I’ve always loved the concept of revisionist thinking.  JFK…the greatest US president?…or the chap who had a bit Marilyn Monroe on the side?  Take your pick.  A very shallow example I suppose.  Sometimes it works other ways.  Every Friday and Saturday night BOTH local radio stations have a 70s and 80s Glitz Mix.  We glorify the days of old…that is until we see pictures of the hair, clothes and mobile phones.  Around our house we’ve fell victim to a bit of revisionist thinking…or you could just call it rose tinted glasses.

Holly is now just over 3 and 1/2 weeks old.  She’s at a stage where she won’t settle on her back (front, side…you name it).  She’s getting into odd feeding habits and gets really unsettled between 3am and 6:30am.  To be honest, babies drive me nuts.  Its seems as though you can’t count on much with these little beasts.  Of course in my memory I’m taken back to the days of brief 10:30pm dream feeds and a boy that slept from 7:00pm to 7:00am.  Surely he was doing this by day 4…right?  OK, maybe not.  I’m smart enough to remember that I went through lots of ideas to get us over more than a few hurdles.  But surely by 3 1/2 weeks we were starting to get some order.

DUH!  No chance.  Last night Nicola decided to check out the blog from 2005.  I started it when Evan was about 3 weeks old.  Guess what.  We’re probably 2 weeks ahead in milestones in comparison to Evan.  So that made us feel a lot better.  Parenthood doesn’t really get any easier second time around (and I’m guessing 3rd, 4th etc etc either).  What does make it feel easier is that you know it ends…it being the difficult, unsettled and unpredictable times.  Already we’ve got a great feeding schedule (even if she’s a bit lax in the late afternoon…but we’ve started to sort this with a mix of formula and breast milk at 6:45pm).  We’ve started using the swaddle (with reinforced velcro straps…cruel?  I think NOT!) and yesterday I found the greatest use for the iPod ever.  I downloaded 10 minute loops of an electric fan, hair dryer and a rain with womb sounds.  Suddenly those crap non-powered external iPod speakers I got for holiday a few months ago have real use.  However the £150 cot accessory is a little steep.

Wow…that’s a lot of verbage.  If you’re feeling more than a little broody I suggest you check out the early blog here.  Be sure to scroll to the bottom to start from the very beginning.

BTW…you may have noticed that the blog has a bit of different look.  Its no longer Evan’s Dad’s Blog but rather Evan and Holly’s Dad’s Blog.  So we had to add a feminine touch to it. (bigger pictures too).

The mother-in-law got me a Rally Thrill experience at Silvestone…AWESOME!

Me in the helmet condom

On Monday my great mate, Simon Kemp, and I raced off to FOCUS on Imaging at the NEC.  I learned I don’t need to go again for at least 3 years!

This morning…awww…bless!

Playing coy

Now you know why we call her Dolly

No, this isn’t a Michael J Fox movie.  I’ll get to that in a mo.

Firstly, do you tweet?  If, perhaps, you’d like to follow me on Twitter, here is the address:

http://www.twitter.com/shootinghip

We decided to take Holly to a cranial osteopath.  Sounds really invasive doesn’t it.  In some ways I wish it was.  Blokey ask 40 questions, puts his hands on her head, back and tummy, barely moves and charges me £40.  I want jackhammers and scalpels to be honest.  But saying that, we took Evan to same chap a few years ago and were very impressed.  We’ve sensed a bit of tension in her lower back and felt that this was a great way forward.  So far, so good.

My birthday passed off without incident.  We made the foolish decision to make tracks from Gunwharf Quays for lunch and a quick dash to the historic ships.  Only when we hit the queues did we remember…HALF TERM!  Saying that, Holly needed a break from all the revision.  She passed her hearing test with flying colours. (damn, I really am funny).  I never did find the perfect gift…so instead I passed off an office necessity as a gift and purchased a new printer with Wi-Fi capability.  Living life…right on the edge.

Technology sucks…OK, I lie, its great.  But whoever invented the Genius sidebar in iTunes needs to be hung.  I wasted nearly £5 buying 80s hair band music the other day.  Ratt, Poison etc etc etc.  You can never get too much “Round and Round”.

Right…the secret of my success.  I just press the shutter.  The real work goes on behind the scenes.  For the first time I prepared to reveal my secret weapon!  Here you go!

Meticulously removing every imperfection!

In a muddle deciding on Lord of the Rings or Hollywood Glow (warning, most of you have no idea what I’m on about–as if that makes a change)

Actually, Evan is checking out the games on the Lego website.  He’s getting to grips with the mouse quite well…although I suspect he may need a left handed mouse…do they even exist?

Just a few points…Holly is getting on OK.  Well, saying that she did pretty much cry lots, eat little and sleep little from 7pm Tuesday up until 7pm Wednesday.  Today she’s been her ‘old self’ again.  How you can describe a 9 day old child in terms of ‘old self’ is beyond me.  I did get to feed her last night.  Nicola ‘expressed’ (MOOOO) enough to let me do a dummy run.  So tonight she’s off to bed at 9 and I’m on late duty.  Of course this did afford me the opportunity to watch Spain v England.  I’m sure David Villa is a video game character.

My birthday is next week.  I’m really looking forward to my last year in the 20s (yeah, right).  Nicola keeps pestering me, “what do you want for your birthday?”.  Umm, I can’t figure it out.  I don’t really want anything.  Family members are all getting iTunes vouchers.  By this time next week I reckon I’ll have a credit account of around £100.  That’s a lot of ‘Busted’ for one chap I can tell you.  If anyone has anything constructive do let me know.

I was more than a bit miffed to learn that ‘The Boss’ is playing in London this summer.  I love Bruce, but I can’t do festivals.  The thought of sitting outside in the searing heat…wait this is London in the summer…the thought of sitting in the pouring rain waiting for The E Street Band to play just kills me.  I’ve seen Bruce before.  3 hours of non stop entertainment.  The best value for money concert ever.  Perhaps they’ll do a Wembley or something.

Anywho…went to the park today with Evan…remember him?

I am the God of Hell Fire!

Hey, everyone else is producing dull, brown images…why can’t I?

Vrooom

Oh yeah, Holly!

Click on the image below to view a 5 minute slideshow of before and after Holly’s arrival. Yes, there are things here you HAVEN’T seen.