Do you want to take my photo?

We spent the Bank Holiday back in our old village with friends having a bbq. It was a bit of a baby-fest, all very cute and cuddly. Rosie wanted a cuddle with Al at the end of the afternoon - she was great, singing to him and rocking him despite the fact that he's quite a lump now! She also wanted to make sure the moment was recorded for posterity.

1st Weekend at Nanny's

We had a nightmare journey to Nanny's on Friday night. Ugh, we optimistically thought we could handle the M25 on a Friday afternoon ... but we were once again reminded of precisely why they call it the biggest car park in Britain. I left the house with Al before 1pm to pick Clive up and by half past 1 we were on the motorway. However, the accidents on the motorways and general traffic overload meant that by half past 9 we were still travelling. In the end we gave up and checked into Al's first hotel. We were really impressed with the hotel - just a cheap motorway one but they bent over backwards to help us after our stressy journey so now we're big fans of the Welcome Break / Days Inn chain. Here's a commemorative photo of his 1st hotel stay ... the lad looking happy despite the gloomy headline on the Independent.

Another recommendation - if you're ever in Windsor looking for a restaurant give the Jade Palace a go. We took a break there to escape the awful traffic on our way and they welcomed us with our tired baby and couldn't do enough to help us. Al was definitely the star of the restaurant. And on top of that, it was a bargain for very nice food!

Anyway the rest of the weekend was lovely. Al got introduced to lots of people who all cuddled him. Here's some photos of them but first one of Nanny getting her cuddles in! He really stared at her hair rollers in the morning so she will no doubt be known as Nanny Rollers as he gets older.

Al's Auntie Nikki and his cousins Amy and Charlotte came to meet him on Saturday - more cuddles all round!

1st Weekend at Grandma and Grandpa's

Looong journey up north but Al was a little star in the back of the car. I can't wait til he is big enough to go in a forward facing seat and we can all see each other. We filled the weekend with showing the lad off ... As usual Al giggled lots at his Grandpa but Uncle David got the prize for getting him off to sleep in a crowded room and cuddling him while the rest of us had lunch.

A night out!

Well, a couple of hours one evening anyway. We left Al for the first time with friends while we went up the road to the local Tandoori. We took a photo of his first babysitters but it was all blurred - hope to replace it with a nicer, less blurred photo of the two ladies in question when we get chance. Thanks loads Claire and Chloe!

New baby Katie

We went to visit Katie, Helen and Richard's new baby. She weighed 3 oz more than Al at birth ... can't believe he was ever that tiny. She's beautiful and so soft when you pick her up. She made our Al look like a big chunk of a lad!

Fancy a dip? No thanks!

Al's little friend Faith and her family came over for a BBQ so we got our new paddling pool out. Faith and her big sisters loved the water so I stripped Al off to dip him in ... the second his little toes hit the water he yanked his feet up and made it perfectly plain he didn't want to take the water. Maybe when he's bigger ... or when the water is warmer!

Jo and co

Jo and co from Brussels came to see us today. We had a good old catch up and a walk down to the country park before Clive came home. Sadly no photos of the fruits of the great blackberry harvest, nor of the state Max got into after swinging his nappy sack of blackberries so hard they turned into jam and leaked over his clothes! Anyway Max and Chloe had a good time on the swings and then we got a lovely family portrait.

Here's Jo and Chloe saying goodbye to Clive and Wee Willie Winkie, and then the lad sitting peacefully once they all left.