Yes. We’re still alive.

And yet another year surreptitiously creeps into existence without a mention on this blog. Until the end of an extra-long February that is! So without further ado, welcome to 2008. At least there’s some news to report. Several items to be precise.

First is that Jamie-boy is two years old next week. It’s flabbergasting, but true. His activity-levels are nothing short of exhausting, but he’s a complete joy. His vocabulary is at an all time high of about 4 words. Mama, Dada, Wha-ooh (what he whispers into our ears), and his multi-purpose, syntactical evolution of the common verb: DOIT.

To illustrate a typical conversation with Jamie: He will take us into the kitchen, making slurpy (drinking) noises. After opening the cupboard and assembling the various consituents of his bottle (often including machinery-type sound-effects as things tighten) he will open the fridge door, point earnestly to the milk bottles, and then declare to his ‘target’: DOIT.

Sometimes, he will point to his nappy and tell us we need to DOIT. On other occasions he’ll take a DVD, remove the disc from the box, hold it out for us on his side of the dvd-machine-protecting-glass and tap the glass. Saying DOIT. Of course.

Anycase, HE put the glasses on, and he knows how to entertain, so his party should be fun.

Second. I’ve left my job. Technically not yet, but it’s a done deal, and I’m beginning the transition next Thursday. I’ve been at GSC since 2002, and needed to act towards the new direction that I sensed beckoning after completing the BA last year. I’ll be joining an IT Web Development company called White Wall Web, soon relocating to Gardens. I have high hopes, and look forward to new challenges and opportunities. Not to mention joining many friends…

And then Third. While speaking of new challenges, I may as well mention that Janet is 14 weeks pregnant. Some of you might already have known that, but it turns out that there’s more to the (for some reason preconceived notion that things would be the same as with Jamie) story…

Jan and I are thrilled to bits, really not having expected that. It certainly implies a certain ‘newness’ to the challenge, but I suspect we’d have had that anyway – boy or girl.

Of course, it is a perfectly valid argument that this little female is the reason Jan’s been feeling absolutely disgusting the last 12 weeks – nausea etc etc. She seems to be getting through it nowadays, and of course we’re very grateful that she’s feeling progressively better as time moves on. The scan revealed a very healthy looking baby, and no cause for alarm regarding the heart. We’re praying that doesn’t change, and hopefully there’ll be another update before the birth!