We Won! "In the Night Garden" Live Show

I won my first ever blog giveaway!  Woo Hoo!  I was so excited when I got an email from the lovely Jenny at "Treading on Lego"  I did a happy dance.  An actual bona fidey, bum wiggling, high fiving happy dance!  The Wee Man thought I'd gone crazy but then I told him what we'd won and he joined in with his own street dance version of a happy dance.

And what a wowser of a giveaway I'd won.  A family ticket to the VIP Gala performance of "In the Night Garden Live" at the O2.  Note the "VIP" and the "Gala".  That's right we've gone up in the world.  VIPs r Us.

The Wee Man has always, always loved In the Night Garden (ITNG).  He use to do baby signing as a tot and he made up his own ITNG sign.  He'd hold his hand out flat and trace circles on his palm with his finger (just like the start of every ITNG).  Took me a while to figure out what he meant but I got there in the end.  We've spent many, many happy hours watching Iggle Piggle's antics. 

The Big Man worked on the TV programme so he has a love hate relationship with it.  But we won't mention that.  Though I can understand how watching ITNG for 10 hours every day for 12 months could drive anyone a wee bit potty.

On Saturday we put on our glad rags and headed to the O2.  It took a while to find the Night Garden cos the O2 is mahoosive!  We wandered about for a bit aimlessly then the Wee Man spotted this...

Cue, happy dance.  Though a more sanitised version suitable for public viewing.  How fantabulous is that?!  "Ha Hoo! Ha Hoo! Ha Hoo!" and so it went on until the Big Man put a stop to our silliness.

The Wee Man was given a very huge and heavy goodie bag filled with ITNG goodies.  I must admit some of the stuff was a wee bit too young for him but he loved his illuminating windmill thingie that spun round.  We were treated to some delicious treats.  Filled croissants, bagels, pastries, fruit kebabs anyone?  I'd of course packed some treats for the Wee Man too.

After a wee wait and an interview with a lovely presenter and camera crew (the Wee Man, not us) the doors were opened and we took our seats.  The theatre is laid out so that wherever you sit you get a very good view of the stage.  There's plenty of space for children to get on their feet and dance or do whatever children want to do.

Another wait for the VVIPs (Very Very Important People) to take their seats and some celeb spotting for the Big Man and me.  I saw Emma Forbes and Sara Cox.  I didn't recognise anyone else but I'm pretty rubbish at things like that.  People always look different in real life to what they do on the telly or newspapers, don't you think?

Spot the Big Man.  Hint He's also affectionately known as the Baldy Man.

The show was unbelievably fantastic.  The way they've stage managed it is amazing with panoramic projections and puppets of varying sizes but that's from a Big Person's perspective.

From a Wee Man perspective, it was magical.  It was a fully "immersive theatrical performance".  That's the fancy way of saying it felt as if we were actually in the Night Garden.  He loved seeing Iggle Piggle fall down and we all especially loved Makka Pakka's dance.  The Wee Man danced and sang with Makka Pakka and I may have joined in too.  ;0)  Makka Pakka seems to be the Big Person favourite as was evident when we all went "Aw!" when he came on the stage.

It's a show that every child should experience, because it really is an experience.  It's so much more than just a show.

The show will be touring the UK with dates at the O2, Richmond, Brent Cross (London), Manchester and Birmingham.  Tickets are very reasonable priced from £10 - £27.50.  I say reasonable because you get a very good view wherever you sit in the theatre.  So £10 seems very, very reasonable.  There are two different shows, each running for just under an hour.  Which I think is the right duration for a children's show. 

And the bestest, bestest bit of the day for the Wee Man?  It was of course this...

Disclaimer:  I have not been asked to write this blog post about In The Night Garden Live.  I won tickets on a blog giveaway.  I thought the show was so fantastic that I wanted to share my experience with everyone.  So what are you waiting for?  Go book some tickets!  

Under 300 Followers Blog Hop

Last week I came across a fabulous blog by the gorgeous Amanda.  She's hil-a-r-ious and has the cutest little twin boys who likes to impose themselves on her daily wees(!)

She's hosting a Blog Hop today so I thought I would join in.  Go have a clickey and see who and what you can find.

Chequered Cake Tin - The Result

A couple of weeks ago I bought an interesting chequered cake thingie with the hopes of making the Wee Man a little treat.

Well last week after school, the Wee Man insisted we make a chequered cake and I know I could have put my foot down and refused but I secretly wanted to give it a go too.  So without the right amount of ingredients to make the full size version.  I played about with the recipe and quantities to make a two tiered one. 

It kinda worked out.

We had to kind of squish the cake mixture into the rings.  This was very fiddly and frustrating.  

Carefully ease the rings out...phew!  The white cake batter is lumpy cos it has banana in it.  Just so you don't think I didn't mix it right.  

Ta-Dah!  Baked and out the tin.  Marvel at how the rings have baked into each other but not actually "bled" into each other. 

The second tier. 

Some butter icing between the layers and....Voila a chequered cake!  

A definite hit with the Wee Man and all the kids at school the next day.

This post is shared on Ta-Dah Tuesday.

Numb Bum Day - The Follow Up

We'll we had Numb Bum day a couple of days ago and I'm pleased to report we are home and the Wee Man is at school. 

It was a long, hard, anxiety filled day, to put it nicely.  I've learned how much of a performance nurses and doctors go through on a daily basis.  The words "putting on a brave face" seem irrelevant when you realise what they have to do to placate parents and young patients. I think the Wee Man's medical team deserve an Oscar for their acting performance. 

It wasn't until we were finally discharged that the nurses and doctors let on how dangerous Numb Bum day really was.  We knew it was dangerous, otherwise why do it in a hospital.  But there was that bit in my brain that thought it would be ok since we were in a hospital filled with nurses and doctors.  His Consultant was on the ward all day who is an allergy speicailst, his allergy nurse was within ten feet of us all day.  So all was well in my uneducated mind.  But throughout the day we had little indications that what was happening to the Wee Man was pretty much as life threatening as you can get, short of sticking your finger in a socket whilst sitting in a bath of water.

So what made me think all was not as rosy as I had thought?  Well...

1/ The Consultant's instruction to give the Wee Man a good dose of his anti-histamine before anything was done to him was the first indication.  Seemed a sensible idea to me though.

2/ Then we were advised that a cannula was to be put in...just in case.  That was the first real warning that the day wasn't to be as "easy" as I had first thought.

3/ The Wee Man was given the bed directly facing the nursing station, despite there being lots of other available beds, again innocent enough until I realised that all the nurses were keeping a very vigilant eye on us.

4/ The extra, careful scrutiny the nurses and doctors had on what each other were doing whilst they were with the Wee Man.  I'm pretty sure it's not "normal" for nurses to ask, and ask and ask doctors if their gloves are latex free or for them to order doctors to "wash your hands!".

5/ At the end of the day, Nurse K the allergy nurse, revealed to us that she had been carrying Epipens with her all day.  This is a Nurse who on a daily basis performs food challenges on allergic children.  Literally feeding allergic foods to children with proven allergies to the food and who are at a very high risk of anaphylaxis from any contact with the food.  Carrying Epipens on her person is not "normal" for her even in those life threatening situations, so for her to do so on Numb Bum Day made me realise just how much danger the Wee Man had been in. 

And finally the biggest indication that Numb Bum Day was indeed a Big day was when we were finally given the all clear and the whole medical team physically relaxed into themselves.  It was so strange to watch and experience.  I could see the tension ebb away from Nurse K.  She slumped into her chair and her whole body just ..relaxed.  The tension on her face melted away and she was our Nurse K again.  The smile on her face was nothing like the forced grin she was displaying all day.  She was herself again. 

I had a chat with Dr. H., the Wee Man's Consultant, and even she showed physical signs of relief.  This woman is a first class Consultant who's seen and dealt with just about anything you could imagine an allergy Consultant would have to deal with.

I thought maybe I was projecting my own sense of relief onto everyone but thinking back to what was being said, how it was being said and their physical demeanour, I'm pretty sure the relief the medical team felt far outweighed the relief I felt.  They must have been pretty stressed. 

Despite all of that the Wee Man took everything in his stride as usual.  The cannula was dismissed as a nuisance.  Just before Nurse K assisted the doctor in putting the cannula in she looked at the Wee Man and made him promise he'd "still like me after I've done this?".  The Wee Man gave her his "Are you crazy?!" look.  The Play Nurse anxiously advised me to hold a book between his face and his hand so he wouldn't see what was happening.  I told her there was no need and she thought I was insane and looked on anxiously.  The cannula was in and his hand bandaged without so much as a wince or a whimper from him.

He completely ignored the actual injections of the vaccine.  The adventure story I was reading to him was much more exciting.  In fact his only complaint from the day was that the cannula inhibited his ability to play with the toys in the toy room.

The medical staff were full of praise for his "braveness" and they were in awe of his maturity.  I must admit I do think the medical staff were being overly anxious about the procedures being done to the Wee Man.  I do believe that anxiety breeds anxiety.  There were many a time I had to sugar coat whatever the medical team were saying and dismiss them as "crazy".

In all it was an experience I would not wish to go through again.  Unfortunately we're back into the hospital next month for a soya challenge.  I hope, hope, hope the Wee Man passes.  Introducing soya into his diet would open up so much more variety for him.  Not just the yoghurts, cheese and ice cream but all the things with hidden soya in them.

Maybe, just maybe the Wee Man will soon be able to eat some chocolate! 

Numb Bum Day

It's been a while since I wrote an update on the Wee Man's allergies so I thought this was an oppotune time to do so.  You see tomorrow the Wee Man goes into hospital to have his immunisations.  Not something that a child would normally go into hospital to have but for the Wee Man it's a big day. 

For a couple of years now Dr. H his Consultant Peditrician and allergy speicalist has been trying to source latex free vaccinations for him.  Her searched failed miserably and she's been consulting other allergy experts worldwide for solutions to our dilemma. 

With the Wee Man's latex allergy it means any jabs of any kind are life threatening.  All vaccinations have a latex bung on the bottles that the needle passes through to get to the solution inside.  That needle is then usually inserted into the patient and injected.  That plus the fact the solution has been swilling around latex makes the whole thing rather risky for a person with a latex allergy! 

So after much consultation she concluded that the best course of action was to take the bung out of the bottle and get to the solution directly.  The Wee Man will get 10% of the solution initially and after a period of observation, if there are no adverse effects he'll get the full dose. 

The Wee Man is not too thrilled with the idea of the needle.  Up until a couple of months ago he had no fear of needles whatsoever.  In fact he loved having blood tests as it usually meant a lot of female attention from all the nurses (he's such a ladies man!).  But a couple of months ago he had a bad experience with a blood test where he didn't have the numbing cream and the person taking the blood was, to put it bluntly a sadistic bastard.  He was literally poking the needle about inside the Wee Man's arm.  Jabbing the needle in and out and wriggling it around whilst inside his arm.   He failed to get to a vein and then inisisted he try the other arm.  I had to put my hand over the Wee Man's arm to stop him from continuing.  Since then the Wee Man has been wary of needles. 

Fortunately the Wee Man has been blessed with parents with the ability to make any situation funny! ;0)  We have allayed his fears by advising him that we will ask for numbing cream to be applied before any needles go anywhere near him.  But of course, jabs are usually given in the bum region.  For the cream to work it has to be applied to the area for at least 45 minutes and cling filmed on.  So we have told the Wee Man he must have his bum cling filmed.  Plus the numbing cream, really is numbing, so he won't feel his bum for a few hours afterwards.  So he won't know that he is sitting down and also because he won't be able to feel his bum this gives his parents the right to tickle his bum to their hearts content.  ;0)

That is why, tomorrow is affectionatley known as "Numb Bum Day".