A couple of things have happened recently that made me feel I was taking another step to dadhood.1. We went around to a friend of my wife's and without asking (or thinking), I picked up their son and gave him a cuddle. My wife looked at me strangely, I woke up like out of a daze and sheepishly retreated from dadhood to manhood and went off in search of a beer.2. Last week an old work colleague brought their baby to the office and (again without thinking), I got up and went to have a look.... Read Full Story

A few days ago my daughter was in hospital with a temperature that was way too high. She was in a real state, and had her parents panicked and the doctors puzzledNow, three days later, she's back to her bouncy self.It's like nothing happened.Except that her parents can remember.As far as she's concerned, it might as well never have happened. But I keep looking at her sideways, when we think she's not noticing us. I'm trying to see if she lets her guard down, to see if this... Read Full Story

It's been seven months of prettty easy sailing so far, I guess it had to happen sooner or later. On Monday night I was leaving work and got the dreaded call to hurry home, my wife was concerned about Sophie.Sophie is never ill, there's the odd bump when she suddenly forgets how to sit, or is too ambitious with the crawling, but never anything serious.Until now.I knew something was wrong when I came home and instead of the frantic wiggling and giggling I get each night when I open the ... Read Full Story

I came home last night to find we'd hit another milestone, Sophie had worked out how to crawl.Well, not exactly how to crawl, but she had an idea about how a baby might be able to move across a rug. Like a jigsaw puzzle, she has all the parts and it's only a mattter of time before she puts them together in the right order.One arm forward.Then the other arm.Or was it the leg?No, pretty sure it was the arm.Or both arms?Oh dear, that doesn't feel right.Splat.etc.It's so hard to w... Read Full Story

I think Sophie knew something was up as she was carried to her brand new, sparkling white Ikea highchair.It was a suspicious look she gave me, but as she sat there banging her spoon I was optimistic that there might be a chance of her trading in Mum's breast for pureed carrot, sweet potato or parsnip. Not the smartest of trades, not one I would have made, but then she was only a baby, and who knows how they think. Maybe my wife and my combined 70 odd years of experience could outwit her... Read Full Story

With the six month mark having passed us by and our travel calendar (consisting of a six-month best of two weekends away in a row) now cleared, my wife and I made the decision to train young Sophie in the art of sleeping by herself.Up until now, her sleeping cycle has consisted of being rocked and jiggled to sleep over 2-3 hours in about every room of the house as we worked on the principle that she liked moving around - after all, falling asleep in the pushchair was never a problem.However, ... Read Full Story

Last weekend it was Yorkshire, this weekend we've come back from a plane trip to visit friends in Sweden - from not having left the house for the last couple of months, we've turned into social animals.But it was a different type of social.Last time we caught up with them, the talk was about old friends and drinking. This time, the conversation was kids, kids, kids. Our friends have a 12 month old, so we got to see first hand some of what is coming, and for the most part it was good, ... Read Full Story

We've just got back from three days in Yorkshire visiting my sister in law, three of the wettest summer (or winter) days I've had in a long time. Arriving in the station, it was about 30 seconds before I had someone call me "duck". I think the ducks were more in their element that us - they have waterproof feathers, we had to dig out the raincoats.We felt sure the time was right to leave London, Wimbledon had been fairly dry and tradition said it was due for a drenching, but... Read Full Story

I've just looked at the last blog entry and it's been over a month since I last wrote something, so it's time to get back on the horse.I'm starting to realise again that life goes on regardless and that I need to take some time out occasionally to note some of the funny things that are constantly happening as my daughter grows up.At the time, they're "just one of those things" but over the months (and maybe even the years if my typing finger stands up to it) I... Read Full Story

One of the greatest moments of my life was introducing my daughter to my parents (she's their first grandchild and they've waited over 30 years). They've heard her on the phone and seen her on the webcam, but nothing compares to meeting in the flesh.Even over the few weeks we spent back with them she changed a lot - growing from someone who could fit in our overhead luggage compartment, to someone who, well, who would still fit, only not so well.Unfortunately I think my mother had... Read Full Story