• WORK
  • Work for others
  • Poems
  • Funnies
  • Blog
Menu

Lovely Jojo's

Street Address
City, State, Zip
Phone Number
A bit of this. A bit of that.

Your Custom Text Here

Lovely Jojo's

  • WORK
  • Work for others
  • Poems
  • Funnies
  • Blog

Dear Cooper and Finn

April 17, 2020 Jojo Oldham
IMG_0818.jpeg
9th November 2018     Dear Cooper and Finn,     You're almost ten months old now, and I’ve  been back at work for almost six. I'm very  lucky that I work from home and I do a  lot of work in the evenings, so I get to  spend way more time with you th…

9th November 2018
Dear Cooper and Finn,
You're almost ten months old now, and I’ve been back at work for almost six. I'm very lucky that I work from home and I do a lot of work in the evenings, so I get to spend way more time with you than other people who work full time get to spend with their kids. I’ve got a job I love, and I still get to look after you. I‘ve got it all! It’s intense though. To cram it all in I can’t afford to waste a single moment of the day. I flick the kettle on to boil and run upstairs with the clean washing. I cook the next day’s meal while you’re eating your tea. I hoover under the sofas while you’re crawling about on the floor. I write things for work in my head while I’m busy doing other things, and repeat them over and over until I get chance to write them down. It’s exhausting, but it's my choice to do it

like this. For me it’s worth it, and for the most part I enjoy it. It’s not possible to completely understand why someone makes the choices they do, because you can never fully understand what it’s like to be them. You don’t have exactly the same experiences that they do, and even if you did, you wouldn’t experience them in the exact same way. so rather than worrying too much about what other people are doing and why, you have to try and trust that they’re doing the right thing for them in the circumstances. And if they’re not, hopefully they’ll work it out for themselves in the end. XXX

In Babies, Dear Buddies, Funny, Life
Comment

Dear Cooper and Finn

April 17, 2020 Jojo Oldham
5th November 2018  Dear Cooper and Finn,  I’ve just watched Season 2 Episode 4  of The Wire (not for you until you’re  over 21), and I laughed when Nick  said dinner was tuna surprise. When  I was younger my mam would make  'lentil surprise' for te…

5th November 2018

Dear Cooper and Finn,

I’ve just watched Season 2 Episode 4 of The Wire (not for you until you’re over 21), and I laughed when Nick said dinner was tuna surprise. When I was younger my mam would make 'lentil surprise' for tea, only she pronounced it 'surpreese’ to make it sound more exotic and exciting. Dad and I groaned when she told us what we were having, because it was the least exciting meal ever. It's only now I understand that she was trying to make the most of not a lot. I’ll be forever grateful for that. XXX

In Babies, Dear Buddies, Funny, Life
Comment

Dear Cooper and Finn

April 17, 2020 Jojo Oldham
3rd November 2018    Dear Cooper and Finn,  We met baby Georgie today! She weighed almost nothing and fell asleep on me after about 3 minutes, and you two slid around the floor trying to pull things off the shelves. I thought you were still small, b…

3rd November 2018
Dear Cooper and Finn,

We met baby Georgie today! She weighed almost nothing and fell asleep on me after about 3 minutes, and you two slid around the floor trying to pull things off the shelves. I thought you were still small, but all of a sudden I could see how much you’d grown. I used to think that when people marvelled at how much kids had grown that it was just small talk, something to fill the air with. Now I understand it’s because they really are amazed. X X X

In Babies, Funny, Life, Dear Buddies
Comment

Dear Cooper and Finn

April 15, 2020 Jojo Oldham
IMG_0814.jpeg
31st October 2018     Dear Cooper and Finn,  After a full-on morning getting us all ready  to leave the house, I arrived at Cannon  Street Station a little peckish. I‘ll pop into  M&S and grab a sandwich, I thought. It  sounds so easy when I sa…

31st October 2018

Dear Cooper and Finn,

After a full-on morning getting us all ready to leave the house, I arrived at Cannon Street Station a little peckish. I‘ll pop into M&S and grab a sandwich, I thought. It sounds so easy when I say it like that. Only M&S is crowded and cramped, and your buggy is pretty big, so I struggled to even get close enough to the sandwiches to pick one. After being showered with tuts and sighs by people who clearly thought they were more entitled to a sandwich than me, I eventually got my hands on a prawn mayonnaise. Level 1 complete. Now I just had to make it through the queue. It looked tricky, and I considered trying to quickly dash through it alone, but I thought it would be frowned upon if I left you behind the Percy Pigs rack. We got down the first leg of the queue OK, but the turn was too tight for us so I had to reverse out to the sound of more tuts and sighs and abandon the sandwich I’d fought so hard to get amidst the flapjacks and brownie bars. Then I flounced out in tears, and pushed you down a step forwards because it suited my flounce better than turning round and going down it backwards sensibly, almost tipping you out in the process. Reading this back now I should have just asked someone for help. It would have been nice if someone offered too. I’ll be more inclined to do both in future. XXX

In Babies, Dear Buddies, Funny, Life
Comment

Dear Cooper and Finn

April 15, 2020 Jojo Oldham
30th October 2018  Dear Cooper and Finn,   Deciding to have fish and chips is one of  my favourite things about having fish and  chips. It’s not so much the act of eating them  that I love so much (although that is very  nice), but more the build-up…

30th October 2018

Dear Cooper and Finn,

Deciding to have fish and chips is one of my favourite things about having fish and chips. It’s not so much the act of eating them that I love so much (although that is very nice), but more the build-up. I love when the idea to have it first strikes, just as you’re thinking you can’t be bothered to cook tea. Then you bat it away quickly you should stick to the plan and cook something nutritious! But fish and chips would be so nice, and then you wouldn’t have to cook. You float the idea past someone else and their eyes light up. It’s decided, you’re doing it. Someone goes off to get them, and whoever stays behind gets everything ready. Out comes the salt, vinegar and ketchup (even though they’ll already have salt and vinegar on). Into the oven go the plates (you’ve gotta warm the plates!). And then onto the plates go those delicious warm parcels, ready to unwrap and enjoy. Yum. XXX

In Babies, Funny, Dear Buddies, Life
Comment

Dear Cooper and Finn

April 9, 2020 Jojo Oldham
24th october 2018   Dear Cooper and Finn,   It’s time to go back home. Thank you  for the most wonderful time. I don’t  think you’ve ever cried so hard or  so loud as you have on this holiday.  But you‘ve never laughed as hard or  as long either. Pl…

24th october 2018
Dear Cooper and Finn,
It’s time to go back home. Thank you for the most wonderful time. I don’t think you’ve ever cried so hard or so loud as you have on this holiday. But you‘ve never laughed as hard or as long either. Playing the dummy spitting-out game on our bed together gave me our favourite afternoon ever, and I want to always be able to feel the air vibrate with your glorious giggles and see your eyes shine and your cheeks shake, just as they did that day. XXX

In Babies, Dear Buddies, Funny, Life
Comment

Dear Cooper and Finn

April 9, 2020 Jojo Oldham
20th October 2018    Dear Cooper and Finn,   We're in Mount Washington now. It’s  very beautiful and peaceful. I felt so  relaxed this afternoon after we’d been for  a walk that I asked your dad to go and  get us a drink while you napped, even  tho…

20th October 2018

Dear Cooper and Finn,
We're in Mount Washington now. It’s very beautiful and peaceful. I felt so relaxed this afternoon after we’d been for a walk that I asked your dad to go and get us a drink while you napped, even though I knew yould wake up as soon as he brought them over. Which you did. You‘ve changed so much since we’ve been away. You can now open drawers and cupboards, and I spend a lot of time watching you explore, trying to make sure you don’t hurt yourself, and helping you up when you do. Like I’m going to be doing for the foreseeable future, I suppose. If I see you making decisions that I think might end in pain, I can try and use my experience to advise against them, but ultimately it's up to you. I’m not always right. Maybe climbing on that thing won’t end in disaster. But I‘ll be here for you if it does. X X X

In Babies, Dear Buddies, Funny, Life
Comment

Dear Cooper and Finn

April 9, 2020 Jojo Oldham
IMG_0801.png
18th October 2018  Dear Cooper and Finn,  We went up Cadillac mountain this morning to  watch the sun rise. It was a bold move,  since we had to wake you up at 5.30 am  to get up there in time. ‘Never wake a  sleeping baby!’ is the first rule rando…

18th October 2018

Dear Cooper and Finn,

We went up Cadillac mountain this morning to watch the sun rise. It was a bold move, since we had to wake you up at 5.30 am to get up there in time. ‘Never wake a sleeping baby!’ is the first rule random strangers like to dish out unsolicited in the queve at the supermarket, but we‘ve broken that tons of times already when getting you into The Routine (tm) so we weren't worried. Plus (and this is rather petty) we quite enjoy the novelty of waking you up for a change when usually it’s the other way round. And since Cadillac mountain is the first place to view sunrise in the US at this time of year, we were really keen to try and see it. And we made it! We saw the sky going red above the sea as the sun touched it for the first time. Then we decided it was way too cold and windy for you two so we took you back to the car, and by the time I got back to the viewpoint to take some photos there was a massive grey cloud in the way! Nature can be so annoying sometimes. Then we went to Jordan's in Bar Harbor for some of their famous blueberry pancakes. And what a glorious success it was, until we tried to clean some snot off your faces and you let us know rather loudly that you much preferred your pancakes with a side of snot thanks very much. And then we met a lady who is an identical twin and her husband said they were almost completely identical except her sister had a mole on her left breast. LOL · And then he shouted “BOO" at you in a scary voice and made you cry and we left very quickly after that. XXX

In Babies, Dear Buddies, Funny, Life
Comment

Dear Cooper and Finn

April 9, 2020 Jojo Oldham
17th October 2018   Dear Cooper and Finn,   We went for a walk around Jordan pond  today. We were looking for beavers but we  didn’t have any luck unfortunately.  About ten minutes into our walk we  realised we’d dropped one of your  mittens, Finn, …

17th October 2018
Dear Cooper and Finn,
We went for a walk around Jordan pond today. We were looking for beavers but we didn’t have any luck unfortunately. About ten minutes into our walk we realised we’d dropped one of your mittens, Finn, so your dad went back for it and some kind soul had picked it up and put it on a post because that’s what you do when you find a lost glove. X X X

In Babies, Dear Buddies, Funny, Life
Comment

Dear Cooper and Finn

April 3, 2020 Jojo Oldham
16th October 2018Dear Cooper and Finn,    We made it to Bar Harbor yesterday. The  drive here was lovely – Maine has some very  quaint towns. We’ve got to that stage of  the holiday where I keep counting how many  full days and nights we have left o…

16th October 2018

Dear Cooper and Finn,

We made it to Bar Harbor yesterday. The drive here was lovely – Maine has some very quaint towns. We’ve got to that stage of the holiday where I keep counting how many full days and nights we have left on my fingers, desperate to find some extra time somewhere. We went into Acadia National Park today and did the ship Harbor Walk, where a kind man offered to take our photo. | appreciate it so much when people do that, and I always try and offer too. Afterwards we had a drive up Cadillac Mountain. We could see for miles! But the wind was quite literally taking your breath away so we had to get back in the car. We were going to try and go out for tea as I really wanted a lobster roll, but we thought you might not be up for it. So we got takeaway and enjoyed it once you were asleep instead. Far more sensible. XXX

In Babies, Dear Buddies, Funny, Life
Comment

Dear Cooper and Finn

April 3, 2020 Jojo Oldham
14th October 2018  Dear Cooper and Finn,  I’m loving being away. All we did was  watch TV last night, which is the same  as we’d probably have done at home.  so you may wonder (along with everyone  on our flight over here) why we dragged  you half w…

14th October 2018

Dear Cooper and Finn,

I’m loving being away. All we did was watch TV last night, which is the same as we’d probably have done at home. so you may wonder (along with everyone on our flight over here) why we dragged you half way across the world and made ourselves hoarse singing Old Macdonald just to watch TV on someone else’s sofa. It’s a fair question, and I definitely need to get better at finding this feeling closer to home - but I love how being somewhere different forces you to try new things. Or just to do the same things in different ways. At home we would never eat our breakfast sitting on the kitchen floor in our pants because we have high chairs. But I’m so pleased we did it here. XXX

In Babies, Dear Buddies, Funny, Life
Comment

Dear Cooper and Finn

April 3, 2020 Jojo Oldham
IMG_0779.png
14th October 2018Dear cooper and Finn,There’s a beautiful hand-drawn map of Orr’s and Bailey Islands hanging on the wall in the cottage we’re renting. It’s by Ronald F. Mowat, and as soon as we walked through the door I fell in love with it. Your da…

14th October 2018

Dear cooper and Finn,

There’s a beautiful hand-drawn map of Orr’s and Bailey Islands hanging on the wall in the cottage we’re renting. It’s by Ronald F. Mowat, and as soon as we walked through the door I fell in love with it. Your dad knew we’d have to try and find a copy before I even did, so I was delighted when we tracked one down at the Land’s End Gift shop (along with some very fetching lobster onesies for you). Later we went for a lovely walk around Otter Brook Preserve, crunching golden leaves under our feet and enjoying the sunshine on our faces. As we drove home you got a little upset again and I was just getting ready to start Old Macdonald when I decided to turn the radio up instead. I did it just as ' To be without you ' by Ryan Adams came on, and it calmed you right down. so I had a lovely three minutes staring out the window, reflecting on the day. Then when we got back we wrapped up warm and went outside to watch the sun go down on our last night on Orr's Island. We listened to the boats creaking and the water slapping and smelled the sea, bathed in golden light. I’ll remember it forever. (You won’t, of course. But trust me, it was awesome.) XXX

In Babies, Dear Buddies, Funny, Life
Comment

Dear Cooper and Finn

April 3, 2020 Jojo Oldham
13th October 2018  Dear cooper and Finn,  The road trip begins! Today we drove up to Harpswell from Boston, stopping off for some potato donuts from The Holy Donut on the way (we were going to sit inside and eat them but you made it very clear we sh…

13th October 2018
Dear cooper and Finn,
The road trip begins! Today we drove up to Harpswell from Boston, stopping off for some potato donuts from The Holy Donut on the way (we were going to sit inside and eat them but you made it very clear we should get them to go). We had to keep singing old Macdonald to stop you from crying but I was feeling a little stressed out so I couldn’t think of any animals. Luckily your dad stepped in so I did the verses and he helped out with the animal sounds. We had llamas, geese, camels, zombies and yodellers. It was a lot of fun. We got to our cottage on Orr’s Island just in time to watch the sunset, and it is so beautiful and peaceful. Can’t wait to explore with you tomorrow. XXX

In Babies, Dear Buddies, Funny, Life
Comment

Dear Cooper and Finn

February 22, 2020 Jojo Oldham
IMG_0746.png
IMG_0747.png
In Babies, Dear Buddies, Funny, Life
Comment

Dear Cooper and Finn

February 22, 2020 Jojo Oldham
IMG_0745.png
In Babies, Dear Buddies, Funny, Life
Comment

Dear Cooper and Finn

February 14, 2020 Jojo Oldham
IMG_0738.png
In Babies, Dear Buddies, Funny, Life
Comment

Dear Cooper and Finn

January 18, 2020 Jojo Oldham
IMG_0737.png
In Babies, Dear Buddies, Funny, Life
Comment

Dear Cooper and Finn

January 17, 2020 Jojo Oldham
IMG_0735.png
IMG_0736.png
In Babies, Dear Buddies, Funny, Life
Comment

Introducing my new toddler restaurant - Fussy Tuckers

October 5, 2019 Jojo Oldham
public.jpeg
In Babies, Funny, Life

Dear Cooper and Finn

September 8, 2019 Jojo Oldham
public.jpeg
public.jpeg
public.jpeg
In Babies, Dear Buddies, Funny, Life
← Newer Posts Older Posts →

hello@lovelyjojos.com

Subscribe to Lovely Mail™

Sign up for news, doodles, products, offers and general cheer.

Welcome! I promise not to bombard you with emails.