The Beast of Bodmin

Not a great night. Tom coughed through most of it. He was asleep during his spluttering, but we weren't. With hindsight, we should probably have moved him into the lounge in his cot when he started, but we didn't. We will tonight though.

Still, the cough doesn't appear to have affected his well-being, and he woke up as chirpy as ever. We'd planned to visit Tom's Great Uncle Paul and Great Auntie Shirley down in Cornwall today; Paul's father was my Great Uncle Leslie, after whom Tom was given his middle name. The weather was lovely, so we decided to take the scenic route to Bodmin, down some roads that were so narrow that I had to fold the wing mirrors in just to get along. Beautiful area though.

Sadly, we didn't get to see Shirley, as she was out at work, but her parents were there and gave us a good lesson in how to speak West-Country-ese. They're from deepest darkest Somerset (and are expecting their 13th great grandchild any day now). We had a nice buffet lunch, although we had to create a huge exclusion zone around Tom or he would have had all the food on the floor. Still, he did a great job of charming everyone, as usual, and definitely made some new friends. We watched some footage from Paul & Shirley's recent trip to Kenya, including the moment when they witnessed a giraffe being born in the wild. Quite a hazardous arrival in the world. Apparently, the shock of landing from such a great height gets the breathing going. The calf (?) was walking 40 minutes after birth. I pointed out to Tom that we're still waiting for him to achieve the same feat after nearly 11 months, but he just laughed at me and clapped his hands.

We left about 2.00 and came back to Crapstone via a strangely empty Morrisons. Nik and Tom went for a lie-down (Nik's tum is playing up) and we all then had a play in the lounge before tea, which Tom hoovered down with his now customary zeal. Soon be time for bath...

Tom cheers up his Great Nanna

We had the best Christmas present of all last night - Tom slept for a good 11 hours without a murmur. Well if he made a sound it didn't wake either of us up and considering we are sleeping in the same room as him, I take it that he really did sleep through. What a good boy.

Once breakfast was over, we decided to go down to Plymouth to visit Nan. Last time I saw her, she was very uncommunicative, but this time there was some real life to her. She definitely recognised her when we walked into the lounge. She knew that she knew me, she just didn't know who I was - it was great to see recognition in her eyes. She loved seeing Tom and Tom really played up to her - laughing, clapping, giggling and generally being cute. Nan responded by smiling and giggling back (not quite up to clapping - more lessons from Tom needed). She kept saying clever boy, cheeky boy, lovely boy etc etc. Was lovely - I couldn't understand every word, she's so deaf now that she can't formulate her words properly, but I got the gist of most of what she said. We stayed there for 45 mins, and quite enjoyed it. We only left when Nan started getting snoozy.

From there, we drove down to Drake's Circus. Matt had a quick lunch with us and then headed down to Richer Sounds to buy a TV for the bedroom - he's been itching for a new one for ages and as it is Boxing Day - the sales were on. Tom and I had a leisurely lunch and then I braved Next to look for clothes for Tom as they had a 50% off sale. We had Tom in his rucksack and he behaved very well. Whilst I was procrastinating about which clothes to pick, he was busy cooing on my back and generally being cute. Fantastic - meant that shopping was a more pleasant experience, plus it was much easier not having to push a buggy around. Managed to pick up some great bargains for him.

Next stop was the Hoe, where we parked up and went for a walk to look at the lighthouse, sea, Drake's Island etc. Then homeward bound. Tom stayed awake for the whole journey home - very strange as it was after 2, but very good for us. I put him in his cot as soon as we returned home, which gave us time to clean the car, prep dinner and relax.

1st Christmas

So, our first Christmas with Tom, and it was a super day. Tom helped out in a big way by giving us a good night's sleep; he didn't stir between 11.00 and 6.00 and then woke up at 7.00 in a good mood that lasted (almost) all day. Granma and Pop Pop had prepared individual stockings for Tom and Jake, full of little toys and nik-naks that went down very well, which we opened on the bed.

We then had a normal breakfast before putting Tom down for 30 minutes sleep before the big present-opening session got under way. There were so many parcels in the lounge, 80% of which were for the boys, that it was hard for all of us to fit in. We managed somehow, though, and got through the pile in about an hour. A good haul was had by all, with the result that we won't need to buy Tom any new outfits, toys or anything for quite some time. We may need a bigger car to get it all home in though.

Simon & Clare did a sterling job getting Christmas lunch ready, which we sat down to eat at about 2.00. Pheasant, turkey and all the trimmings appeared, along with a variety of strong drink. Tom, despite having had a good sized lunch at 12.00, nibbled away on carrots, parsnips and sprouting broccoli very happily. Where does he stick it all? We decided we really needed to get out for some fresh air before the sun went down, so we loaded Tom into the rucksack again and marched him round a lap of the village. As with yesterday's jaunt, he loved it and giggled most of the way round. In fact, he felt so energised by the experience that he went one better than yesterday's record crawl and managed it all the way into the kitchen this time.

We sat him down for his tea as usual at 5.00, thinking that he wouldn't be that hungry after his extra lunch. 1 sachet, 4 whole carrots, 2 roast potatoes, a parsnip, a sprouting broccoli and a fromage frais later, we thought we'd better call it a day before he burst. Incredible. Nik then had a bath with him, but his charming mood ended the second I lifted him out of the water; he screamed the house down, but as he'd been up non-stop since 2.00, he must have been awfully tired, especially with the extra excitement. He drained his bottle of milk straight down and disappeared into the land of nod. A lovely day, couldn't really have gone any better.

First hike

Not such a good night sleep-wise. We moved Tom (while asleep in his travel cot) into the lounge when we went to bed, but he woke 3 or 4 times in the night. He only needed replugging each time, but we've been quite enjoying him only waking once per night recently. Might try him back in our room tonight.

Much nicer day today, clear and sunny, so we decided to give the rucksack its first proper outing down at Saltram House near Plymouth. It was very icy and slippery underfoot, but we all stayed upright and, as can be seen from the photo, His Nibs really enjoyed being carted about in comfort, and the rucksack was extremely comfortable. It didn't feel as if I had 12kg on my back.

The cafe at Saltram House was closed, so we decided to pop into the Dartmoor Diner for lunch, a place we've been meaning to try for ages. The food was good, the service friendly and the prices reasonable, but what really did the trick was the fact that they have a model train running all the way around the restaurant above the tables. Tom caught sight of this and was transfixed. In fact, Nik had a real job getting his lunch into him, not because he didn't want it; there were just so many fascinating things going on, mostly other diners.

Anyway, we eventually finished up and brought an excited Tom back to Crapstone, where he promptly crawled the full length of the lounge and then all the way down the hall to the kitchen, ably assisted by cousin Jake. Far and away the furthest he's moved in one go. Progress and no mistake.

Miserable Day

Today dawned horrible and it didn't get any better. Icy, rainy, sleety, yucky weather.

Tom was an angel last night, he woke at midnight - I went in to settle him - needn't have bothered as he was asleep by the time I got to him. He also woke again at 5.30, but he chatted to himself for a while and then fell asleep again without me having to check on him.

He had a play on the bed with Granma and Pop Pop before breakfast and then a play in the lounge. As it was such a miserable day, we decided to take Granma and Pop Pop to a pub to say thanks in advance for Christmas - the only way we would have been able to escape the house so we went to The Rock in Yelverton for sandwiches and chips.

Spent the rest of the day inside. Tom had a good play with all the toys. He was a little better with the separation anxiety thing, went to Granma and Pop Pop without too much trauma and only came to me when tired / hungry etc.

It's going to be fun from this evening onwards: Simon, Jake and Clare are due sometime after 8pm. Then the fun really begins...

Separation anxiety - Tom is a bad boy!

Had another good sleep, then breakfast and the mammoth task of loading up the car before heading West. Considering the country came to a halt yesterday we did really well - got to Bath in 1.5 hours, then of course it took a good 30 mins to get to the part of Bath we needed, but then again the traffic in Bath has always been bad. Tom was very well behaved.

Arrived at the Moriwaki's and were very excited to see Hiromi open the door. Tom, on the other hand wasn't! He cried as soon as he saw her! Not a good first impression, especially as we wanted to ask her if we could stay with her when we go to Japan in February :(

Tom continued to grizzle until I fed him, he then cheered up considerably. We were also fed, very well of course, Kyoko cooked us an Italian dish of pasta with courgette and chilli with an orange and celery salad, all very tasty. During lunch, Tom taught everyone how to clap - they all picked it up very quickly, which he was very pleased with. He then got handed round for cuddles, he cried and cried and cried. Wouldn't stop until he came back to me. Oh hum, luckily they took it in good humour - they got some great photos of him yelling - we will embarrass him with them when he is older!

At 2pm we were back on our way to Devon. Tom slept nearly the whole 3 hours it took to get down there, so he had a good kick around on arrival. Unfortunately the separation anxiety continued and he continued to cry when I wasn't holding him. Maybe he's met too many new people and been in too many new places over the last couple of days?

Snow stops everything as usual

Another good night. Tom woke us up at 1am and 4am. Unfortunately at 4am we couldn't find his dummy so there was a little bit of crying whilst Matt crawled on the floor looking for it (it was wedged between his mattress and the cot).

We were up as usual at 7am, Tom had his breakfast, well sort any way, he didn't really eat that much and went for his nap. At 10 we set off to Julie's. A journey that is only 15 miles and should have taken 40 minutes took 1.5 hours, I wasn't impressed. Anyway, I still go there before Vera.

Spent a lovely day with Julie, Tal, Aaron and Vera. It's quite hard to have a proper conversation with three little ones, but we managed to catch up a little. Tom stayed awake for the whole time which was pretty good and he was pretty cheerful, so can't really complain. He taught Julie and Vera to clap - they caught on pretty quickly. He was quite pleased with them.

We left at 3, leaving a good 2 hours to get home. Silly me, it was snowing and of course when it snows everything comes to a halt, especially in London. It took me a massive 2.75 hours to get home, there was no accident, no road works, just everyone going very slowly because there was some white stuff falling out of the sky. Very very annoying and Tom wasn't very happy either. Meant we ran an hour late putting Tom to bed. All seemed well with him though.

RHS is fun

Tom slept very well last night. Considering he was in a strange cot in a strange room. We didn't hear from him at all in the evening. When we went to bed, he was awake, but not making any noise. He was back snoring (so cute) within minutes, the next thing we knew it was 4am, he let out a little screech - I went to plug him and that was it until 7am, so a very good night all in all.

After breakfast (shreddies - which went down well) and a nap we headed off with Pat to the RHS Garden in Wisley. It was very cold, so we all wrapped up warm (I wish someone would put me in a furry sleeping bag and push me in a pram). There were lots of Christmas trees in the gardens, all of which had been dressed using recyclable material by the local WI. We spent a good time critiquing them in true WI style (i.e. we were very catty!)

We had lunch at the gardens, we chose the 'Family Room' which had a soft play area. Tom sat in a high chair and had a very big lunch (beef stew and butternut squash risotto, a fromage frais and countless snacks - his tummy is bottomless at the moment) and then had a quick play with the bigger boys and his Grannie - he got very excited. We came home after lunch as we were expecting Jude and Richard to pop in, however, they got stuck on the M40 and didn't make it so we decided to try out our Christmas pressie (baby rucksack) - so tied a wriggling loony into it and took him for a quick walk around the block. He smiled all the way, and tried to make Matt go faster by hitting him on the shoulders 'giddy up Dad'.

Tom was very well behaved today - played really nicely with his Grannie and Grandpa and was full of laughs and giggles. It was a pleasure to be with him.

Sorry for lack of photos, I forgot to pack the USB cable so can't import onto my computer. We will catch up when we get to Devon as Dad has the right cable.

Holidays!

So, Christmas hols start today. We woke up to a very chilly morning, and after the usual morning routine, we headed off to Hadley for Tom's swimming lesson. Nik went in with him for the first time in a while (finally feeling well enough), and because there were only 4 babies in attendance this time, there was lots of room in the pool. Tom was much as last week, i.e. fine for 25 minutes and then screaming for the last 5. Still, he did the underwater bits very well; it was being handed to the instructor that didn't please him. We seem to be suffering from a bit of separation anxiety at the moment.

We then came home, had lunch and packed the car to bursting point. We really thought we'd have to leave some presents behind, but we got them all in in the end. We dropped Jodie off at kennels and then headed south. Getting through Brum was awful and we had to avoid the M4 as well, so not a great journey all in all. Still, Tom behaved impeccably all the way.

We unpacked the mountain of bags from the car and I had to disappear straight afterwards to show my face at Phil & Anna's Xmas bash. Very nice and I managed to catch up with some old friends from Edinburgh. Didn't stay too late though. No stamina these days. Came straight back to Mortlake, pausing only for 2 doughnuts and a coffee at Waterloo. Not as good as Greggs and twice the price. Thence to bed for some much-needed shuteye.

Happy Day

Another good night. Tom woke up at 11.30 - think it was due to Matt crashing back home after his lads' night out, and then again around 2am. Both times he went straight back to sleep after a quick pat on the tum.

He did ok for breakfast as well, ate a good portion of weetabix and prunes and then sucked on a piece of Matt's bread.

This morning saw us visiting Carol - I had a pot of chutney to deliver. She was manically busy as usual, but it was nice to see her. She gave me a brace of pheasants. A lovely gift but we are off on our travels tomorrow and our freezer is stuffed full. I did a hasty call round the girls and found Rachel M in and very happy to receive some birds - so we scooted down to her and Mae for her Christmas delivery. Very happy they found a good home (plus I'm not sure I know how to pluck and gut a pheasant?!)

Came home and Tom had a good lunch - ate everything I had for him, and more which is always a good thing. We then had a very mad playtime in the lounge (his nap times have all gone to pot today as he slept in the car between Carol and Rachel (40 mins) ). I spent a good hour throwing him in the air, spinning him round etc etc, exhausted me and had the desired effect on Tom, with him going straight down for a nap at 2.30.

He was back up at 3.30 - had a quick jaunt to Asda and then popped round the Gouges to say Happy Christmas etc. Tom then had his dinner and a play before bath with his Dad and bed.

As you can see I got my camera back today.

Most challenging cake yet

So another good night. Tom needed settling at 2.30 - when coughing got the better of him, but it took a matter of seconds and that was it, so can't really complain.

Had a quiet day. this morning we went out to the cake shop to get some bits and pieces for my latest cake (it's Michelle's birthday on Monday and Mike requested a handbag cake) I had a complete nightmare putting it together, the icing collapsed on one side and chocolate butter icing went all over the place. I managed to sort of save it by creating some 'hankies' to go over the worse bits. It's not too bad, but definitely the hardest cake I've done to date.

This afternoon saw us around Kamila's to see Stella and a catch up. Tom was a little naughty, as soon as I cuddled Stella, he yelled and yelled, and didn't stop until I gave Stella back and cuddled him.

Tom did ok on the food front. Initially he wouldn't eat breakfast (weetabix), but when i put it in a jar, suddenly he opened his mouth - humpfh, he is going to turn into a junk food baby! Lunch he had some of my home cooked food, then refused. He then took some jar food, so I mixed my food into that and he took more. Dinner he had some beef stew and root veg. Not huge amounts, but enough I think.

I like to sleep

Funny, now I am getting more sleep, I'm not as alert as I used to be when I wake up in the middle of the night. I can't really be sure how many times I got up last night. I know Tom was having trouble coughing early in the night, we dosed him with Calpol at 10.30. I think I then went in again at 12.30 to settle him. After that? No idea, there might have been a 3am wake up call, but then again there might not have been, it's all a bit fuzzy. I guess that's a good thing, I certainly wasn't lying awake for hours and hours trying to get to sleep.

I'm feeling better again today. Just my ears left to clear really. My sinuses still ache, but I think that's leftover from them being swollen, not because they are swollen now. Tom on the whole seems better as well. He still has his cough, but he's not coughing as often as he was, so that's all good.

Tom also had a good breakfast this morning. He had a third of a weetabix, and probably would have had more given the chance. Problem is that if I leave him to make more, he gives up being interested in food - doesn't like to wait (bit like his dad then!)

After his morning nap we popped out to Asda to pick up some last minute bits and bobs for Christmas. He had an enormous lunch - beef stew and some mashed root veggies (now I have more energy, I've been making lots of 'Tom food' whilst he's napping - freezer is filling up again) He then kept going until 1.30 when I put him down for his nap. He seems to nap for ever at the moment, I always have to go and wake him up these days. I'm sure if I left him to it, he would spend all day in bed. I think that as he has finally realised how good it is to sleep for long periods, he wants to make up for those months of bad sleeping. Not a bad thing...

Went to baby clinic this afternoon, Tom has put on weight - yahoooooo. He is now 19lb 9oz. I wonder if he will break the 20lb barrier on his return from Christmas. We had quite a good afternoon, Tom's forward movement has got a lot more fluid now, he is able to cover ground quite quickly. Unfortunately he is obsessed with the TV cabinet, doesn't matter how many times we say no and pull him away, he is determined to get to the amplifier and play with the controls. I guess we need to carry on reinforcing the no message to him. Whenever we say no, he stops, looks at us and then laughs. So, not really getting the message.

Jude came round this evening laden down with Christmas pressies, Tom gave her the 'Jude stare' as usual - I really don't know why he does that, and only to her?

Tom had a good bath, bottle and bed. Not heard from him yet...

More coughs

Tom was very good again last night. He woke up at 9.30 coughing and carried on coughing for quite a while. He didn't cry at all. In the end I went in and gave him some Calpol to see if that would help (we get a headache when we cough a lot, so you have to figure that he would be the same). Anyway, it seemed to work, and he went quiet. He woke again, this time crying at 3.30, so I went in to try to settle him. It worked, I didn't hear from him until 7am.

I didn't sleep so well, BaxterStorey have finally got in touch regarding the car, all my anxieties from the old job came straight back, making me restless.

Today we went to see Rachel and Oliver for the day. Nothing much to report, just lots of chat and looking after babies and Izzy the dog. All are well. I stupidly left my camera behind, so I'm afraid there won't be any pics for the next couple of days (should get it back on Thursday night)

Came home, had a play, dinner and bed.

Tom still has a horrible cough, hasn't seemed to get any better or any worse today, is horrible to listen too though. He has ate incredibly well though. I took a huge pot of stew with me to Rachel's today, not expecting Tom to finish it, he ate the lot and managed some pudding as well. He must have put some weight on this week...

Cough, cough, cough

I'll keep this brief as somehow it's 9.30pm and I want my bed...

Tom was an angel last night. He slept through. He did wake at 4.30 and spent a good 15 minutes coughing on and off, but he didn't cry and didn't need settling which was fantastic. I had a 6.5 hour block of sleep which was fab, and I did feel better in the morning.

Today was gymbabes, so we went to Rachel's for lunch and then on to Bridgnorth for the session. Tom spent most of his time in the ball pool. I tried him on the tolberone as he is now going forward, but he didn't want to do it, just turned round and slid off. However, there was a 'piece of cheese' wedge up to the ball pool, so I tried him on that and bingo, he propelled himself forward and upwards so he could get to the ball pool - so definite progress.

He slept in the car on the way home. He was a little naughty as he refused to sleep at Rachel's today, meaning he didn't have a proper afternoon nap.

He is now in bed, but coughing away. His cough has definitely got worse today, I think we are about to go round the cycle with him again - he was just getting better as well! On the good side, Matt is feeling better as am I. We will see what happens...

Goodbye (Great) Nanny

We had some bad news this morning, Matt's Nanny died in her sleep last night. It wasn't completely unexpected, but still very sad news and a shame as we were due to visit her next week. Luckily Tom did meet her and she enjoyed his visit, so we have good memories.

Today dawned, clear, blue and frosty. However, Matt woke up with a cold in full thrust, so now we have two ill parents and one happy, healthy baby. I explained to Tom he would have to look after us but he just laughed - humpfh!

Didn't do too much this morning. Tom refused his breakfast - he wouldn't eat porridge, or bread or anything really, so I took him back to his bed and told him to think about it. After his nap I tried again with breakfast, but he said no, so I gave up! Spent the morning playing in the lounge and then had lunch - guess what, he ate and ate and ate. Not only did he eat what I got out for him, but he also had a whole chicken thigh chopped up into bits and mixed with puree. He then refused any dessert. Very strange, he used to only like fruit and more or less refuse anything savoury. His tastes have changed now, so that he loves savoury and turns his nose up at fruit. I prefer it this way, means he eats a wider range of food and therefore more nutrients.

As it was such a nice day, after lunch we went to Ironbridge for a stroll. We all enjoyed the clear, cold air and noses cleared themselves out which was good. Came back, Tom had a snooze then had a cheerful playtime before eating a large dinner, bath and bed.

As you can see from the pic, he is getting on to his knees - he hasn't quite worked out how to kick his legs underneath without falling on his belly - yet...

Forward motion!

Tom finally crawled today. It was quite hard work for him, and far from elegant, but then again he was wearing tights and on laminated flooring. It was proper crawling nonetheless. His first destination? Over to the wall to eat some speaker wire, which I promptly sellotaped to the windowsill.

Straight after this momentous occasion, we set off for swimming, which went very well for 27 minutes, but ended in mouth-open screaming (Tom, not me). To be fair, the teacher left far too long a gap between activities, and I think Tom got bored. I took him for a little chat with one of the other babies to calm him down, but she put his finger in her mouth and bit it. Cue apocalyptic howling and an early exit from the pool.

We then headed into Shrewsbury for my "Company Christmas Do" at The Armoury. I decided profits had been sufficiently high this year to invite spouses and children along, but given that (a) Tom doesn't eat pub food yet, (b) Nik has completely lost her senses of taste and smell and so ordered something cheap and simple, and (c) the pub forgot to charge us for any of the food, it was a very reasonable bash. Tom was impeccably-behaved the whole time and wolfed down a big lunch. We spent about an hour going round the shops in the town, but as the crowds were fairly awful and we're both under the weather, we didn't really have the stomach for it and came home.

Tom did a bit more "humping the floor" crawling and then had a bath with me and a bottle with his mum before getting his little head down. We had leftover duck for dinner (very nice) and settled down in front of a Studio Ghibli film. I think it'll be an early night.

Graduation Day

Today I graduated from my BEST course. Was quite an understated affair, but then again the course was pretty understated as well. We didn't really have to do much, just turn up and chat about various things to do with breast feeding.

Matt came along which was very sweet of him, especially as it didn't start until 12, when we were told 11. He's not the best at waiting, especially on a work day. Anyway, I now have my BEST T-shirt to wear to groups, a certificate and we had our picture taken for the local paper.

Tom had fun in the creche - he made a crown and a Christmas card for us - very cute. Both Matt and I were very proud parents today as one of the creche workers said "Tom is the most contented child we have ever had". Very good to hear, especially as we weren't fishing for compliments at all.

Didn't get home until 1.30 - Tom was exhausted and went for a nap. He napped forever, in the end I got him up at 3.45, thinking he would never go to sleep this evening if he napped for longer. Once he had had his feed we walked to the post office to post some more overseas letters, we then went to Asda to get a take away curry. Matt has come down with a cold as well now and neither of us had the inclination to go out again after Tom's bath time (it is frosty and very foggy today)

We hit another milestone today. Tom actually managed to go forward. I wouldn't say it is crawling, but he managed to get some purchase on his feet and inch himself forwards. It is definitely progress. I tried to film him, but unfortunately he did it at night and the film is too dark to view.

So, it could happen soon...

Oh - a story was run in the local newspaper about the incident at the cake decorating course a couple of weeks ago. Shropshire Star

Tom's first Christmas Party

An ok night. Tom woke at 1.45 crying and then screaming. Got him back off again, but he did the same at 2am and then again at 2.15. At 2.15 I gave him a dose of calpol as he really was screaming rather than crying. He immediately calmed down, I gave him a hug, put him back in his cot and I didn't hear from him again.

I spent the night tossing and turning again, I also seem to suffering from a temperture, as I woke up in a cold sweat. Had to put my dressing gown on in bed to warm up. Oh hum, this cold has to finish soon.

Today was a big day - Tom's first Christmas party. Organised by the HVs who run the Oakengates Group. It was a mad day, nearly all the babies were dressed up (including Tom), each baby had a sit with Father Christmas who gave them a pressie for which Tom was remarkably good, we also played pass the parcel - Tom won one of them - a book, and there was plenty of party food including cheese and pineapple on sticks - my favourite.

Anyway was a good day. Tom was a little naughty, as I was chatting to another mum he managed to get hold of his present and shred the paper off it! Naughty boy or clever boy? Meant he got his present 2 weeks early!

Came home, had lunch (a good lunch for Tom), then Tom went for his nap. He had a mammoth nap - getting on for 2 hours before going round Michelle's to drop off our travel cot as tonight is the girls night out. Came home, had a play and then fed Tom (another good meal). We left his bath time until 6.30 and once ready, put him in his car seat and took him round to Michelle's for his bottle and bed. He went down at first attempt which was great.

Had a lovely night out, shame my cold stopped me from enjoying it completely, spent the night behind a mound of tissues, although got a good dose of sympathy from everyone. We did secret santas - I did really well, got cup cake lip gloss and an apron.

I was on driving duty (no point even trying to drink alcohol at the moment) so brought the girls home and then Matt and Tom. Tom was very well behaved, went down at first attempt and didn't hear from him until 6.30am. (Although Matt said that he heard him from downstairs at 5.15 - couldn't have been too bad as I slept through it)

I can clap

Tom was good again last night. He woke up coughing at 3am, needed settling and again at 3.30. At 4am, he woke again, but got himself off without any intervention from me. But that was it. I, of course was awake most hours. My cold has made its way into my sinuses, giving me an enormous headache, and of course, I can't take anything stronger than paracetamol. I was also cold in bed, all of which meant that I was tossing and turning quite a bit.

Tried a different plan of attack for breakfast, instead of a puree, or weetabix / porridge, which is what I normally offer him, I toasted a muffin and gave him that. He managed about 1.5 strips of it. Not a huge lot, but an improvement on what he normally eats.

We went to baby clinic this morning, hoping that Tom had put on some weight, but no. He's the same, so still 19lb. Oh hum. Came back, he had his morning nap, then lunch. Homemade food today - I defrosted 4 ice cubes (which although is less than he is supposed to eat, is more than he normally eats). He ate the whole lot. I even managed to get some more bits and pieces down him, which was good.

12.45 saw us in Wellington for another catch up session at Gymbabes. Tom was better today, in that he managed to get across the whole Tolberone and stayed relatively cheerful.

Today's new trick is clapping. Tom has clapped before, but it has been very hit and miss. Today he was deliberately clapping and did it more or less all day, and looked very pleased with himself as he did it.

The afternoon was a bit shouty, not good if you have a raging headache, but c'est la vie! He is now in bed after a good bath with me and his last milk feed with Dad.

And again!

Tom was a little angel last night. He slept from 6.45pm to 7am, with not a murmur. I, on the other hand had a bad night. I have lost the knack of sleeping, I'm still waking up, expecting him to call out to us. Also, Matt decided that last night would be a good night to snore very loudly, which killed me! However, this morning was the first morning I have woken up in bed with my husband for a very long time, so that was a plus.

So, any suggestions on how to teach myself to sleep again?

Let's hope that Tom's new found skill of sleeping is here to stay, it certainly is nice to go to bed and stay in bed for a whole night.

All 3 of us now have a cold. Matt woke up coughing and feeling a little rough. Tom was also full of coughs this morning, but first thing in the morning is always the worse time of day for everyone.

Tom once again refused his breakfast - managed about 3 teaspoons of breakfast before the mouth became clamped shut.

Morning was spent in Tescos (oh yes I know how to enjoy myself) We had managed to get a £12 off voucher, seemed a shame not to use it. Came home for lunch. Tom continued being naughty and didn't eat much. I had some left over tuna pasta from our dinner yesterday which I mashed up for him - he didn't eat much. I then tried some risotto, nope. Then a jar - he ate some of that, but not much. Next attempt was some apple puree, no, apparently that was also the food of the devil. Not sure what's got into him today.

Oh, I haven't told you about my recent trick. I was having huge problems getting Tom to keep his socks on. As soon as you put them on they would be pulled off. The only way I could get them to stay on for any period of time was to tuck his trousers into them Cossack style. Last week I gave up and bought him some tights. Ha ha! I foxed him. He tried to take them off, but obviously failed. He has been in tights ever since (makes sense as it keeps his legs warm in this cold weather). Yesterday he was back in socks again as it was Gymbabes (which is done in bare feet). He didn't even attempt to take them off, so I think I may have cracked it!

After lunch I put Tom down for his nap. Feels sort of weird putting him down for naps today as he slept so much last night: do babies really need to sleep during the day if they sleep at night? Anyway I experimented to see how much sleep he really got. I went up after 20 minutes, he was still up, playing with the toys in his cot. After another 20 minutes he was asleep. He then called for me half an hour later - was really cute, he was on his back down the bottom of the cot, gently stroking one of his soft toys. I wonder if that is normal for him, or whether because he had a good sleep last night, he didn't see the need to nap for long?

Anyway, once I got him up, we had a little play, then popped to Lidl in search of duck (we found one = very happy Matt), had another play, then dinner (he finished off the jar he started earlier today, but pretty much refused everything else), bath with his Dad (Matt is coming down with a cold today as well) and bottle with me.

I wonder if he will have another good night.

Oh, today's pic - somehow he managed to get himself stuck in the corner, doing the splits!