Out and about

We're pretty sure Florence enjoyed her first day at the beach yesterday, despite sleeping throughout the whole experience. After a few wet and windy days - very unusual for Autumn - more typical sunny days returned this week and we headed for Balmoral. We also managed a couple of trips to the pool, which were fun for Rob and Scarlett but less thrilling for Flo and I who aren't allowed to swim yet. Tomorrow night Florence will visit her first restaurant for dinner and on Saturday attend her first jazz recital in the graveyard of our local church. Doubtless she will sleep through it all.

10 days old

We can't believe 10 days has passed so quickly since Florence popped into our lives. She is being a model baby and has slipped pretty much into our fascist feeding and sleeping routine so that she is waking once a night for a feed. She nods off pretty much whenever she feels like it in the day despite our best efforts to keep her awake - pinching, sticking pins in her, hosing her down, playing really loud, really bad 70s rock etc - but by bedtime at 6.30pm she's unconscious until we wake her at 10.30pm for a bottle and then she wakes us at about 3 for another. Then she's out again until 7am. I'm relieved to be sleeping better than I did when I was pregnant now that my nocturnal bathroom visits have ceased and I can sleep comfortably on my tummy once more. Oooh and gin. It's lovely that gin. Bottle feeding rocks - for me and her, although Rob is slowly trying to introduce me to solids. We have had lots of visitors, lots of champagne and Florence has been baby sat for already as we went out to a 40th on Friday night. Scarlett is being a really sweet big sister (despite being a a bit of a stroppy sod to us) , soothing her when she cries, helping with feeds and giving big kisses and cuddles at sleep times. She's also sharing all her toys with Flo and eats all her meals sitting next to her. We're off to the shops now to show Florence off to all the Italian ladies at our local grocer who were also convinced we were having a boy.

Introducing Florence Elizabeth Mary

On St Patrick's Day at 3.20pm our second saintly daughter Florence arrived with all the speed and grace of a baseball being fired from a batting cage machine. To say her delivery was rapid would be to understate greatly. After a couple of hours of regular bearable contractions, things started to get a bit intense and I asked for an epidural. But there was no time for that namby pamby pain relief nonsense. Then I went from not even halfway dilated to giving birth in 30 minutes. I will not give details of the pain except to say, if I had been handed a gun I would have used it on myself and would have given away any state secrets in my possession. As always though once she arrived all memories of pain and suffering were replaced by feelings of adoration for our perfect little parcel. Today I am shattered as the woman sharing the hospital room with me was not blessed with a saint and her baby cried all night - and I mean all night - while Florence snoozed throughout. We are now all home and happy to receive visitors bearing flowers and cold chardonnay.

I am 3, hear me roar

Thursday was Scarlett's birthday - she turned 3. After a morning in bed opening her lovely presents and cards, we gave her the play kitchen we had been hiding in the laundry loo for the last month. At nursery she had a huge fuss made of her and had a cake. In the evening we met up with the godfathers Kendall and Brett, our friend George with her kids Sophie and James and our old mate Ann-marie who was over from Auckland for the week and we all had a special birthday dinner out. It was all a bit much for Scarlett however and after a long day of fuss and no sleep it ended in tears at bedtime. On Saturday we had Scarlett's party. Zoe and Paul arrived with a Princess jumping castle. Scarlett just about wet her pants - had she been wearing any. It was such a hot afternoon, Rob filled up the paddling pool and the kids went crazy, stripping off all their clothes, leaping in and out of the pool and then jumping on the castle and down the slide like slippery eels. It was a hoot. The adults in the meantime sat on the deck in the shade, eating sausages and gulping down much needed liquid refreshments. Today we gave Scarlett the last part of her birthday present - a new pink fairy bike from Nanny and Grandad. She was absolutely thrilled but a test drive up the driveway has revealed she needs to grow her legs another inch or so before she'll be able to ride it with the zeal and panache such a glorious bike deserves and mainly so that Rob doesn't have to bend over pushing her along as she tries to reach the pedals. I am now less than two weeks away from my due date and counting the days. Getting up in the night to visit the bathroom two or three times isn't half as much fun as it once was. Anytime you're ready, baby, is fine with me.