Year 3 - May

May 2007

Emma's Entry

Evan demonstrating his much improved football skills.

May has been the month of first times. Caroline went to Wales for a week with her Karate club for a week of intensive training. I was really looking forward to this as it meant I was going to have to do everything by myself. We're a really good team and you only realise how much each other does when you're left alone to do it all. She went on the Bank Holiday weekend so Evan and I were left to our devices on the Bank Holiday Monday :). I spent a few hours cooking all the food required for the weeks lunches and the evening meals for Evan and I. I always feel the urge to do house maintenance when Caroline isn't around as it's usually something which she doesn't allow and this was no exception. 2 hours later, I had some university certificates up on the wall, which now have to stay on the wall because I also have them covering up 2 holes in the wall where my first attempts went wrong! Evan was playing with his Bob the Builder puzzles whilst I was doing DIY (also remembering why we don't really do any) when I hit my thumb with the hammer, he was very caring when he saw it happen because he wandered over to examine my thumb saying "Oh dear, mummy hurt finger".

This way is much more fun for me, and more scary for mummy!

Evan had an appointment with an Allergy Clinic this week to run some tests to see whether his intolerance to tomatoes is actually an allergy. I decided to take a nappy with me just in case as it was an afternoon appointment and he hadn't done a poo all day. I was secretly hoping that he'd hold out though and risked not taking wipes because I couldn't fit them in my bag. He really liked the play area at the hospital and it must have excited him so much that he poo'd. I only realised when we walked in to see the Doctor because it really did smell. That room was unbearable for our 15 minute consultation. The allergy test consisted of several blobs of solution and one real sample of tomato placed on the inside of his forearm. The Doctor drew markings next to each blob so we knew which one was which and then he used a spiky utensil to make a pin prick in his arm over the solutions. Evan was unfazed by this and just thought the Doctor was tickling him. We then went off to wait for the solutions to react with his skin.

I was then challenged with changing Evan's nappy. All was going well until I realised I had no wipes, the only thing I had available was some facial wipes! These had to do, Evan's bum smelled all fresh and rosey after that!

The results of the allergy concluded that he doesn't have an allergic reaction, but his body is showing an intolerance to them. There is not a lot that we can do about it except try him on tomatoes again when he is 5 to see if he is still sick. If he's sick still, then we can probably conclude that he won't be able eat tomatoes at all in the future.

I had some bad news to take this month as my nan died. Even though she was 93, it was still a shock for me when I found out. She always seemed ok when I went to visit, maybe that was because I always had Evan with me as that always made her happy. She rarely knew who I was these days, often mistaking me for my mum, but it was still nice to see her. Evan would usually just run up and down dancing and jumping. I used to get him to sing to her and she'd clap her hands to him. After my nan survived the operation last year to fix her broken leg, I really thought she'd survive so much more, I didn't realise that it was to be her downfall eventually. Even though it was hard to visit her lately because she didn't know who you were, I still miss her deeply. I'm already forgetting what she looked like and the images I do have seem to clash, one minute I see a flash that represents the frail lady I've been used to seeing recently and then I see a flash of her as I wish she had stayed with dark black hair and her strong personality. I don't think she had a very good quality of life lately and I feel bad for wanting her to stick around just for us. She was my nan though and I loved her no matter what. Just like when she was going to have an operation, we all gathered round her just in case she didn't survive, I wish I'd been able to say goodbye this time. You never know when will be the last time you see someone and I remember my last visit vividly and as we always did, Evan and I said goodbye and waved and then I looked back saying "See you soon nan, take care.." little did I realise that that was not going to be the case. It's times like this when you feel like you need to be around family more, it makes me hate the distance between my mum and I and I wish we only lived 15 minutes away from each other so that we could see each other weekly.

Evan's experience with a plaster for the bit of finger nail he pulled off!

Evan and I took the long drive to Birmingham this month to see my nan who lives there. We'd had this trip planned for a month so it wasn't a last minute trip arranged after my nan died. I haven't seen Nan Olive since November, a little longer than I had planned because I'd changed jobs and our weekends had been really busy lately so I was worried that Evan might be shy around her. He was absolutely fine though, she greeted us at the gate and he didn't hesitate to go hand in hand with her down her garden path whilst I unloaded the car. It was a really lovely day and Evan was such a good little boy. It won't be as long until the next visit as we'll see her again next month at my brother's wedding.

Let's hope June brings happier memories... I'm dedicating this entry to my Nan Yates, who I lost this month. She'll never be forgotten and I just only wish I had some pictures to remember her by as I'm worried that over time her image in my memories will fade.

Emma