I’ve completed a couple of projects lately of which I am inordinately proud so please excuse my bragging for a moment. First up is this delirious tea cosy which I made as a birthday present for Abigail. I followed this easy pattern which I originally came across on Ravelry.com. The wool is mostly from Springwools although I haggled he orange wool from a woman on Meath st. I haggled rather a lot from her so if I make something for you expect some orange in it. The beige I picked up for a song in Oxfam. The buttons were a total find in A Rubanesque which is, apparently, Ireland’s only passementerie boutique. Yes you do learn something new every day.
The other completed project is that I completed the Couch to 10k programme although I’m still not convinced that I have actually run 10k but I can now run non-stop for 50 minutes
Here is Abigail performing New Buds at last week’s Electric Picnic. This song is very special to me because she wrote it for me and Nipper 3.0, premiering it in the Odessa Club on my birthday last February. It didn’t quite have the intended effect of getting Nipper 3.0 to shift but she made her appearance not long after that.
She’s now 6 months old and I am back at work. Two seasons have passed and my favourite begins. Time does indeed fly.
My sister Abigail Smith‘s debut album, Night Time Walking, is now available to purchase online on CD Baby, Amazon.co.uk and iTunes (this last link will open your iTunes if you have it installed).
Here’s Abigail about a fortnight ago. She called in to see her new niece AGAIN and sang this beautiful new song that she wrote for us. (Recorded live in me kitchen using the Qik live app for iPhone) She first sang it for me on my birthday at her gig in Odessa in February. I love it. She has written beautiful songs for all three of the nippers.
This second video was recorded live at that gig and uploaded using to Facebook using my Qik Video Camera App for iPhone. Nifty eh?
A long overdue blog post. Story of my life. I have been in four hospitals this week between suspected I don’t know what that required our GP sending us to Crumlin Children’s Hospital, minor surgery in James and an antenatal on the same day and then back to Tallaght Hospitals today for my H1N1 booster. God I hate hospitals!
This may be one of the reasons I was attracted to the idea of a paediatric first aid course. I really, truly meant to do one before Nipper 1.0 was born and that was 6 years ago. So when Tots2Teens invited me to attend their Paediatric First Aid Course in Bewleys Hotel Ballsbridge at the beginning of November I jumped at the chance.
It was a day long course and there were about 15 people on the course. There were a mix of parents but many childcare workers. There were only 2 men there and of course Bob (see left). The childcare workers were, for the most part, doing refresher courses. It was amazing to find out from them how much had changed in paediatric first aid since their original training.
The course was very comprehensive and the trainer whose name escapes me really knew his stuff. I did feel at times that he was just going through the slides. He also tended to presume we understood what he was talking about, jargon and acronyms and such. However he was so likable, straightforward and obviously into the topic that those criticisms didn’t matter.
I worried (and here’s a crazy thing to worry about) that attending the course would make me very worried and if there is one thing that drives me mad it’s worrisome parents. Yes sometimes I think other parents don’t think I worry enough but Nipper 1.0 is so bloody cautious that we’re safe enough I think. That is definitely not the case with Nipper 2.0 so there has been some close shaves in the last year and a half! My main feeling on completing the course (for which I got a cert!) was a feeling of reassurance. I really think confidence is a vital element of parenting so if you think you might panic at the sight of your child’s blood or broken bones (Yikes!) I would definitely recommend this course. If nothing else it will give you the confidence to assess and deal with emergency situations involving your children. But it’s more than just paediatric first aid. The emphasis is on kids but much of the theory is generic while the practical exercises (and there was plenty of them!) focus on children where different.
I am also very grateful to Martina in Tots2Teens for sorting me out with some suggested Antenatal Yoga Class. She sent me details of the Seraph Yoga Centre on Heytesbury St. I started there on Wednesday evening and it was brilliant. It was a little more energetic that my previous yoga classes in Holles St. (which if you are a patient there I would strongly recommend too). That said I had no aches and pains the next day although because of my minor surgery earlier that day I was taking it easy. I also had my antenatal earlier that day and when I told the midwife that I was starting my yoga that evening she said, “You always know the women who have done yoga in the labour ward.” I found the confidence (there it is again!) and techniques I gained in yoga really helped in both my labours. Antenatal yoga helps focus your mind and body on the upcoming event and the poses are specially chosen to help relieve the stresses of pregnancy and labour.
The class in Seraph is taught by a woman name Anne and as soon as I arrived she said, “I know you from somewhere.” She didn’t seem very familiar so I said you might know my sister Abigail. (Although we think we’re very different many people get us mixed up.) Turns out she volunteers for Oxfam (as well as being a great yoga instructor) and was there when Abigail performed at Oxjam last year. In fact I was there too and she did recognise me! Here’s a video I made of Abigail playing at Oxjam last year. Enjoy!
