we took Rosie to the doctor. She has a yeast infection which I think is being caused by the amount of sugar in her soya formula. Glucose syrup is the first ingredient! We see the specialist next week and I'm just going to go in a tell them what I want - the change her to a soya and dairy free formula and to have regular checks to see how she's coping. I feel certain that she'll grow out of this allergy or sensitivity to cow's milk but I would like some support and guidance until we get there.

I used to think that one day life would calm down, we'd hit a plateau and just cruise for a while. I've decided to stop kidding myself and just accept that this crazy, hectic, unpredictable life is the only we're going to be living for the forseeable future! So much easier to just surrender to it all.

Today I've been on the phone all day with "Mickey Mouse". At least that's what I told Toby so he would be quiet (bad, bad Mommy). I was booking our holiday to EuroDisney! We're going for four nights in June and we're all really looking forward to it. I must admit that I'm not a huge fan of Mr Disney. I've read that he was a misogynistic racist and I think it shows. Why do mothers almost always die in Disney films? Where are the kickass heroines that rescue a boy every once in a while (and don't end up all soft and fluffy in the end)? How can anyone make The Hunchback of Notre Dame into a lighthearted musical cartoon? And... and... and... grrrrrr. Let's just say I'm not a fan.

The funny thing is that after our trip to EuroDisney I will have visited every Disney theme park on the planet - Disney World in '85, Disneyland in '92, Disneyland in Tokyo in '01 and now EuroDisney. I did see that they're opening a park in Hong Kong. Might just have to make a trip to maintain my record.

Kitchen finished... almost

The major work in the kitchen is done. Hurray!! Now we just have to get someone in to paint it plus the bathroom, the third bedroom and all of the bookshelves we had put in about two months ago. J and I had planned to do the painting ourselves. Ha ha ha ha. We barely have the time or energy to brush our teeth at the moment. I don't know why we thought we could possibly do so much painting.

The kitchen is lovely. It really is. I did have a moment though when I looked at it and it hit me what a middle-class middle-aged kitchen it is. It's very nice, don't get me wrong. But I like to think of myself as a bit eccentric, a little bit wacky even. My kitchen would prove me wrong. We went for white Shaker style cabinets, a black granite counter top, stainless steel handles, black & white marble tiles for a splashback and oak laminate flooring. All nice but.... well, you know.

I'm very tempted to paint one wall purple or something, but that's the even sadder thing - I don't even know what a cool kitchen should look like! I think I'll just be happy with my quite lovely kitchen and leave the wackiness to the younger kids. Now where did I put my slippers? Antiques Roadshow is about to come on.

Tumping foreskins

I can't even remember where I left off in the blog and I'm too tired to go back and read it. We've had a crazy few weeks. They started work on the kitchen two weeks ago, the day that J left for Bermuda. I was so freaked at the idea of being alone with both children for 24 hours a day in a building site that I thought we would run off to J's parents' house. I changed my mind when I started writing out a packing list and almost hyperventilated with stress. Travelling light is not an option with a four month old. By my calculations I would need a UHaul trailor for four days away. So we've basically just been keeping our heads down, eating a lot of pizza and microwave meals and doing our best to survive.

A few things that have been on my mind recently...

Do you use the word 'tump'? I can't work out where I've picked this up but it's definitely not a London or SE England thing. I'm thinking it's either Southern or Texan or maybe I picked it up from Jenny who's from'oop North (as in Lincolnshire). It means to fall over as in 'Be careful Tobes, that's about to tump over.' If anyone can tell me about this word, please do. It's driving me nuts.

And speaking of nuts, or rather penises (should that be penii??). Our new challenge with Tobes is that his foreskin seems to have a bit extra on the left side so that when he wees it shoots out about 90 degrees to the right. Add in the fact that he usually waits until he's bursting before he goes to the bathroom and you can imagine that he has a pretty impressive trajectory. I heard the builder laughing today as he overheard me and Tobes in the bathroom:

"OK Honey, now remember to pull back your foreskin and aim right into the toilet this time... no pull back more on the other side... Tobes.... TOBES!... you got it all over my leg!"

"Don't touch my willy!! Don't touch my willy!!"

"Alright, alright. Can you please do it then. No, a bit more... a bit more.... Oh geez, there goes the rug....aim it right into the toilet...into the toilet... INTO THE TOILET"

"I need to poo now."