Hugh meets his grandparents

Dot writes: My Mum and Dad have just headed off to the airport again after a week’s stay. We will miss them: we had some pleasant outings (we’re braver in company), Mum cooked several delicious dinners and changed numerous un-delicious nappies, they supplied us lavishly with cake, and Dad read my books. Here are some [...]

Sing to your baby

Dot writes: we’ve been told we should sing to Hugh and that babies respond well to music and rhythm. I do a lot of singing in choirs; but I sing round the house surprisingly little (though I do a bit) because I am used to singing from sheet music and get frustrated when I can’t [...]

Hugh visits a dolmen

Ken writes: Dot’s parents are over at the moment. Here are some of the photos they’ve taken.
Hugh visits a dolmen.
One of the things about living in the British Isles is the number of old stone things lying around. We’re quite fortunate to have this little piece of neolithic legacy just round the corner. [...]

Best worst case scenario

Ken writes:
I’m learning about game theory at the moment, and this morning I got a chance to put theory into practice. You see, last night I repaired a puncture on my bicycle at work before coming home. But it was quite dark and drizzly, so I wasn’t sure the patch had taken. It was enough [...]

Jumbo King Prawn!

Dot writes: 8lb 2oz / 3.7kg today! Not bad for two weeks and four days. At birth he was 6lb 9oz, we think. (The weight recorded was 2.51kg but this turned out to be certainly wrong as the next day he was 2.8kg and the day after that 2.7kg; so the nurses concluded that the [...]

Hugh’s first hill and other pictures

Ken writes: I thought I’d put a couple of recent pictures up.
Gearing up
Hugh all dressed up in the jacket his aunty Meriel bought him.
Hugh’s first hill summitted
Hugh had a rather easy job of it here, having stayed in the stokke the whole time, but well,… he wasn’t even two weeks old.
Asleep
I couldn’t resist a few [...]

For the record

Dot writes: I’d just like to note this morning’s 7am nappy change as the most traumatic so far (for me, not for Prawn: he only screamed a bit). I suspect the record may be broken at no distant date, but this was the running order:
1. Nappy had leaked and sheet of cot was wet, as [...]

Mummytalk

Dot writes: one can’t call it babytalk because the whole point is that the baby doesn’t – talk, that is. So one fills the silence (or attempts to provide a cheerful alternative to WAAA, WAAA, WAAA).
‘Shall we burp you? Can I get a burp? Stretch! Up we go! Oh, that was a good burp! [...]

Pullum tells’m

Ken writes:
This quote is from Geoffrey Pullum over at language log. It’s spot on.
You know, just between you and me, I sometimes worry that there is a naive view loose out there — most students come to linguistics believing it, and there appear to be some professional linguists who regard it as central and explanatory [...]

Mystery babygro

Dot writes: this morning we got a package through the post containing a blue babygro and matching hat in 3-6 months size. The babygro has pictures of teddies on and the words ‘Hi’ and ‘peek-a-boo’. I mention this because it was in a wrapper saying it had been damaged in transit and opened by An [...]