Tiling, new scrapper and extensive shutdown

Steve and Maureen were in the schoolroom today, starting to tile the kitchen section. It’s hugely exciting to see some progress in that area! The cupboards will be arriving when the ship comes back from the UK, and then the real fun begins. They joined us for lunch in the back yard – they had brought their own packed lunch – so we socialised between the washing!

Caleb has started scrapbooking. He’s been wanting to do it for ever so long, and I’ve been saying that when he’s 7 he can start, but he sort of made his own start anyway last week. I provided some A4 pieces of cardboard, which I cut down to a square, so he has a few things to work with. He’s content really to do his own drawings and writings, using things he finds lying around as embellishments. He’s quite a creative boy, actually.

The hole in Nick’s gum where he had the extraction has healed well. He’s so pleased that he has an extra hole in his mouth that he make noises with. His shutdown procedures at night, as he calls them, are quite extensive now. He has to burst all the bubbles in his mouth and get the airpockets out the corners. With such clean teeth it’s very difficult to get your mouth comfortable for sleeping. The mouth is dry and has to be salivated, and then the spit has to be sucked off until all is equally lubricated, which can take several coats. This often disturbs the spit in the mouth and causes bubbles, which are then broken by (a) sharp intakes of breath, (b) swallowing, (c) fishing the small bubbles out from underneath the tongue with the tip of the tongue and pressing them hard against the roof of the mouth. Some bubbles need to be chased as they evade squashing, which results in cheek-squeezing, and any talking or smiling causes new bubbles to form. If one has flossed before bedtime, each gap between each tooth must be opened with the tongue suctioning any excess saliva out. (This paragraph was dictated by Nicholas – think of me with sympathy as I lie quietly next to this obsessive bubble-squashing air-intaker, wondering when his mouth will be comfortable and shutdown completed…).