There is another picture from today that now I have printed it out I can't help but post it up as well... isn't she a lovely smiler!!!

Fidget is 6 weeks old today, you know the drill by now... more pictures of her looking cute. Today for her photo session she was very smiley indeed, so here are a few of the best...

As she gets so excitable about her mobile we decided to buy Fidget a baby gym (with some of the money she was kindly sent), we choose a rainforest one with a butterfly mobile and musical cat type thing (no identifiable species!). Here She is getting used to her new friends ....

Yesterday we had a visit from an old friend (R) and her two lovely kids. It was a really nice day getting to have a good chinwag and Fidget having some other small people to stare at. R very kindly brought us some home cooked meals to go in the freezer (one of which we have already snaffled and was delicious!) she also took Fidget out to the park while I got some sleep, which officially makes her a staR!!!

Fidget is 5 weeks old today, so for today's birthday picture she is wearing some of her swanky new clothes that she was very kindly given. They are 3-6 months but not a bad fit already. The jeans look rather funky with the turn-ups - just like mum's. And I do like that shade of yellow, so much so that I decided to join Fidget and put on my yellow cardigan!

With our outfits coordinated we decided to hit the highstreet where Fidget could try out her first hoodie. I think she looks rather sweet, but I get the feeling she's planning something cheeky...

Fidget's skin is now clearing up, which is really good to see...

But our afternoons and evenings are getting into a routine where she is very fractious, thinking she wants to feed where it is really just wind, this understandably, puts her in a very bad mood. It will be alot easier when she is old enough just to take some Rennie, but in the meantime at least there are cute photo oportunities of her in her favourite winding position.

Little Fidget has been playing with one of the toys she received. It is a wooden rattle, that when placed in her hand she grasps and uses to up the damage factor on what she smacks, so we have to make sure that is not her head!

We measured her length today, which was 55cm which is pretty long already, she is almost grown out of 0-3 month clothes, but looks very skinny in 3-6month stuff. She is certainly a long slim bundle. We worked out from the notes in her baby progress book that based on our heights she ought to end up with a height in the 99th percentile!! No pressure baby!!

A busy weekend finished off by a walk round the park, where M got to try out the baby bjorn.

Today Fidget has reached the ripe old age of one month...can you beleive it already! The health visitor weighed her today and she is 8lb 12oz.

So to celebrate, M and I had a very nice meal with a pair of belgian buns after, Fidget was unable to partake in the buns, but was happy that she would be getting something that looked similar later on.

Fidget has been enjoying reading her book today, it is a classic tale of how much mummy and daddy love their baby, I'm not sure if it is because Fidget identifies with the main character of Baby or the bright patterns but she sure is fascinated!

We have also been for a wander round the garden today to look at what is growing. The runner beans are coming on well and amazingly have not been affected by blackfly, we are starting to get some tomatoes and the peas continue to provide even if they are growing wildly across the paths. We are also enjoying the potatoes, onions and garlic which M is creating into marvellous dishes in his new swanky kitchen.

Had a visit from Grandma and Grandad Challis yesterday which kept Fidget well entertained... she is getting much smilier day by day and we are now sure the smiles are not just wind (of which she does have plenty!). One of her favorite smiley things is to try to smack the animals on her musical mobile as they go round next to her changing table, maybe it means she'll be a vet or conservationist or possibly a circus ringmaster!

Yesterday Fidget was 3 weeks old...can you see any difference from last week?

Today has been a very succesful day with our first outing as the family Challis, we went into Bristol, managed to have lunch, feed and change her, have a nice time and come home without drama! Hurrah, here's to many more expeditions ahead, and many thanks to the nice people at Pizza Express.

I know that with the arrival of Fidget, the updates on the kitchen are not really of much interest, but last weekend M and his dad got the extractor fan and lights in, and then on Wednesday and Thursday the kitchen and bathroom floors went in...

This evening Fidget has been having a workout, we put her on her front and she has been lifting her head up, unfortunately my camera work was not quick enough to capture the impressiveness of her press-ups, but hopefully you get the idea!

Fidget is two weeks old today! The midwife has just been and says that she has put on a pound already! Well done Fidget!!

well there has been a bit of a break in posts, this is because mini-challis was born on Friday 13th at 5:01am weighing 7lb 1oz. she is perfect and doing very well. She now feeds well and is a very calm baby, not making a fuss over bathtimes, being changed and is really rather polite when making it known she needs feeding (as long as i respond quick enough!). Her dad calls her Fidget, which is very appropriate especially when it comes to feeding.

Little Fidget would like to thank everyone for all the cards presents and flowers.

No sign of mini-Challis as yet, so I have been busying myself. We have quite a glut of blackcurrents and gooseberries (in addition to the bowlfull of blueberries available every other day). I have made a gooseberry jam, M has made two delicious gooseberry crumbles. We have tried a gooseberry smoothie which was delicious, and a blackcurrent and blueberry smoothie which was less succesful (wow it was tart!).

So a further endeavour was made to use the blackcurrents yesterday when i made a blackcurrent cheesecake (+ some little cheesecake and blueberry blobs with the leftover cheese-mix). Perhaps a rather extravagent requirement for additional ingredients over and above the blackcurrents, but it is indeed delicious!!

just wanted to post up this unnessasary bit of extra detail, a comparison of our old mouldy fridge (in which we found an elk sausage from 2004 and lard from 2003!!!!!) and our new spanky fridge with lovely nutricious stuff in it.... can you spot the difference...

Hope this works - trying out the new webcam today for some entertainment - boy it's a tough life on maternity leave.

More progress in the kitchen, M plumbed in the sinks and the gas man came to connect up the hob. So we have been able to get rid of the grubby sink unit and gas cooker, it was almost a pleasure to do the washing up in the utility sink with hot and cold water available! (Still a bit more work needed to support the main sink).

M was able to cook us up a nice meal on the new hob, and I contributed by bringing in the first crop of peas from the garden.

I also brought in the first crop of blueberries and redcurrants, which was scrummy with our breakfast.

OK, the chaps have now finished, so I have been able to take some more detailed shots of how the worktop is looking...

It is really exciting, it looks so neat and clean, should be getting the hob in tomorrow and the sinks plumbed in at the weekend. We should get the rest of the appliances next week which will mean the kitchen will be done bar the splashbacks and floor!!

Today the worktops are going in, the work is currently in progress as I type...

more updates to come I am sure...

I have now had my new laundry station in place for a few days...

which is marvellous, just in time for the arrival of mini-Challis. We have also just got a new camera in readyness to record mini-Challis moments, so it has taken a few days of playing before being ready to download these pictures.