Grandad, we love you!

During our trip to Devon last week, we were able to go and visit my grandad. I hadn't seen him since my sister's wedding in August, so it was lovely to be able to spend some time with him again. I was thrilled to find that he appeared in better health and spirits than I've seen him in for quite some time. We spent a few hours at his house and the Podlings were wonderfully behaved throughout. Grandad is incredibly fond of children and really loves it when they aren't shy of him. Lily is not remotely shy of anyone, so always charms my grandad by climbing in his lap, giving him kisses and generally being adorable. I think her great-grandad is quite smitten!

Sugar baby

We had to pick up some shopping late last Friday afternoon and the Podlings were tired, hungry and hyperactive. In short, they were behaving rather badly and running around in a rather unruly fashion. Rather than try and get the shopping and two naughty children through a busy car park, Mark left the Podlings and me in the store and dropped the shopping off in the car. Whilst he was doing that, I let the children play in those little trolley lockers you get outside the cafe to put your shopping in while you have a cup of tea. The Podlings love to close the doors and pretend that they are houses and since there was nobody around they could annoy, I let them play their game. As it turned out, this was not one of my brightest ideas. Unbeknownst to me, the previous occupant of the locker (a trolley full of shopping no doubt) had leaked a 2lb bag of sugar all over the floor. When Mark got back from the car, we pulled open the locker door to find Lily eating fistfuls of sugar off the floor. As if this wasn't bad enough, when she realised the jig was up she actually got down on her hands and knees, put her face in the pile of sugar and scooped up one last mouthful as she was bodily dragged from her hiding place.

Shortly after getting back to my mum's house, Lily went on a sugar-fuelled rampage, much to the dismay of the dogs who caught most it! She was, not to put too fine a point of it, as high as a kite! Of course, immediately following her sugar rush came the inevitable crash. She asked to go to bed, looking very much like she thought the fun had gone out of all this! I had to admit I was a bit worried that she'd had so much sugar, but as she was sleeping in our room at mum's I was able to keep an eye on her. Thankfully, she awoke none the worse for wear the following morning and I tried to keep her away from anything with sugar in it for a few days!

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I can't help wondering how Lily will feel when she grows up and hears the story of the time she ate sugar from a supermarket floor!

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Just because

There are precious few pictures of me with the Podlings as I'm usually the one with the camera. My mum managed to catch this picture of the three of us when we were visiting my grandad last week. The children are distracted by snacks and cartoons, but I'll take what I can get!

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Letting the cat out of the bag

One should always remember the inability of the under-fives to keep a secret. It is my mum's birthday today and last night I overheard the following exchange between her and Tom at bedtime:

Tom: Can I come to your birthday party?
Mum: We'll have to go and get a cake.
Tom: But we've got you one.

Hmmm, I'm sure I mentioned the cake was a secret. Lesson learned!

Puppy love

Mum and Dad are looking after my sister's two dogs until Elaine and her husband can get their own place. Lily is completely in love with Glyn, the younger of the two dogs. He has just turned two years old and is fantastic with the children. He patiently receives Lily's attentions and actually seems to quite like her, despite her exuberance every time he is around. I can't believe how good natured he is, especially considering he hadn't had anything to do with children until he met my two. He's a great dog.

Mercy cut

I finally took pity on Lily and had her locks chopped off. I really wanted her to have long hair so I could put it in pigtails, but she HATES having her hair brushed and it had got to a length where it tangled really easily. Hair brushing had become a daily battle involving many tears on her part and frustration on mine, so I thought a smart little shoulder length bob was the way forward. We are visiting my parents in Devon this week, so I roped my mum into cutting Lily's hair. Mum had cut my sister's and my hair for many years, so I thought it best to leave the first cut to more experienced hands than mine!

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My mum did a wonderful job of cutting Lily's hair as she moved around the living room, moving her head around and generally making the whole process rather difficult. She eventually settled down on my dad's lap and ate a chocolate biscuit while my mum finished the job. Lily's hair looks much better now and is so much easier to maintain. I was able to brush her hair several times today without her dissolving into tears. I think we are all happy with the result.

Debut

Podling number 3 makes his/her debut on the blog (head on the left)

It's official, there's only one baby in there!

I had my dating scan today, so Mark and I got to see the baby for the first time. Being a dating scan, it was all over quickly, but it was enough to see that there was a beating heart and the required number of arms and legs! We even got to see the little feet kicking. I didn't get scanned until 20 weeks with Tom and Lily, so I really enjoyed being able to see this little one so early (I'm 15 weeks today). I can feel the baby moving around, but somehow it seems to make it so much more real when you actually see that baby on the screen.

We showed the Podlings the picture when we got home and told them it was a picture of the baby in Mummy's tummy. Tom gave it a brief glance and promptly lost interest, probably wondering why everyone was calling that grey blob a baby! Lily, on the other hand, was completely obsessed with the photo and was asking to see the "Baby Tummy Picsher" almost constantly until lunchtime. Lily is much more interested in the baby than Tom. When we told them that Mummy has a baby in her tummy, Tom laughed and gave us a look as if to say "Go on, pull the other one!" Lily is really taken with the idea and, after seeing the scan picture today, told me "I wish I had a baby in my tummy."

The scan put my official due date back a day to the 10th of July, which won't make a blind bit of difference to the actual birth day! My babies don't pay any attention to their due dates, so I just use it as a rough guide. My next and final scan (the foetal anomaly scan) will be in about six weeks and will give us a better indication as to the health of the baby. For now, everything looks great.

Funny face

"Mummy, I pull a funny face, you take a picsher wiv you camra"

First midwife appointment

I finally had my booking in appointment with my midwife today. She and a student midwife came to the house this morning for a long question and answer session involving lots of paperwork! They are both lovely women and I am happy to be in their care for this pregnancy. They certainly made a better impression than my last midwife. Upon meeting me for the first time she looked at Tom (then about 11 months old), looked back at me and said 'Someone forgot to take her contraception.' I was too dumbfounded to say anything other than 'It was planned actually!' I wish I'd had a more cutting response ready! My first session with my new midwife was much friendlier!

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I felt the baby move for the first time at 12.5 weeks and I've been feeling him/her move every day for over a week now. I mentioned this to the midwife as I know this is early to feel movement and, coupled with the size of my bump and people teasing me about twins, I was getting worried! She said I feel about right for my dates, so it looks like I won't have to try and cope with four children under five!

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My official due date, if anyone is interested, is July 9th. I'm not paying too much attention to it on the grounds that Tom arrived six weeks early and Lily had to be induced when she was two weeks overdue. The baby will arrive when it's ready! In the meantime, I have my first scan to look forward to next Thursday and I can't wait.

Happy New Year!