Daniel

Daniel and the wrist-slashing incident

Written by Gerard on Thursday 21 January 2010

Right, let’s talk about the night of 1st July 2009 and the bloody, wrist-slashing adventure that ensued.

We’d only buried my father at the weekend, and with that rather large event behind us, there was suddenly a metric ton of paperwork to take care of. Notifying all the various companies he had accounts with, getting utility bills transferred into The Mother’s name and dealing with a few legal matters. Not to mention the insurance claim for their disastrous trip to Lourdes.

The Busiest Weekend Ever?

Written by Gerard on Sunday 22 March 2009

Despite spending the whole weekend at home, it might have been one of the busiest on record for us. We had Mother's Day, dance classes and birthday parties and Lisa's teenage brother staying.

Saturday

Saturday started things off properly. I knew it was going to be a struggle to keep everybody busy, so a bit of forward planning was necessary. I got up a little bit earlier with the kids and got them fed and cleaned, then made a spot of breakfast for Lisa when she got up.

Taking the boys to the North Coast

Written by Gerard on Thursday 12 June 2008

After I walked out of my parents' house on Saturday, I proceeded to do exactly what I'd promised the boys. I took them out and we had an excellent day together.

I had taken Daniel to a little harbour round the coast called Portbradden earlier in the week. While the weather wasn't wonderful, we managed quite a lengthy walk that revealed some interesting little places along the coast. It was then that I resolved to come back at the weekend for further adventures.

A walk and a short update

Written by Gerard on Monday 28 April 2008

This blog, as usual is poorly updated at the best of times. Whenever something nice or cute happens at home, you make a mental note to blog it later. Then by bedtime, it's gone.

Aha, but not today! Today's escapade involves a fat dad (me) and two short-arses trying to amuse themselves while the women folk (Lisa and Rachel) went off to dance class for an hour.

Naptime With Daniel

Written by Gerard on Wednesday 26 March 2008

Our attic room is temporarily a 'play room'. Which means it's a place for the kids to throw their toys around without us having to look at the resulting mess.

Every now and again, I take Daniel up to the attic and we watch a DVD together. We throw ourselves down on the beanbags and, if the conditions are right we'll both fall asleep. We did this yesterday afternoon - I stuck on the Shrek The Third DVD and we both settled down for the movie.

Crazy Times

Written by Gerard on Wednesday 19 March 2008

Hell, it's been a mad few months in our house.

Our websites are getting more and more popular. My day job is getting busier and more stressful. I don't update this blog as often as I'd like to, because I want to record some of our lives for the kids.

As a family, good things are happening, and not-so-good things too. Rachel and Jake are going through a great time. Both are being real sweethearts, conversational, witty and creative.

Finally Toilet Trained!

Written by Lisa on Tuesday 22 January 2008

We've done it! We've toilet trained a child or the third and final time, and that feels good!

Just before Christmas, Daniel decided that he didn't want to wear a nappy anymore. We had known from late summer that he was ready, but in our laziness kept putting the inevitable off. We just didn't want to spend a week mopping up puddles from every corner of the house.

Daniel At Two

Written by Gerard on Tuesday 4 September 2007

There are points in the parenting cycle I love and those I don't. Most men I speak to seem to agree that the baby stage is hard to deal with - the crying, the tantrums and the dirty nappies. And that's just their wives.

Seriously though, the first couple of years are the hardest as far as I'm concerned. Daniel had his second birthday last week. A milestone by any standard, but it seems to be marked by how quickly he's progressing lately.

Yay, Dat!

Written by Gerard on Tuesday 17 July 2007

Daniel's latest phrase is "Yay, dat!" It used to be just "Yay!" whenever you offered him something he wanted (usually food), but this last couple of days he's been adding "Dat". Meaning "that" in case you were wondering. One of the funniest things about him is the zeal he puts into this. You'd honestly think he'd won something. In general, Dan's speech is coming along pretty well. A few months ago he used the almost universal "Ushhh" to refer to anything and everything. These days it's more refined.

Bog Roll Bombs

Written by Gerard on Monday 9 July 2007

Daniel is in the middle of a deadly phase - the sneaky dropping the toilet roll into the toilet phase! Because of his size and the distraction that the other two (and their friends) often present, he's finding it very easy to sneak into the bathrooms and make a bog roll bomb. I think all of our kids have done this at one stage or another. It doesn't make fishing the damned things out any easier though. Here's the worst one though - one of the kids' friends went to the toilet just after Dan had thrown a roll in.