Zurich, Halloween and other news…

So October has been very busy. We had a long weekend where I had an extra day off crèche and we went to visit Margo, Simon and Rory in Zurich. I had so much fun. And believe it or not the fun started in the airport. It wasn’t very busy so I was able to run around everywhere. I think Mum and Dad were both exhausted by the time we got on the flight because they had been running around after me so much. I heard Mum telling Dad that she’s going to buy a harness for me so she doesn’t have to bend down and hold my hand all the time. Dad isn’t a big fan cause he thinks harnesses are for dogs but Mum doesn’t seem to care. Anyway I had great fun hanging out with Rory Grace. We didn’t so much play with each other as around each other. Ryan was very patient having 2 little girls messing up all his toys. So of course we did the usual of spending most of the weekend in Zurich eating but we also managed to go into Zurich on Saturday afternoon and then to a pumpkin farm on Sunday afternoon.

We had a great party in crèche for Halloween. We all dressed up and then had a party in the afternoon (and I got some chocolate for the first time). I reckon I my lion outfit was the best one (probably the warmest too!) Lots of houses in our estate had great decorations. I think next year, we’ll have to decorate our house. I’m hoping that next year I can go ‘trick or treating’ with Raji and Baj next door!

Mum wasn’t in great form for a while but thankfully she’s better now. She spent a lot of time during August and September sleeping but she seems more normal. I’ve noticed that she’s started to put on a bit of weight – her tummy is getting a bit fat. I’m not really sure what’s going on except for the fact that I’ve been told that from mid-April I won’t have Mum and Dad’s undivided attention and that I’m going to have to share them with a little baby. To be honest I’m not too keen on that but they haven’t asked for my opinion, so what I can do! I’m just going to make sure that between now and then I get my full share of attention while I still can.

Happy Birthday to Me

Well I’ve been very busy, as usual. Nanna and Pa have been visiting from Australia. We’ve had a great time. Unfortunately they were both sick during the trip but in between their sickness we had great fun. While they were here I got my first pair of shoes. I did take most of the pairs of shoes off the shelf and try to eat them all but eventually I settled on these ones (they tasted the best).

We also went to Wexford – we didn’t stay with Mammó this time because it was a full house but we stayed in a lovely hotel instead. I don’t think Mum and Dad will be rushing back to a hotel with me in the same room. I just love when I wake up in the middle of the night and see them in the room with me. Surely they understand that even if it is 5am, as far as I’m concerned its playtime.

Other highlight was my birthday. We had a great day. We went to the zoo in the morning – Nanna and Pa, Lisa, Ella, Riodhna, Jill, Mum and Dad. It was a pity that it rained a bit but we still enjoyed it and had a break in the café when it was too wet to be outside. Then in the afternoon we had a party. All the family (except Mammó who was in Italy on holidays) and Emma, Sophie and Christopher came over. We opened all my great presents and had cake (well I didn’t have cake but everyone else did).

I love being 1. I’m now in the wobbler room in the crèche. I was sorry to leave Tana, Sarah and Claire in the baby room, but I still see them sometimes. Anyway Jenny and Andrea are great at looking after me too. I don’t get into a high chair for my food anymore. Instead we all sit down at the table and eat. And I have snacks that I feed myself. Also we all have our nap at the same time and sleep on little camp beds in the room instead of going into cots in a special room. All my old friends from the baby room are now in the wobbler room too so we have great fun. I hug them all quite a lot, which is fairly easy cause lots of the boys can’t walk yet so they can’t escape from me when I go to hug them.

Busy Walking

Again, its been a while since I blogged. I think its mainly because mum hasn’t been taking very many photos recently and also she’s been a bit out of sorts, but she seems to be in better form the last few days so hopefully her good form is here to stay. As usual I’ve been pretty busy. I’m now the oldest baby in the crèche baby room so I’m showing all the other boys and girls what to do. A lot of my friends (Daniel, Dylan, Daragh, Jamie, Rebecca and Can) have all moved to the wobbler room, but I still get to see them for a while in the mornings and I’ll probably be moving into the wobbler room in a few weeks time (after my first birthday). For the first time there are more girls than boys in the baby room so that’s a nice change.

There are 2 pieces of big news – the first one is that Nanna and Pa have come to visit. Its great to have them around, because there is nothing that I like more than getting lots of attention and I’m sure you can imagine how good it is to have a 1:4 child:adult ratio in our house. They haven’t been here that much but they are due back from their tour around Germany, Austria and some other places on Tuesday so they’ll be around for a couple of weeks then.

The other big news is that I’m walking. I’m pretty sturdy on my feet. I do lots of independent walking in the crèche but at home I tend to hold on to things more (like the sofa) but that’s just because in our house there’s always something nearby to hold on to. We went to the Clark’s shop in Dundrum today and I got my first pair of proper shoes. I love them. They are the same as my friend Rebecca’s so we obviously have the same great taste!

There have been lots of parties recently – all the Dunphys went to Ross's for a lovely lunch for Mammó's birthday (Brenda's a great cook), the crèche was 1 year old so we had a party and Rebecca was also 1 year old and I went to a party in her house. Its my birthday in 2 weeks and I hear whisperings that we might go to the zoo. Also we’re off to Wexford next weekend – we’re staying in a hotel. I haven’t stayed in a hotel in ages (since we were in Australia) so I’m looking forward to that.

Will post again after my birthday with all the news and some photos.

Teeth and Handbags

As usual I’ve been pretty busy since I last blogged. The main story has to be my new teeth. I think Mum and Dad were convinced that I’d never get any teeth and 2 weeks ago I got 6 in the space of 10 days. I had a pretty miserable week or so because I had suspected chicken pox (doctor wasn’t able to confirm), I got my first 6 teeth (2 on the bottom & 4 on the top) and I had a really bad cold & cough so I was a bit out of sorts, which included waking up every night for a feed. Anyway you’ll be glad to know that I’m feeling much better now.

We went to Wexford to stay with Mammó for the long weekend at the begining of August. We had great fun – the house was very busy as Jill, Mark, the cats, Ross and Brenda all came to stay too. Of course this meant that I got lots of attention which I love (and Mum and Dad got a bit of a break). We went to visit the Doyles. I met baby Roisín who is only 3 weeks old. She is so tiny, so I had to be very gentle with her, although seeing as she has 2 older brothers I don’t think she’ll ever get too much peace and quiet.

My new ‘thing’ at the moment is a handbag. I just love carrying one around, especially when I’m walking around. I even had mum’s shopping bag around my neck today. I generally like to sling my bag over my arm. I think Dad is a little bit worried about having 2 handbag fans in the house and to be honest I don’t blame him (especially as I’m sure Mum is due a new one soon). I’m walking so much at the moment. My party trick is to stop and take my hands off my walker for a couple of seconds just to prove that I can balance on my own. It’s funny because up until the weekend when no-one was looking I was able to sneak up the first couple of steps on the stairs now there’s this awful gate that means I can’t do that anymore.

Summer weather has been just ok. The last week or so has been nicer than July which was the wettest in years (I'm told). Whenever its dry we do tend to get out for a nice walk in the park but I'm not great at keeping my sun-hat on. Its been pretty humid though which should help prepare me for the humidity in Brisbane at Christmas! I had a lovely time on Saturday with Ella & Ríodhna. We stayed over in their house on Saturday so they could mind me when Mum & Dad went out. There's lots for me to look forward to at the moment - we're all going to Ross's next weekend for dinner. All the Dunphys invite themselves once a year to his house and this year its just in time for Mammó's birthday. We're expecting a great feed this year. Then a couple of weeks later my Nanna and Pa are arriving. I can't wait to spend some time with them especially as I now have so many tricks to show them. Roll on September!

Summer Clothes

Well its all about clothes at the moment. Mum went shopping to get some clothes for herself to go back to work and I got some lovely new clothes too. I got some lovely yellow leggings that I can wear with my Noosa t-shirt that I got from Nana and Pa.

Since my last update I’ve started crèche full-time and I’m doing really well. All the people are very nice. Generally Dad drops me off and Mum picks me up. Mum’s pretty relieved that I’m not pulling the hair of any of the other children (I’m reserving that for mum). Instead I tend to kiss all my friends in the baby room. After a few initial teething problems I’m now eating all my lunch and snacks and also having a morning and afternoon nap. However I’m not too keen on taking my bottle from the girls in the crèche. Tana is lucky if I take 2 half bottles from her and often I only take 1 half bottle. I’m just keeping everyone on their toes – I’m used to having my bottle in my nice quiet bedroom at home and there really is too much going on in the crèche for me to waste time taking my bottle. On the plus side the girls always tell mum that I’ve been in great form when she comes to collect me.

It’s been lovely and sunny here for the last few weeks so I’ve got to wear all my nice summer clothes. Aunty Jill has been very busy making me a lovely new yellow sundress with matching bloomers. It’s definitely my favourite dress because it has a little teddy in the front pocket. I think you’ll agree that I look pretty good wearing it.
Mum went away to be pampered last weekend for a night with her friends. Jill came over to mind me for a couple of hours on Saturday morning until Dad came home from golf so Mum was able to leave. I had great fun playing with Jill and having my lunch with her. Dad and I had great fun so mum reckons that means she can go away on her own again!

Busy Busy

Well its been a busy couple of weeks since we came home from holidays. I’ve been in great form as my ear hasn’t been hurting me and I’ve been enjoying hanging out with Mum and Dad. My cousin (first-cousin once removed) Matt came to visit from London. He was a great visitor who played with me lots and in return I gave him some of my great scrunch-up-my-nose smiles.

Also I got my first pair of shoes. I’m crawling lots, especially on my mat which isn't as slippy as the wooden floor and pulling myself up quite a lot and then slipping on the wooden floors so the shoes should give me a bit of grip. Let’s face it, they’re no Louboutins but a girl has to start somewhere. Also as you can see they don’t match all my outfits – I look a bit like ‘Ugly Betty’ (for those of you not familiar with Ugly Betty she wears highly patterned mismatching clothes) but there’s a recession so its one pair of shoes at a time for me (it’s a pity Mum doesn’t subscribe to that philosophy but I'm begining to understand that there's a different set of rules for adults and children). Mum thinks I might be teething cause I’m smacking my lips. However Mum thinks that I’ve been teething since Christmas and I still don't have any teeth so considering I'm 8 and a half months she’s bound to get the teething prediction right sooner or later.

This week is a big one for me as I’m starting in the crèche and mum goes back to work next week. Both Mum and I are pretty relaxed about it so fingers crossed it will all be fine. I was there for 2 hours today and was fine most of the time. I got a little upset at one point but that's just because it got very noisy and I'm not used to noise. But the lovely girls, Sarah and Tana, who will be looking after me took care of me and I was fine. There are 6 boys (Daragh, Dylan, Daniel, Charlie, John & I can't remember the other boys name) and Rebecca (my friend from up the road) in my room so no wonder it was a bit noisy. Anyway I'm a great hair-puller so I've no doubt that I'll be able to fit in and stand up for myself once I get settled.

Hello

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged. We’ve been enjoying the last 6 weeks just hanging out doing the usual things that a 8 month old does – going for walks in the park, playgroups, baby yoga, swimming, clapping hands and crèche gym. I went to a music session in the National Concert Hall with Mum and Dad and we all had a great time playing with the baby instruments and singing.

I’ve been a little out of sorts the last few weeks. I haven’t been sleeping very well at night. Poor Mum and Dad have not been happy because they are both quite tired as they really aren’t used to night-time wakening and of course they were worried about me. Mum has been giving me Teetha and ice cubes for my teeth but I’ve tried to tell her that there’s nothing wrong with my gums. I had a bad cold last week and Mum brought me to the doctor just to be sure that it was nothing more serious. Anyway, it all came to a head on Saturday afternoon when Dad noticed lots of blood around my ear. Mum & Dad brought me to the weekend doctor and he told them I had a perforated eardrum. Much worse than it sounds but suffice to say I’m far better now. I’m in great form, sleeping better, moving around lots (nearly crawling) and bouncing like a mad thing. I don’t think it will be too long before some teeth put in an appearance.

The highlight of the last few weeks has been my latest holiday. I know it seems as if I’m always on holiday – blame Mum & Dad they’re holiday mad! We went on a Dunphy family excursion to Blanes on the Costa Blanca. We had a really early flight on the Saturday morning but luckily Mammó let me sleep on her on the plane (We were like the Griswalds on the 0640 from Dublin to Barcelona - all the Dunphys except Ross who was joining us from Malaga). We stayed in a lovely big house and everyone was really kind to me, especially my cousin Ríodhna . She loved getting up in the morning so she could play with me and she was always giving her ‘blankie’ to me, which I know means that she really loves me. Ella and Ríodhna were able to go out for dinner late some nights with all the adults but because I wasn't that well Mum & Dad wanted me in bed early so I missed out. However Mum and Dad did go out one night and Uncle Ross minded me. I was quiet as a mouse for him and only woke up when Mum & Dad got home.

We went to the beach, chilled out in the house, swam in the pool (well Ella swam lots but the water was a bit too cold for me given I haven’t been well), had barbeques, went on the swings and generally had a good time. So now the holiday is over Mum is on countdown - she's back to work at the end of the month. I'm quite excited because I'll be going to a creche 4 days a week. I've visited a few times and it seems really nice. I already know 2 of the other babies there - Rebecca who I do playgroup with and often go for a walk with on Thursday afternoons and Can whose Mum & Dad work with my Mum & Dad. I'm sure it will be a big change for all of us but its a new adventure for me so I just hope Mum won't be too upset to be leaving me. I'll keep up posted on my progress.

Home Safe and Sound

Well after all the travel I'm back home in Dublin. The last week has been pretty tough on all the family. I'm not sure what is wrong (mum calls it jetlag) but I've been waking at 3am, having a feed and then because I have not been feeling at all tired mum has had to bring me downstairs to play for a few hours. Of course I'm fine because I've been able to nap during the day but poor mum is exhausted. And Dad has been even more tired because he had to go to work. However that's all over & done with now and we're back to normal (except for the fact that I'm waking for a night feed).

The last week of my holiday was great but really very busy. We flew down to Adelaide and stayed with the Murphys. It was lovely there - not only was it warm during the day but it was nice and cool in the evening so we were all able to sleep really well. I went up to the Barossa Valley with Mum and Dad. Great Uncle Wayne joined us for lunch in Angaston and he also came to the wineries with us. It was great to meet him. I was very luck that I got to visit Rockfords (Dad's favourite winery).

I managed to take it easy for a couple of days and hang out with the Murphy boys. I also met Charlotte and Craig Dunstan who came over for dinner on 2 evenings. I then got to meet Great Uncle Geoffrey - he was very excited to see me and I had lots of great smiles for him (except for this photo where I was going for the sultry look).



Just when I started to get settled into life in Australia it was time for another big flight. After a long flight (during which I was very good), we spent 2 nights in Shanghai. Mum & Dad went out and Nan Bingham looked after me. I woke up while they were out and Nan was very kind to me. Then we flew home and as a treat we got upgraded on the last flight home. To be honest it didn't make much difference to me - the bassinet in business class is the same as the bassinet in economy but Mum & Dad looked very comfy on their flat beds.
Now that we're home I'm looking forward to a couple of weeks of taking it nice and easy and eating lots of food...

aDaDaDaDa

Its official - I'm talking. My first words are Da-Da (or aDaDaDaDa as I like to say). Dad's thrilled because I'm calling his name and mum's thrilled because I'm calling Dad's name so he has to respond and she gets a break. As well as this talking I'm still really busy with other activities

• playing with my feet, especially when I lie upside down and put my feet in the air like a beetle
• screeching
• smiling (of course)
• concentrating very hard on playing with toys (with 2 hands)
• eating - I'm having food 3 times a day (sometimes just a small amount but sometimes I have a big portion)

We're back in Bribie Island with all the family now. I'm having great fun and loving all the attention. Liam & I do lots of screeching and Joel is always giving me gentle hugs & kisses. Its still really hot here and I'm back to waking again once at night time, but its probably just because of the heat (would you manage to sleep soundly when its 28degrees?). I know mum's not worried because I was sleeping really well when I was in Tewantin. We've been pretty busy just hanging out - we went to the RSL for lunch on Saturday and Dan & Stella joined us - they are very nice. Our activities have been slightly hampered because of the rain. I thought I'd seen rain in Ireland but its nothing compared to Queensland rain (which is torrential and then combined with heat & humidity.
Nanna & Pa are leaving today. I'll be very sad to say good-bye but I'll see them again in September.
Off to Adelaide on Wednesday.

My Holidays - Part 1

[More photos to follow when I get home. Also sorry for the bad formatting - mum got fed up trying to format properly so decided to give up & just post]

Well if I am not one of the most travelled 5 1/2 month olds around, I don't know who is. I've been on holiday now for nearly 2 weeks and I'm loving every minute of it. My favourite activity is smiling, followed a close 2nd by laughing and screaching. And as for all the attention I'm getting I'm loving it. I suspect Mum is dreading getting home because it will be just her and me and I'll be scourging her for attention. So details so far are as follows:

Flew Dublin-London; London-Shanghai - I played for a while on the 2nd flight and then slept for 5 or 6 hours

Arrived in Shanghai to be welcomed at the airport by Steve, Grace & Mr Hu. We were just in time to celebrate Max's birthday (although I'm too young for cake) .

6 great days in Shanghai - after a shaky start on the first night when mum & dad tried to make me sleep even though I wasn't tired, I was a great baby. We did lots of walking around and the Chinese people loved me. Dad & I felt like movie stars with all the attention we were getting. They even took my photo. I was able to play with all Max's toys and Sapphire looked after me.

Flew Shanghai - Sydney which was a great flight as we left at 20:30 and I was alseep by 21:00 and slept until just before landing

We had a great weekend in Sydney meeting the Francforts, Douglas, Barbs & Nick (Barbs nearly ate me she loved me so much). On Sunday we had a picnic on the beach with the Weilings, Francforts, Simmons, Squires, Mussareds - I had a great time and was on best behaviour
Up to Queensland (it barely counts as a flight, it was so short) and I met my boy cousins. Had a great couple of days there except we couldn't swim in their pool as it wasn't warm enough. Again I had lots of toys to play with - Liam even lent his bouncer to me. Lots more love & attention here

Up to Tewantin to stay in Nanna & Pa's house for just over a week. I'm really enjoying it here - again lots of attention as well as some lovely swims in the pool.

My Christening

I was christened a few weeks ago. We had a great day. It started off a bit stressful for mum because I was in the early stages of my new reduced feeding phase. The christening started at 12:45 and I had my first feed of the day at 12! Luckily it was enough to keep me going throughout the ceremony.
There were 4 babies altogether and all of us were very good. I got a little 'antsy' towards the end, but dad just walked me around for a couple of minutes and I settled down.

All the Dunphy family were in attendance. They are well experienced in christening attendances thanks to Ella and Ríodhna. We're all in this photo except Uncle Paul who was the designated photographer.

We had a lovely lunch in Avoca afterwards and everyone was on their best behaviour. Then we went back to our house for christening cake. All-in-all a very successful day.

[As usual the photos link through to more photos]

On the go...

Its been a busy few weeks. The weather has been way better since I last blogged on the snow, although there were a few snow showers out of the blue today. Dad nearly froze on the golf course (we don't really have much sympathy for him as he gets to play golf every week).

I haven't been that well over the last few weeks. I was sick for the first time with a temperature over 38. Dad was in charge that night because mum was out at a fancy work dinner in the Four Seasons . Her old project was nominated for an eGovernment award but they were beaten by the Livestock Marts Online project (I don't understand how that could possibly be better than Car Dealers Change of Vehicle Ownership!). Anyway, Dad administered the Calpol (for the first time) and gave me lots of love and attention and I was fine.

I haven't been feeding that well. Mum was pretty worried about me but I think she now understands that I just don't need to feed for as long as I used to. However I have started to wake up during the night (something mum & dad are not used to) because I've had a bad cold and I'm also teething quite badly. Mum has started to give me a little bit of food because she thinks I'm nearly old enough. She's worked out the secret is to mix the fruit & veggies with baby rice to get me used to the new tastes.

As you can see I'm loving my new 'Jumperoo' and also the ring that I borrowed from Carrie who is too big to use it now. However, I'll be taking a break from it for a while because I'm going on holidays. Mum & Dad have the suit cases down from the attic and they've started to pack. All the summer clothes are out. I can't believe we're going to Australia where the sun is shining all the time. I've never really been somewhere warm. I can't wait, especially as I'm going to me all my Rickard relations...yay !

Snow Snow Everywhere

While the Australians are experiencing record temperatures, bushfires and floods its been snowing here in Ireland. According to our neighbour John, the last time the snow was this bad was 1982. Obviously I have to take his word for it because this is my first winter. All I know is that it was very cold and we spent a lot of last week at home (instead of out gallivanting like we usually do).
The snow lasted over a week but we did manage a nice walk in Marley Park last Saturday. Dad did a good job not to fall over while pushing me over the icy path. Marley looked like a winter wonderland, but mum forgot to bring the camera (she was too busy worrying about getting to the farmers market to get her Saturday treat of a caramel slice) so we've no photographic evidence.

We went down to our cousins to watch the Ireland v. France rugby game. Apparently Ireland beat France for the first time in 8 encounters, but as you can see I wasn't too bothered, I was just happy to hang out with Jill, Mark, Ella and Ríodhna.

This week has been pretty busy especially because we had to catch up on so many activities that we didn't manage to do last week.

• I got my 4 month injections today. I was meant to get them on Monday but my temperature was too high so the nurse wouldn't give them too me. And it turns out the reason it was so high was not because I was sick but because mum had me all bundled up in a snow suit, a woolly hat and blanket!
• We went to the Chinese embassy to apply for my holiday visa.
• I went to the gym creche again. This time I got a little upset because the nice girls didn't realise that I don't like lying down on the ground. I'm far to nosy for that. I like to sit (slouch) up so I can see what's going on
• I went to my playgroup and baby massage. I'm making lots of new friends.
  

We're off to Wexford for the weekend. Mum can't wait cause she knows Mammó will look after us, she'll have to do no cooking and she'll get a bit of a break while Mammó spends lots of time with me.
[Click on any of the photos and you'll link to all my 2009 photos]

My First Swim

I had another busy week. Besides sitting at home with mum, taking photos of ourselves (it was a wet week so mum didn't want to bring me out too much), we did all these activities

• went to babysensory class (its an organised playgroups)
• went to baby massage, although I missed out a bit on some of the massage because I wanted to sit up and watch all the other babies instead of lying down gazing at mum while she massaged me (like my mum & mammo I'm pretty nosey)
  
• had a check-up with the public health nurse - I'm now 6.5kg (over 1 stone) and 62 cm.
• got my Australian citizenship certificate. Dad's just filled out the Aussie passport application form & Paula has kindly validated my photo, so I should have 2 passports within a few weeks
  

We only had a couple of walks because we were either too busy or it was too wet. I also had a pretty big weekend. Mum & dad had 7 people over for dinner last night. I obliged by going to bed 10 mins before the first guests arrived and there wasn't a peak out of me all night.
Today was the highlight of the week - we went swimming this afternoon. Even though it wasn't the peak busy period in the gym, there were still a good few children in the pool. It was quite noisy but I didn't get upset at all. I did lots of splashing around (dad regretted putting his contact lens in as I kept splashing water in his eyes) and was very content. I've still to decide whether or not I'll swim for Australia or Ireland. I might have more chance of making the Irish swim team. I can't wait to go again. After all I need to get some practise in before swimming in Nanna & Pa and Lee & Renae's pools in Queensland.
As usual, I have a big week of activities ahead. However, there is snow forecast which may hamper us slightly, but on the positive side I'm looking forward to seeing snow. More photos next week (or so mum says).....

Zurich

This week has been pretty exciting, I took my first trip on an airplane. As you can see, I took to it like a duck to water. Thankfully I had my lovely tracksuit to wear, which was the perfect travelling attire. I even got my own boarding pass. I was very good, chilling out in the lounge before the flight. I was fine on take-off, but was a little upset on the descent because my ears were hurting me.


We spent a lot of time indoors just chilling out - I noticed that mum and dad seemed to be eating a lot - I think this always happen when they go to Zurich, because of the great food & wine they always have. Rory has 2 baby seats, so I was able to use one. The seats she has are called Tripp Trapp and mum couldn't believe that I could sit in it already. Luckily she's already ordered one for me, which I should be getting in the next couple of weeks.


I got to see my first snow in Zurich. The views from the plane of the snow covered Alps were great. It hadn't snowed in about 10 days but there was still plenty of snow in Wallisellen which is where Margo, Simon and my friend Rory live.
We went into Zurich on Saturday afternoon and on Sunday we had a lovely walk around Wallisellen and to the next village Opfikon (a pretty typical Swiss village) and stopped off for a Gluhwein.

I've got a pretty bad cold at the moment, but I'm still sleeping okay. I have a runny nose and am a little bit out of sorts. I'm sleeping lots and mum is keeping me well wrapped up, so hopefully I'll be better in the next couple of days.

Brown Eyed Girl

Well its finally happened...the public health nurse noticed last week that my eyes are brown. Given how much I look like dad, everyone predicted that my eyes would turn brown, so I guess they were right!

Mum and Dad sent out 'Thank You' cards for all the lovely presents that I got from friends and family. I'm pretty relieved that they finally got around to it, because I was a bit embarrassed meeting people in Wexford over Christmas knowing that they had given me a present but that we hadn't sent cards.
Other than that it was the usual busy week with lots of walks in Marley and we visitied Emma, Sophie and Christopher, as usual.
On Saturday we had a big outing to Katie Tilly's christening. She was very good the whole time, so I'm hoping that I'll be that good when it comes to my christening. We went and had some drinks and food afterwards and I was very good and even took a bottle in a really noisy room.
This week is very eventful. I had my first experience away from family today. Mum left me in the gym creche for half an hour today - it was just a familiarisation session. Next week she'll leave me for an hour so that she can go to a class. Mum spent the half an hour having a smoothie, worrying about me and stopping herself from collecting me early. I had a great time chilling out. I didn't cry and I even smiled at the nice girls minding me, so I don't mind going back there again. Mum's plan is for me to go to the gym creche for 1 hour a week until she goes back to work, which I think is a good idea.
We're off to Zurich on Friday. I'm pretty excited about my first flight and of course meeting my friend Rory. Hopefully I'll also meet Taj McKinnon - he was born 2 days before me and his parents are Australian so we're sure to have lots to talk about, especially as he's already been to Australia so he can tell me what to expect for my trip in March.