My first trip to America and easily thee best memory I have from that trip (I was with Jamie!! The inlaws seemed to like me!! and I was in awe of everything I saw that day!! It was sooo brilliant we have that photo on our living room wall to remind me\us of the day!)

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Christmas Eve 2011

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Last night it was great to see real interaction between Grandma and the ‘Grandchildren’, both Reagan and Lincoln were really enjoying seeing “the funny lady” on the telly and smiled and laughed along with her as she made faces, talked to them and ‘cheersed’ for a couple of hours or more. It was especially nice seeing Lincoln smiling from ear to ear as Grandma made silly sounds and moved closer to the screen and then further away again which was really rewarding to see and hopefully as rewarding for Grandma too?

I think as they grow up Skype will be a superb way for the kids to have a relationship with Grandma Grandpa and Aunt Emily between visits.

Weebles wobble but the don’t fall down unlike Lincoln who definitely falls after a wobble!

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I was surprised but absolutely pleased as punch to be met with this seen after my shower tonight, because sometimes I know Jamie can have a tough day just looking after our two children so it was nice to see her being able to relax and enjoy being a mom with her kids asleep on her as she sleeps too!!!

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…and so the cutting begins! It slows the pace down because today I spent all afternoon cutting tiles and 35 minutes laying them. I moved the washer and took the end panel of the kitchen counter and laid tiles under there (as Ian Cox suggested although that was the plan anyway but I won’t tell him I will just allow him to think he saved me from years of washing machine movement misery!) and also laid as many half tiles under the counters as todays mix of adhesive would allow. Tomorrow I will be cutting more tiles and hopefully get enough cut to warrant mixing some more adhesive, we’ll see?

Every single night without fail I sit by Reagan’s bed and we read a story even if its just a couple of pages when I finish I always close the book and read the title of the book and point to the words on the cover. I then lay the book and tell her “I love her” to which she always stretches a little as if to say ‘I want a goodnight kiss!’ which for me makes my heart almost burst to know she loves me feels safe with me and before she goes to sleep she wants a comforting kiss from her dad…! Does it get better than that?

I then quickly tidy her towel and robe before turning on her classical relaxation CD that she has gone to sleep to since she was a few months old, finally I look her straight in the eyes and say “I love you, nanight” and turn the light off making the room pitch black then leave the room.

The cutest thing is Reagan now thinks lights are ‘Nanights’ and if you turn any light on or off she says ‘Nanight’

Wow I love being a dad!

Like everyone else Lincoln has “over” eaten during Christmas gaining 1lb 2oz of festive cheer! (LOL)

Reagan was weighed too, she was 31lbs today YAY!

Lincoln weight history:

05 Jan 2012 – 16lbs 10oz
15 Dec 2011 – 15lbs 8oz
08 Dec 2011 – 15lbs 1oz
01 Dec 2011 – 14lbs 4oz
24 Nov 2011 – 13lbs 14oz
17 Nov 2011 – 13lbs 8.5oz
09 Nov 2011 – 13lbs 0oz
02 Nov 2011 – 12lbs 7oz
27 Oct 2011 – 11lbs 9.5oz
20 Oct 2011 – 11lbs 0oz
13 Oct 2011 – 10lbs 7oz
06 Oct 2011 – 9lbs 6oz
27 Sep 2011 – 8lbs 8oz
17 Sep 2011 – 8lbs 11.5oz

We struggled with Lincolns sleeping on Tuesday night and both mommy and daddy did not sleep for more than an hour or so at a time taking it in turns to stay downstairs with him while the other tried to sleep. We are sort of used to this but because he is so much better nowadays and tends to improve gradually everyday it is a shock to the system when he takes a step back, that said I think he is just a baby struggling to get into a routine rather than ‘suffering’ from anything like reflux etc. The main issue at the moment is his feeding pattern throughout the night can be every hour and a half which exhausts Mommy but at the moment we have no supplement / alternative that suits him but we know we need to start doing something if hunger is the issue.

Anyway last night I decided that after Reagan went to bed I would take Lincoln downstairs allowing Jamie to go to bed and catchup on a bit of the sleep she missed over the last few nights. So at 20:30 Reagan was in her bed Jamie was asleep in our bed and Lincoln and me spent the next hour playing on the sofa and around 21:30 I fed him 4oz of expressed milk plus formula mix and he drifted off to sleep until 01:00

This proves he can sleep for over three hours at a time but it took keeping him awake from teatime until 21:30 and occupying his senses during that time until he is exhausted then filling him tick full just before he falls asleep. Hopefully we can get him to carry on sleeping like that by supplementing through the night because neither of us fancy “occupying his senses” in the middle of the night!

Mommy fed every hour and half again so I am sat here on the sofa with Lincoln again at 06:00 allowing Jamie a another couple of hours quality sleep before I have to go to work again.

Well I had a great Christmas and New Year but reality strikes and it’s back to work today 🙁 It will be a shame to leave Jamie and the kids because I have enjoyed every minute I feel very lucky! I think I have the best family in the world and love spending as much time together as we can doing ordinary things like the four of us playing together on the carpet in front of the fire or going for a walk. Christmas is lovely but I am glad its only once a year, Sundays on the other hand should be more frequent we always make special drip coffee and laze about all morning then regret wasting the morning lazing about playing with the kids and stuff, then potter getting the weeks chores done with very little effort.

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