The 1000 watt smile

Now her Mad-esty has decided to stop crying so much, Matt and I while away the hours in which we used to be asleep / out drinking /going to the cinema by trying to make her smile. The fact that eliciting a grin from her is still as unpredicatable as the English weather makes the game all the more compelling.

Here's one we made earlier:

And it's really quite exhausting work:

Camera-less, so reading more

Down at Heatherfield this weekend, but a flat camera battery means no photos of her Mad-esty. Boooo,

But there was a very funny article in today's Guardian about new fatherhood, aptly titled Man with a pram. Some wonderfully observed comments from the author Danny Wallace about becoming a corporal in 'Dad's Army', my favourite being just how different dad-ship is today:

"We are perfectly aware that our dads were dads too. The crucial difference is that they were always dads. They were born, then they were dads, and there was nothing in between, just enough to fill a couple of old photographs in which they're wearing too-short shorts or have weird hair. "

Maternity leave activity

Post natal pilates today at the New York Pilates centre. The instructor held the noise box for most of the session while I spent an hour lamely attempting to achieve a pre-pregnancy figure. A workout and a babysitter all for fourteen quid, though. A bargain by anyone's standards.

Showdown on Clapham Common

At a picnic on Clapham Common today, Madeleine met Jay Whiteley (Euan & Harriet's nephew), a strapping young boy who was perfectly charming towards her.

But on finding out that she was (a) 24 hours older than Jay and (b) still not even Jay's birth weight (an impressive 10lb 8oz), Madeleine threw a bit of a wobbly, precipitating an early exit from an otherwise delightful afternoon.

An early - but important - lesson that you can't always be the biggest / best / cleverest [insert adjective].

Gender stereotyping

Kate going to Bikram Yoga yesterday morning, meant that I was once again in charge of wardrobe.

While Madeleine and I were very happy with the where we ended up (below) there were murmurings from within the camp that she looked rather like a little boy.

I can't see it myself.

Behind the scenes

Hot off the press from yesterday's shoot: the little princesses get grouchy with their stylists.

Tsch tsch. What prima donnas - and at such a young age.

Maxing and relaxing

Madeleine and Martha hanging out in Queens Park:

Not literally hanging - that's just the way Kate took the photo.

It is easier on the neck muscles if I flip it:

Pushy Mums

A statement of intent?

Kate has just signed up for Pushy Mothers.

I pity Maddie.

The Big Sleep

Henceforth, the night of Monday 17th May 2010 shall been known as the 'The night of the long sleep'.

Although not strictly true for Kate or me, Madeleine slept all the way through from the end of her last feed at 11.30pm until 6.45am - a whopping 7 and a quarter hours.

Needless to say Kate still woke up at 4.30am, expecting Madeleine to have done the same and therefore panicking about why she hadn't.

And for some inexplicable reason, I didn't put my earplugs in. Which I'm even more gutted about in light of the aforementioned 'long sleep', given I still got woken up - only this time, it was by Kate.

The most expensive breast pump in the world

One Sunday back at the end of March, we popped over to Camden see our friends Simon & Sato, and their one year old, Kai.

We parked on a single yellow line outside their flat and spent a lovely hour talking through the intricacies of the Philips Avent breast pump, which Sato was kindly lending to Kate.

At the end of the afternoon, we came back to a car-shaped space where we had parked, but alas, no car.

Much huffing and puffing, a trip to the pound in Kentish Town, and a letter to Camden Council later, we found out yesterday that our 'representations against the removal of a vehicle' have been rejected.

It was worth a try.

But it does mean that the 'free' breast pump has in fact cost us £260 - surely the most expensive breast bump in the world?

Dressed by daddy

And I think I did a darn good job.

A properly colour-coordinated t-shirt / sock combo and everything:

Eat your heart out, Gok Wan.

Important milestones

Yesterday was our maiden trip to a proper pub (some 6 weeks after our first, traumatic effort at eating out) and Madeleine played it pretty cool.

Unashamed cuteness plug

I know I've posted one of these bear suit shots previously, but it never fails to bring a smile to my face when Kate sends me photos like at work:

Right. Self-indulgent dad moment has now passed.

Clash of the cousins

We've just had Uncle Richie, Auntie Laura and cousin Alex down for a long weekend.

Initially, joint photo opps proved difficult:

But they soon got used to each other, and were even comfortable enough to share a bath (although Alex was more than a little jealous of Madeleine's bath throne):

Jackanory

Kate and I take it in turns to read Eric Carle's classic The Very Hungry Caterpillar to Madeleine:

These photos do NOT show Madeleine enjoying Kate's recounting of the story more than mine.

What they in fact show is that the person behind the lens of the camera in the bottom photo, is far more entertaining than the story being read out.

Back in the day

When I was young, and Madeleine was even younger:

We're loving the Hipstamatic app on Kate's iPhone. It makes photos look instantly dated but strangely glamorous at the same time. Even if everything is decidedly pink here.

Hello Boys

This week Kate took Madeleine to visit Wenda and her 5-week old twins, Kitty & Jack.

No sooner had Madeleine been seated on her host's cream leather Eames Vitra chair, she started trying to catch Jack's eye with her recently perfected 'coy smile' and 'seductive playing with lock of hair above the ear' move:

Disclaimer: no parental posing of body parts involved. Which is even more worrying.