Injections, scream, cry, scream, calpol, cuddle, walk, sleep

So today Della had her second set of injections. The actual administration went better than last time which is a relief. However she has been a bit grizzly since. She is currently having a sleep - but as you can see it's not her most relaxed nap and she is taking it under protest:

To celebrate the amazing fact that Della is now three months old here are some bonus snaps of her:

Is pink and blue the correct colour for looting?

Snuggling in her 'Della' blanket - thank uncle Ben and Aunty Emily

I think a Della just landed on me

Dad likes shadows

Saying 'Hi' to her 50% American cousin

I have just realised that although Della does smile and giggle a lot now I am normally so caught up in the moment - it's an amazing feeling to make a little person laugh - that I don't have many photos of her smiling. I am going to make it my mission this week to rectify this. Smily photos to follow!!

Happy 3 month-day Della!

Della is 3 months old today - can't quite believe it! To celebrate, here is a video of her taking a well deserved mid-day nap last week...

And also some pics from the studio of Gran Helen, taken this weekend



It's an exciting day today as well because Angela is getting an afternoon off - Simon is at home looking after Della giving her her midday bottle, meaning Angela gets a whole 6 hours off!! It's going well so far - I've been doing what Angela normally does (update Blog, sort Fantasy Football team out, bring the washing in out of the rain...) After lunch, we'll be off to the shops to pick up ingredients ready to make a Lemon Drizzle cake for Angela's Under 1's Group friends who are coming over tomorrow. If the afternoon goes as well as the morning has anyway...

Richmond and Rain

Gran Helen has been visiting Della for the past few days. Friday was a total washout with the weather and the day was spent huddled up in the house playing with Della. She loved it.

It was time to get out of the house on saturday though. We thought it would be a nice idea to meet up with my parents so bundled into the car and headed for Richmond, a lovely Georgian market town about an hour from York. The sun was shining there and we all had a lovely stroll around the square before heading back for a picnic including pies that Gran Anne had baked:

It was then time for Della's first bottle outside of the house. She has only been taking the bottle from her Mam for about five days so this was quite a big deal and we were all praying she didn't scream. She was in fact happy and hungry so everything was great. However, what we didn't pray for was the dark clouds that started rolling in to suddenly open and for the pies to get soaked. As Della was happily taking her bottle I didn't want to move - we have witnessed Della if her feed is broken and it isn't pretty. So here I am, under a summer parasol feeding our little lady in Simon's rain coat - you can just say see her little feet poking out!

After the excitement of the rainy feed it was time to retire indoors (to a converted old railway station which is now a cafe, cinema, gallery and swimming pool?!) for a nice coffee and sit down. These are some of Della's highlights:

Taking in the art

Insisting a cuddle is the only way forward

Hmm... no coffee for me thanks - think I might take a nap

What a big girl

So Della has now moved into her big bedroom and into her big bed. She doesn't miss us - we thought she would but she much prefers being able to kick about and stretch without being able to touch the side of her crib.

Here she is on her first night. Fast asleep in her grobag.

NEKC Show - otherwise known as Koi-Fest

As promised here is Della at the koi show.

Every year people who have huge (and very beautiful) japanese koi get together in Newcastle and compete to win the coveted  accolade of Grand Champion. My dad has koi but instead of showing his fish he sells his wares at the craft show which also takes place on the same day.

Here is my Mam and Dad with Della and some of his amazing turned bowls and the such:

My dad is also so skilled that he makes rocking horses too. The carousel horse is mine, the rocker is my brothers and guess who the tiny little horse is for...

  

Della relaxing in the living room

Busy times

As well as visiting her Dad at work Della has been up to lots and lots over the past weeks. Here are some of the highlights:

I went to get my hair cut and returned to find simon and Della dancing round the kitchen:

Stevie Wonder rocked our kitchen

We decided to get our social life back and invited a few people round for  barbecue given all the lovely sunshine we had been having. As you would expect the rain came a pouring and we were forced to use Della's shade umbrella to protect the hallumi and steak!

Then her new friend Seth visited, however, she wasn't best pleased that he wanted to play on her jungle gym. After sharing it with him and continuing to bop him on the head she decided she wanted to lie on her blanket instead. Her first lesson in sharing did not go well.

Then Anna visited. It was poop day (Della has decided she doesn't like to poop everyday so when she does it is like a military operation to clear it up!). Here she looks a little cuter having a cuddle with Chalkley:

Then it was Koi-Fest. More Photos to follow from Della's exciting day with giant fish. Did she manage to ride one...

Della on the decks

Last week Della visited her Dad in his new office. She loved the big open space and the beautiful original floorboards. Dan was very excited about showing Della how to spin some tracks. Della mainly enjoyed grabbing and pushing the sliding buttons (I'm sure these have a proper name but I'm not cool enough to know!)...

She also liked to watch the turntable spin...

NB: I have just realised that this is the 2000th photo I have taken of Della. I'm sure her Dad has taken just as many too. It would be boring looking back at them all if you were not me or Simon. 

These are my toes

Now Della is nine weeks old she seems to have developed a lot of new traits. Instead of crying herself awake she now wakes slowly and smiles when you greet her over the crib. This is just the cutest thing in the world and is a stark reminder that you are a parent, charged with the responsibility of taking care of a little new life. You can tell she really likes her Mam and Dad now - which is a relief to be honest!

She has also discovered her fingers and toes. She mainly likes to try and ram her whole hand in her mouth. This results in an incredible amount of dribble on her hands, down her clothes, in her hair (when she is sleeping) and down mine and Simon's back/ arm/ face and so on.

She can now also grab her toes and, with a slightly bewildered look on her, figure out that they might just be attached to her body.

She also likes to grab her clothes, my hair and most importantly her muslins. I think her muslin is already her best friend - probably because she can smell her own sick on them sometimes!

This is Della walking in the park in Hyde Park with Uncle Nick and Dad

Della making faces

Della trying out some of her faces. This was just before feeding time, so one of these means 'Feed me!'




Watch out for the surprise ending...

eight week check

So Della is two months old now. How time flies. She started the week with a visit from Gran Anne while her Dad worked late and visited uncle Nick in Leeds. She had a lovely time with lots of smiles.

One good thing about being two month old is that she has created her own little night time routine now. It goes food, play, nap, cry, cuddle, nap, bottle, sleep. The last sleep lasts anywhere between 4 and 7 hours. This is brilliant as everyone is getting a bit more sleep now - even if it does mean Della sleeps less in the day.

Last night was the exception to this. At least there was a reason though - she had her 8 week check at the doctor which included a check of her heart beat, tummy, hips, eyes and mouth. After this though she had to have her injections. We have never heard her scream so much, we now know that she feels pain!

Two injections certainly left her feeling very grumpy!

Injection in leg one = little scream

Injection in leg two = massive, never heard before scream

A very grumpy Della having some fresh air and cuddle from her Dad

All of this resulted in the routine going out of the window and a very grizzly little Della. As I write this though she has just napped off in her buggy so fingers crossed she will pick herself up as we are heading over to Leeds to see Uncle Nick today. Hopefully we will have some sunshine and we can go out for a picnic.