David Currie

800I’m glad to say that Emma seems to love being helpful, whether it is warming her own milk in the microwave or packing and turning on the dishwasher. Today I’d bought some additional toy storage from IKEA and, as you can see from the picture, Emma donned her Bob the Builder hat and proceeded to provide direction over the assembly process. She was even heard to proclaim to her to nearby brother, “I’m very good at helping with the important jobs”!

797Duncan Christoper Currie was born at 6:07am on Saturday 3 October in Royal Hampshire Country Hospital, Winchester weighing 4.06kg (just under 9lbs). The process seemed to have been kick-started by Christine’s trip to Romsey Rapids with Emma on Friday morning. Christine called me shortly after lunch and I cycled home but managed to get another couple of hours work in before we decided it was time to head for the hospital!
(more…)

We headed up to Lancashire this weekend just gone for the christening of Christine’s cousin Cath’s son: Daniel Wilson. We stopped off in the Midlands on the way up (must remember that the “South” in “Warwick South Services” refers to the direction of the carriageway, not the location!) and completed the journey on Saturday morning. I had unfortunately been looking at the weather forecast for the south of England and hence wasn’t quite prepared for the downpour we experienced whilst out for a short walk with Steve’s family. We stayed the Saturday night at Cath’s parents before finding our way to the venue for the Christening: St James the Less in Rawtenstall. The priest delighted in telling us how short the ceremony was and then proceeded to regail us with a detailed history of the church to compensate. Daniel didn’t seem too put out about being dressed in a white frock and only resorted to tears when inverted over the font. It was good to seem so many of his family and just a shame that we had to disappear off early to start the long trek back down south.

I had a phone call from Christine this morning saying that she’d driven in to Southampton with Emma and when she got back from the parking meter she no longer had the car key. I cycled home, picked up the spare key, cycled to the station and took the train in to Southampton. Needless to say, just as I arrived Christine had been contacted by security in the retail park to say that a key had been handed in at the information desk in West Quay itself. Emma seemed to enjoy all of this fun and games but then she came out of it all with a new pair of shoes (now size 7) and a Fifi and the Flowertots potty (which seemed to do the trick when we got home!).

773Emma’s had a great day today. This morning was just a trip to the shops but Emma decided that, not only was she going to take a rucksac but she would also take a handbag! Apparently the essential item to carry in your handbag is a small teddy! Whilst Christine bought food we took a look at the scene of yesterday’s accident that made regional news. There wasn’t much to see though as the roof has now been propped up again and the area cordoned off so we continued on to the library. Emma typically does all of the jigsaws in the library whilst I hunt out books for her. When Emma did eventually take an interest in the books (she does actually love hearing stories), she picked one off the shelf, sat down next to a girl who must have been about 5, said “Hello girl” and proceed to start on a story “One day…”!

(more…)

Christine was attending a graduation ceremony today so I agreed to collect Emma from nursery. Christine is now taking the car in to work so this meant transporting Emma on the back of my bike. This seemed like a good idea at the time but sadly the weather forecast was as reliable as usual and, rather than rain arriving in the evening, it had been tipping it down all afternoon. It’s now about 10 minutes cycling home and then about 15 minutes each way to the nursery (faster on the way there, slower when carrying Emma!). The rain eased off as I arrived at the nursery but we didn’t make it home before another shower came through. Emma seemed to enjoy it but I was more than happy not to head out in the rain again for a run.