You may recall a BBC TV show called Making Slough Happy where a group of experts (and one really annoying bloke) tried to raise the level of happiness among a group of people in Slough.

 

One of the experts had a ten-point plan - the ten steps to happiness, which I reproduce below:

1. Plant something and nurture it
2. Count your blessings - at least five - at the end of each day
3. Take time to talk - have an hour-long conversation with a loved one each week
4. Phone a friend whom you have not spoken to for a while and arrange to meet up
5. Give yourself a treat every day and take the time to really enjoy it
6. Have a good laugh at least once a day
7. Get physical - exercise for half an hour three times a week
8. Smile at and/or say hello to a stranger at least once each day
9. Cut your TV viewing by half
10. Spread some kindness - do a good turn for someone every day

 

Since Katie came along I can confirm we have cut our TV viewing drastically - we have plenty of shows recorded, primarily CSI and University Challenge - but haven't had a chance to watch them.

 

However, for the same reason my efforts at regular exercise have tailed off recently. Must do better or I won't be happy...

 

A tough night. Not much sleep.

 

She's got her 'little rabbit' vest and pink top with a watering can and flowers motif on today as granny and grandad are visiting this afternoon and they bought it for her.

 

I suspect that as usual she'll be as good as gold while we have visitors, only to kick off big time as soon as they leave!

 

We may have to repeat our supermarket sweep antics this moning to give mum a break...

Katie went to see the doctor for her six-week check-up.

 

The doctor said she is a baby who doesn't like doing nothing which is why she's always looking around but frustrated that she can't really do anything. Still, it's nice to know she has such an active mind. Her mum doesn't like not doing anything either.

 

All the checks were satisfactory apart from the fact that the doctor could not make her smile. She's a very serious baby. Anyone we know she might take after in that department* ?

 

 

* (eg dad)

Urs and Katie got to sleep before I did last night.

 

I was fretting about not having done an org chart that shows what my team at work will look like as of July (yes, I know). As a result I didn't get to sleep til some time after 1:30am whereas the other two were snoozing away.

 

The last few nights they had been downstairs all night but Katie went to sleep (eventually) and so her mum brought her back upstairs and they both stayed, which was nice.

 

Did the org chart when I got to work this morning.

 

Felt better (yes, I know).

Despite living closest to the venue (well, apart from the couple hosting it) we were by far the last to arrive.

 

I walked into the kitchen to find lots of happy new parents. All the dads were holding the babies.

 

Had more beer than I should have done before cracking on with the red wine I had bought a few days earlier, which turned out to be rather nice. I was far less convinced by the 'Gourmet' Pringles we had brought along as our nibbles offering. Smaller packet and very disappointing flavours.

 

It was nice to catch up with the others from our ante-nantal class. I decided not to suggest that nobody talked about babies for 15 minutes - we were all having far too much fun talking about nothing else.

 

Some of them made some nice comments about the blog but did the star of the show pay any attention? No, she was fast asleep - see picture below, click thumbnail to enlarge.

 

PS Which new parent could possibly have had the time to bake those amazing tiny chocolate muffins that they brought along as their nibbles? Very tasty.

Tonight is the NCT reunion - where we meet the other couples who were on our course and our excellent trainer Louise.

 

We've been in contact with them all by e-mail during the past eight weeks or so as each baby arrived and Ursula has met up with quite a few of the other new mums so reunion is perhaps not quite the right word.

 

Depending how things go I may decide to set everyone at the reunion a challenge: talk about anything other than babies for 15 consecutive minutes.

 

Sounds easy but when you consider that babies is the one thing that links everyone in the room and that we've all just had the same life-changing event then it suddenly looks a lot more difficult.

 

And I'm not sure all the guys are keen on footie.

 

 

After a tough night you'd have thought our little one would want to sleep during the day but oh no.

 

So eventually I told Ursula to go to bed while I went to the supermarket.

 

Screaming baby or not we had to get some food and give mum a break.

 

Pushing a buggy with a whining pup in it and handling a heavy shopping basket at the same time takes some doing, I can tell you.

 

Particularly if you have forgotten to put your belt on so your trousers keep falling down.

 

The trump card, however, was young Katie herself.

 

Fellow shoppers all adored her and her crying meant they could hear us coming from afar and would move out of the way.

 

On a busy Saturday that comes in very handy.

Oof, a tough night.

 

Katie was doing as the doctor had described: nightclubbing - instead of settling down to sleep she wanted to party.

 

I couldn't get her to calm down or take much formula milk so mummy had to come back down to help her out while I got some sleep.

Last night Ursula went to get some sleep at 9pm so I was left quite literally holding the baby.

 

No problem there, I'd been at work all day and here was my moment for quality time with my offspring.

 

Normally this would involve a lot of attempts at wind extraction and trying to keep her quiet while her mum grabbed some sleep.

 

But not last night.

 

I stuck on channel 5 to watch the new series of US hospital comedy (or drama if for some reason you think it's got a shred of drama in it) House followed by a new series about an American lawyer called Shark, which again seems to have more comedy than drama in it, and suddenly Katie was out like a light. She's probably decided channel 5 isn't for her.

 

It's always tempting to try to lie her down in her basket thingy when she's sleeping but this usually ends in her waking due to my clumsiness. So there I sat, babe in arms for two hours on our uncomfortable sofa.

 

She hardly moved.

 

And nor did I although my bones were getting increasingly strained by the less than ergonomic furniture.

 

She was a little picture of cuteness and serenity throughout.

 

And so was I. Well OK, probably not.

 

Once awake she gulped down her bottle of milk without so much as a whimper.

 

And did so I. Well OK, it was orange squash.

 

And I probably made some weird noise too.

 

Last week, as I mentioned in a previous post, Katie was wearing her "I love my Daddy" baby grow.

 

Obviously I was most proud but this week she has suddenly started sporting an "I love my Mummy" baby grow.

 

A pleasant sentiment for sure but what did I do wrong?

 

You have to wonder about playing one parent off against another at such a young age.

 

Click thumbnail to enlarge

A text message arrived today. "Hi Daddy. I now weight 8lbs 11.5oz. Dr says I'm a nightclubber."

 

I think this refers to Katie's passion for not settling down in the evening. She seems to have a body clock that tells her to party all night, a habit she started well before being born...

Katie very kindly bought her mum some flowers for Mother's Day to let her know how much she loves her.

 

How thoughtful.

 

Click thumbnail to enlarge.

 

She also bought her mum some sticky toffee puddings (because she knows her mum has developed something of a liking for them).

15 minutes on the activity mat this morning.

 

The buyer of the mat - uncle Rob - is visiting this afternoon so he may get to see her play on it at last.

 

Katie is wearing her "I love my daddy" outfit today.

 

Wise move.

 

Click thumbnail to enlarge.

She's now 8lbs 4, well above birth weight

A good 10 minutes spent on the activity mat today.

 

The mirror that plays loud music when you whack it is still not a favourite but the animals that make gentle noises when shaken (by a parent) are winners.

In the business news this week was the inevitable result of my endless trips to a well-known dispensing chemist: a potential buyout of Boots is on the cards, so much have I been boosting the company's profits.

 

Well, I mentioned my spending here several times on this blog and even provided a link to the company's share price so let's face it you had both the time and the information to pile in and buy in the shares. You would have made a tidy profit, too, as the share prices rose once details of the bid situation were revealed.

Sometimes when we put Katie down on the changing mat in the bathroom her attention turns to something (we're not sure what) and she is still and quiet (and cuter than ever).

 

We can't work out what she is looking at as there is nothing to see at the level her eyes are.

 

Anyway, it makes for an easier nappy change.

 

In the end I had to take a photo of her in serene mode. Click thumbnail to enlarge.

When you have baby in the house the skin on your hands takes a bit of a pounding.

 

First, the temperature of your house is slightly warmer than you're used to because you need to keep it at 18 degrees or a bit more.

 

Second, you seem to be forever washing your hands. Well I do, anyway:

 

Changed the nappy? Better wash your hands.

 

Need to pacify the little tot for a minute by letting her suck your little finger? Better wash your hands first.

 

Has a nappy-related accident made its way onto her clothes? Better dab them with stain remover, soak them in soapy water and wash your hands.

 

Partner busy feeding baby? Better do the cooking and before you start you should wash your hands.

 

And don't forget you'll be doing the washing up as well which, er, involves putting your hands in water for a while.

 

A good skin moisturiser is a must, if you like that kind of thing.

Here are some more recent pics of Katie. What a sweetie, eh? Click thumbnails to enlarge.

Got a text message today: "Hi Daddy. I'm off to the pub this afternoon. Love Katie x."