A Workout in the Gym...then Down the Pub..

Morning all!!

Bank Holiday Monday!  Normally that means a long lie in with a bit of a hangover and here I am at 8.00am having been up since 6.00am with my girls reading The Tiger Who Came to Tea.  Life is a little different - but a whole lot better - since Alice has been around.  I'm finding that I am really enjoying the little differences that having a baby in your life makes to the day-to-day things.  I've tried to make a mental note to keep a record of these differences as I come across them and take a picture if I have my camera to hand (which inevitably I do at the moment).  Ceri got me thinking about this subject when she noticed just how odd it is to see different, and substantially smaller, clothes on the washing line.  Never before have we stared at a washing line and uttered the words "awwww, cute!".  I, in the meantime, noted that you no longer just have a bowl of sugar and a spoon on the table when you go out for a coffee.  Tiny hats and squares of cloth for mopping up sick and poo are now vital condimets on the Costa table.  Regular visitors to the Shepherd household will also be pleased to hear that Alice has managed to have Tragic FM 105.4 de-listed as the radio station of choice.  If hardcore Disney tunes are your thang, then our house is the place to be....

Tiny clothes on the line and tiny hats and musin squares by your coffee.  The baby has landed!

So, what has been happening since we last spoke?  Well, I think the first thing to note is that my daughter is now officially confirmed as an Adams in the eating stakes.  She has barely been on this earth a week, and I am already thinking that we will need a bigger fridge.  Little Alice seems to treat Ceri as one of those "as-much-as-you-can-eat" Sunday buffets that you find in the curry houses on Lordship Lane - and keeps on coming back for seconds, thirds, fourths....whatever she can get.  My dad said that Ceri would need to grow an extra boob soon to keep up with demand (and mum then noted that we would need five currant buns in the next Carry-On style photo)!!!  Alice reminds me a bit of the fat kid Chunk in The Goonies, who always used to have a chocolate bar hidden somwhere around his sizeable person in case of emergencies; and were I to search Alice's babygrow I am convinced that I would find a secret stash of Milky Bars and Jelly Tots.  I laughed this morning when Ceri I discussed how much Alice had been eating and Ceri said that she thought that "all the food seemed to be going to Alice's thighs!!"  Girls hey!, Anyway, here is our little Chunky Monkey doing what she does best:

Feed me!

For me, Friday was a morning spent (again!!) with instruction booklets for baby equipment.  Over the last few days, I have waded my way through the following classics of contemporary literature:  Using your Tommee Tippee Steriliser Unit, Enjoying your New Breast Pump, Welcome to the World of the Bugaboo Bee and Baby Einstein Underwater Gym - a User's Guide.  Is it any wonder I have been stuck on page 164 of The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest with riveting reads like these on offer?  My personal favourite was Welcome to the World of the Bugaboo Bee.....and my reason for enjoying it was that it is quite simply the hardest puzzle I have had to try and solve since the Rubik's cube when I was a kid.  Think Killer SuDoku on steroids.  This is a booklet for assembling a pram that forces you to find your way to the correct sections written in English (circumventing Czech, Mongolian, Peruvian and Martian language versions along the way) only to find that the only words written in English are "welcome to the world of Bugaboo Bee".   You are then faced by a sequence of diagrams that bear no relation whatsoever to the pram we own.  Just for the hell of it I followed the Japanese instructions and the pram seems to work fine.  Come back Ikea flat packs, all is forgiven!  I honestly think it would have been easier to build a kit car!

Pram assembled, Ceri and I got Alice dressed and were ready for one of the things we had been most looking forward to - a Shepherd family trip to Dulwich Park and neighbouring (swanky) Dulwich Village.  Here's a little record of our outing:

Alice chilling in her pram

First steps, well wheels, in the park

My girls taking a stroll by the pond

In truth, there's not much to report on the first trip to the park.  Alice slept through the ducks, dozed through the squirrels, napped past the ice cream van and nodded off at the pond.  Strangely, she even managed to show no interest whatsoever during her first visit to a posh clothes shop in Dulwich Village.  For the sake of daddy's wallet, I hope that this a trend that continues well into her teens and beyond...

Alice sleeps but mummy is buzzing on a "Frock High"!!

On the way back from the park, an on doctor's orders as Ceri is short of iron at the moment, we stopped off at our local pub, The Plough for a medicinal pint of Guinness.  While standing at the bar I decided that it would be unfair on little Alice if she had to sit there empty handed while mummy and daddy gulped down a refreshing pint of the black stuff.  What to do???.....a mini Guinness of course.....

On her first trip outside, our litte girl drinks her first "pint".  What a proud moment (and probably a red rag to the social services!!)

And what better way to work off the calories that lurk in a pint of Guinness than a trip to the gym?  Baby gym of course courtesy of the good ladies and gents of Westbourne Primary School.  Thanks all!!  I think I would be much more inclined to go to the gym if it had a whale the size of my body installed floating above my head and tropical fish themed exercise equipment rather than the usual rowing and step machines...

Alice working out in her local branch of Fitness First

The weekend saw the grandparents heading back to East Dulwich armed with mountains of gifts and clothes for little Alice.  Seriously, Baby Jesus must be looking down on Upland Road thinking that the Three Kings were a right bunch of tight-arses!  Grandma and Grandpa Shepherd came with some lovely clothes and a copy of When We Were Very Young so that we could all sing "they're changing guard at Buckingham Palace, Christopher Robin went down with Alice!".  Nannny and Grandcha Adams came with more lovely clothes that Nanny had made herself!  So cute!  Grandcha Dave commented that Ty Croeso had become a "Baby-Clothes Sweat Shop"!  Here are some of the best shots of the proud grandparents:

Grandma and Grandpa

Grandcha, Nanny and a product of the Ty Croeso Sweat Shop (centre)

Oh, before I forget, you may see some variations on the word Grandcha on this blog.  Dave chose the name as a traditional Welsh name for Grandad, but when Helen visited us in hospital she mis-heard it and thought that Dave was called "Gruncher" Adams.  Sounds good to me.  Gruncher it is!

Well, dear reader, you are almost at the end of this installment and will soon be rewarded with your five plus one which, by now, is likely to be the only reason you are here.  Before you go, I do have to make an official note that Alice has spent the last two days out of three in the pub.  What a girl!  Our theory is that this is the only way she will survive in the Shepherd/Adams household - so we might as well get her in training early!  I'm slightly disappointed that she has not got a round in yet - but these things come with time I guess!

Anyway, yesterday it was down to The Plough again with Grandma, Grandpa, Nanny, Gruncher, Uncle Gar, Aunty La and Mari and Pete all the way from Ossie!!  Here are the snaps....

Family Lunch for 10.....plus 1 !!!

yet more lovely pressies (thanks all!!!)

Uncle Gareth gets broody as he prepares to move to East Dulwich

Making friends with Gavin, the pub landlord - a Saturday job has been promised!!



I'm sure that I am outstaying my welcome on this post now, so am going to sign off with my five plus one.   Thanks for reading and I hope to see you again soon......

My gorgeous family

Still loving Sophie the Giraffe!

But, as a Shepherd, also loves her Sheep Book

A hug for daddy

And one for mummy.....

Our little Alice - just over one week old...

Finally, I can't sign off without saying Happy First Anniversary to my gorgeous wife, Ceri.  We've only known each other for two years, but they have without doubt been the best of my life.  I've loved every minute, and with little Alice here the next year looks like it's going to be just as much fun.  I love you Cer!!!

Matt xxx

Cheers!  Mr & Mrs S one year on!

Homeward Bound

I am writing this from bed.  It's 8.30am on Friday morning and I have my girls next to me.  One is drinking a cup of tea and reading a book....the other is gurgling and farting.  Can you guess which is which?  Well, actually, it may not be such a silly question as Alice seems such a bright observant little girl that I am half expecting her to wake us up in the night, not for a feed or a nappy change, but to ask our opinions on whether, morally, Britain has a mandate to send Apache helicopters to Libya seeking regime change under the guise of humanitarianism.  Maybe I'm just a proud dad but she does seem a clever girl.  Ceri is certainly a proud mum and turned to me not ten minutes ago showing me a picture of a baby in a book and saying:

"Don't you think Alice could be a baby model, Matt?  She's as cute if not cuter than the ones in the book!" And so it starts!  Yup - safe to say we are proud as punch of our little girl!  Here's why:

Alice sunbathing yesterday afternoon (look no sunbeds!)

So, dear reader, what's been happening since we last spoke?  Lots in the outside world, I am sure, but all that you are going to get for the next few minutes is baby chat.....so if that isn't your thing, or if you prefer your blogs with slightly less schmultz and more guns or sport, then look away now.

Still there?  Good.  We like you.  Here's what's been going on.  Last time we spoke Ceri and Alice were still in hospital.  King's is a lovely place but there is only so long you can sit in a ward listening to the mother opposite describing her birth on the phone to every person she has ever met ("yeah, like my cervix fing was, y'know, dilated and that bah the time I got me to da hospitaaall.  You get me? and then before I knew it, I was pushin', pushin' pushin and a little baby popped out of my........" well, you get the idea!!  I think the only thing that was keeping Ceri sane was the steady stream of welcome visitors who popped in to say "Hi"....roll the credits for Helen and Rob.....

Rob and Helen stake their claims for godparent status....

By this stage, I think it's fair to say that Ceri, Alice and I were keen to get home.  Results from the blood tests showed that Alice didn't have an infection after all, and she was feeding well...so it was surely only a matter of time before we got out.  While we are on the subject of feeding, I have to say that I am amazed by just how much our little daughter is eating.  Actually, given that Ceri and I both have enormous appetites and that one person in the family (who's anonimity has been protected by court injunction) used to eat their breakfast cereal out of a full washing-up bowl, it is hardly a surprise that Alice likes her tucker.  I spoke a little earlier in this blog about Alice staying in the womb for a little while longer than planned because the menu there was better than on the outside.  Well, turns out she really likes milk.  I have, hoewever, through the miracles of modern technology, managed to capture an image of what Alice sees just before she goes to the breast.  No wonder she looks forward to dinner:

Lame "babycam" breast gag - cue Sid James laugh and Benny Hill music.....

Well, the good news is that on the afternoon of Wednesday 25th May at around 4pm, Alice was told that she was allowed to go home.  At last.  I whizzed home on the bus to pick up the baby car seat and Ceri got Alice dressed in the "Going Home" outfit that we picked out a few months earlier.  Picking a going home outfit is rather like choosing the clothes for your child for the first day of school.  You want them to look smart, but equally you want something that they can grow in to.  Did we get the balance right - you, dear readers, can be the judge of that:

Alice wearing clothes stolen from a ten-year old girl (Sorry, meant to say "Alice's beautiful Going Home outfit")

Of all of the experiences we have had with Alice so far, taking her home was definitely one of the most special.  Having strangers stare into her little carry cot as we carried her through the ward and comment on how lovely she is makes you puff up with pride.  Here's a little photo-record of Alice's journey home as a reward for reading this far....

Home ready and waiting for our little girl

Home ready and waiting for mummy - complete with "keep off" sign on camembert as a reminder to me!

Alice in her car seat (I don't know how to rotate pics on here but she was the right way up I promise!)

Homeward Bound

Chillin' during taxi journey home

Thank God it wasn't bin night!



The official Shepherd homecoming photo (as taken by photographer Phil from over the road)

It's a Girl!!

Ray of sunshine (uh, schmultzy or what!) Alice's first nap at her new home!

I'm pleased to say that, after a fairly sleepless first night, we are all settling in really well together at home.  It really is the most lovely feeling to be have my girls here with me and astonishing to think that we actually have Alice for keeps.  She is such a lovely, happy little girl.  Yesterday felt like our first "proper" day as a family, with Ceri and I singing, reading, feeding and playing with Alice.  It's just lovely.  So tempted to bore you until your eyes dry up and whither to small wrinkled pea-shooter-like peas with a list of "Alice's firsts"...but think it worth noting her first book and first toy.  So, for the record, her first book was the Peter Rabbit finger pupper book that Nanny bought her, and the first toy she played with was the giraffe that Aunty Lara bought (although was freaked out by the squeaking - Alice is smart enough to know that giraffes don't squeak, they, urr.......hum....neigh??).  In case you doubt me, here's the proof...

Alice's first book

  But, giraffes don't squeak, do they??

Ok, this is going on waaaaaay too long now.  Ceri has been reading the Gina Ford Contented Little Baby Book recently and it is very big on routines.  Somewhat addictive routines....I feel a little guilty if I haven't eaten by 8am and gone for a poo within half an hour now.  So dear readers, in an attempt to establish some sort of routine with you, I am going to finish off with my five plus one favourite photos and, if you are very good boys and girls and eat up all of your greens, I may, just may mind you, permit an encoure photo.  Agreed?

Happy to hear it's home time!



Pretty in Pink

You talkin' to me??

Chill-axing!

My beautiful girls

Dozing with daddy

Well, that's it for another day all.  Will try and post in another few days with an update.  Before I go, I am also pleased to let you know that Ceri has ankles again.  The tree-trunk-leg look is out for summer 2011 and the biggest cheer of the day from Ceri yesterday was when her feet fitted into some gold sandles she bought from H&M.  I had better ditch those Crocs I bought her for our first anniversary then!! Thanks for reading...her is your encoure picture.....

wake me up when Daddy has shut up on his blog!

Speak to you all soon.  Matt xx