The Plummer Clan

Where to even start? We've had visitors the past few days...

My own Nana and Grandad, Audrey's great grandparents, Bill and Norah Plummer.

And my Aunty Laura, Audrey's great-aunt, and her two daughters Sophie and Amy - my cousins.

It was so wonderful to see them, and a really special time when they met Audrey for the first time.

It doesn't seem like long ago that these two were Audrey's age. Now look at them at the grand old ages of 10 and 11.

We had such a great time together while they've been here, and I've got so many photos that I'll have to split this into a couple of posts! Family means so much to me, and to have this record of Audrey's first meeting with her second cousins, her great aunt and her great grandparents is very special. I know that I'll be looking back on this first meeting in the future with so much fondness and nostalgia.

Welcome to the family, Audrey Bea!

15 weeks

I had a great time last weekend working hard at the shelter while Ian looked after Audrey all day on both days. He took some pics of her being adorable:

I spoke to her on the phone while I was away, and apparently she really responded to the sound of my voice. Yay!

Oh she's so cute. Just look at that face. She's so responsive now, staring at things and playing with things and interacting so much with her surroundings. Absolutely precious.

She's starting to practice lifting herself up for crawling, too! Making all the right motions. And she can roll over onto her side pretty well now, but not all the way over without help.

We've had visits from Grandad Pop and Nana B this week.

We went on a trip to the vet, which is a place where I spend a lot of my time given my job! It was Audrey's first visit while "on the outside" - I was there a lot while I was pregnant and it was interesting to see her there where I had spent so much time before she was born.

Looking beautiful Audrey Bea!

Who you want to be

I'm running behind with the blog as we've had some difficult days this week with the teething. I can feel where one of her teeth is starting to come in now, and she's been very unhappy about it and not sleeping so well. Poor baby. It's difficult at times when she is so tired and has been crying for what feels like hours, when she won't be put down and she won't be comforted. At those times I hold her close and pace up and down the hallway for the hundredth time and I try to visualise in my head what kind of mother I want to be. Calm and patient and empathic and loving, above all loving, in the difficult times as much as in the easy, fun times. Especially in the difficult times. I remind myself that however bad it is for me, she's sure to be feeling worse. That she can't understand why she's hurting, that she can't communicate what's wrong in any other way, and that she needs her mum. I think about what a short time it is that she'll need me like this, and how soon I'll be wishing that she still did.

We spent last weekend at Nana and Grandad Thomson's house, and had a brilliant time. Audrey's first overnight trip!

I was surprised at how well she slept in the travel cot, as she's used to a swinging crib and a very set bedtime routine. It was definitely a big success! And she got to spend some lovely time with Nana...

And Grandad, who was wearing coordinating stripes!

She played helicopters with her dad.

And was entranced by the goldfish!

What an adventure!