Even More Alice

Alice started smiling on Friday and her Nana caught a smile the other day on camera. She's started smiling more often now and is quite a bit more alert too. She seems to enjoy lying on her play mat and sitting in her bouncey chair, as long as someone is entertaining her. Sorry I'm in the picture to spoil it, but it was the best one of her smiling.

More Alice

More pictures. This is Alice's Sunday outfit (well, for last weekend anyway). She was the best dressed three week old in church. She's starting to be a bit more alert during the day. She's not alert just at the moment though. P has just woken her for an afternoon feed. Sadly, Alice is having other ideas and is trying to continue sleeping.

Just to make all you parents of non-sleeping three year olds jealous, Alice slept from 10pm until 7.30am last night. I woke at about 6am and wondered if I'd slept through her crying for half the night; or worse, that I'd done a feed and forgotten all about it. P confirmed, however, that she simply hadn't woken. Long may it continue.

Bath - without crying (much)

We went to church on Sunday. We felt this was quite an achievement. Fortunately, Alice played along pretty well, she didn't call us out of the service to the baby crèche. She was, on this occasion at least, the youngest one there. We dressed her up for the big bad outside as you can see in the pic. As you'll recall though, the weekend was the beginning of summer. So, it all soon came off again.

Alice is also starting to get a more healthy attitude to bathing. She managed to have a bath (with Daddy in charge) yesterday with only a small amount of crying. Pics below of the clean Alice, not crying!

Incidentally, you can add a comment to each of these posts for the world to see! Simply click on the word "comments" at the bottom of the relevant post. Enter your comment in the top box; copy the squiggly letters in to the next box; then either choose "other" or "anonymous" in the next box to comment without having a Google login; finally, click "Publish your comment". The comment will then form part of the post for others to read and comment on too!

Also, you can view bigger versions of the pictures by clicking on them. They are just the right size for a normal screen.

Doctor Who

In the midst of all these baby posts, here is something else very exciting! I received this David Tennant autograph in the mail from some of Pauline's University friends, who live in Cardiff. They got it when the Doctor Who team came to film at their house. They even had the TARDIS parked outside.

Incidently, I get annoyed by all those people (BBC included) who talk about the current Doctor Who series as "series 3". Forgive me for being a bit pedantic, but Doctor Who has been running for a substantial number of years before 2005. It began in 1963, no less. It ran every year until 1989. So, you could call this Doctor Who run "series 30". I prefer that.

David Tennant is the tenth "Doctor". Did you know that in the original series, Time Lords were limited to twelve regenerations. I wonder if they will find a way around that...

(Is this sounding a bit sad??)

Anyway, a few baby photos to finish up.

Good crier now

She was a bit quiet on day one, but a few minutes of nappy changing yesterday proved very unpopular. Not the first time she'd really cried but a good photo example.

Birth Day - 30 March 2007

Our baby was born yesterday! What a day. It appears that labour is called "labour" for a very good set of reasons. Even then, "labour" has got to be one of the world's greatest understatements. Still, it was pretty much all over within 24 hours and we have a wonderful product at the end of it.

Our baby girl, Alice Jenny Grant was born at 7.12pm on 30 March 2007. She weighs 7lb and 10oz (the midwife measured her weight on a metric set of scales and then used conversion tables to give us the numbers. The question is "Do EU laws on metric measurements apply to babies as well as fruit and veg?").



Here's her very first picture.

She was a bit quiet when she was born. No great screaming cry; but she was moving loads and pinky in colour, so we're just assuming that we have a quiet baby. She didn't even have a cry when the midwife bunged her on the cold scales to be weighed. We're hoping that we've got the quiet, good sleeping baby that we ordered!



Stuart got to hold her for most of the first hour whilst Pauline was being sorted out with the midwife. He tried to use that time to convince Alice that maths is definitely the way to go (when she's sorting out career options). He also tried to teach her how to cry. He was pretty successful at that one! This pic is of Pauline holding Alice at last.

Just a couple of sleeping pictures to finish. Alice started to get tired around an hour after she was born. Stuart then was able to move her between rooms and along to the maternity ward in her handy wheely cot. A bit like a shopping trolley but with plastic sides. Pauline is, of course, still in hospital. She's not planning to stay there long though; she'll be home as soon as she's got the feeding sorted.



(Notice, no pink! P hates pink. We own no pink baby clothes and I doubt you will ever see Alice in pink. S says - until she's old enough to decide what to buy herself maybe?).

We're feeling very grateful to God today. Very grateful.

Elephant baby - ready for real thing

Nearly all ready now. Elephant baby is dressed up in a wee cardie made by baby's granny; sitting on blanket made by same. The last of the internet bought crates of stuff arrived today. Bring on the birth!

Elephant relaxes in the cot. How sweet!

Elephant baby

Got the new pram through yesterday. P spent all afternoon taking bits apart and forming all the different pram options. Elephant quickly became the baby of choice - temporarily of course. It's a wee bit stiff to put together and take apart, but it's a good little runner! Elephant seemed happy. 

Home Group weekend away

Just come back from a fab home group weekend away in Frosterley (Co. Durham). This pic came from a walk we did on Saturday. It was bright blue sky and crisp January cold. A good time was had by all; even bump. 

Stuart and the Chocolate Fountain

Pauline's parents came over for Christmas this year. Pictured above at Seaton Sluice beach. P with her special pregnacy coat. Bump totally invisible. No free seats on the Metro for her!


The chocolate fountain made another appearance on Christmas Eve. I always enjoy the task of cleaning it up afterwards. There does tend to be more chocolate on my face afterwards than was in the fountain when we were using it. 

Pauline graduates

Pauline graduated from her MA today. It took Stuart nearly an hour to get parked in town - an hour! I ask you - parking in the the city centre? Get the Metro I say.


The ceremony was pretty good as graduations go. A couple of talks from the Uni big wigs, then an honorary degree to Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais. They wrote comedies such as Porridge, Likely Lads and Auf Wiedersehen, Pet.


Then the graduation of the students themselves. Here's Pauline receiving her degree. A superb achievement!

Latest scan pic

The latest pic from inside Pauline's womb. Complete with handy pointers so that you know what you're looking at. We've got one more scan due before the birth!