After Alex being on fabulous form as he turned 8 months old, he’s had a tough couple of weeks.

Things started OK, with a fun weekend in Herne Hill visiting the Dulwich Festival Fair where Alex experienced his very first morris dancers! I guess I should have known from that that things were going down hill!

He’s had a bit of a cold, which understandably makes him a bit grumpy, but then woke up about 10 days ago with a spotty rash behind his knees and on his forearms.  This gradually spread to his hands and face so he looked pretty bad and I’m sure wasn’t very comfortable.  The doctor didn’t think it was chicken pox as apparently the distribution of spots was all wrong, but most people who’ve seen him think otherwise!  I guess I’ll find out next time chicken pox does the rounds!

But the result of this was that he couldn’t go to Jacqui’s which meant poor Alex had to spend over a week hanging around at home with Matt and I – and we had a to juggle work with looking after him.  Quite a challenge!

It hasn’t all been bad though – we enjoyed a wonderful visit from Matt’s Auntie Joan who spent a weekend with us whilst visiting the UK from San Francisco.  It was the first time she’d met Alex, and I think he loved having someone else in the house to smile and chat to him. And her visit was a great opportunity to organise a visit of Alex’s uncle and three of his young cousins as well as a lovely dinner with our American friend, Joanna – so we had a very full house last weekend!

Thankfully, Alex got better pretty quickly – just in time for his next swimming lesson and our second attempt at a family holiday!  We arrived in the Brecon Beacons yesterday and, as long as Alex doesn’t forget how to sleep again, we should be here for a week.  Expect a full report from Wales when we get home…