The Waller boys do London

Erin's taken Char to Paris for a day trip. This means I've taken the day off - day off? - to look after Aidan. I've had the bright idea of blogging what we get up to. Whether it'll actually happen in between nursery rhymes, feeding and nappy changes who knows but keep coming back to see what we get up to:

03:45 Get woken up. Not by Aidan but by the two who are leaving for St. Pancras Station.

03:45 Feed Aidan in the hope that he'll sleep a little longer.

06:00 Hear rumbling from the cot.

06:10 He's awake, it didn't work.

06:15 The curtains have been thrown wide, it's a beautiful day and we're going to play.

07:10 Eats baby cereal and formula with a side of toes. Yes toes. They're tasty just not that nutritional.

07:30 Play the opening-and-closing-cupboard-doors-game.

07:40 Race up and down the hallway in the Bugaboo. The first giggles of the day.

07:50 Read Three Little Pigs and If I Were A Sheep.

08:15 After a little whining and rolling on his side, he's asleep. Now it's all about rushing around, sterilising bottles, picking up and getting ready to go out. How much coffee will I need today? 2 down already.

09:00 Even chainsaws and lawnmowers cranking up outside can't wake him up. They aren't half trying though.

09:45 Up, changed and off we go to the South Bank Aquarium

10 - 3 We've had 2 sleeps, 2 feeds and a poo. Well, Aidan has. I've just had 1 feed. And we've been to the aquarium and Hyde Park via Big Ben. Not that Aidan noticed:

In the aquarium Aidan would be very serene and mellow one minute taking in the sights and sounds. He was transfixed by the sharks, stingray and Tuna. Then he'd suddenly giggle. He'd look up at me, smile and then giggle. Loved it.

Dad did make a big mistake today. When Erin left she said make sure you take enough bottles and food out with you. I did. I also, very cleverly, made sure I had enough nappies. Or so I thought. At Hyde Park, seeing what was going on with Aidan's contortions I dived for the nappy bag only to see it was empty. I'd changed him at the aquarium and either left one in the changing room or flicked the top, not the bottom, seeing too sides instead of two nappies. It's thanks to a very kind nanny in Hyde Park that Aidan is now wearing a Pampers.

3 He's sleeping. I'm blogging wishing I was sleeping.

4 - 6:30 We Skyped Liz then Aidan got a bit bored. I tried singing. No. Playing in front of the mirror. No. So I put him on the bed and for an hour we rolled around, jumped up and down, and roughhoused. It was giggletastic. Then time for bath. And now he's in bed.

It's been a great day - one for the memory bank. But I'm so ready for something to eat and a shower. It really makes me realise what Erin has done day-in and day-out since December 22nd.

London Lives

Aidan, grandma and I took in London's sights today.  Grandma was behind the camera.

Happy 6 months

Aidan's 1/2 a year old today. He's seen two seasons and into his third, smelt his first flowers, tasted his first food, felt his first tooth but not quite seen it, celebrated his dad's birthday, had his first cold, got the taste for Calpol and met most of his family apart from grandpa De Vos, uncle Pat and great grandma Jane.

Oh and he's getting cheekier each day.

Father's Day

Aidan and I spent more time together on Father's Day than we bargained for.  Erin was getting over the lurgy and Aidan had to put up with his dad singing his own versions of nursery rhymes. We both survived though.  Aidan had his broccoli and potato Sunday lunch.  I didn't.  It was fun but I did go back to work for a rest today. 

Christening weekend - part II

On Sunday 7th June 2009 Aidan John Waller was Christened at Bolton Salvation Army.  It was a lovely service specifically dedicated to Aidan and children in general. We were all nervous about Aidan being passed around on the platform - Simon mainly - but he was very reverent during the service.

The tricky handover.

The moment itself. 

The family (Waller side).

The cake.

Sarah, Simon, Erin, Jason, Chris, Andrea and Fred.  Sorry Katie and Lynden for taking this after you left but thanks to all of you who travelled from London for Aidan's special day.

'Snot good

This week has been all about Calpol, Karvol, a nose sucker, sleepless nights and a few grumps. Aidan has his first cold.  It's been going on for a week now.  It started crusty, then went runny and now he's got a cough to add to the mix.

With seeming sporadic pain in his gums and no signs of any teeth, it's sent his night time sleeping habits haywire.   It's a lottery if he'll sleep to 3am 0r 4am.  And even though the books say he should be sleeping through now he simply needs his feed to get him comforted.

We're hoping things will calm down when he shakes this bug but my guess is the teething monster will be back straight away to keep us all from a full night's kip.

To add to this I brought home a stomach bug on Thursday rendering me more than useless - or should that be more useless than normal - on Friday.  Erin has it today.  We're just keeping our fingers crossed the little fella doesn't feel the effects.  He has enough to deal with.

Christening weekend - part I

A few weeks ago we took Aidan up to Bolton for his Christening.  Alison and Railton opened the doors of their house to some of our Bolton and London friends.  After getting over the 5 hour cramped-car-seat-journey Aidan worked the room.

Not everyone can get away with that pose with Kath Foster.

No grandfather and godfather, Aidan doesn't want a chicken leg.  Actually he does, he's just not allowed.

Aidan's still thinking about the chicken leg while posing with Bob and Bev.

Andrea gets the last smile of the day.

Grandad calms Aidan down, after a long day, by showing photos of him when he was small.  That's Aidan, not grandad.

King of the swingers

With all the new food Aidan is taking on board he needs to exercise more.  So he's graduated from his baby gym.

Mucky eater

A few Sundays ago we spent an evening of steaming, pureeing and freezing various veggies and fruits. We've started him on mashed Potatoes.  Yum.