(249 so far)Every entry ever (abridged)
Stopgap
A.k.a. (again)
The Girl. Tilly. Moppy. Tilly-toots. Tootingtons. Tills. Tillster. Tillington Billington. Matilly Matolly. Matilly Matolly Matootles. TillyNO! Tillybobs. Milly (grr!) Byootiful lady baby. (Again?)...Tunnel vision
...of beauty. Tilly saw the tunnel, she saw Dom go through the tunnel, she went through the tunnel. Just like that. (Shaving weeks off the junior wassock record in the process)....Two trikes and she's out
Loving being outside on the 'superior' trike during what may turn out to have been this year's summer....All smiles
Secret April
On secret wassocks (eh?) this month: Haircut, Ouch!, Poorly, Sorry, Good Knight, Joke (and another), Maybe, But but but..., Twirly!...Chairwoman
Tilly's vocabulary is expanding nicely, with new additions to the repertoire being a fairly frequent occurence. I asked her yesterday if she'd seen Tasha (her keyworker) at nursery to which she replied, "Tash-shah". I thought I'd try my luck and...Sprung
The warm spring sunshine yesterday evening saw Tilly exploring the garden and, as far as we can remember, having her first go on the slide that Nan bought for Dom and any/all future kids we may or may not...First trike capability
On a whim, I pulled out the indoor trike for Tilly to have a go on this morning whilst Dom was at church with his Mum. Like a duck to water, within ten minutes she was mounting/dismounting unaided, tooting...Pretty eyed, pirate smile
Supergrass
Sprung The snap above is Tilly loving her first off-road toddling. Having been walking a little over a month and equipped with brand new big girl shoes, she took advantage of yesterday’s beautiful weather to trot around on the...Up (on her feet) date
After months of indifference to the joys of bipedal propulsion, Tilly finally decided to emulate her peers and get walking. Her timing was impeccable – having teased us for weeks, she waited for the afternoon of Dom’s 4th birthday party...Where’s Dom gone?
So Dom turned four a few weeks ago and you’ll not be reading about it here....Double bobble
Also, I've been sprucing up the site a little - about page, images page....Spellchecker
At Christmas, courtesy of NanNan's deluxe crackers, I got to play glamorous assistant to Dom's magician. All the magic lay in how Dom uttered 'Abracadabra!', I was merely there to supply some minor prestidigitation. The joy of this is in...Fireman
Dom is loving the fireman pyjamas that his Great Aunty Jen and Great Uncle Mick got him for Christmas....So smiley
Aunty Jo has been catching up on her flickr-ing...Pesky dwarves
Dom has been learning about the planets at nursery - Mercury, Venus, Planet Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Polluto...Mosaic
My favourite pictures of last year - 2007 and previously - 2006, 2005, all...Nothing if not ambitious
Walking into town through the subway, Dom was fascinated by the busker making a decent fist of Stealers Wheel.'Wow, he had a fantastic band, didn't he?' I explained it was just one man and his guitar, and did he perhaps...Happy Snapping
Dom's being getting busy with his camera, again....Motocrossed wires
A planned trip last Autumn to see Nan and Bampi, Dom and Tillys' great grandparents, in Weston-super-Mud had to be postponed due to Bampi being ill. As sad as we were to miss being able to go down, the silver...So this is Christmas
....and what have we done? Suitable for miners Only a week after disappearing to London village for a hen party, Helen had taken herself off again for a girl's weekend in Leeds. (I have asked no questions and been told...Let's face the music
...and dance...Grandma
You may have seen reference to Grandad Ernie in the birthday blogging but not Grandma Hilda. Most of you will know that she died in August after being ill in hospital due to a series of strokes. It was...Fire and theft
Having celebrated her birthday with both branches of her family, Tilly's third party was spent at home with her little friends Evie and Eloise, and her big friend Kieran whose 16th birthday party this also was. Having received great presents...One year old
Chez wassock has been deluged with cards and kind gifts for our pint-sized beauty. Her birthday tour began with her paternal grandparents in Sandbach, where the Round table laid on a firework display in her honour which she much enjoyed...365 days
TV critic
Dom, sitting on the toilet during Strictly Come Dancing (Strains) Splash! 'Craig Revel Horwood. Eight!'...Halloween
Dom, it transpired, was having a trial run with his Halloween outfit. The fact that Helen was stood watching as I got home tipped me off that something was up and sure enough Dom burst out from behind the sofa...Hiya
Today, had she arrived on time, would've been Tilly's first birthday. Since this was last updated, she's added a lot to her repertoire. She happily commando-crawled her way around for months, pulling herself along with her leading arm with the...20
....you would imagine that it is ten-teen, but it isn't...Sorry
Pssst! Try here....And so is my wife
Of late, Dom has very much been into role-playing. "I'm Spiderman!" "I'm Chick and you can be Lightning McQueen" etc. Some give more amusement than others - Dom: I know, I'll be Tommy Zoom, Tilly can be Daniel and you...Nice
Baldrick
Dom's current bedtime reading is Roald Dahl's Matilda, a lovely present from Julia and David to mark Tilly's arrival. It's recurring theme is the tricks played played on the nasty adults by the kids, and in the current chapter Matilda's...Carry on camping
Tilly has spent her first nights under canvas, with a test-run out in the tent for a long hot sunny weekend at Woodhouse Farm, near Fountains Abbey. She was as good as gold, entranced by all the new distractions, repeatedly...Drink up thee cider
Tilly is all smiles at the good news. Dominic, meanwhile, is singing while we're winning....See you later, perambulator
Tilly has this week progressed from her pram to the considerably more car-boot friendly stroller....Erratum
It is the policy of this blog to correct significant errors as soon as possible. It has been drawn to my attention that last Monday was not in fact our first night out together since Matilda's arrival. Back in January,...Baptism
The sunny weather didn't linger quite long enough, but the rain held off for Matilda's baptism on Sunday. Dressed beautifully in the handmade baptismal gown that her cousin Lydia had worn, Matilda Dora behaved impeccably throughout the service - even...Best Picture Ever
Evie, Dom and Eloise -...Elmer Fudd
Tilly has started getting more and more vocal. In addition to the giggling (at it's cutest when in anticipation of the armpit tickle at the end of "Round and round the garden..."), she often seems to be trying to telling...Snapper
Aunty Jo very kindly bought Dominic a Fisher Price digital camera for Christmas 2006 and Dom is slowly becoming more interested in taking photos with it. The pics below are some of my favourites of his photos - you can...Egg and spoon
So we - me, Dom and his Mum - were talking about Dom and his friends enjoying an improptu plastic egg and plastic spoon race at a birthday party he'd gone to at the weekend. (Bizarre that somebody has gone...Two-three-kick-turn! Turn-turn-kick-turn!
Years ago, before the kids, we saw Victoria Wood at the Bristol Hippodrome. As the applause that greeted her as she came on stage died down she congratulated us all well, you're here, you're out, you're out the house which...Toothypeggers
Aunty Jo's not happy (she doesn't like how fast they grow up) but Tilly's beginning to cut her first tooth....Stabilised
In a proud moment for me, Dom's had his first proper go on his new (stabilised) bike, managing to self-propel himself up and down our drive the other day.The bike - a so-cheap-its-virtually-a-gift purchase from a colleague - is great...Mysterious ways
Dominic has been struggling to shake a cold for weeks and on the walk back from nursery started coughing like a smoker. Helen, sympathising, "Oh Dom, that cough is still really nasty." Dom, slightly indignant, "Yes, God isn't helping me."...Easter
(One week before) Dom: "When do I get my Easter eggs?"Us: "Well, good boys get their chocolate eggs on Easter Sunday and sometimes you have to find them because they are hidden."Dom: (pauses, thinks) "I know where things hide, they'll...Finding her feet
Beautiful baby daughter update: as of the end of March our little girl weighed 15lbs 14oz, placing her in the 75th centile for her age and was 66.5cm tall (91st centile - supermodel territory). The new feeding regime is obviously...Good Friday
As I've alluded to before, Good Friday isn't all that good without a walk to 'a green hill far away'. So today wasn't that green, much of a hill or very far away but the walk was none the worse...Internet Piracy
Jobley's photoblogging again....Paisley
So after Tilly's photoshoot (more later) and shipping off Dom to Osbrad's boysitting services (which he loved), we embarked on Operation 'Get Tilly to accept a bottle so that Helen can leave the house untroubled by the guilt of burdening...Oo-ee-oo
Dom's not big on spontaneity. (Google video link)...They could never be blue
Dom is especially keen on getting the right number of fingers into his pictures. Legs - not so bothered....Each had a wooden horse
An email flickrmail conversation presented for your amusement -...Ewar Woowar
Helen was retelling the story of how she was hit'n'run by a car whilst on her pushbike as a child in York, the driver never to be found.Dominic gave it some consideration, then responded in the most serious tone available...I sees 'im, 'e sees I
So Dominic isn't alone in loving a sing-song - like most kids his age he knows all the words to Bob the Builder, Postman Pat, the Barney song, every nursery rhyme you can think of (and a few you can't)...Pachomp-pachooey-chomp
Yesterday, Helen tried Tilly with her first 'solid' (i.e. non milk) food and things went pretty well. Her reaction could be pretty much summed up as erring on the slightly interested side of nonplussed which is a step up from...Santa Monica Boulevard
Sitting at the dinner table, apropos of nothing, Dominic was hit by a revelation I've had a good idea, why don't I be a good boy all the time! If only....Black and Snowy White
Awaiting title
Someone I used to work with once said that if the amount of disruption caused by one baby is a value x, then the combined trouble caused by having a second is not 2x, nor even x2 but xx. (Did...Three weeks
Tilly has spent most of her first three weeks being the most being the most laid-back baby imaginable. Within three or four days she was down to one feed a night and once even managed to sleep through. The only...Wallace
Dominic's been dressing up again for charidee...Nappy-clad
There are plenty more pictures (literally a couple of thousand as of this morning) in my flickr photostream....Computer says no
We went into town to make Matilda official, open her up a bank account and to place a birth announcement in the local paper. We thought we'd do this in person rather than be put through to a call centre...One week
Matilda's first week has flown by after two hesitant starts. Matilda spent her first day not being very keen on feeding and trying to cough up stuff that she managed to swallow on exit, sometimes going purple in the attempt...Zzzzzzzzz
Still nauseatingly happy
Out'n'about
It seems like only yesterday......Full(er) story
Having spent most of Sunday resigned to induction on the Monday, at 9pm Helen's contractions suddenly stepped up a gear fom half-hourly to one every three or four minutes. A second midwife was duly called out and, lovely as she...Matilda
Helen gave birth to our beautiful daughter, Matilda Dora at 3am this morning. She was 55cm tall, weighed 9lb 5oz and is the greatest thing ever. More later....Matthew Corbett
Still no baby. (Déjà moo?) And yes, we've tried that. It did get a bit exciting last night though. On the Webster's first night off the on-call rota for weeks and thanks to Helen's second membrane sweep, Helen started getting...A song from under the floorboards
Dominic appears in only the best publications. (Back story)...Two splash triumph
A weird one this and non-parents may want to skip it, but here goes.A couple of months back, when Helen began her maternity leave, we redoubled our efforts on the potty training front hoping to get Dom sorted before...Absolutely word-for-word
Having arrived back late for lunch, I was catching up with Dom as he munched his bagel* I've got something special for you, something that bangs over trees.(Me) Fireworks?No, a beaver.Absolute comic genius! (winks at Webby) * Partially given to...Holy Chameleon
Dominic had nearly finished his dinner Would you like some special bread and wine, Daddy?(offering yoghurt on a spoon and a beaker of water)We're doing chameleon, but first we have to read some prayers from our books.(clasps his hands together...Overdue. Fine
So yesterday was the due date, but nothing to report as yet. Dom, while never being anything but positive, hasn't really been mentioning the Impending Arrival very much at all. Or so we thought. At nursery parents evening this...Corrections and clarifications
Don't believe everything you read on the internet, the camera never lies, etc. etc....Defamation maybe
So we've been having trouble with Dom getting nibbled by monsters in the middle of the night. We tried all the usual gambits - there are't really any monsters, even if there were they'd be friendly, what do we say...Daisy, Daisy
It's been a big day on the father-son bonding front....(Ooh!) What you want
Dominic's great-grandad requested that a photo be taken to accompany a letter he was writing to 'Chat!' magazine (a dentists waiting room special). Given that they seem to edit them down to two sentences or forty words, we thought the...The same only different
Modern Art is Rubbish
Bring me sunshine
Before I got Dom up this morning to change his nappy, I had to wander back to our bedroom to retrieve my glasses. Dom was in observant mode when I got back -You wear glasses Daddy, don't you? I don't...Catsup
We have lift off In anticipation of the new arrival, we (with a lot of help from Webster Babysitting Inc.) finally got around to redecorating the second bedroom as Dom's new bedroom. (Looking around the house as prospective purchasers ,...My blood ran cold
Helen relayed this gem from Dominic - Mummy, I need a hammer to fix the telly...Gareth Cheeseman
Dom's very much in a tiger phase at the minute, asking to have his face painted at Lyme Park during the first wassock camping expedition of the year (thanks to Grandad for the great photo below) and doing an awful...Medley and Warnes
So the other morning, whilst Dom was chopping his breakfast into 'e, he asked me what i was having. I started to answer sensibly but then came over a bit wassocky - "I'm having... (breaks into Flashdance theme) the time...My, hasn't she/he grown
The twenty week scan pics, (the twelve week scan photos are here for comparison)Not the greatest scan pics ever because the baby wassock was wriggling so much it was hard to get a clear view of anything (e.g. getting a...Lost in translation
We recently played host to Ria, Koos and their daughter Sara who stayed as part of the glorious return trip (victory lap?) of Chantatouille to English shores. We were uncertain how Dom would cope with this foreign invasion, but he...Little Ern
Dominic has been busy refining his Morecambe and Wise impression. As soon as we taught him it, we regretted it (see previous post) and it's taken weeks to get him down to being this gentle. Makes I laff every time...Terrible two-year old
The recent trend towards bad behaviour on Dominic's part has ignominiously peaked with Helen being called in for a 'little chat' with the nursery manager before being allowed to collect him. His recent speciality is (A) reducing other children to...Dickie Davis
Dominic has been less than kind (Youtube video link) about my new haircut. Whyioughtta......Accord Singers
There's still a few niggles to be ironed out, but the Accord Singers' website is back up - including details of the forthcoming joint performances with their sister choir, Chantatouille. For the bewildered amongst you, this is relevant since the...What does Noddy say?
(A little bit of cultural deprogramming) (Update Saturday 13/05/06) The pop reference here is particularly appropriate, since that song was #1 when Helen and I were born. How about you?...My boy lollipop
Making the most of the spring sunshine, and after the success of his first ice-cream cone last week, we treated Dom to his first ice-lolly....Happy birthday Evie
A special message for the liddle ginger princess......Happy event
Fantastically, we are expecting a brand new bouncing baby wassock in late October. Whilst Helen is very pleased, being pregnant hasn't been the walk in the park it was last time, with daily morning sickness from four in the afternoon...Cheeky monkey
Möbius
We've read some books to Dom so often that he can pick them up and 'read' them himself. He happened upon a new Miffy book this week, and without even knowing the plot was happily chuntering his own story along...By request
So Helen was chastising Dom for some infraction of the house rules and was trying to extract an apology from him. Normally this is very easy, it's getting him to realise what he's apologizing for that is the problem. Sorry...More ketchup
Given that this is set up to show the entries of the last two three months and has just gone snowy white, I thought we'd better write some more. Since last we talked Dom's had his second Christmas and second...O loquacious boy!
Compare. Contrast. (Update 25/01/2006) For those of you that don't speak Domglish, he's saying "Gives medicine to poorly people and Mummy talks to poorly people [...] and what's Daddy called? [...] Farmer Dentist" (a plucky attempt at Pharmacy Technician there)....Blue-eyed boy
Ping pong
When you're smiling, the whole world smiles with you...The Doors
This is Dom a little over a month ago, having been frightened senseless by the first trick or treater he saw - an eight year old in a gorilla mask and a bin bag. Even with him in my arms...Strictly Dom Dancing
Earlier this evening...Cuteness abounds
The Wallace and Gromit obsession continues, even extending so far as us dressing him up as his favourite character for charidee. He also insisted one morning that his cuddly Gromit (a kind donation by an unknowing Evie)should have his nappy...Cheese counter
Dominic's latest obsession is 'the Wallace and the Gromit' and his ever-expanding vocabulary is two-thirds W&G related. 'No cheese!' 'Wensleydale' 'Rocketship! To the MOON!' 'Gromit on train' 'Naughty boy penguin' 'Wallace on the motorbike' and, best of all, unending requests...Drongo, fribble and dandiprat
We've made the big time - now findable in the OED....Myosotis sylvatica
A little history Helen writes,(York, late 1940s, black and white) One day with my Dad only a tiny wee baby, Grandma Dobson went off to the Post Office in town with him in his carriage pram. She managed to return...Second cousin
Yay!...Handgun
For a long time, Dom's been a fan of hiding his face behind something until we begin to wonder aloud where on earth he could possibly have got to. Then and only then does he reveal himself with a hysterical...After the Portrush
Dom's been on holiday with NanNan, GanGan, JobleyJobleyJobley and MummyDaddy, taking in the stunningly gorgeous Antrim coastline. The lovely sunshine only deserted us once, in the form of a torrential downpour though even this turned out to be a blessing...Art, innit?
Dominic Dimbleby
"Copcop! Copcop! Copcop! Ock! Ock! Ock!" (Translation)...More belly
Dom's current party trick is pointing to body parts at request - head, nose, eyes, bum (cheers, Jo!) and best of all his ears. As we all know, it is an inescapable fact of human physiology that pulling on both...New Camp
Under canvas again, this time to a site near Fountains Abbey and just us with Aunty Jo. Saturday was especially nice as we met up (or Ron-Dor-voused - top quality punnage from beautiful Aunty Jen there) with my paternal grandparents...Sixteen quid I'll never get back
Huddersfield Town 1 Bristol City 0....Too little for his boots
Ketchup
I am (sometimes) the daddy Dominic has started calling me Jimmy as well as Daddy, as his mood takes him. He's also beginning to put words together - 'Train book', 'Dom-dom's bum', 'Daddy's cup' (actually beercans that he's rescued from...Camping
We went camping. It was great. (Elsewhere: my pics, Jo's pics, Webby's pics)....Fathers Day
...was great....Topiarist
From yesterday's nursery report - Dominic enjoyed playing outside this morning, he dug up all the flowers which Carol and the big bears [2-3 year olds] had planted, Dominic replanted the flowers and Carol does not know, Dominic enjoyed himself....Triptych
Quite pleased with this one....Re-reunion
In a re-run of last year's reunion of Helen's uni mates, we went to Burton to stay in the north wing of Curbishley manor. Our gracious hosts, Neil and Kirsty, provided mucho meaty BBQ goodness, plentiful beer and managed to...Holiday
So we went on holiday to Fylingthorpe, just inland from Robin Hoods Bay, and stayed in a lovely cottage. Dom loved the birds (buh! buh! buh!), the baa-lambs (ba-bah!, ba-bah!), the bubbles (buh-bul! *shakes arms and head to burst them*),...Sunny Baptisms R Us
The beautiful Eloise Grace Bradbury was baptised at the same church as Dom and we did a repeat-run of the garden-party we threw for him, but with added sliding (1, 2, 3 - all 0.8mb .avi files), toddling, vehicular fun...London Trip
A fortnight ago, Dom and Helen left me to my essay crisis (a sad state of affairs at 32) to take Jo and Luke up on their kind offer of hospitality. Dom loved the attention, the London Eye, his first...Sorry
Still busy; perhaps you could see what's on the other channels?...Trolling
Someone is posting less than flattering pictures of my boy....Captain Misty
Jobley's doing sterling work with yet more Dom-centric snappy goodness over on her flickr stream....Donkey?
Dominic's sweepstake horse is 'Joly Bey', which we like because if you read it really quickly it looks a bit like Jobley. (Update 17:00 PM) Bugger....Pipsqueak
This week we found out that Dom knows the actions to "If you're happy and you know it", presumably from nursery. (Normally, we're more a "Dingle dangle scarecrow" kind of family). There were, however, a couple of drawbacks to this...Mwahh!
Equal opportunity kissing (1.4mb .avi file) Pay special attention to the skilful armslength handheld-camerawork....Catch-up
So much to report Dom had a busy Easter, squeezing in both sets of grandparents and two sets of great grandparents. His mighty chocolate stash will see him through, at current rates of consumption (one chocolate button after tea if...Shoes
How much?!...Tonight, Matthew...
This picture of Dom (taken at the same time as this athena shot that I posted the other day) has kept me tickled all week. I can't look at it without thinking he's the unlikely spitting image of a celebrity...I witness
The Zapruder footage (1.4mb .avi file) is in, as is video evidence of even scarier (2.2mb .avi file) and even messier (2.4mb .avi file) developments. He's growing up way too quickly my boy....Stop the clock
So I got this text message. Myself, I would have cheered....Bonnie Scotland
So the trip to see Jo and Grant in Scotland didn't start so well. 259 miles into a 266 mile trip Dom decided to splashily lose his dinner over himself and the back of the car. Expect a forest of...Moon on a stick
Wanting the moon on a stick "wŏn'tĭng the mūn ŏn ā stĭk" (obscure phrase): desirous of the impossible; etymology: perhaps best-forgotten early 90s comedy However what the Domster wants, he gets. Dominic is now the proud owner of an acre...Mother's Day
There were flowers but they weren't from him. Instead Dominic made it clear that what he wanted to buy his Mum was this book, if only because of the so-appropiate-it-may-have-been-written-to-order majesty of this double page. (His Dad was also quite...No use at all
So Helen's batch-cooking Dom's food and I'm sat at the kitchen table doing some biology homework, and can't be bothered to fetch the dictionary. Me: What's a Phylum? Helen: (adopting her best Jimmy Cricket accent) Ah sure, it's what you...Birthday boy
The only year he's ever known; the fastest (and bestest) twelve months we've ever had. Dominic marked his move into single figures with not one, but four birthdays and four cakes. He spent last Saturday entertaining his paternal relatives, the...What's in a name?
The Baby Name Wizard Name Voyager is a clever web-based widget that lets you track the rise and fall in popularity of various baby names over the last century. Sadly, it uses American data but still fun to play with....Valentine's card
Dominic, it would appear, seems to have a mystery admirer. Knowing that suspect #1 would be arriving soon we hastily assembled a card using one of these for inspiration and were still furtively colouring beneath the table as the romantic...Brave little soldier
Last week, Helen and I were off work with d and v and our house was a very grumpy place to be. Thankfully, through OCD levels of handwashing and packing him off to nursery every day Dominic escaped the bug...I dunno much about art
...but I know what I like. We kind of expected this, since in the run up to his starting a friend with a kid at the same nursery related how on her first day (at six months old) her daughter...Grrrreat!
Dominic loves his books and, it seems, especially books about lions. He currently has Dear Zoo and Elmer's Friends which fit the bill. He'll happily turn through the pages slightly faster than you can read until each book's lion is...Thoughtful Dude
The windowlicker's heart-shaped block
During the lull in posting (and having been shamed by Webby's posting frenzy), Dom's added a few new routines to the repertoire Dominic and Evie sitting in a tree, K.I.S.S.I.N.G. Well, no trees really involved but in a major departure...Hilda and Ernie
The greatest present we gave this year (we being Helen's family, from a genius idea by Dom's Aunty Carolyn) was a rosebush we bought for Helen's Grandma and Grandad. Great because a) they've always been such keen gardeners and b)...A very lucky boy
Dominic received so many great presents that we were still opening them on the Monday. As expected, the wrapping (especially the tags) proved as interesting as the presents at first but now its quietened down he's loving them as much...Merry Christmas
For a very limited time only, may we present in glorious mono Radio Christmas Wassocks. Cheers....Call me bubbles, dahling
Dominic extends the repertoire to the other end (0.4mb .avi file)....Splash splash splash
He loves bathtime (1.3mb .avi file)....Balls
Dom attended his first Christmas party with the toddler group he goes to. It was held at Brewster's 'Fun' Pub which was good because of the opportunities for adventure to be had in the play-gym but bad because Dom's first...Time and motion
Dominic's chosen career as intrepid explorer received another boost today. For a couple of months he's been commando-manoeuvring around the room in search of his toys, paper that's available for shredding, the tasty webbing that lurks beneath the rug and...Nasal Nadir
First of all, he started blowing snot bubbles. Undeniably cute. Then he worked out that if screwed his face into a picture of extreme concentration and snorted furiously like a bull about to charge, he could expel the snot from...Wholestone Moor
Dom wasn't quite as impressed with the moors above the M62 without the dusting of snow that we had last time we ventured out. (Gallery, slideshow)...Walking in a winter wonderland
Last weekend we grabbed the chance to make the most of the crisp day to trundle around Scammonden Reservoir. Not the most original of ideas, I'll grant you but we all enjoyed it. Anyway, you can see all the photos...The last time it snowed here
...we were bringing home Dom from the hospital....A.k.a.
The Boy. Swiss Dom. Domzilla. Vommy Dommy. DomDom. Dommy Domster (see also Dommy Domster Domsteroonie). Scragger Harris. Little Man. Sgt Domster. And, last night, LL Cool Dom. I can see how people turn into "...actually his name is Dominic" types....Peep-o
You can't mess with a classic (1.1mb .avi file)...Say hezbollah, wave goodbye
First words aren't all they're cracked up to be. On telly (and I'm thinking of a particular episode of Friends here) infants always move from gurgle-gurgle to a clearly enunciated 'Mum!' or 'Daddy!' (or some hi-lariously chosen other word) much...Silver surfers
As if you weren't already getting enough Dom-centric snappy goodness, Dominic's Grandad has stumbled onto t'interweb with a gallery of his photos including some of the Greatest. Boy. Ever. Good work Dudley....Crowded in here
From a book Jo and Luke bought us,Or what about the things they put in my cot? Some nights I get in and it's like trying to find a seat in an over-crowded rail carriage. Okay, I admit that by...Bear with me
I'm messing around with the underlying program, so things may look a bit odd for a bit. Done. Cheers for the help Dudley. And, of course, Jo. Good has triumphed over evil, the recent comments page has been reclaimed and...Keep 'em keen?
The next shot, had I not decided that perhaps I'd better put the camera down and intervene, would have been Dom trying to gouge out Evie's eye. I particularly like the 'surely you ought to be helping me' look...Basso profundo
Given that to so many I'm the Barry White-alike that grumpily answers the phone before passing it on to Helen, the following theory may raise an eyebrow amongst some of you. In recent days, Dom has taken to unexpectedly and...Not lacking ambition
Calm down dear, it's only an advert
On account of being eco-warrior hippy types and God's-own-county tightwads, we have very nearly from the get-go been clothing Dominic in reusable nappies. We chose these particular ones on the grounds of their cheapness, 'organicness', versatility and how cute the...He'll grow into it
Back up to speed
Sowe went to St Ives for a much-needed week's holiday, which excited Dom so much that he'd wake up at 4:30 every morning in order to pack as much into his day as possiblethe boy loved the biggest sandpit that...All hail David Mirfin
I am the Daddy
Cool. (edit 18/10/04 - at the time, this site or some offshoot of it was the #1 result for "wassock" on both Google and Yahoo. Ahh, fickle fame. If you ever happen to spot me bestriding t'interweb like a colossus...Snowflake's chance
Following an unscheduled visit to the Health Visitor, we have been equipped with a sample pot and detailed to get a urine sample from Dom. Given that wringing out the morning nappy is apparently unacceptable (both to me and to...Like Topsy
So I had a little website, with a little traffic and some spare webspace. A friend was also about to become a proud Dad for the first time so I set him up with a bit of space and this...Her Britannic Majesty Requests
Dominic looking quite pleased at having received his passport, although for all the wrong reasons. Whilst he sees it as another potential tasty treat, it actually means that if the free plane ticket for buying a box a of wine...Granny magnet
Baptismal bonus pic
Courtesy of the thankfully snap-happy Mr Webster we present a great photo of us and the godparents at the baptism. So, as well as the little man himself, we have (from left to right) Veronica, Helen, me and Jo....La tristesse durera
Why the neighbours won't be selling their house anytime soon - the Domster (1.0mb .avi file). Can't decide whether we most like the Bollywood-hands manoeuvre or the quietly pleased with a job well done sigh afterwards. Here's hoping the infatuation...Gift from God
Sunday, as I'm sure you're all know, was the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It was also Dom's baptism in a beautiful little service at St James the Great conducted by Keith, the deacon. Fearing the...Lakes #2
More great photos forwarded by James of the weekend spent in the lakes. As ever, I manage to look a) like a grinning loon or b) like it's especially windy in my corner of the photograph. (My photos here). Mugshots...Dom'n'Olly II
Mr P has put up some more pictures of the barbecue in Gloucester a few weeks back. If you ignore the ones with me in, there's some crackers there - I especially like the shot of the cute twosome facing...The trouble with close-ups
...is that the little fella can reach up, grab the camera strap and begin gumming away, oblivious to your need to record just how lovely his big lashy eyes are for posterity. Do they make a straitjacket for three to...Don't leave me hangin'
Celebrating summer's eventual arrival we took the boy for a short walk around Hardcastle Crags. Influenced by Webby's Athena shot of Evelyn's hand in his, we got a snap of Dom high-fiving this woodland sculpture (it's art innit?). The other...Meeting Maryam
On Friday, HelenfromJordan (nee Helen Go-kart) dropped in all-too-briefly on her whirlwind tour of Great Britain so Helen and Jilly could see her and her byootiful daughter Maryam. Born twelve days after Dom (and almost certainly not in a snowstorm)...Sickboy
Dom's been struggling with a cough and cold for the best part of a fortnight now - how such a little man manages to produce so much mucus is beyond me. To make sure that our sympathy levels continued to...Little Drummer Boy
For as long as he's been in his cot, there has been attached to the bars one of those ubiquitous cot entertainment centres with a mirror in the middle, lights around it and a little wheel which if spun starts...Reunion
Down to Gloucester for a reunion of the people Helen was at university with and a first chance for Dom and us to meet Oliver John FitzGerald - plenty more baby pictures in this gallery. Outflanked by a barrage of...Bedoinngggg!
Dom in his doorbouncer (1.4mb .avi file). We were given this and, after someone told us it was developmentally bad for their feet/walking, I'm bit less keen on him being in it that I originally was. However, he's so damn...Domzilla
The rollover kid - it's now the case that as soon as you put Dom down his little legs go straight up in the air followed by a simple twitch of his nappy-clad bottom to see him right over and...Weddings
Since Dom was born he's been to five weddings. Rich and Karen's and Jo and Grant's have been mentioned already but that still leaves three oversights to be addressed. As Henry Kelly would have said, we're playing ketchup - so...Like a ladybird
To redress the balance, a clip of Dom in his default setting - cute. (1.5mb .avi file) We see him here in full-on 'I've managed to roll over, I'm ready to explore but a) I can't seem to get anywhere...Video nasty
Proof, if proof were needed, that Dom isn't always the advert for babies that he likes to think he is. (1mb .avi file) This particular kind of crying is a relatively new thing and seems to happen at the flick...Spangly new feature
I've added a 'flickr' stream to the Images page. Basically, this will be a quick place to post photo's instead of, or until I have time for, writing a proper entry which I'm increasingly too lazy to do. Only just...Mike TeeVee
We said we'd never use the television as a babysitter. We lied....Father's Day
So whilst Jo and I got Dad (hopefully not being typhooned in Japan at the minute) the LOTR DVD trilogy, I was still hoping for an XBox off Dom. Apparently, Helen was up for buying me one but Dom talked...Walking before he can crawl
Last week, was Dominic's first holiday, treated to a week in Settle by his Nan and Grandad and accompanied by his byootiful Aunty Jo and us. The cottage was in an absolutely stunning position and the weather held for us....One hundred days of multitude
Dom is now 100 days old. Tipping the scales at a none-too-shabby 14lb 8oz, he is after all proving to be a middleweight - that being the 50th percentile for his age. Height-wise, however, he measures a changing table unfriendly...Weaning
Before and after. Following a few nights on the run with Dom uncharacteristically waking up hungry, we decided to try the little man on 'solid' (well, 'sloppy') food.* For the record, his first meal was baby rice but he's since...Punk rock baby
Morning after
Dom and me after a heavy night. I'd had one too many sherberts at Tony's stag do and Dom decided to repay Aunty Carolyn and Uncle John's kindness in undertaking a marathon 18 hour babysitting by coming down with his...Lydia
So last Thursday we hotfooted it up to York to see Dom's cousin Lydia. Lots of murky pics (flash photos scare babies and make me feel bad) have been uploaded to the hopefully memorable URL of www.wassocks.com/lydia. Mother, baby and...Baby boom
To make amends for the posting hiatus, a whole heap of photos have been uploaded for your viewing pleasure. (For a limited time only) Biggest recent development for Dom is that, courtesy of his Uncle Matt and especially his...Bathtime
Huzzah!
Worth taking a look over here for some breaking news....Laughing boy
Carolyn and John babysat Dom on Monday, and John took these with his new-fangled phonecam as proof that Dom is capable of having his eyes open whilst Aunty Carolyn is in the same room. In fact, not only was he...(Not quite) upstaging the bride
A 522 mile round trip to Scotland last weekend for Jo and Grant's fantastic wedding. The little man was quite aware who his competitor was in the attention-getting stakes and was sweetness and light with everyone bar her, but in...Patience
Bear with me, I'm giving the site a facelift....Smile
Digby, the biggest baby in the world
Another big day for Dominic - his first set of jabs and another set of official measurements. He now weighs 12lb 9oz (meaning he's still sticking like glue to the 75th percentile for expected heftiness at his age) and measures...Water baby
No pictures I'm afraid, but the little man had his first swimming lesson today. Resplendent in his specially acquired swimming nappy, he took to the warm waters of Trinity hydrotherapy pool straight away. Under the careful direction of George the...Easter
Friday Down to Bristol for Dominic's first ever ramble - the traditional Good Friday walk from Oldland Common up to Hanging Hill via Upton Cheney and returning via Beach (Map). Having panicked as we left murky Yorkshire on Thursday evening...Smiler
Unimpressed
"I've been giving it some thought and, on balance, it seems that you are not about to feed me this very second so I shall therefore proceed to cry loudly and at length, punctuated only by pathetic little sobs to...Three of us
On the Sunday after he was born, we asked Webby to come round and take some black and white photos for us. As well as wanting shots of Dom, we were also especially keen to have some photos of the...Not-so-little man
For those of you who've been colouring in their bar-charts at home, Dominic weighed in yesterday at an impressive 11lb 9oz. The Health Visitor suspects that he'll be weaning sooner rather than later, and has also said she'll not be...Great Grandparents
We had a lovely time introducing Dominic to the first set of Great Grandparents that he's met. True to form, he was treated to Grandad's singing which he seemed to like. Having said that, he seems to like me...Latchkey kid
Thursday: after much struggling and heartache, Helen finally masters the art of expressing milk. Friday: Helen goes to pub. Saturday: we both head out to see Lambchop in York, leaving Dom with Matt and Vron - the first time he's...Poetry corner
We suspect that in the run-up to Dominic's birth, Mum (now Nan) may have let everybody she ever met know that she was to be a grandmother. Amongst these was the Rev. Nick Blundell from her church, who turns out...Phototastic
Spent a whole evening sorting out the hundreds of photos I've taken since the little man arrived. We've now uploaded the ones we're having printed and they're also available for your viewing pleasure here. (For a limited time only)...Fashion parade #5
Today Dominic has been mostly wearing GiraffeWear by his Aunty Carolyn and Uncle John. Now weighing in at a mighty 11lb, Dominic shows how tall he was last week....Fashion parade #4
Today Dominic has been mostly wearing Tiggerwear by Penny. Trying to make amends for the lack of updates. Dominic has been mainly growing (8lb 7oz at birth; by day 6, 8lb 15oz; by day 15, 9lb 11oz; by day 20,...Fashion parade #3
(Not) sleeping like a baby
On Saturday Dominic has been mostly wearing Tiggerwear by Madeleine, Frank, Jessica and Hilary As you may have gathered by the plummet in frequency of posts, having teased us with a glimpse of a world where you only have to...Examiner
The proper birth announcement from the Huddersfield Daily Examiner, Tuesday March 2nd 2004. (Clipping)...Fashion parade #2
Today Dominic has been mostly wearing J'aimeLesBisou by George, Heather and Alex. ..who he met with the rest of the Accord yesterday. Verdict: he has the perfect hands for laying off, which I presume to be a reference to some...Stop press
Dominic's cord stump has fallen off, just shy of his first (week) birthday. Fastening nappies just got a whole lot easier....Official
After tipping the scales at a mighty 8lb 15oz when the midwife weighed him this morning, another day out for Dom of which he remained entirely oblivious. We took him to the registry office*, which wasn't the oak-panelled dusty hall...Fashion parade #1
Today Dominic has been mostly wearing BabyGap by his Nan. After a few increasingly sleepless nights, we toasted the little man's arrival with champagne and a curry yesterday. By way of acknowledgement, he then only woke up the once last...Full(ish) story
At 12 days overdue we'd opted for induction to take place on Monday. The first dose of prostin gel led only to an uneventful afternoon with Helen able to show her uncanny knowledge of daytime TV schedules. However, the early-evening...Arrival
Helen gave birth to our beautiful son, Dominic James at 00:41 this morning. He was 55cm tall, weighed 8lb 7oz and is the greatest thing ever. Everything went as well as these things do, everyone's healthy and very happy. More...Moo
By our calculations, Helen has been pregnant for 289 days. Googling for pregnancy length we found this. Given that the baby already has a selection of cuddly toy cows, Helen wasn't as disconcerted as you might think....We had a cunning plan
When Helen was a student in Liverpool, she used to catch the bus into town from a stop on the opposite side of a dual carriageway from a cashpoint. It soon became apparent that crossing the road to get cash...Valentine miscalculation
Having not only remembered to buy a card but also bought Helen one luxury chocolate (I know, I know but she's heavily pregnant and needs spoiling) I was feeling pretty pleased with myself. Then Helen produced the deluxe single malt....Still late news
The baby's head seems to have moved down a bit and the consultant we saw on Thursday thinks the baby is at the first stage of being engaged - 'slightly fixed', meaning fixed but with the potential to float back...Latest news
...is no news really. The due date is this Wednesday but the doctor has said that thus far there's no sign of the head engaging, meaning m'lovely wife is in danger of being late for something for the first time...Should've read the small print
Helen sings with the Accord singers (their rendition of Riu Riu universally acclaimed as being the musical high watermark of this fledgling century) and their latest newsletter contains this gem- There are not many valid excuses for missing our rehearsals...Baby scans
(More backstory) Back in late September 2003, Helen had her 20 week scan and we got to see our baby for the first time. It turned out that a perk of working for the Trust was that we got our...Helen @ 36 weeks
Helen not sure whether she's going to give birth or pop. Just when you think she can't get any bigger she does....Out of order
Given this is meant to be a baby-blog, it's time to upload a few highlights of the story so far. In late November, Helen went to Sing-a-long-a Sound of Music dressed as a very bad nun indeed. Or ,...Merry Christmas
(edit) Since the Epiphany has long since passed, I thought it was time to take the decorations down, or at least tuck them away off the front page. Also, in a work-in-progress kind of way wassocks. com now comes with...And ye shall name him Dave
Went to see Dave Gorman last night, on Jo's recommendation, and it was fantastic. Better still, as you've probably already gathered, we got to meet the man himself. He was every bit as affable as you'd expect even in...First Post
Tap! Tap! Is this thing on?...