It's been that long since I started this post that I cannot remember the details anymore so here is a very pic orientated post of more of our holidays in Galway.

View taken along the Connemara loop.

Pics taken at Kylemore Abbey on a very bad day weather wise.

There is a very dramatic scenic route called the sky road which is not to be missed, here's some pics.

At this rate my next post should be in 2010.

Cathal

Rohan's first tramp

We went on our holidays last week to the West of Ireland. The west of Ireland in terms of sightseeing is the equivalent to NZ's South Island. It's not that there isn't lots to see and do in the North Island of NZ or indeed the East coast of Ireland it's just that there's more in the South & West of the respective countries. By coincidence the weather is the same also i.e. it gets pretty wild in the West of Ireland. We went to a place called Connemara in County Galway and below is a map which shows where we were. We actually stayed in Galway city too but I have decided to do this post first as it is easier. There's a good link to a web site here.


In Connemara there is a national park and within the park there are four tramps which are actually one big tramp broken down into four parts. As it happens the weather was relatively good the day we arrived, however, we decided not to do the longest tramp to the top of the mountain on the advice of the tourist centre. Too windy and dangerous for Rohan. Here's the entrance and a close up of the sign. I don't think you would have to be a native Irish speaker to understand the sign even if it is in Gaelic! Be warned it's not all as easy as that though!

After you pass through the entrance pavilion you descend to the tourist centre which is adjacent to a lake, from here you set out on a 4 km loop to the top of Diamond Hill.

Rohan being carried by his dad on his first ever tramp.

Mam & Dad and part of Rohan's head oops...

Some views along the tramp.

A view up the branch off for the full tramp up the mountain. You basically walk to the top where the views are meant to be very dramatic.

Some views along our decent.

Back at the tourist centre for a well earned bowl of soup.

More on Galway in the next post.

Cathal

Rohan at 5 Months

We are just back from a weeks holidays in the West of Ireland (more on that in the next few posts) and while we were away Rohan had his 5 month birthday. So here he is ready for bed...

....... and the following morning.

Cathal

Weeks 17-20

Some more pics of Rohan. This one would have been truely fab if we had managed to get his whole head. In my defense I was holding Rohan with my left hand and trying to take the pic with my right.


Rohan checks out who is holding him while chewing his hands.

Rohan sporting a baseball cap.

Rohan showing off some of Sharon's knitwear.

Rohan showing off some of his Granny G's knitwear also.

So Rohan will be five months old soon but since the last post he has really found his voice. He has also found his tongue and has started licking everything. He has also starting making "razzing" noises which are hilarious to listen to.

Cathal

Rohan at 4 Months

We mentioned in the last post how Rohan had starting turning from his back onto his belly. Here's a few pics of Rohan on his 4 month birthday showing us his new trick.



The doting father.

Rohan back to his old tricks.

Rohan has also found his tongue recently and tries to lick most things that come his way.

Cathal

Rohan 13-16 Weeks

So Rohan will be 4 months on the 8th August '08 and I thought I had better do an interim post. Rohan in the last few weeks has managed to roll completely over by himself from his back onto his belly. The only catch is he can't roll back so after a few minutes of frustration he starts to cry and mam or dad have to fix it for him. A cuddle or two later and he's back to himself.

Here's Rohan with his favourite teddy that his Auntie Annette got him.



Here's Rohan at three months old.




We decided that Rohan was too big for his moses basket a few weeks ago so he now sleeps in a cot. The picture below shows just how cramped the basket was getting.

Some more pics of Rohan with his teddy or should that be monkey. The first one is taken in his new cot, loads of space!

Rohan has also found his hands and can sit there staring at them for minutes on end (notice I said minutes not hours). He has also realised that his arm is connected to his hands which is kinda funny too.

Anyway more pics when he turns four months.

Cathal

Rohan weeks 8-12

Rohan was 12 weeks old a few weeks ago and it is hard to believe how quickly time is passing. So what has Rohan learned in the last few weeks? Well for a start he has found that sucking his fingers is fun.

Here's Rohan loosing his hair, that makes two of us!

Holding hands is a neat trick.

Having a chat which includes some laughing type noises is good fun too.
Acting surprised.....

and general enthusiasm .....

It's wasn't Hollywood but he enjoyed making a plaster cast of his hand nonetheless.

Rohan has also started turning from his back to his side. It's only a matter of time before he falls flat on his face and it won't be the last time either I suspect.

Cathal

Disused Shed in Co. Wexford

Rohan was born in Co. Wexford in the South East of Ireland and I found this poem some years ago which happens to refer to his home county.



Disused Shed in Co. Wexford by Derek Mahon

Let them not forget us, the weak souls among
the asphodels -
Seferis, Mythistorema

For J.G. Farrell

Even now there are places where a thought might grow -
Peruvian mines, worked out and abandoned
To a slow clock of condensation,
An echo trapped forever, and a flutter
Of wildflowers in the lift-shaft,
Indian compounds where the wind dances
And a door bangs with diminished confidence,
Lime crevices behind rippling rainbarrels,
Dog corners for bone burials;
And a disused shed in Co. Wexford,

Deep in the grounds of a burnt-out hotel,
Among the bathtubs and the washbasins
A thousand mushrooms crowd to a keyhole.
This is the one star in their firmament
Or frames a star within a star.
What should they do there but desire?
So many days beyond the rhododendrons
With the world waltzing in its bowl of cloud,
They have learnt patience and silence
Listening to the rooks querulous in the high wood.

They have been waiting for us in a foetor
Of vegetable sweat since civil war days,
Since the gravel-crunching, interminable departure
of the expropriated mycologist.
He never came back, and light since then
Is a keyhole rusting gently after rain.
Spiders have spun, flies dusted to mildew
And once a day, perhaps, they have heard something -
A trickle of masonry, a shout from the blue
Or a lorry changing gear at the end of the lane.

There have been deaths, the pale flesh flaking
Into the earth that nourished it;
And nightmares, born of these and the grim
Dominion of stale air and rank moisture.
Those nearest the door growing strong -
'Elbow room! Elbow room!'
The rest, dim in a twilight of crumbling
Utensils and broken flower-pots, groaning
For their deliverance, have been so long
Expectant that there is left only the posture.

A half century, without visitors, in the dark -
Poor preparation for the cracking lock
And creak of hinges. Magi, moonmen,
Powdery prisoners of the old regime,
Web-throated, stalked like triffids, racked by drought
And insomnia, only the ghost of a scream
At the flashbulb firing squad we wake them with
Shows there is life yet in their feverish forms.
Grown beyond nature now, soft food for worms,
They lift frail heads in gravity and good faith.

They are begging us, you see, in their wordless way,
To do something, to speak on their behalf
Or at least not to close the door again.
Lost people of Treblinka and Pompeii!
'Save us, save us,' they seem to say,
'Let the god not abandon us
Who have come so far in darkness and in pain.
We too had our lives to live.
You with your light meter and relaxed itinerary,
Let not our naive labours have been in vain!.



With all the natural disasters recently seems kind of fitting.

Cathal

Rohan Weeks 5-7

So as if there wasn't enough photos of Rohan here's some more and if you think this is turning into a Rohan appeciation blog - you'd be right!





A present from a knitting buddy of Sharon's. Who says that we don't feature knitting on this blog.

Its a really special feeling when Rohan curls up and falls asleep on your chest, especially after feeding as he is so content.

Rohan was 7 weeks old yesterday and was 12 lbs 3 ozs last Friday (when he was 6 weeks four days old) so he is really beginning to pack on the pounds!

Cathal

Rohan at one month

Ok Rohan is in his basket and not very happy so this will be a quick post.



Here's Rohan at four weeks old. See the right hand is still up.







And this is Rohan at one month old.

This is Rohan last weekend.

And finally with his cousin.

So since the last post Rohan has started loosing his hair and also started cooing! The cooing is magic, watching him trying to communicate is just a wonderful thing. More pics soon I hope.

Cathal

Rohan goes to Johnstown Castle

Rohan lives in the south east of Ireland in County Wexford. Wexford boasts some really nice places to visit, one of these being Johnstown Castle. Here's Rohan is his pram sporting a hand knit hat his Granny G knit him.


The front of the Castle.

The back of the castle.

New parents breaking new ground i.e. getting out of the house!


More pics around the grounds of the castle.

There's swans and peacocks in the park. We only got to see the swans today.

Johnstown castle is a brilliant place to bring kids. There's all sorts of things to see and plenty of space to run around. There's even a walled garden with a glass house, but we didn't manage to get to it today. Maybe next time.......

Cathal