He'll nab smart hay

Bethany's current favourite phrase is "Whatsthat?" which she repeatedly pronounces whilst pointing at the object in question awaiting an answer. However endearing this was initially soon became tiresome on our part although we try our best to humour her through gritted teeth. I like to encourage her curiosity and when she opened a book at a cartoon of various animals she repeatedly asked me what they were the other day, To amuse myself as well as her after the third or fourth time of announcing "That's a turkey" or "That's a sheep" I thought I would spice things up by providing the relevant barnyard noise to accompany their name. Clucks, honks and baas were all well and good but rather than going "oink, oink" when she pointed to the pig I preferred to actually snort. Unfortunately for me, Bethany took a particular liking to this impression and continued to repeatedly point at the pig to hear me snort much to the detriment of the back of my throat.

   Currently we are now counting down until we go away next week with Alison sorting her wardrobe out selecting clothes and I may try and buy some more T-shirts before we go although to not be at work will be a break enough at the moment. Rather than book all my holidays out I tend to keep going until I get fed up and take a week off excepting whatever fortnight is available in the summer and time off around our birthdays. Excepting the odd day for when we went to Reading it's been a couple of months since any significant time off so I'm relishing the chance to catch up at home and relax before setting off down Norfolk.

Samantha be Rhyll

Rather a depressing weekend with events in Norway and Amy Winehouse's death dominating, which if nothing else may have provided relief to Rupert Murdoch for taking News International of the front pages. Being at work when both incidents occurred provided for an even more confusing image of what was happening as rumour and updates were second hand at best and coming from sources that were not sure of the situation. In the case of the Norwegian attacks the talk was of terrorist attacks with people immediately jumping to conclusions and blaming Islamic fundamentalists with radio hosts still looking for reasons why they may be a target in the evening on my way home. I wondered about the claims that these were Al Qaeda tactics with the bomb falling in this category but the shootings sounded more reminiscent of somebody with a grudge like an upset teenager in an American high school. Reasons that Norway may be targeted were suggested but seemed vague even when it was announced the culprit had been arrested and was said to be a Norwegian national with eye witnesses describing him as white and blonde. This was not enough for certain media outlets such as The Sun who blamed Al Qaeda on their front page the next day.

   All the details are still not yet in but from what has so far emerged is that the attacker was a far right extremist that took his dislike of multi culturalism to shoot predominately white people.

   The death of Amy Winehouse has created more talk of the 27 club as if it were a curse rather than what started as a coincidence and has become a cult. It is probably the case that more musicians have died at the age of 75 but do not have the iconic status from having died young for it to be commented upon. As it happens those that do die young will do so for a number of reasons but predominately the artists often quoted have some sort of inner demon or being young and rich over indulge in their addiction of choice for a few years before it takes its toll.

   Again it is too soon for Amy Winehouse's cause of death to be announced with early reports of an overdose of ecstasy as yet unconfirmed but the shock of this tragedy is also accompanied by a sense of not being very surprised. This somehow makes it feel a bit worse as you wonder if anything could have been done to prevent her death.

Learn maths by HAL

   Bethany continues to show glimpses of her improving development which can surprise as it easy to assume that her mental abilities are linked to her speech abilities. Just because she only knows a few words does not mean that she does not understand what we are saying. The clues have been around, such as her responding when you call her name now even though she can't say it but I was given a further demonstration yesterday when reading her book of first words. She can identify one or two items (namely ball and choo-choo train) and responds to some other words such as when I say "Flower" at the relevant picture she puts her hand to her hair remembering that when walking in the park she likes to pick the daisies and put them in her hair. At first I took little regard of this gesture but she does it most times and only with flower. Yesterday, however, instead of getting her to name the item I reversed the procedure and got her to point to the relevant picture when I called it's name in the index at the back. Here she pointed to over half of the pictures correctly with some added bonuses eg pointing to her own socks as well as the picture of them.
   She does continue to like organizing things and thee nursery report on her predilection for arranging items on the table and putting them back. Whilst at home tidiness is not part of the procedure she does like to place things in certain places including myself. Yesterday she insisted that I sit in a certain seat and was not happy if I moved, even to get my coffee when in the same room. She heard me move when she was not in the same room and shouted her disapproval so I went back before she reentered the room. She did let me get up to make meals and her concentration may be distracted enough from time to time so that I was free to get up now and again but that was often if I got up to play with her or she would cry at me to get her more juice. A lot of her playing involves climbing and whether it is onto the dining room table or the window sill each time we carry her back down she laughs and starts again.

Thermally ban ash

I was thinking of passing a comment on the News International furore but events continue to develop at such a pace that by the time I clicked "Publish Post" it would be outdated. As of this moment Rebekah Brooks has resigned from her post which would have meant that had I posted a piece yesterday commenting on her position being untenable then I would have been blatantly prescient and out of date by now. Being an intermittent blogger it is probably best to wait and see how the story develops further with appearances by Brooks and the Murdochs before a Commons select committee due next week for starters.
   Most of this week Alison has been trying to organize a 40th birthday party for myself with a little assistance from Helen to the frustration of all. That frustration stems from me not really wanting to acknowledge the fact several months away and being the anti-social sort who shies away from large gatherings. Ideally going for a meal with close friends and family or going away for a few days would be more suitable but doesn't particularly cater for the younger ones. My stipulations are - not too large, informal and with a supply of real ale but I feel torn about saying I might not want certain people there and feeling obliged to please. Reasons for refusal are nothing personal but it gets into friends of friends territory and I feel cheeky inviting people I vaguely know as I think it gives the impression of "I don't really know you but come to my party anyway because I want a present".
   Part of me actually thinks it would be a good idea to make it for the kids: jelly and ice cream, pass the parcel etc and just get slowly drunk in the corner. It may be more fun. Oh well only seven months to go.

Them anally brash

Tired after getting in late as we drove back from near Reading where we were celebrating Margaret and Del's 60th Wedding Anniversary. We were all feeling a little the worse for wear this morning but somehow managed to rouse ourselves to breakfast after getting our revenge on Bethany by getting her up for a change. It was the first time many of our southern relatives had met Bethany and after her initial wariness she enjoyed herself and actually fell asleep in Margaret's arms during the dance in the hall. She happily slept through the rest of the evening until we returned to the hotel where she woke back up and, feeling recharged, got her second wind and played until we staggered out of the bar around 3am after catching up. Diane and Tim's daughters happily entertained her along with Emily's boyfriend who may have found the whole experience a touch unusual after he was constantly being picked on by the MC leading the dancing with instructions and asking for "Ben, get up here" or "Where's Ben" and even "This one's easy. Even Ben could manage it" often for Ben to decide the time was ripe to sneak out of the hall for a cigarette.
   Not feeling ready for the long drive home after checking out at 11am it was nice to be invited to Margaret and Del's for a barbecue with most of the rest of the family. We killed some time in my parent's room, who are stopping an extra night before visiting Steph whilst in the area, where I basically sat slumped in a chair for an hour. At the barbecue the usual Margaret teasing took place but with the underlying warmth and concern over her recent fall which left her with a broken jaw on Friday. After noting that she fell in Asda we wondered if it had been in the wine aisle and her response to my mother's suggestion of having soup because she had  barely eaten for two days unable to chew was that it was the wrong time of year for soup.
   As well as their first meeting with Bethany we met an even newer addition to the family in Evie May. Helen and parents saw her when she was only a few weeks old when they came down for Margaret's 80th birthday a couple of months ago but Alison and myself saw her for the first time and realized it did not seem so long since Bethany was that cute.
   As is the way of these occasions we did not end up leaving until about 4:30pm knowing that it would be at least 5 hours before we got home. Already knowing from the journey down that we would have to go the longer route as the A43 had been closed for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone we eventually got away but the first half of the journey seemed to take forever with roadworks and heavy traffic delaying us further. I had to stop after 60 miles for petrol and much against my initial hope we had to stop again before we passed the half way point as Bethany was really upset. By this time it was after 7:30 pm and she was hungry and tired so I stopped at the next available services (Donnington Park) which were nearly half way home. After some food a couple of nappy changes and a bit of a run on some grass we set back off with Alison sitting next to Bethany in the back, the better to attend to her whilst she finished her food and we did the last stretch in one go with Bethany falling asleep a little later on. Hopefully the whole weekend has not messed her up too much and we have another long journey to look forward to in a few weeks when we go to Norfolk on holiday. At least the return leg won't be until a week after the outward bound drive.

Thresh banal amyl

Typically I suspended my news and sport blogs at a time when there was much to discuss. After mentioning Johann Hari and the pillorying he was receiving from certain sections of the media that has paled compared to the phone hacking scandal that has erupted. The editor at the time, Rebekah Wade, has so far refused to stand down which is ironic given how quick to call for heads over less important matters her and her ilk have been in the past. Almost as ironic is the call from the private investigator at the centre of the scandal, Glenn Mulcaire, asking for the privacy of his family to be respected as he gets doorstepped. It is still early days but my initial feeling that people would tut for a few days is thankfully looking not to be the case as the public mood is turning angry and advertisers pull out from the News of the World. The true test will be at the weekend to see how their circulation is affected and if this recovers the following Sunday.
   Sportingly since my last post on Sports Thoughts Wimbledon has been and gone (Djokovic won), Haye was beaten by Klitschko and the Women's Football World Cup has started and England topped their group but I have nothing further to add that has not already been said.
   That leaves the least interesting thing to write about which is me and I finally bit the bullet and took my car to the garage to investigate the light that appeared on the dashboard a few weeks ago. When it first appeared I referred to the manual which informed me that it was the "Indicator Fault Light". This seemed a little precise to have a warning light telling me one of my indicators was on the blink (or not) and on closer reading I discovered that it was somewhat vaguer and meant that this light indicated there was a fault. Elsewhere in the manual I was provided with the clue that the fault may be with the exhaust or catalytic converter and I baulked at the prospect of a bill for a few hundred pounds for a whole new exhaust system. With a drive to Reading at the weekend I thought it best to get it seen to and had it booked in for yesterday. At the garage the mechanic performed his diagnosis and informed me that the lambda sensor was not working. As if my blank face was not clue enough as to what that was he proceeded to demonstrate before and after graphs of emission graphs with hand signals which did not really help only that instead of spikes I had a sort of flattened, angular sine curve. I enquired about the only thing I was concerned about which was "How much?" and "How long?" and half an hour later and £140 lighter I left with no discernible difference to my car save for that light not being on any more. If they weren't a garage that I have used before and trust he could have simply taken the bulb out of the dashboard for all I know.
   Sort of progress on the supervisors position at work where I believe three others applied along with myself. With management cover being stretched on some of the weekend overtime where not everyone is available I was asked by my manager if I wanted to train in the office next week to provide extra cover should the need arise. Apparently this had been cleared higher up and can only help my case if they ever get around to making an appointment if I have already done a bit of the job. Curiously the supervisor whose personal circumstances was making it difficult to do certain shifts and for whom the vacancy was to temporarily replace claimed that he could work the problematic weekend after all. I am therefore hoping that the supervisor training is not considered unnecessary and that was not the feeling I got with my manager still keen to have more people trained up.

All her mynahs bat.

   A late night for Bethany as we were at Helen's for her birthday barbecue and most of her other guests all had children too resulting in a frenzied evening with all ages upto about 9 running around. Fiona and Adrian are up for the weekend so there was a face Bethany recognized in Emily and after an initial 10 to 15 minutes of being very quiet and not wanting to move from my lap she soon came into her own as more children arrived and she started to run around with them. Emily took her under her wing and endearingly continues to refer to her as Baby Bethany.
    She happily would run inside to the front door before coming back and running to the end of the patio, where a little wall separates the raised garden, and sit on the wall until after a repeating this several times she decided to climb the wall and run around on the grass. This process of constantly assessing the situation before deciding she can overcome the hurdle is a common feature and the prelude to the next step of repeating the new manoeuvre, of which she is rightly proud, ad nauseum. Latterly she has managed to climb up into her high chair and sit down,, so thinking this a bit dangerous I made sure the tray was in place to prevent this. This morning she negotiated this problem by climbing onto the settee beside the high chair and from there was able to climb in from the side and sit down with the tray still in place. She then cried to me as she no longer wished too be seated so I carried her down only for her to repeat the process thinking it all a game.
     As well as shoes and hello she is saying chair and has also added ball to her vocabulary. Even though she only has a limited number of words she understands far more than that. If she picks some rubbish up I can tell her to put it in the bin and she will do so. This follows on from the early morning routine when we come downstairs for breakfast. She insists on carrying the dirty nappy bag and as soon as I put her down at the bottom of the stairs she will put it straight in the bin. The other morning when she woke in our bed and we were both leaving it as long as possible before we had to get up she amused herself by grabbing for anything within her reach. Knowing that any more sleep was impossible I got up to find my slippers missing. I asked Bethany "Where's daddy's slippers?" and she immediately retrieved them from behind the curtains. Unfortunately this tactic has yet to succeed regarding the DVD remote.