Alder's Tone

Sleep - 10/10
Since around the 6 weeks marker we've been getting near to adult sleeping patterns. And for us that means very different things. I'm used to being up by around 8 on a weekend and MOTS is more like her dad who tends to rise a little later, Monday if he could get away with it. Perfect score now, and has been for a long time.

Weight - 9/10
He's strayed from the 50th percentile, but has remained static above it. We thought he was perfectly textbook until this happened. I just know that tub of Ben & Jerry's was a mistake.

Input - 8/10
Feeding has been a bit of a challenge, particularly in the early days when MOTS was trying to do her best while at the same time trying to explain to midwives that 0.3ml of colostrum just isn't going to satisfy even the least hungry of babies. Mum 1, midwives nil.

Output - 7/10
To be fair, nobody said this was the easy part. Poor rating here given the absolute carnage that was last weekend.

Love - 10/10
Unconditional. And that's both ways. There's no greater sight than the boy laying eyes on his daddy and reacting in ways only a dad could appreciate. The utter excitement, the flailing arms, the kicking legs, and the beaming smile accompanied with the screeching sound of an early "good evening, father, hope your day was well" make this the best. And it's always good for making the missus cry with happiness at the sight of all this love going on.

Maths - 0/10
Martin's post on matching numbers brings it all home. As humans we like "special" numbers. Like how many people try to buy a registration plate with 666 on it? Or try and have their baby born on 01/01? Or even the upcoming 8/8/8 next year (keep it in your pants a while yet if that's the date you're aiming for). We've had nothing in the way of these funny numbers, or rather not taken any notice of any. Until I pointed out this morning, that at 26 weeks old today, the boy is 10% of the way to starting school, given he'll start almost exactly on his 5th birthday. MOTS wasn't too keen on this, maybe because for the entire period from her turning 26 to turning 28 I constantly reminded her that she's nearly 90% of the way to being 30, 90% of the way there, over 90% there. Well, the boy only has 90% of the way to go before he starts school. Quick, down to WHSmith to get his books and pencils sorted!

PE - 9/10
We're not quite to Olympic standards just yet, and with only 5 years to go it's looking doubtful this time around. But athletics does seem to be a favourite at the moment. The boy has shown a keen interest in football from an early age (season ticket holder for the local club aged 3 weeks, thinks his dad is Lineker, Hanson or Shearer), progressing now to playing. Showing an interest in bouncing too, he can take own weight on his legs for a few seconds at a time with help no more than to offer a bit of balance.

Transport - 0/10
The pram is no longer. Granny bought her grandson a Silver Cross all singing all dancing Sleepover Classic but it's had its day. This weekend it was offically converted from the pram into the pushchair. The boy loves it, the wife on the other hand, wasn't too keen on the idea of her little baby not being such a little baby any longer. If only we still had the hormonal cry chart going. The hardware scores 10/10, but I must mark Junior's progress and the effect on us, so as he made his mum cry it's a big fat zero.

Economics - 12/10
Just to make it clear that economics and budgets go out of the window...

Cost per dribble?

Summary of achievements
What a six months. It's been bloody hard work, and there are times when we wonder why we did it. Well I don't but I feel I must put "we" for the benefit of self defence. But then we get one good minute in an otherwise nasty day and the answer is usually smiling us in the face.

Here's looking forward to the first birthday (What did Berkmann say about that....?)