Well its been a while but I'm back, how long for I have no idea. I have been so busy with work & being a daddy that I have not had much time for my journal, then of course there is the problem with a bloody o soddin l. Ever since the recent(ish) so called upgrade my connection has constantly been dropping out causing me to lose emails, journal entries, etc. Also the service has been so slow as to be unusable, I cannot wait for my aol contract to be over..I will print out my journal before then because unless aol drastically improves I will not be continuing to use them, they are CRAP!
So lots has obviously happened since my last entry, the main event of course was Jack's 1st birthday. We had spent ages preparing for his party then on the night before my sister called to say she had been ill & may not be coming, her husband came home from work that night saying he wasn't well either so it looked like the most important guests (for me at least) would not be present. On the morning of Jack's birthday we got up early as we had a photo session booked, my sister had given us the session as a christmas present so we thought it would be nice to use it on his birthday. After the photo 'shoot' we dashed round town to get the last couple of bits we needed then headed home for lunch, I got a text from my sister....she was on her way, with my bro in law & 2 nephews...instantly making the day better. After lunch we had to go to Nic's parents to set everything up, Nic's niece was helping to put everything on the table while I waited outside for my sister to show up (its on a busy road so they might've driven straight past had I not waited outside), when they arrived we went inside to be greeted by jack with a face (& hands) full of pasta salad that he had pulled off the table.
The house was packed with friends & family, we had pass the parcel, musical statues & loads of food. Jack got spoilt rotten with presents and quite rightly so, we brought some home but left a few at nanny & grandad's house as they look after him during the week when we're both at work. We had bought him a trike which he insisted on going on with no trousers but he loved it so thats all that matters.
At the end of the day both Nic & I were absolutely exhausted, if anyone thinks organising & hosting a childs first birthday party is a simple task think again, we had a great day but it was one ofm the most exhausting days I've ever had.
Since christmas Jack has been walking with much more confidence, he has even started running around which can be frustrating, annoying but also so funny. At night when he's tired he still stumbles but apart from that he's pretty much steady on his legs now. he has developed so much more character, he is the cheekiest little boy I've known but it is an absolute joy to watch him explore his world, even if that does mean he steals our dinner.
It's not all smiles though, the last couple of weeks he has been waking more regularly at night & most nights will not go back to sleep in his own bed, we have to hold him for anything from 10 to 40 minutes so he is sound asleep before we can put him back in his room, otherwise he screams all night. Because of this we hae not had much sleep & so we are getting very tired & snapping at each other. He is a real handful, I love him more than I could ever explain but sometimes I wish I could go back to my old life just for a couple of days to get some rest, I'm sure all the parents out there will know exactly what I am talknig about. it doesn't help that at work things are changing for the worse. The dept I work in is being effectively demoted back to the position we were promoted from, we are not losing any pay but they have decided that it would be in the interests of the company to bring all the staff up to our level, this means we go back to doing what the lower grade does now. Even management don't seem to know where the hell our roles are going but it looks like we will be doing the lower grade role for 3 weeks out of every 4. Needless to say most if not all of my dept are pi**ed off & want to leave (if there's any company bosses in Cov reading this & you want loads of highly skilled workers who already have a great team spirit let me know). The morale at work is so low that its draining all our energy, I hate feeling like this but its so difficult to lift my spirits when everyone around me is as low as I am. The company I work for keeps bleating on about putting its staff first but in truth they don't give a damn, as long as they can restructure the company in a way that they can shift our work to india & pay a whole team what we get each then they are happy. I can't wait to find a new job.
Anyway, enough of my moaning..here's some more pics of my cheeky little chap>
