Who’s Normal Anyway?

I’m feeling fed up because I’ve got conjunctivitis (at least only in one eye) that is irritating the hell out of me, sore, itchy and watering all the time and is going to make driving to the library this morning difficult (M is booked into an activity thing). I’ve got antibiotic drops that seem to be making no difference whatsoever. I just hope L and M don’t catch it. A can’t look at me without his eyes watering and he rubs them nonstop when talking to me. Don’t suppose he can help t but it doesn’t make me feel any better. Anyway, he’s off on some cycle round the pubs thing when work finishes today so not sure what time he’ll get home.

So yesterday morning I phoned the doctors’ first thing and after going through the usual rigamarole -Is it urgent? Well I’m not about to die but my eye’s swollen up. Depends how you define urgent, what a stupid question -managed to get an appointment out of them for 9am, so I suppose I shouldn’t complain. When we got home M dissapeared next door for the whole day except for an hour over lunchtime when they chucked him out. How come they play nicely next door but round here they bicker over what to play, charge around making a mess and M screams that lad next door has broken something every so often and screeches?

L pottered and I got on with housework stuff til he was ready to feed off for a nap. Then I played Settlers for a bit of relaxation til M came home for lunch. I also got a bit more of an article I’m trying to write done.

In the afternoon L and I spent some time in the garden. He got a slide for his birthday and yesterday he spent a while circling it and then figured out how to climb the steps. He was bare bummed in the garden but had to put pants on or else he wouldn’t slide LOL. So now he can climb up and sit himself down and launch into a slide with a bit of encouragement, though he’s precarious at the top of the steps cos he doesn’t sit down far enough on and I can see him tipping off backwards.

In the house, L is really fast up the stairs now and is just starting to come back down again. Generally he remembers “feet first” but he has a frightening desire to do it forwards. My aim is to be with him, remind him to do it a safe way but not fuss around him and hover like I expect he’ll fall any second - tough balance to reach.

While I’m talking about L, he’s got a new sign now - hot. It’s one sign we’ve done loads (think the others we use could bear repeating much more consistently if we want him to pick them up). We sign hot for cups of tea and coffee and for newly dished up food, as well as for things like the oven. This week L has started copying the hot sign as well as he can by holding his hand up to his mouth. Then the other day A picked up L when he came in from work and said “Ooh, you’re sweating, are you feeling hot?” and L signed hot in a new context - so sweet when they show they understand a word even when they can’t say it yet.

He is starting to say some sounds fairly consistently for words too - he’s got the typical mumumum and dadad but he also does ma for M, mo for more and go for gone.