Baby

Just for fun, Lucy sometimes pretends to be a baby and asks Daddy to feed her like when she was a little fella.

Nothing much changes in Lucy's world. Click here for proof.

Research

Lucy decides she should read Mummies "Baby Whisperer" book so she knows what is expected of her.

Lucy's Big Flippers

Yeah! Mummy has got Lucy some new socks. She decided to get socks for 6 to 12 month olds because Lucy has quite big feet.

But not that big! I think she will have to grow into these fellas!

New to Kew

Gah! It had to finish. Paternity leave has now ended. So Daddy has had to go back to work to pay for nappies and cotton wool. Luckily Nana was on hand to help Ali get used to spending days on her own with the Sprock.

After much training from Mr Ports, Ali shows that she is now an expert at collapsing the pram and putting it into and getting it out of her funny little red car.

Lucy makes the first of what will probably be many trips to Kew Gardens.

I'm not sure that Lucy will remember her first trip to the Gardens - but we certainly have proof that she was there before she was a month old.

Burp!

After every good feed - Lucy needs to be winded. Not very elegant for a young lady but very necessary. It is always pretty obvious when she has finished burping - because she starts looking blissfully contented.

Lucy meets rock legends "Sideburner"

I play guitar and sing a bit in an awesome but rarely seen rock band called Sideburner. We mainly play in South West London, specifically the Halfmoon in Putney, and have been described as possessing "Ragged Magnificence". It was obviously about time that Lucy met the band. First up is lead singer and guitarist Al.

Next is our mercurial lead guitarist Lightning Tom

The latest member to join the band is our bass player Lynne

Neil takes care of all the tub thumping duties as our animal like drummer

And of course covering off those all important rhythm guitar duties, Daddy.

Art

For some reason black and white pictures can sometimes appear a bit more classy and arty than the garish colour equivalents. So I was grateful last night when Uncle Lightning Tom fished out his Canon Eos and shot of almost a full film (yes really - some folks still use real film. He's got a record player as well). Little Lucy looking coy.

Here is the Sprock gazing in awe at her fantastic father.

And here is Aunty Lynne looking lovely.

Garish colour photo's will resume in the next entry :-)

Paul and Lisa pop by

Paul is our mate from the local pub quiz. Sadly I don't think I will be able to attend as much as I used to now the little Sprocket is here so it is nice of him to pop round and introduce himself.

In a similar vein, Lisa is Ali's running mate. They have been running half marathons and such together. It goes without saying that during Ali's pregnancy she had to stop all of that running nonsense but I bet it won't be long before they are running together again. Although now Ali will probably have a pram in front of her (and I'm not joking - just wander around Richmond Park on a nice day and you will see Mums with prams running round. I haven't seen a Dad do it yet though!).

Just some cute pictures

It appears that those Tommy Cooper impressions aren't as easy as they look. "Just like that" indeed.

Dad - there's someone sneaking up behind you!

It's OK, only Mum with the camera. I'll flash my big blue eyes.

Dad's thumb appears to be nearly as big as Lucy's body!

Mellon and Holly stop by

Our mates Mellon (Marcus and Ellen) have been incredibly helpful to us as we prepared for Lucy because they had their own little sprout, Holly, just 7 months ago. They have been trail blazers finding out what are the best prams and car seats and all that sort of stuff saving us massive amounts of time. So it was brilliant for them to meet Lucy for the first time. Here is Ellen having her first cuddle while Herbert's bear looks on.

Lucy doesn't have exclusive rights on being a cute baby. Holly is very cute as well.

Marcus has a go with Lucy.

Ever wondered how much a baby grows in six months? Lucy and Holly were almost identical weight at birth - but Hols looks enormous compared to Lucy. Apparently it is mainly down to Weetabix.

We all know what small hands mean? Small gloves. Lucy compares the size of her hands to Mummy's great big hooves.

Matt rocks up

Ali just can't get bored of looking at the little Sprocket.

Lucy meets her Uncle Matt for the first time. Ali supervises because Matt is so clumsey.

Since Matt didn't drop her we give him a chance to hold Lucy on his own.

Aunty Pink cannot bear to be away from Lucy.

She poaches her from Matt.

Lucy is getting a bit tired

So into the Sprock Rocker she goes.

Lucy meets Grandad Holmes

We took Lucy down to Barnes Pond to see the ducks. Here are Ali and Lucy.

Here she meets Grandad Holmes for the first time.

Ali and Grandad by the Pond

Lucy's first teddy is called Herbert's Bear. Ali bought it just after Lucy's second scan and it has been a hard job persuading her to keep it for Sprock rather than keeping him for herself.

Clearly it was worth the fight. Lucy loves Herbert's Bear big time.

Our friends Bren and Dawn popped over to see the Sprocket last night. Dawn wanted to take Lucy with her :-)

Richmond Park

So my Mum and Dad's holiday is almost over. Having spent the last few days visiting my sister and I and meeting baby Lucy for the first time, they are going back to Yorkshire tomorrow. So today we decided to go to Richmond Park. We start off in Pembroke Lodge for lunch. Many years ago this was a hunting lodge for Henry VIII. It has changed a bit since then but still has an awesome view.

We then strolled down to the Isabella Plantation. Here is Grandma pushing Lucy around.

Ali helps Grandma out.

Grandma, Grandad, Pink and Ali show Lucy a nice weeping willow.

After a day in Richmond Park, a well deserved Pint in the White Hart pub in Barnes. Stew and Pink look on, but Lucy decides to have a little lie down instead.

Easter Sunday

Barney the cat still hasn't realised what is his and what is for the new baby!

Aunty Pink holds Lucy in our back garden

Grandma holds Lucy in the back garden

I cooked up a rather fine roast dinner for Easter. Roast Chicken, Roast Potatoes, Roast Parsnips, Chippolatas, Stuffing, Carrot Potato and Parsnip Mash with bread sauce and mushroom and onion gravy. Also my home made Yorkshire puds. I know you aren't meant to have Yorkies with chicken but I don't live by your rules :-) Smashing.

Ali almost finishes her roast before Lucy pops up for a cuddle.

Ports has a go at looking after the Sprocket

Can you spot any similarities between Ports and his Dad?

"Hmmm. Let me think now..."

Little Sprock all snuggled up. Ahhh :-)