we really are back this time...

This has been a funny few weeks. The first six weeks of Babycakes life and we couldn't record any of it on the blog. I have finally sorted things out, although it is more a work around than really sorting it out. The blog seems to be available in frames if you follow the link for mcmuffin.co.uk. I am not sure why that is, but the hosting company tell me that it is "impossible" to fix. The proper address of the site is now www.mcmuffin.co.uk. I ended up searching and replacing the links to all of the photos that we have posted over the years. We'll post more later, but I've got to go and sort out our dinner. Mrs McMuffin is starving. For now, I thought I would show you a little cuteness. We dressed Babycake up as a little green dragon to celebrate St David's Day, the only British patron saint who is actually from the country he patronises. Some of you have already seen these photos, but I don't think you can ever have too much of a good thing.

six weeks

The last six weeks have gone by so quickly in a frenzy of feeding, changing and sleeping and that's just me. We have a gorgeous and contented little boy, but his contentment comes at a high price-he hates to nap and will not sleep at all during the day unless in someone's arms. I have tried everything I can think of to get him to sleep elsewhere, but he's just not having it and will get wind, or throw up his food in protest should we deviate from his strict requirements. This has meant that I have become unable to do very much at all, but on balance it seems like a small price to pay for a thriving child.

He's just waking up now with a great big scream, so I'd better go and attend to him. See you soon.

rss feed

The problem with the RSS feeds stems from the strange frames thing that is going on. If you relink to www.mcmuffin.co.uk that should sort things out.

how very peculiar...

The site seems to be running fine now. RSS should show up in either incarnation. It is all a little bit scary. I think Typepad should have warned us that if you post often enough then the site will tip over some evolutionary line into sentience. Believe it or not, the site just sorted itself. I am hoping that Typepad have quietly fixed something that wasn't working at their end, but what if they didn't, what's next? Tic Tac Toe, anyone?

passive aggression is so unattractive

I had an odd experience yesterday and the more I think about it, the angrier I become. Mrs McMuffin and I took Babycake to the doctor for his six weeks check up. The baby clinic was very busy. I was the only man there. There were a number of women with their babies milling around, and all of the workers were women too. I felt a little bit out of place. The women, Mrs McMuffin included, all seem to have something to do. There were bins under the baby changing tables with a little sign on them instructing us not to put soiled nappies in the bin. I had been drinking a can of Red Bull and when I had finished I put it in one of the bins. I thought nothing of it. The baby was weighed and Mrs McMuffin and I chatted to the Health Visitor about Babycake while we waited to see the Paediatrician. We went back to the same table to get Babycake dressed after he had seen the doctor. As we were doing this, the receptionist came over and opened the bin. With a look of disgust on her face, she tutted, and said, "look at that, someone has put a can in the bin." I told her that I had put the can in the bin because I thought it was a bin for rubbish, apart from soiled nappies, of course. She told me in a whiney voice that the bin was just for paper. I started to protest, "but...it doesn't say that..." I took the can out of the bin and asked her where I should put it. She kindly offered to show me the bin where cans go, and took me around the back of the room, through a little a child gate, into a kitchen, and pointed to the kitchen bin. When we got there, I couldn't help but ask her why I couldn't put the can in the other bin. She insisted that the other bin was for paper only. I just had to point out that it didn't say that anywhere, to which she answered, "it isn't necessary to say that because the mothers are too busy with their babies to be drinking from cans."

I know I may be reading too much into this, but it seems to me that she clearly disapproved of me being there. Not only had I committed the cardinal sin of using the bin for disposing of anything other than paper, but the fact that I had time to drink a can of soft drink suggested that I had nothing to do there. I wasn't surprised that there weren't many men at the clinic, but it was a surprise to find that I was the only one. I wonder how many men have attended the clinic but decided not to return after suffering a similar experience?

I don't do this very often, but I think I am going to write a letter of complaint.

Oh, and I'm going back!

discovery

Mr McMuffin is holding Babycake, so I have a small window in which to write a post, before the milk monster calls for me. I have no real life outside McMuffin mansions and serving Lord Babycake, so it's difficult to find anything else to talk about. Occasionally I find something in the wider world of interest, but it's forgotten in the minutes it takes to change a nappy (that's a diaper if you're not a Brit).

I find myself completely hypnotised by Babycake and fascinated by the smallest changes. Hours go by just looking at him and I don't really seem to notice or care. The biggest event for me now is that a week ago he just grew eyelashes and smiled at us properly. As he also smiles adoringly at the cushions on the sofa, I'm not that flattered. Today he discovered his left hand and spent a long time looking at it. I suspect he's wondering too why he keeps a collection of fluff and dried spit inside it.

The boy is just gorgeous and I'm sure I'll sob when the time comes to go back to work, but I have to confess that I'm missing work and spending time with people who can hold a conversation and don't poo in their pants.

amazing...

I just saw a TV advert for the DVD release of Guy Ritchie's universally panned film, Revolver. They had they nerve to describe it as "Guy Ritchie's most talked about film." You have just got to admire the bare faced cheek of it all.

well i never...

We decided to rent a movie tonight. Mrs McMuffin waited in the car with Babycake while I went into the shop. We always have problems choosing films that the other one wants to see, so tonight I thought I would get us one each. I got Nanny McPhee for Mrs McMuffin because she had said that she wanted to see it, and I got Lord of War for me, just because...I was pretty certain that I wouldn't be able to sit through Nanny McPhee, but I was very, very wrong. The opening scenes hooked me immediately and I was carried away on a magical ride. What can I say, it was absolutely brilliant. Emma Thompson was great, even though I found her make up a little hard to handle for a few moments, but it makes some kind of sense as she gradually changes, and the kids had none of that sickly sweetness that make you want to beat them with a stick. A wonderful film. If, like me, you were put off from watching it by the terrible trailers, try to put aside any prejudices you might have, you will not be disappointed.

We haven't watched Lord of War yet.

By the way, I just had a fag in the garden. I could hardly hear myself think for all the racket that the rutting frogs were making. I expect we will be overrun with the slimy things again this year. Lets hope they don't make their way into the house. Horrible.

little thugs...

I don't think I mentioned that someone tried to steal my car a couple of weeks ago. We were on our way to the baby clinic with Babycake. It took a while to register what had happened. I opened the passenger door to put the baby seat in, and there on the floor was an odd bit of plastic. Mrs McMuffin and I debated for a few seconds what the plastic could be from. Then, super observant as ever, Mrs McMuffin noticed that the steering column had been ripped off and all the wires had been pulled out. They had also pulled off the keyhole thingy, so I couldn't start the car. We had to walk to the clinic because Mrs McMuffin's car had stopped working before she had the baby and we had just left it to rot. Five weeks later and it was doing absolutely nothing. Turned out that the battery had drained flat. I immediately got in touch with the police and the insurance company. The police didn't even bother coming round, and the insurance company arranged for a garage to come and collect the car so that they could repair it. However, the garage crew decided not to take my car and wrote it off without even opening a door, which I thought was a bit odd. The insurance company have offered me £1000 for my lovely little car. It's worth a lot more than that to me. I think I got good value for my money from that car. It cost me £4000 and I have ran it for nearly 8 years, with hardly any problems at all. So now we are looking for a new car. We were doing the tour of local showrooms yesterday. I'm having the same problem as before. I am not remotely interested in cars, but when I start looking at them I want, want, want...I did offer Babycake as part exchange at one point. The scary thing is that the woman I offered him too was very enthusiastic and offered me any car in the showroom. I imagine we will spend 4 or 5 grand and I will get myself another basic, underpowered, little car. It's alright for Mrs McMuffin, who drives a top of the range car leased through her company. I'll manage, I suppose...

new neighbours

Ms Ginger Cake and her brood are moving into their new home at the bottom of our garden today. She hates it when I say that but their new house is at the bottom of our garden. I just want to be the first to welcome her to the neighbourhood. I've promised to make her dinner tonight. I suggested feeding the kids too, but she dismissed the idea with a wave of her hand, saying, "they can feed themselves." My only advice to her is be careful where you park your car.

old man whipper snappers etc

Just thought I would mention that the new David Gilmour album, On An Island is excellent. Lovely gentle Pink Floyd-ish sound with historic guitar solos. Who could ask for more?

johari window

Mindy has set up her own Johari Window, and I thought I would do the same. Apparently, the Johari Window...

...was invented by Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingham in the 1950s as a model for mapping personality awareness. By describing yourself from a fixed list of adjectives, then asking your friends and colleagues to describe you from the same list, a grid of overlap and difference can be built up.

If you'd like to take part in this little experiment, you can find mine here. I'll publish the results later.

salmon with leeks and capers

We had salmon with leeks and capers, and pesto mash tonight, and it was delicious. I found this recipe in one of the foody magazines that I get a few months ago. Unfortunately I have absolutely no idea which one. I think my version is slightly different, although I can't be sure. I went through a phase where I must admit that I became just a little bit obsessed with making this. At one point, poor Mrs McMuffin was having to eat it twice a week, and I would have made it more often, but she put her foot down. The recipe is really straightforward and takes virtually no time to prepare. The results are fantastic. I had no idea that leeks and capers compliment each other so well. Anyway, here is what you do:

1 Take about 500gm of leeks. Clean them and finely slice on the diagonal. How you cut them isn't really important, but they look nicer.

2 Put the sliced leeks in a bowl along with about 100gms of drained capers. I think the capers preserved in wine vinegar taste best in this dish. Add a good grind of black pepper. I don't think it needs any extra salt, but that's up to you. Liberally douse the leeks and capers with some olive oil and give the whole thing a good mix up. Spread the leeks and capers on the bottom of an oven dish of some sort.

3 Take four boned and skinless salmon fillets and season both sides with salt and pepper, then place the fillets on top of the leek mixture. Sprinkle a bit more olive oil over the salmon.

4 Cover the dish with some tin foil or a well fitted lid and cook in a medium oven (remember my oven doesn't have any numbers on it, so I have no idea of the temperatures). It's hot but not too hot, if you know what I mean. Cook it for about 35 minutes with the cover on and for about another 10 minutes with the cover removed.

I like to serve the salmon and leeks with capers with a pesto mash, which is basically a good creamy mash with a couple of spoons of pesto swirled through it. I usually have a few roasted baby tomatoes with it too.

It is that simple. Let me know what you think.

PS I just did a search for a picture to go with this post. I searched for leeks and capers and found 156,000 entries. It looks like quite a few people have discovered the joys of combining leeks and capers.

PPS There is a small chance that I have posted about this already. In my searches I discovered that Google had indexed something from our blog about leeks and capers, but I couldn't find the entry. Ah well, it is a recipe that is worth repeating.

funny...

via Steve DeKorte

The perfect illustration of the difference between Microsoft and Apple.

while he is sleeping

Babycake is sleeping in his crib! He slept in it for about two hours earlier today, truly he is becoming a big boy. He also had a hearing test at the hospital today because he missed out on his initial assessment as he was born at home and because of the McMuffin family history of ear troubles. I am pleased to announce that his hearing is absolutely fine and like the co-operative little chap he is, he slept through the whole test (which he was supposed to - I know, it's amazing).

Ms Ginger Cake appears to be getting settled, after moving into the house of filth. I cannot believe how dirty the previous owners left it and how hard she has had to work to get it to look clean. So far she has been a very good neighbour, but there's still time for us to develop a feud. Mr McMuffin and I have been discussing whether we should start it by stealing her garden a few centimetres at a time, becoming noise polluters or spying on her with binoculars.

new car

I bought a new car today. I don't know what it is about buying a car, but I have been very anxious about the whole thing. I think it has something to do with knowing absolutely nothing about them, and yet being so dependent on them at the same time. I don't want to look at lots of different cars or compare features. I just want to go into a shop and pick the nicest looking one that I can afford. I had meant to buy a second hand car, but over the last few days I have persuaded Mrs McMuffin that we should just get a new one. I thought that if I had a new car then I wouldn't have to worry about having any problems with it for the next couple of years. In the end I got a very good deal, I think, on a Vauxhall Corsa. It's a special edition with air conditioning, electric windows, alloys, and all that sort of stuff (I guess our American cousins will laugh at the idea of a car without these basic amenities, or at least that is my fantasy about US cars.) I even went so far as to buy a servicing contract for the next three years, and I am having it coated in some stuff called Supaguard, a bit like Scotch Guard, but for cars, so I don't have to clean it very often. That should take care of everything for the next three years at least. The only problem is that it only has a driver side airbag. If we are ever in an accident, I will be fine, but poor Mrs McMuffin will not be. I will feel a little guilty about that, but when I asked about having one fitted, I was told that it would be a factory fit which would take about 8 weeks for delivery. I opted to do without the airbag so that I could have the car in 2 weeks. Was that bad of me? Anyway, I don't intend to be in any serious accidents, so we should be fine.

I did have a funny moment when I thought I had slipped into an alternative reality. As the salesman was running through his spiel he came to the point where he tried to persuade me to have insurance which was a little bit odd given that the car had free fully comp. insurance with it as part of the deal. I listened to him and gradually I realised that he was trying to sell me insurance on my insurance. I immediately stopped listening because that way lies madness.

who would have thought it?

We were a bit worried about Babycake yesterday so we took him to the doctor. It turned out that he is fine. He suddenly stopped pooing for no apparent reason. He has been very regular and then nothing for 36 hours. Very odd. He looked healthy enough, although he was a bit windy-ier than usual, but we thought we would take him, you know, just in case...The doctor told us that babies can go without a poo for up to five days. Who would have thought it?

nadir

Writing about baby poo really is a sign that your preoccupations should be held in check. Anyway, Babycakes has filled a nappy today with the liquid mustard gorgeousness that is his poo and continues to be very windy. Oh, the joy.

that's what daddies do...apparently

My brother is coming over tonight for dinner and to see Babycake for the first time. We have been very lazy this week, and now the house needs a good clean. Mrs McMuffin has gone off shopping with her sister, and the baby, leaving me to do the cleaning. As they were leaving, I was being a bit pathetic, telling them that it was okay for them to leave me at home to do the cleaning. To make matters worse Mrs McMuffin told Babycake that cleaning is what daddies do. I had best get on, although I really have little desire to do any cleaning. Hope you're all having a better Saturday afternoon than I am.

competition

My brother and his partner came to dinner on Saturday and they brought a lovely, albeit huge, present for Babycake. It's a called a playnest. We set up the thing last night. When we came down this morning, we were greeted with this sight. Poor Slinky. He is so determined to claim anything new that comes into the house, with the possible exception of the baby, who he haughtily ignores. Have I told you that one of Slinky's tricks when he is looking for somewhere comfortable to sleep is to pull off onto the floor any clothes or towels or whatever that we have hung over the radiator to dry to make a little bed for himself. The other day I came downstairs to find him sleeping on top of one of Babycakes tiny vests. The thing is so small that I didn't even notice that he had it under him. I think he needs some extra loving.

my son hates me

Given that I am with Babycake 24/7, it's difficult to find anything else to post about. I have therefore avoided posting anything much, as I find it irritating when people tell you the smallest details of their baby's lives (baby poo, Mr McMuffin). However, Babycake surpassed himself today and I think the world needs to know about it.

Usually Babycake has a bath with me every day as he loves the deepness of the water and is particularly fond of a little feed and float and it makes him nice and sleepy. Now I don't have a problem with him weeing in the water as it doesn't smell and doesn't discolour the bathwater, which I'm sure you'll agree are important criteria. I think we all know where this little tale is going. Yes, Babycake, he of the infrequent bowel movements just pooed all over me in the bath. Fortunately Mr McMuffin was around to help with the rather nasty and sticky clear up, but that's the end of me bathing with Babycake when we're alone in the house. On a positive note, my skin has never felt softer.

sleeping now

He's had his feed, wash and poo, and is now sleeping soundly. How could anyone punish him for defiling his poor dear mother. I don't want to do it, but it is important that he learns just how wrong it is to poo on people who only want the best for him. No fags for him today.

the new car arrives and mrs mcmuffin messes with my head...again

I picked up the new car today. Needless to say, it is lovely. All bright and shiny, and stain proof, apparently. I paid £250 to have the whole thing sprayed in some kind of Scotchguard stuff. I shall never have to clean it, or at least that is my interpretation of it all. I went for a nice drive in it to pick up a duplicate MOT certificate for the car that has been written off, so that I can make the claim on my insurance. All I can say is that it zoomed, even though it has the same sized engine as the other one. I guess 10 years of technological development really does have a pay off. The only problem with the car is the fact that the stereo is absolutely rubbish. It is tinny with no bass. I suppose this shouldn't come as a surprise to me, but I was hoping that the improvements in technology had seeped through to the audio equipment they put in cars. It has, of course, but this only means that the crap stereos are cheaper to make. I steeled myself before mentioning it to Mrs McMuffin. I told her that I just could not live with the stereo. She said, "I just assumed you'd replace it anyway." I was so shocked that I didn't get her to sign anything, but I think she just gave me permission to get a new car stereo, one that I can plug my iPod into. She suprises me sometimes.

hug a bub

Mr McMuffin mocked me for my fantasy that this little item would free up my hands and restore some normality to my life. He has had to eat his words, it is truly our salvation and even helps the boy with his (appalling) colic. I wish we had owned one when Babycake first arrived, as it would have made our lives a lot easier from the beginning. Babycake seems to love it too and finds it very relaxing. I'm not on commission or anything, but I can honestly say this is the best baby related thing we own. Even if it is insanely expensive for what is essentially a strip of cotton jersey, it is worth every single penny.

Truthfully, I was a little anxious that I might look a bit like one of those strange women that give the NCT a bad name (you know, the ones that send frozen expressed breastmilk to their children when they go to university and can no longer suckle), but I am pleased to report that it does not seem to be viewed as a statement accessory such as an all terrain travel system or any bugaboo product. While describing carrying your sprog as babywearing really makes me queasy, I can't deny that having him close to me for a large chunk of the day and night hasn't been beneficial for us both.

the kills

We watched the French film The beat that my heart skipped the other night. Great title, and a pretty good film. Over the end titles they played this. Turns out it is by a group called The Kills. I immediately sought out some more music, and found their last album, No Wow. They make excellent stripped down rock music. The singer sounds a little bit like PJ Harvey, but don't let that put you off. Here is another track from the album, Murdermile.

i hate vauxhall

The new car is lovely. I forgot what it was like to drive a new car. It is a bright and lively drive. Very nice. However, the built in stereo is crap. I have been searching for a new stereo and thought I had found one. It turns out that Vauxhall have made it impossible to replace the rubbish stereo that they put in my car. It has something to do with multi-function wires. I can't tell you how angry this has made me. I have been in touch with Vauxhall customer services, which are crap too, by the way, and the best they could do was tell me that they couldn't advise me to adapt the car's wiring because it might invalidate my warranty. I know this sounds a little extreme, but unless they can give me a good reason for locking me into their rubbish, without telling me, I think I might try to return the car to the dealer. Mrs McMuffin doesn't look terrible amused by my ranting. All I can say, who do these people think they are?

and today I endorse...

...these strange things. They work amazingly well and a big thanks to the nice lady at Baban for getting them to me the next day as promised.

We've got a busy few days ahead as we've got friends for dinner tonight and tomorrow and on Sunday Babycake is going to meet his non McMuffin cousins and uncle in York, then on Monday we're carrying on to Scotland so that his McMuffin grandparents, aunts and cousins can get to see his gorgeousness. Fortunately Mr McMuffin's best friend and family live very close to the clan McMuffin, so we are going to stay with them until Wednesday when we return to York and then we're back home on Thursday. Much as I want Babycake to meet his relatives (and for them to say how lovely he is) I'm not actually looking forward to this trip, as I think it's going to be knackering. However, if a change is really as good as a rest, expect me to be very well rested by Friday.

.....