4th September 2007
We've been back from our 3-week holiday in San Francisco for a week
now and we're just about over the jetlag. Holly took a while to
adjust to the 8 hour time difference. It's been a busy week catching
up at work so we haven't had time to upload our pictures yet but we
have put up this video of Holly at San Francisco airport, killing time
waiting for the plane home.
30th July 2007
Holly was at a party last week and loved the big open spaces, huge
number of people and the various steps up and down - all of which she
played with happily until it was time to leave. Now that Holly has
mastered the art of walking, there is no stopping her!
We're taking more and more videos of her so it only seems right to add
a new videos section. The latest
offering comes from her party exploits...
21st June 2007 -
Last night, Holly progressed to taking multiple steps in succession -
laughing her head off as she did so. She loves the whole "walking"
thing and all the attention and praise she gets when she tries it.
16th June 2007 -
In the last few weeks, Holly has figured out standing on her own
without holding on, and in the last couple of days she has taken a
couple of steps on her own. Fully fledged walking doesn't seem too far
away. We've stocked up on camcorder tapes and have been taking videos
and pictures of the little minx that we'll publish at some point.
25th May 2007 -
Holly is crawling around and becoming a right little terror with her
toy hammer. We've been out visiting with her this month, in Glasgow, Richmond,
Watford... There are pictures from this month too.
2nd May 2007 -
Four months since the last diary entry and so much has happened.
Holly loves nursery, really enjoys her solid food and is now an expert
at sitting and can get around with a variation on crawling that she
has invented. In the last week, she has been very keen to stand and
walk whenever possible - aided by nearby toys, furniture, parents or
nursery staff. Bumps on the head have increased. As expected, Holly
has picked up several colds and a stomach bug at nursery and kindly
passed them on to Mummy and Daddy too. Only the stomach bug has
caused a noticeable change to Holly's smiling happy face. In between
illnesses, we are all very busy working and playing and sleeping so
there is little time to take pictures or update websites. We do
occasionally remember to get the camera out and there are some pictures from the last few months.
3rd January 2007 -
Holly has had her first Christmas and really enjoyed ripping through
the wrapping paper on the presents from Santa. She's met loads of new
people now who have helped looking after her while Mummy and Daddy go
out to various events. Next week will be an even bigger change as
Mummy goes back to work and Holly starts at nursery. Holly will have
a lot of fun with new toys, babies and people to play with.
Before all that happens, we've been updating the site and there are
now more pictures online. Christmas
videos will be put up in the next few weeks.
7th December 2006 -
Holly is growing up fast now, starting solids, learning to sit and
crawl...
6th November 2006 -
Holly's first fireworks night, though I think her daddy was more
excited than she was. We went up to the roof to look at all the
different displays around London.
2nd November 2006 -
After a cranky few days following her 4 month immunisations, Holly was
a bright and happy baby today. For the first time, she rolled over
from her front to her back and did a bit of crawling just before bedtime. I
had been doing a lot of playing with her today working on crawling skills
and it seems to have paid off.
27th October 2006 -
Holly seems to be learning new tricks on a daily basis. She gets much
more enjoyment from her toys now and can grab and pull various things.
Of course everything ends up in her mouth at some point so it's no
wonder that she had her first cold this week. She didn't seem too
bothered by it.
Recently she's been for a cruise on Windermere, visited Warwick
Castle, swam underwater, been on another plane trip and watched
an aerial
performance on the side of the Brunswick Centre. This week she
visited the LinuxWorld Expo and saw Maoris perform a haka.
15th September 2006 -
Today was exciting. Holly had her first swimming lesson at a pool in
Chiswick. She enjoyed splashing about but got a bit tired and cranky
towards the end. This Sunday she has her first plane trip as we head
up to Scotland while Damion is away at a conference.
15th August 2006 -
Looking after Holly is surprisingly time consuming so we don't get
much chance to update the site. I've uploaded some
photos from my camera phone today. Holly
is over 7 weeks old now and is awake more of the time, sleeping longer
at night. We eventually got to register her at the Town Hall next
door and are proud owners of her birth certificate. At some point
we're hoping to have a get-together - we're not religious so there
won't be a christening but we would like to get friends and family
together to celebrate Holly's existence.
31st July 2006 -
It's been a busy month. Holly is doing well and enjoys her hectic
schedule of eating, pooing and sleeping. We've finally uploaded
more pictures taken while we were in hospital
after the birth. There are more pictures and videos taken since then
that we'll upload when we get the chance.
24th June 2006 -
At 21:08 on 24th June 2006, Caroline gave birth to a baby girl
weighing 3.6kg (7.9lb).
20th June 2006 -
11 days from my due date (and in fact 6 days from my scan-determined
due date) and, no, no baby yet. It could happen any time from now
till mid-July and we're already getting the "baby yet?" question on a
daily basis. 6 of the 8 couples in our antenatal class have had their
babies now (4 boys, 2 girls) so even we can't deny the inevitability
of it all. I've had such an easy pregnancy so far but I'll be glad to
be non-pregnant soon, especially in the hot weather we've been having.
19th May 2006 - Last day in
the office today which is a mixed blessing. I'm going to miss work
and my friends but I won't miss sitting for hours on end and
commuting in rush hour with a big bump to protect. Next week we're
going to start baby preparations with a vengance.
12th May 2006 - baby moves
about a lot now, especially after I've eaten. I managed to catch
some kicks on film.
18th April 2006 - Last week was hugely
eventful. On Saturday we visited friends with very little kids and I
think we've been offered an attic's worth of baby stuff. We really
need to clear the computer room/nursery so that we can take advantage
of offers like this! On Sunday, we took a tour of the hospital to see
the birthing centre, labour ward etc. It was reassuring and
informative and I just hope that we can get a room in the birthing
centre when the time comes. The midwife there said everything I had
hoped to hear - so much so that I don't know if I need to bother with
much of a birth plan now. The next three days at work were
busy and tiring, with most of the time taken up with long meetings and
much sitting, followed by sitting on the shuttle bus and walking 20
minutes home to avoid the tube. I've developed a pain in my right hip
which only seems to flare up when I sit for long periods or if I sleep
badly. Thursday brought my 28 week midwife appointment. More
blood and urine tests, my first Anti-D
injection and I'm being referred to a physiotherapist for my hip
problem. Apart from that, everything seems to be going well: I'm the
right size for my dates,
the baby's already in a head down position, and the Damion heard the
healthy heartbeat of our baby for the first time.
Easter weekend meant Center Parcs. I was a bit
concerned that the pregnancy would mean I couldn't do any activities
but I was pleasantly surprised. When I tried cycling I found it more
comfortable than walking so we hired bikes for the weekend. I was
able to try my hand at crossbows, we spent a bit of time on the lake
in a pedalo and had some fun in the swimming pools. I thought I'd be
in much more pain but it turns out that sitting down is the worst
thing for me at the moment - and we didn't do much of that over the
weekend. Now I'm back at work, trying to drink loads of liquids
and take regular breaks from sitting. Tonight is exciting - our first
antenatal class - so I need to look after myself to make the most of
it.
27th March 2006 - 6 months
pregnant now and so many landmark events happening: Mother's Day
yesterday and Damion bought me my first Mother's Day card; today at
lunch, a waitress commented on the fact that I was pregnant - the
first random person to connect bump to pregnancy (and not fatness);
I've just about recovered from my first big pregnancy ailment - PGP or
pelvic girdle
pain, probably brought on by wearing a fantastic new pair of
high-heeled boots last week.
Today I also have to confess that I was back in my local
Waterstones, mainly buying presents but got sucked into making
personal purchases too. I think I'm starting to develop a habit and
the first step towards a cure is to admit it, so here's a list of our
pregnancy and baby-related books in no particular order:
13th March 2006 - It's getting harder to ignore
the inevitable truth that we're having a baby. The bump is hard to
miss now and we have a looming todo list of things to buy and things
to decide. We've booked a final pre-baby holiday at Easter which
we're both looking forward to. After that, we'll have to get down to
the business of sorting the nursery and finalising names.
8th February 2006 - 20 week scan was today and with the wonderful news that all appears healthy, normal, alive and kicking, we can now start letting people know about the pregnancy. more 20 week scan pictures...
21st January 2006 - 17 weeks, and it's getting harder to hide the growing bump. Fortunately it's winter so fleeces and jumpers help to disguise my changing shape.
26th December 2005 - A major stepping stone was the 11 week dating scan which we had on December 9th 2005. We were relieved to immediately see a tiny heartbeat.
According to the scan, our baby is a bit older than the due date suggests and we're more likely to be due on 26th June. This isn't over seven days off our official due date though so the official date remains unchanged. more 11 week scan pictures...
Our next scan is scheduled for February 8th 2006, coincidentally our previous due date. A reminder of how fortunate we are to be having this baby.
