Ye Olde Olney Pancake Race

Every year on Shrove Tuesday, the ladies of Olney have a pancake race through the town. They have to flip their pancakes at least twice - once at the start and once at the end. The prize is quite lucrative - something like £300, and importantly, a kiss from the Vicar. What a way to welcome in Lent. The photo shows the ladies running down the highstreet towards the church.

For Lent this year, we are trying to give up nights-of-broken-sleep, but as yet have not succeeded. We've got so many books on babies, and they all provide advice which seems sensible, until you read the next book which generally indicates that if you follow the first book's advice, you are a cruel and malicious parent and are probably causing permanent damage to your child by either rocking them to sleep, or not rocking them to sleep, letting them cry / not letting them cry...

We can but try our best. She may not be sleeping too well, but she sure is growing! Already up to 9lbs 8oz, and starting to fit into three-month old clothes!

Four Generations

Last Sunday after Church we headed over to Cambridge and had a lovely time with my folks and Grandad who had come up from Suffolk for the day. Here is a picture of four generations in the family.

Learning to smile

Ana is now five weeks old and beginning to smile at more than just wind. (Yes, we all know it can be very funny...)

Lara is certainly the recipient of the majority of the smiles, but as she is around more often (e.g. 24/7) that is probably to be expected. I wanted to show you all one of her gorgeous smiles, but this is the best that she could muster whilst the camera was available... still, pretty endearing.

Taking a break from changing the smelly nappies this afternoon, I thought I would tackle the (to-this-point-neglected) garden only to find that the local cats have been using our garden as their litter trays... delightful.

I prefer kids to cats. Kids occasionally smile!

Enthralled

Lara and I were watching Yes, Minister the other day, and Ana, who woke up half way through it was completely enthralled, particularly by Sir Humphrey, the scheming civil servant. Her gaze was completely fixed upon the box of moving pictures for a good minute or so - which is a long time for a baby!

Acting as a consultant

So Ana may only be a month old, but that does not stop her advising her Daddy on the pros and cons of different research techniques. Seen here, in a rarely photographed situation, Ana is briefing Tim on the most reliable indicator of overall classification success. With this type of help, the PhD will be done in no time!

You can almost feel the PhD writing itself...

Growing Alertness

With every passing day, Ana is more alert. She is watching us move around the room, loves looking at bright lights and is generally a lot more interactive. She is also starting to make gorgeous cooing noises and talks to herself - lovely!

Snow Day!

'Snow had fallen, snow, on snow... snoowoowoo on snow...'

Here we are on a lovely (short) family walk on the snow. With Ana all snuggled down nicely in Tim's coat everyone was very happy and warm. I do love the snow - rather miss it here in England, but today we have had inches already and it is still falling - almost Canadian standard for once! Wonderful!

Ana is four weeks old on Saturday. Incredible! A lot has happened in the past month.

Amazing Grace!

Ever wondered where that famous hymn; Amazing Grace, was written? The answer, is here - in Olney. John Newton - slave trader turned minister, wrote this song whilst based here in this gorgeous market town.

Amazing Grace has always been on of my favourite songs, with its brilliant tune and such a wonderful sweep through so much of Christian experience. From the initial realisation of our own wretchedness, the amazement of the undeserved grace, complete forgiveness and love shown to us, moving on to God's promised help and favour, then to our eternal joyful destiny with God... What a song! (Ana is getting to know it well as a lullaby!)

Did you know that John Newton himself was a slave for a short time? The things you learn...

Baby's point of view

Ever wondered what it would be like to be back in the pram once more, with your parents proudly gazing down upon your cherubic face? Well, we decided to show you. Placing our camera beside Ana's head, we bring you this baby's view of the world... What a beautiful place!

Three Weeks Old...

So, today Ana is three weeks old.
It seems AGES ago that she was born.

In these last few weeks she has brought about such a change in our lives, and in our key skills set! I wonder which of us is undergoing the steepest learning curve - Ana, or La and I?

Ana is getting to be a bit more predictable, but by no means is she a clockwork baby. Cute none the less. Thankfully, she is feeding really well now, sleeping tolerably well, and really chubbing up! She persists in being lady-like and not wanting to burp. Instead she loves to hiccup - probably as a result of her guzzling behaviour!

I think a part of getting used to having a baby is expectation management. If you don't expect the baby to sleep through the night at three weeks, you won't be (as) upset when you are woken up at 11, 1, 3 and 6! Those nights when she only wakes up once or twice, then, are beautiful bonuses!

The 5mm dash

Never too early to begin competative sports, here are Ana and I on the starting line of the 5mm dash - that hallowed race of the great and good. I won! (He said proudly and with a self satisfied smile, displaying his medal and larel wreath...)

What is this idea of not trying your hardest so as to build your child's confidence? As Dad has found out with Simon, they will eventually get to a stage where they can beat you anyway... or at least give you a real run for your money. So the moral has really got to be; 'Win while you can.'

With that happy thought, it is time for Church... 30 years old today, so we're having a bit of a celebration. Bring on the samosas! (We have a large number of Indians in the Church - makes for fantastic feasts!)

Who's a cutie?

Two weeks old today - amazing how time flies! Ana is already so much more alert, and can sometimes hold her head up and look around. It is interesting how these little things seem so huge advances, I mean, it isn't often that you go up to you friend and congratulate them on their ability to look around, or sit up, is it? Funny, but definately fun.

After a week or so, our phone is working again now, which is such a relief. The old phone wiring in the house had degraded to such a point that the different wires were crossed, and so we could not make outgoing calls. Thankfully, a nice BT man came and fixed this for us today.

We're all still pretty wiped, but ever so enjoying having a slightly larger family. 

11 days of sleep deprivation...

So, 11 days on, and we're all a bit tired. Nevertheless, my daughter and wife still look remarkably cute! This picture shows Ana mid-yawn and she really should have been sleeping all afternoon - instead, she prefered biting Daddy's nose and cheek, and perfecting her goal-scoring technique by booting her (very dirty and smelly) nappy off the changing unit at Mommy!

It really is remarkable. Lots of people warned us that we would have sleepless nights, but I don't think either of us really understood what that meant. Sleep - less. Pretty self explainitory, isn't it?

And other parents out there.... is it normal that babies, when you change their nappy, insist on attempting to wee on you, then after you change them, promptly fill the nappy once more? We got through three nappies in one change the other day -and she kicked over her top-and-tail bowl as well! Definatley lined up to follow in her mother's football footsteps. 

On the playmat

Ana's Uncle Dom and Auntie Crystal came to visit on Saturday and brought with them what I dread to think will be first of many large, brightly coloured objects which make noises... This was a playmat with actually quite a clever arch design from which you can hang toys. So we put Ana on it last night, and to my complete amazement, she actually started bashing the hanging toys around! (They may have just been in the way of her hands, but, perhaps not...) What a clever little girl!

Saturday night Ana did not sleep until 7am Sunday morning, so our plans to go to Church in the morning then were rather abandoned in favour of a few hours sleep. Last night thankfully, Ana was much better behaved. She took a long time to settle - I brought her downstairs and we listened to Mozart together, but by just gone 1 AM she was fast asleep, only waking between 3 and 4, and then again at 7:30. What a wonderful little girl. We hoped that we had the sleeping thing sorted the other day, but she still seems rather irregular regarding whether she will sleep or not! 

Five years, and one week

Today has been a day of landmarks. Lara and I started going out five years ago, and Ana is a week old today. It really is amazing what can happen in five years, and indeed amazing what can happen in a week! We've had a steep learning curve this last week, and thankfully things now are nice and calm. We had a few nightmare days where Ana wouldn't eat, so she couldn't sleep, didn't like being changed, bathed, anything, really, except being held. Thankfully now she is feeding wonderfully and sleeping beautifully (five consecutive hours last night!) and doesn't even protest that much if we change her (quickly). What a relief! Ahhh.... 

Just like her Daddy...

So Tim's feet sometimes stick out the end of the bed, and already, Ana is sharing this trait! We were recommended to place Ana at the foot of her cot so she couldn't squirm down under the covers, but with her legs often tucked up by her chest, this was the result when she stretched out! 

Happy Little Family

"Please Tim! Stop messing around!" Ah well! Both mother and daugher are wonderful, and greatly improve the asthetic qualities of the photos I'm in, so this seems like a good thing to me! 

Sitting on the sofa

Here's two-day-old Ana sitting on our sofa. You can already read the expression on her face; "Why is Daddy pointing that camera at me again?"

Peace and Contentment in a Moses Basket

Ana does not really like sleeping in her Moses Basket. She much prefers being held to being put down but here she is looking quite content, so you can look at this picture and think, 'what a gorgeous child, perfect in every way!' Sleep sounds like a novel idea! 

Ana in her snowsuit

For the ride home from the hospital last night, we dressed Ana in this gorgeous little snow suit. This is her when we arrived home. 

The New Dad

My lovely Tim and our new baby Ana, just after she arrived - aren't they both gorgeous?! 

Ana Daisy Faith Farewell

Ana Daisy Faith Farewell, our first child, was born on the morning of Saturday the 13th January, 2007.

Key Stats:
Weight: 7 lbs
Length: 52 cm
Arrival time: 11:35 AM

The meaning of Ana (pronounced 'Ah-na') is 'favoured grace' and we trust and pray that Ana will experience the grace and favour of God her entire life.

Understairs Cupboard Doors

I've now managed to get the understairs cupboard doors made, and in place. They even open and close - this was much harder than I thought it was going to be. Now they just need to be painted before the little one arrives. (Oh, and I'd better put a door on the baby's room!)

New Year Mince Pies

With the crazy run up to Christmas, mince pies were not made till after Christmas - but mince pies at New Year taste as good! The only question which remains is, "Who ate the mince pie right off the cooling rack?!" By the size of Lara's belly... they tell me its a baby, and admittedly it does kick a lot... but really... (Ok, fine. I ate it!) Ummmm..... 

Mini golf

On receiving a practice putting green from Daniel for Christmas, Simon was delighted. That is, of course, until it transpired that it would be Daniel putting, and Simon who was to be the hill in the fairway. Poor, poor Simon. What will he be given for his birthday?, we wonder!