Went to see The Buzzcocks at The Brook on Wednesday. Sound was crap, bit of a wall of noise, but still good to hear all those old songs again. Moving Away From The Pulsebeat was the standout. I went with Richard Harfield, Tina and Jacks & Dave Price (old friends from Brussels). Dave was at Bolton college with Pete Shelley and used to share a flat with him - this was the first time he'd seen Pete since 1976 so after the gig we went backstage (actually upstairs) so Dave and Pete could catch up. Much as I'd have loved to stay and make a rock'n'roll night of it, Tina was knackered and we had Petra babysitting for us, so we left before I had a chance to meet the mighty man himself and tell him my story...

about the night - 28 October 1977 - when I went to see The Fall supporting Magazine in Manchester. I remember seeing all these people with badges saying "Buzzcocks" but had no idea what "Buzzcocks" meant. I also thought The Fall were brilliant (and have followed them ever since, buying Bingo Master's Breakout as soon as it was released) but remember telling people I thought they should get a new singer. Ho hum, my past needs some airbrushing methinks.

Anyway that got me wondering - having just looked that date up on the a Fall website - what I was doing in Manchester that day considering I'd left University in the summer. Well I know I also saw a brilliant Clash gig around that time and it turns out that the Clash played the Apollo the following day. So I must have gone up for the weekend and seen two classic gigs. Oddly I seem to remember a friend Vivienne Shields recommending the Magazine concert. (Only just remembered her surname - at least I think that's it - weird that it should lodge in my sieve like memory).

Hey hey, my my.

Twenty years since my Dad died, hardly ever think about it any more. Forty years since I went to see Bullitt with him. It's on the TV now and I'm getting choked up - weird. Listening to the iPod too.

The King is gone, but he's not forgotten.

Do bears like hundreds and thousands?

That was a question Mattie asked a couple of weeks ago. Both kids are currently going through a fast period of development. Today Mattie announced to Tina "I've got a friend called Modgy who lives in my head". Riiight. Cue a frantic bit of googling to check that this is normal development! Apparently you can learn about potential problems by what they say about their imaginary friends. The main thing Mattie has told us so far is that Modgy has lots of hands. I asked who did the most talking and Mattie said "me", so no surprise there. Maybe Modgy is just someone prepared to listen because Mattie talks and talks and talks.

Eleanor doesn't talk yet but boy does she let you know what she wants. She's absolutely gorgeous at the moment, incredibly animated and affectionate. About three weeks ago she quite suddenly "got" television. Up till then it was just a box of lights in the corner that she paid no attention to. But now she's become transfixed by the Night Garden. She jabbers away whenever IgglePiggle and UpsyDaisy appear on the screen and waves her hands about and dances etc.

Busy week last week, we went up to London for the first time on the Monday, drove up to Richmond and then got Underground Ernie to South Kensington and the museums. I thought Mattie would now be old enough to start to appreciate things like stuffed Dodos in the Natural History Musem but that kind of thing doesn't interest him. He kept saying "I want to see the dinosaurs" even as we walked past the dinosaurs because of course the skeletons don't look much like the real things he sees on programs such as Harry and His Bucket Full of Dinosaurs. Until that is we got to the life size model of Tyrannosaurus Rex which absolutely terrified him!

The Science Museum though produced a completely different reaction - as soon as he got into the main hall with the cars and trains and planes, he was sooo excited! "Oooooooh!" and running everywhere and wanting to climb in them. So it's pretty clear already where his preferences lie.

On the way home a reminder of how easily accidents happen. I was carrying Matthew a little ahead of and alongside Tina pushing the pushchair. Our paths converged and I tripped over the front wheel of the pushchair and fell to the ground. Matthew landed on his back and then his head hit the road with a sickening bang. Terrifying - he screamed of course but luckily he appeared unharmed.

Off to Bournenmouth later today to meet David and Geraldine and Jules. Must do another post to chat about Tina's chess playing and drumming!

Mattie's current obsession is with cars. Over and over he keeps asking if he can "drive the car". Yesterday he wanted to drive the "white car" (ie our black Punto). I said to Tina "right, I'm just taking him out for ten minutes to get it out of his system". Big mistake. So we sat in the car, him in the driving seat and of course he loved it, pressing every knob or switch he could get his hands on. I coaxed him back indoors eventually but then he just started up again and this time we got major tantrums.

This morning he's been driving (ha) Tina nuts. She took him to the ball park at the leisure centre but he won't stay in it. There's a toy car round the corner that he keeps wanting to go on. One time it was unplugged so he plugged it in himself (saw me do it once I'm afraid). This time he raced into the coffee bar and asked the woman behind the till for some money for it!

Eleanor is six months old today. We went swimming on Saturday, the four of us. This was Eleanor's first time. I think she will be a water baby, she showed no fear - Tina even ducked her under (unlike her woossy brother who wouldn't even jump in without me holding his hands!)

Went for a really nice walk with Matthew on Saturday. First we did a little loop up in Crab Wood on Farley Mount ("I know - let's have a picnic Daddy!"). There wasn't much to see there in midwinter although Mattie didn't seem to mind. He kept finding sticks - "ooh there's another stick, it's like a crocodile!". There were plenty of sticks. :) He had one and I had to have one as well. His choice tended to be a bit random, sometimes he'd want me to pick up half a tree for a stick. But it's funny how straight away he cottoned on to the idea - with no prompting - that you use sticks to chop at the undergrowth. He'll be making his own paths soon just like me and my brother used to do.

Then we drove down to a path through Ham Green on the outskirts of Sparsholt which was very pleasant. We actually got quite a way down before turning back and this was the first time we'd been on a proper walk. Last year he'd either want to "come up" after a few yards or would be too distracted to make progress. I'd begun to think we were leaving it late getting him used to going for walks but a lady who passed us said "that's the way, start them early!". (Tina of course thinks I'm mad for thinking this but I just want him to enjoy the outdoors). Mind you there was still plenty to distract him - this time it was stones: "one, two, three, four stones!". Then again a yard further on. And again. It was a very stony path. :) But it also had bits that were "like a cave" where the trees formed an arch. Lovely warm sunny morning.

We seem to have turned a corner with Eleanor. After another crisis with Tina breaking down which ended in my calling the health visitor, I started sleeping upstairs in the top bedroom with the monitor. The plan was that I would feed the baby and let Tina get some sleep (tiredness being the root cause of everything, with Eleanor still waking every 2 hours). But every time I did the night shift it was OK - one feed at 10.30-11 (even if it meant waking her up - "dream" feed) and then another about 3am. I think this may be because I give her formula and also maybe she drinks more from the bottle. Or maybe it's just coincidence and the fact that the solid foods are now up to 3 meals a day is now starting to have an effect. But anyway, the last week or two have been much better with only one wakening in the middle of the night. Even if Tina gets up to do that she finds it manageable (eg she did it last night and I slept blissfully through!).

Of course Matthew spoils it by waking regularly at 6am (at the latest). His best friend Samuel would sleep through until 9 if they let him according to his mother. Oh well, as I try to convince Tina, that's the price you pay for having a lively boy!

It's official: we now live in a Banana Republic. This particular quote I found quite breathtaking:

However, Lord Goldsmith consulted the prime minister, the defence secretary, foreign secretary, and the intelligence services, and they decided that "the wider public interest" "outweighed the need to maintain the rule of law".