Last Weekend in Long Ashton

Last weekend we went off to see Bex, Ivor and Molly in their new house. We went to Ashton Court in the afternoon and were just in time to see a balloon take off. It was great seeing the two small cousins playing together. Olivia was introduced to the wonders of the 'In the Night Garden' game on Ivor's laptop.

Bouncy bouncy bouncy bouncy.....

Up until quite recently Olivia simply used to swing backwards and forwards in the door bouncer. Then all of a sudden she realised that she could bounce. Now there's no stopping her. If only we could hook her up we could probably power the lights....

Visit to Stoke

Last week Olivia and I drove over to the Stoke campus of Stafford University to catch up with Judith and Audra from the NWUPC. Unfortunately Audra was called away almost as soon as we arrived but we still managed to have lunch with Judith. Afterwards we went for a walk round Hanley park and admired the wildlife.

Olivia Goes Commando...

...and no, this is nothing to do with not wearing her nappy. Olivia is now very mobile and drags herself across the floor to get to where she wants to go. Yesterday she was after her toy windmill. I now really do need 'eyes in the back of my head' as my Mum often says.

Trailer Trash

Chris and Tim have now moved their caravan and awning into the space left between the shed and the greenhouse. Tim's eldest son James lent a hand and Archie the border terrier watched with interest. They will be staying here until they move to the Lake District in 3 weeks. It was quite a job getting the caravan in place as our lawn turned out to be very soft - it took 5 of us to push/pull it into position.

Scary New Look

Rich decided the other day to adopt a new look. He only kept it for a day though and shaved the rest of it off. He is now bald and beardless. There's a long story attached to this which I'd rather not go into now, except to say that it was a result of pressures at work forcing his hand (don't ask).

Off to Telford

Well, on Wednesday this week Chris and I took Olivia off to Mothercare to use a Pixifoto voucher I got with my hospital Bounty pack and have some professional pics taken of Olivia. The photoshoot was free and we got a complimentary print but as they took so many wonderful pictures I ended up spending a lot of money. You might say that they really saw me coming, but to be honest I was fully expecting it and was a willing victim (photos to follow). We then went to Frankie and Benny's where Olivia sat very nicely in the highchair and ate her lunch and then got to grips with a couple of straws. She looked for all the world as though she was water divining - no Olivia, we're christians, we don't do that! The only blight on the excursion (for Olivia that is) was that I gave her a piece of calamari to try which went round and round and round and round and round her mouth.... she got quite upset. It didn't dissolve and as she still doesn't have any teeth she couldn't chew it either. Poor girl.

Aunty Nat and Uncle Bill

We went to see my parents last weekend and who should drop by but Aunty Nat and Uncle Bill. Olivia was getting crabby at this point so it was a miracle that we managed to get such a good picture.

Wot No Highchair?

We're having real trouble at the moment getting Olivia to eat in her highchair. Strangely enough breakfast isn't a problem. However, lunch and dinner have become really difficult and I usually end up having to have her on my knee and moving her from one leg to the other to get her to eat without bawling her eyes out. It might be because she's tired. If there's someone else there to distract her that works too. Anyway, I've resorted now to putting her in her activity centre and feeding her there with the tv on (CBeebies is good for this).... probably not a good habit to be getting into but if it works then I guess that's what you do.

Greenhouse Day

Our very good friends Chris and Tim came to help move the greenhouse to a spot nearer the hedge so that the space could be used more effectively. Actually Tim did most of the work and we simply stood back and admired his handiwork. Olivia sat on Chris' knee for some of the time and Deana roamed around the lawn. Ivor has introduced me to Windows Movie Maker. Not the best video ever I have to say (yes I know some of the photos are the wrong way around and rather repetitive), but still a very useful way of blogging a series of pics. See what you think.

Hurrah and Jubilations!!!

Well well well. Friday night she surprised us all and went right through the night for the very first time! Bed just after 9pm, up the next morning at 8.40am! It was such a momentous event that I went into her in the morning and took her picture (as well as text hundreds of people) and she was in her usual good mood. We've been looking for that elusive 12 hour night that so many other babies seem to have sussed long before this point. Don't get it though. If anything, you'd think that I'd have had to get up to her more given that she was so full of a cold..? Just goes to show that you can't predict things at all..... She hasn't repeated this since but at least we know that she can actually physically manage to go 12 hours without eating.

Snotty

Oh dear. Olivia has a real streamer at the moment. She's been a bit congested for the last couple of weeks but now it's developed into a real snot producer. Still, it's the first real illness she's had, so not bad given that she's got to 6 months of age. Think the breast feeding must have kept all those other bugs at bay :-)

Bananarama!

It's strange isn't it? Take one baby keen to explore the world and she'll stuff almost anything in her mouth. In the last week alone she's been found chewing on the dog's blanket and sucking the end of the cat's tail. However, give her some food and all she wants to do is squash it between her fingers and smear it over herself and everyone in the vicinity. Today we went to the 3 fishes cafe met up with Julia and Chris. I'm trying to get Olivia to eat more finger foods (the baby police aka 'health visitors' tell me I must) so after shovelling a load of her usual mush into her I gave her some banana to finish. She had a great time and eventually, with a little help, ate some of it but not before covering all three of us. We were absolutely plastered in it.

Happy Birthday Mum

It was my Mum's birthday this weekend and we were joined by Bex, Ivor and Molly and also Aunty Cynthia. Was great to see everyone. Molly and Olivia seemed to get on well too and I'm really looking forward to the day when they'll start playing with each other. Er..thanks Ivor and Bex for letting me nick the photo of the 4 of us from your blog (Not that I asked!). Sorry Mum, I seemed to have forgotten to take a picture of you and it was your weekend!

Don't tell Trinny and Susannah

Oh dear... See what happens when I leave Richard to dress Olivia. Some people just have no idea at all...

More Socialising

It's a grand life this being at home business! We got caught in the heavy downpours on Saturday - not that it affected Olivia - and were kindly rescued by Jake and Judith as we were passing their house. The coffee and cake were very welcome and we could have stopped for tea too but Olivia was due a pureed chicken dinner at home (er...yum?). We also met another Olivia (no pic, sorry), Judith's 3 year old granddaughter who kindly gave my Olivia a gold sticker to wear. Thank you big Olivia xxx

New Skip

Well the new skip is here and is filling slowly. I've been wondering whether we're actually going to fill this one or not but Richard assures me that I've ordered the right size (another 12 cubic yard one) and that a builder's skip would have been too small. More tat has been found in the attic so watch the Ebay space over the next few weeks...

Hello Sam

Well, last week was another meet up with a long lost friend - September seems to be the month for it - I met up with Sam, a friend from school whom I hadn't seen in 19 years. Yikes, doesn't time fly?! She got in touch with me via Friends Reunited and we met up for coffee and a sandwich (and the obligatory photos) in Telford Town Centre. It's strange how even after all that time it was pretty easy to chat and we still recognised each other.

My Baby Einstein!

Well, we had a very successful day on Wednesday. I managed to win a Graco Baby Einstein Activity Centre on Ebay for the paltry sum of £20. Brand new ones cost £80 in the shops so I was naturally very happy indeed! Normally on Ebay they go for much more but this particular one had lost it's feet and so I turned out to be the only bidder. I think the vendor was disappointed but such are the joys of auctions - we sold our floral displays and flower stands for only £29 so I guess it's swings and roundabouts. Anyway, the activity centre was Buyer Collects so we had to drive out to a village just outside Derby to get it. It was worth the effort though and we enjoyed a nice pub lunch out. Olivia was delighted with her new toy and has sat happily in it for hours at a time since. Note the His and Hers trousers in the picture below ha ha! (they dressed independently of each other):

Weaning

Well, weaning continues and the freezer is full of frozen cubes of vegetable puree, just like those in the picture (which are carrot by the way). So far, Olivia has tried carrot, pear, apple, sweet potato, butternut squash, broccoli (not a success), cauliflower, parsnip, swede and potato, either singly or in combination with each other. She will soon be trying beetroot and courgette purees. My only concern is that she's not too keen on any of them unless they're mixed in with baby rice made up with milk... Hopefully though she will grow to relish them neat and enjoy her meals more!

Saturday Tea

Olivia and I went to my parents (aka Gran and Grandad Cruxton) for tea on Saturday. Well, actually I ate tea and Olivia sat in the highchair with us at the table (she was going to eat later). We gave her some tomato and cucumber but she didn't seem interested in eating them - just in pushing them around the tray (I guess baby led weaning wouldn't have worked for us!). After these had landed on the floor too many times we replaced them with some blocks.

She really enjoyed herself playing with her Gran:




And pulling her Grandad's hair:

Sunny Llandudno Part III

After our trip to the copper mines we took Olivia to see the pier. It was a bit windy but she managed to stay snug in the pushchair.

We stopped off in one of the arcades for Olivia to meet up with Big Byrd and for Richard and I to play air hockey ( I won 7 goals to 3 - ha!). Olivia was quite taken with both!



Eventually though it was time to return to the hotel, but on Richard's shoulders of course:

Sunny Llandudno Part II

Olivia spent most of the time between feeds with Graham and Jean. This gave Rich and I a chance to go off and do our own thing. Early Wednesday afternoon we went to see the copper mines. Not for the claustrophobic, very tall or very fat!

And for those considering a change of career, we saw first hand the (not so) glamorous side of archeology:

Sunny Llandudno Part I

We've just got back from a couple of days away in Llandudno. Rich and I booked in at The Elms Hotel and joined Graham and Jean (aka Grandma and Grandad Talbot) who were there for the week. First night was spent settling Olivia in. However, she was more interested in getting into the party spirit!

Lunch at Delma's

On Monday our antenatal group met up for lunch. As usual I was particularly flakey and thought we were meeting at 11.30am.... in fact I pulled out all the stops to ensure I was on time. But no, I was an hour and a half early! We weren't meeting until 1pm. Oh dear. Will my brain ever come back?! Just about all the babies are now on solids and it was useful to compare notes as well as to see everyone again (we hadn't seen each other for several weeks). Well done Delma on arranging it - sorry to invade your home so early!

Long Time No C

Well, well. Sunday was quite a blast from the past. Cynthia (ex Harper student, once known as Cindy), who is currently touring the country before moving to Australia to study, was in the Telford area and made a special effort to come over to Newport - by bus! - to visit us. It was really lovely to catch up with her and find out what she's up to these days. God really blessed our time together and I'm so glad she came over. Every blessing to you in Oz Cynthia!!!

Bye Bye Elaine

For some weeks now Olivia and I have had coffee and cake with Elaine and Ben on Wednesday mornings after clinic. This week was Elaine's last Wednesday before she had to go back to work (boo!) so we thought we'd mark the occasion by going to Smallwood Lodge (v. nice). Judging by the photograph it's probably not a bad thing that I'm not going to be eating quite so much cake anymore!

Bank Holiday Monday

My old school friend Rachel came to visit us yesterday and we went out for lunch. It was good to see her again but as she's rather broody I had a hard time stopping her from making off with Olivia as she was about to leave!