Laurence Andrews

September 25, 2021

Dadblog - Week 33

12:00 AM

Yes, yes, I know it’s been a really long time since the last Dadblog post - sorry about that, it’s been pretty busy. The good news is that I think, we think, we’re almost there with the baby preps - which is a pretty big deal. We’re for sure on the final furlong, the list of jobs is all but ticked, the nursery looks amazing, I have an empty bank account and Victoria has a very large bump (it’s pineapple week)! It’s getting very exciting now and we both can’t wait for baby to be here with us in our home.

The nursery room has seen lots of change, the most significant thing is that the carpet has been replaced, this made a HUGE difference. We had a weird stripy brown coloured carpet in the room before which was just a bit old fashioned and made the room feel very busy. The new carpet is a simple pale cream colour looks great and is really fluffy, neutral and fresh - it smells amazing. I feel like we probably should have swapped the carpet a long time ago as it didn’t really cost all that much and aside from the wait, it didn’t really take very long to install either. We also had the hallway, stairs and landing (HSL if you’re a carpet pro), my office and the lounge done. We’re really happy with all of it, particularly the HSL, which has made it feel like a new home when you walk in the front door. Walking around in the lounge barefoot is really very lovely.

Also in the nursery we have installed the new baby monitor and some shelves. The monitor is a Eufy SpaceView, which seemed to be the highest-rated camera of any and so far, it seems really good. We debated getting the Nanit, but it was very expensive (£300) and you have to pay for a subscription (between £5 and £30), which is a bit crazy. This camera is a closed loop, so it doesn’t have an app, just a simple monitor and camera; apparently an app is also quite inconvenient for a monitor because you want to always keep an eye on it, which is inconvenient when it on your phone. The camera is PTZ with a wide angle lens and a small shelf for wall mounting. The monitor is a simple large LCD display with a few buttons and a kick stand. For some reason, most systems tend to have awful cameras and then a tiny little display screen. This one works really well and we’re properly pleased with it. The only tricky part was that it has been out of stock in the UK since the beginning of the year (well, probably before then) so we haven’t been able to buy it. Fortunately, it was in stock at Amazon in Germany, so we ordered from there and it turned up just fine. We paid about £150 which is quite a lot, but a lot less than a Nanit.

Few other changes in the nursery to finish it off, we installed some shelves above the changing station for books and bits and bobs. The shelves were an absolute ‘mare to install but look good now they’re up. We also put a floor lamp in next to the nursing chair which looks very smart and Dad has made a small oak shelf for next to the chair so that Victoria has somewhere to put her phone, a drink or the bottle. All that’s left is to get the wireless lights to work properly, I need to find a way to define some preset options and to have switches next to the chair and door. We may also get another camera that covers the whole room in addition to just the cot.

The other major investment was the push-chair/buggy/stroller/travel-system/car-seat. Honestly, I didn’t realise this would be as complicated as it was, there are SO MANY options is a little bit crazy. Victoria did all of the heavy lifting in figuring out what is the best one for us and we eventually landed on the Mamas & Papas Ocarro in Onyx which comes with a Cybex Cloud Z lie-flat car seat. I think I’ve talked about this in a previous post, but it all turned up the other week in five (!) enormous boxes. It’s one thing seeing it in the shop and it’s another having it in your house, it seems bigger than I remember, but just about fits in our under-stairs cupboard without being completely collapsed which is good. While we made sure the buggy fitted in the boot of the car, we didn’t check that the car seat would fit properly on the back seat. It does, but even in our relatively roomy Audi A4 the passenger seat needs to be quite far forward. The base for the car seat is pretty snazzy though, it spins around so that it’s easy to clip and seat in and out of the car. I’m sure our mileage with this will vary over time, but all seems good so far.

This weekend is the first lesson of Parent School with NCT. We’re now both members of a special WhatsApp group with all the other future mums and dads which is quite nice. Our tutor is a lady called Vicki Sigston who runs private sessions at thisparentingthing.co.uk. Little apprehensive about it, but sure it’ll be absolutely fine, I’m certain it’ll be helpful to listen and learn. It still seems a bit odd that you’re just expected to know what to do when baby arrives. I feel like there should be some kind of test or certification before you are allowed to be trusted with an actual human child! We’re going full-on and are turning up with cupcakes for everyone.

In other news, Covid restrictions are being relaxed and we’re now both fully vaccinated. Most people are continuing to wear masks indoors or in crowded spaces which seems sensible. The case numbers for Covid are still quite high, but apparently that’s fine so long as people aren’t dying with quite such high frequency. We are both still doing lateral flow tests from time to time and touch-wood neither of us believe we’ve had Covid. It’s now possible to sit at the bar in a pub which was my personal metric for when things are back to normal, this is very pleasing although as I type it’s been four weeks since my last beer. A commitment I made with myself to make sure that I make the most of this special part of our lives - plus I have already drunk enough for both of us this year!

In general news, aside from Covid. The war in Afghanistan is now over, well, the ISAF ground forces have officially left which is quite a monumental piece of history. That exit marked the 20th anniversary since 9/11 which is now a frighteningly long time ago. International travel is beginning to resume, which has been all but halted since the start of the pandemic. Travel to most of the EU has been possible for a couple of months provided people are double jabbed, report their location and complete mandatory travel testing. Travel to the US is expected to resume from November, despite the UK permitting travel for US citizens for many months already. Oh and I suppose this is news, England lost to Italy in the Euro 2020 final at Wembley. Tragic. In the past few days there has been a massive surge in liquid gas prices, which is causing all sorts of chaos, that sits alongside people panic-buying forecourt fuel and an increasing acceptance that we’ll be living with food shortages in supermarkets because of a shortage of lorry drivers (because, surprise! it turns out most of them were from the EU). Perhaps this is the perfect storm for Winter 2021. We’re truly living the Brexit dream.

This may well be the last big post before baby arrives, but I’ll do my best to continue with the Micro Blog in the mean time, perhaps with some running update on Baby Classes.

September 22, 2021

06:59 AM

Travelling to Leeds today to visit the Colliers office. Haven’t been to Leeds since December 2016, which was quite a while back. First time I’ve taken an LNER Azuma train which is exciting and continuing to absolutely exploit my Pret subscription. 😁☕️🚝

September 18, 2021

06:21 PM

Enjoying a little trip to Brighton this weekend, loving the gorgeous sunshine and Victoria is making the most of all of the baby/kiddie shops! Just had a very special dinner at Burnt Orange on the advice of a @jayrayner1 review. Food was fantastic, we’re both now very full! 🍸😁

06:25 PM

Oh! …and we’re watching Frank Skinner at Brighton Dome!! A very well received birthday present from @tigziefc 👍😁 Thank you! 😘

September 17, 2021

01:36 PM

Just bought tickets to see No Time To Die, the new, COVID-delayed, Bond film. I’m very, very excited that it’s finally happening. We’re watching on release day at Odeon Chatham in the fancy-pants recliner seats. Used a discount voucher, two of us for £27. 🎬🍿😁 #NoTimeToDie

September 12, 2021

06:00 PM

Great day out on the River Medway today. Haven’t been in a while with everything else going on, first time since my cert! Wind wasn’t with us, but we got the Asymmetrical up and had a motor round to Queensferry Bridge. Sun came out and had a nice relax in the surroundings. 😁☀️⛵️

06:08 PM

That’d be an Easterly Cardinal Mark ☺️ Queenborough Spit marking, just further down was the Harbour Trust’s Classic Boat Festival. Few steam tugs, a pilot cutter and a Thames barge. All fully dressed with lots of people out enjoying themselves! (Yes, I need a better Camera)

September 11, 2021

07:11 AM

We’re on week 32 and Victoria’s app is telling us that the baby is the size of a Honeydew melon.🍈 youtu.be/hYAKQ5Cre…

11:22 AM

Off to London today for a Date Day with Victoria and The Bean. Very excited because we’re having a picnic at Buckingham Palace. ☺️🇬🇧 Spent all morning rustling up all sorts of fancy picnic food!!

03:04 PM

Having a very lovely time on the Queen’s lawn, got ourselves a nice little spot. Picnic food went down a treat Weather is beautiful!

September 7, 2021

07:35 AM

I love that the emojis in new Drake album cover move in Apple Music. Super cool. 😎

September 6, 2021

06:48 AM

It’s a bit foggy today! There’s a river over there somewhere. Happy Monday ☺️

September 1, 2021

10:03 AM

The pram has arrived!

August 30, 2021

08:27 AM

It’s certainly not boat shoe weather today 😂 Rained all night and the field is now a proper mess! Luckily we’ve managed to get the van out with a bit of pushing. Lot easier than many folks, the tractor has been doing overtime 🙀 #BelgianGP

2021 Belgian GP…

09:15 AM

In short, I’m a bit angry and disappointed about it all. Here’s my take… #BelgianGP

The weather was consistent for the whole day and it was far too bad for racing. It wasn’t inconsistent heavy showers it was just a constant medium rain that didn’t let up. Visibility was bad and I assume so bad that the helicopter wouldn’t see anything. The track may have got better in places but it wouldn’t have dried. It seems really odd to me that the F3 and Porsche series all raced in the morning, it was not better for them.

The decision not to abandon the race or let the clock expire was wrong I think. Instead, 75k fans all sat in the wet and cold for hours on end in genuine hope that we’d actually see something, despite knowing that the weather wasn’t going to improve.

To instead take the drivers out (every one was really excited to get going) and to then only perform two absolutely pointless laps under safety car was the real kick in the teeth. Lewis’s words on Instagram were on point. It was a box tick and a real injustice.

I’m glad we saw a podium (especially with two brits!) but it was very different to what it should have been. I’m really pleased for George, he finally got up there but it can’t be how we wanted to achieve it. Watching him and Lewis look at each other on the podium was a moment in history. Getting a wave and a thumbs up from them both was pretty special.

Lots of talk about refunds, we paid €590 each for our weekend ticket plus €160 for camping and €160 each for testing. Of course we accepted the (reasonably unlikely) risk of it not happening and also balanced us not actually even being able to get there because of COVID…. And while it’s not the organisers fault the weather was terrible it’s fair to say I feel a bit out of pocket. At the end of the day, we didn’t see a race. 👎

It is what it is though, we’ve all had a fantastic boys weekend away, we’re broken, tired, hungover and muddy but we’ve got some moments we’ll never forget. It’s been great being able to travel again and meet new people.

We’re halfway to Calais now, keeping our fingers crossed for an earlier ferry! Can’t wait to get home, have a shower and Mrs A, the bump and the doggo. ❤️

02:49 PM

Right, so this was the procedure for getting out of Calais (long post)… #BelgianGP

First stop was French border control, where they checked and stamped our passports and we showed NHS vaccination certificates. Owen is only 1-jab, but that’s fine for France. The woman got bored of waiting for Kelly so we only showed three 😂 There was no French or Belgian PLF check. No scanning of Vaccine information, some just showed the credit-card sized paper form.

We (probably stupidly) didn’t actually do a French or Belgian PLF, but probably should have done so.

Then the UK border where it was again just a passport check (no stamp). I was put under additional scrutiny for my brand new passport (the moustache and hat probably wasn’t helping), all fine in the end.

Third stop was P&O where they required three things…. 1. a UK PLF which also requires a ‘Day 2’ test booking, 2. an entry PCR test (which we did at the track on Saturday) and 3. a ticket… The UK PLF and Day 2 test we didn’t have, so spent 40mins or so doing it before they let us through. Of course, that was more money on testing (we were just searching online 🙀) They guy in the booth was just reading the forms on our phones not actually scanning or logging the information.

Bit of a hassle, to be honest…. But after all that we got on the ferry and are now having a beer. Ferry (Pride of Kent) is very quiet, the main restaurant is closed as it was on the ferry out. I’d say less than 10/15 % of full capacity. Staff said the ferry only came back in service on Saturday.

03:19 PM

Hello, Dover!

August 29, 2021

12:15 PM

Tents are up! Feels like there’s more rain in the way too. #BelgianGP

12:30 PM

Perez’s team now dismantling their equipment since he’s crashed on the outlap!! #BelgianGP

12:51 PM

It’s now raining a lot! Drivers getting ready. #BelgianGP

01:08 PM

After putting everything away, the teams have now put it all back again #BelgianGP Still no sign it Perez’s car. Weather is still lots of rain, doesn’t look like it’s going to ease up. Start at 15:20 local #BelgianGP

01:15 PM

Perez’s car is back in the garage. Not the cause for the delayed start though. Weather just as bad as 20mins ago! 🌧😂 Now delayed again. #BelgianGP

01:31 PM

That’s a red flag! 🚩 #BelgianGP it’s really, really wet tbf. 🌧😂

02:07 PM

Medical car just back in. Talking amongst the FIA. Not looking good. James from Mercedes talking too. #BelgianGP

02:43 PM

Looks like Checo is back in the game!!