[Come in @Kimbled; Your Time is Up!]

RECENT EVENTS: Thinking about all the work @Kimbled does....

BLOG UPDATE:
I haven't exactly been prolific at posting of late (well, or ever really) but I thought I'd dedicate this Blog Update to my Partner in Crime; @Kimbled.

Becoming a mother has changed her on a level I doubt I'll ever fully understand - don't get me wrong she's still the same person she was before (well more or less) just as I am, but having a Baby does have a wonderful way of "focusing" you. She handled being pregnant with Henry with ease (other than being hospitalised with cronic Morning Sickness in the first 3months, and with Swine Flu in the last 3months) but despite all that, everything she did, or prepared, or planned for, she managed to make it look easy.

I still joke that I'm surprised that she's so crazy about Henry, as before his arrival she was somebody that would actually leave a room if there was a baby in it. These jokes are met with the usual look that says; "Dear....you're doing that thing where you're talking and thinking you're clever, again!" but I'm reliably informed that its how; "I know my place" in the scheme of things.

I'm posting this update to say how amazed I am at all the effort she puts into looking after #Henry - before he arrived she must have read every pregnancey book that has been published, ever! I figured I didn't need to as I (assumed) that I was quite good with babies (and to be honest, the actual physical act of reading them terrified me!)

And since his arrival around 8months ago she has done nothing but work tirelessly to look after him, make sure he's happy, keep him fed, warm and happy, and to make sure I'm educated enough not to be carrying him upside down or something (I think that there maybe some trust issues there....)

We had a scare with #Henry and his misocarida I don't think this has affected the way we look after #Henry, as we were basically given the all clear, but when I watch @Kimbled looking after my son I can't help but be amazed by her and him.

I consider myself to be a "good father" - whatever that means. I can make #Henry laugh and entertain him for the most part, and I only carry him upside down occasionally (when he wants to be carried that way) but I do worry about how much I do, or put in - it's hard not to what you see the amount of work @Kimbled puts in.....The problem being, while I can consider myself a "good father" I don't put in the immense amount of hours that @Kimbled does. Working Full-Time means that I put in a couple of hours in the Morning with #Henry - usually playing, watching #PeppaPig or trying to make sure that he doesn't try to steal my Tea & Toast if I'm eating breakfast in front of him. But then, after those couple of hours are up, I get to leave, and go out into the big, wide world and go to work, trusting that my Mini-Me will be looked after and provided for in my absence. This I can do without worry - which says a lot as to how much @Kimbled puts in.

Then when I get home in the evening (I always like to consider this as some sort of grand return of the main provider in a gloriously 1950's cliche like something from Bewitched or something) I usually turn up to dinner made for me, a reasonable happy son that is happy to see his Dad, who will only need playing with for a few hours until he hits the hay for the evening. Hell, lately I've even managed to fit in some Xbox sessions - I don't think that this would be possible without all that @Kimbled does.

I don't think I need to continue adding this blog update, as this picture basically sums up everything she does beautifully;

[The Walking Dead]

RECENT EVENTS: #Tiredness and #BeingADad, #Henry #Teething
MOVIES/TV WATCHED: #TheWalkingDead

BLOG UPDATE:
Zombies! The Dead rising! I'm not entirely sure where the fascination with Zombies in popular culture comes from but they're everywhere at the moment. Books, comics, movies, videogames - some reason they've had a resurgence of late.

I quite enjoy fighting my way through the Undead Apocalypse. Dealing with it is probably the closet most of my generation will get to having a "defining moment" where "prove ourselves and become men" (well unless you're in the Army and get sent to Afghanistan obviously...) However, since @Kimbled got pregnant, and then after the arrival of #Henry, I've found very little time keep the Undead Horde in check and make sure that their population is thinned. They have even been banned from the flat (surely that's the first thing you do, secure your abode effectively "banning" the Zombies from entering?) by @Kimbled along with some mutterings that she doesn't want our son being raised to the sound of gun-fire and Undead moans...

To be honest, I dothink this is a fair point (I don't want him growing up to be mal-adjusted or something) but where does this leave me for my entertainment fix? Basically Left 4 Dead, Left 4 Dead 2, Dead Rising 2, and Dead Rising: Case West DLC are all been effectively off limits - which is a shame. Although I don't think I can complain because I'm being kept far too busy to sample any of these games because I'm having too much fun looking after #Henry

Funnily enough, as expecting Parents, both Mum and Dad end up being subjected to Parenting-Preparation-Dreams. Being male, most of mine took the form of having to protect @Kimbled and my unborn heir in various scenarios; the most vivid of which occurred around 3-6months into the pregnancy and involved me trying to secure our flat from the Undead Horde (surely as some sign of my male protectiveness over @Kimbled and my unborn son). As everyone that has read World War Z knows, being prepared is of vital importance. That, and if in doubt; "DESTROY THE STAIRS!" and retreat to the 1st floor (Zombies don't climb well, you see?)

I remember my dream going mostly badly. Although we live on the 1st floor of a 3-storey block of flats, the main shared access area is comprised of a concrete set of stairs (no chance of me destroying them any time soon....) it's also made worse by the amount of windows/glass surrounding the stairwell meaning it's not secure in the least. My dream involved me frantically trying to barricade the stairs with various bits of furniture, while others in the blocks of flats didn't help me at all (hadn't they seen the news flash informing everyone that the Dead had risen!?) I awoke from this dream, scared and sweaty. It certainly didn't end with my family unit getting eaten, but our flat was certainly surrounded quite quickly due to our neighbours not helping me protect my family unit, and not believing the Dead had actually risen, making noise and generally breaking the other "Zombie Survival Rules" (I remember being very angry and our neighbours for not lifting a finger to protect @Kimbled and our inborn son)

So, the Undead are banned from the flat for the time being (always a good policy), and I wont be able to get my fix any time soon...Although luckily The Walking Dead has just started up on TV, and I've managed to upload some onto the iPad so that I can watch them sneakily without having to subject @Kimbled to them...so I might get my fix after all!

BLOG UPDATE [addendum]:
Since having watched The Walking Dead I thought I should point out that it involves the main character Rick protecting his family at all costs (in strangely similar way to my Parenting-Preparation-Dream). Well, that and that @Kimbled still doesn't like Zombies.

I was absolutely hooked on Season 1 of #TheWalkingDead, so much so that I've started reading the original comics via #Comixology App on the iPad. As with all Zombie story/mythology the story ends up showing us that after the initial shock of the Dead Rising, and what the survivors have go through to survive the initial onslaught, thw worst most savage thing left on the planet are the Humans. All Zombie stories end up showing us that what one Man can do to another Man is far, far worse than whatever the Zombie Apocalypse has caused.... Still, there's a Season 2 in the works and I can't wait though I'll have to work on a way to sneak that past @Kimbled