Re-enacting that scene from ET

I promise I had absolutely nothing to do with this. It was all Daddy's work.

Hidden talent

So I overheard Paul singing this to Lola yesterday to the tune of Estelle's American Boy:

Take me to the bedroom, put me in my cot
Lay me in the nursey while you clean my bot
I really want you
To play Raffi Track 2
While I play in the bath with my toy
The bath with my toy

Take me to the garden where I squint my eyes
Place me on the playmat with the butterflies
I really want you
To play Raffi Track 2
While I play in the bath with my toy
The bath with my toy

He's wasted in the television industry.

First trip up North

The first trip to our home towns of Lincoln and Skipton was a roaring success. Lola very much enjoyed meeting (clockwise from top left) Great Great Aunty Mary, Great Grandma Stevie, Great Granddad Bob and Fergus and Finlay Prone

A warm welcome to the gorgeous Theo Lightly...

...and Lola's future husband I like to think :-)

Huge congratulations to Solveig, Adrian and Frejya on the stunning new arrival to their burgeoning family. He's just perfect!

Paul's first words when we received the news were "F**k tradition, we're splitting the cost of the wedding".

Lunch date with Lily

Here's Lola with her friend Lily. OK, so they're struggling to focus on each other at the moment but it won't be long till they're playing together happily and keeping each other amused, I'm sure. Thanks to you both for behaving very well and letting Rachel (Lily's Mum) and I enjoy a meal at the Honor Oak.

A bit of sleep

Last night, after seven exhausting and unsettled nights of Lola waking around every hour, she decided to do her Mum and Dad a favour and sleep for one three-hour and two two-hour stints. After feeding she settled pretty much straight away. I woke up feeling like a new person and ready to face the (snowy) day. Thank you our darling daughter – we love you more and more each day!

People tell you how tiring the newborn stage is – and you think about times that you've been tired before and multiply it by 100 – but in reality, you're still not quite there. I truly believe this is why you love your children so much. If you didn't, you'd just get too damn knackered and put them out with the bins on a Wednesday.

The Brandt-Parks

Today saw a visit from Will and Lucy. Here they are with Lola – complete with Will's new beard which makes him look pretty hot. And a bit like this bloke out of 300.

First night out

An important night for the Arsenal, we decided to head up to the Blyth Hill Tavern and watch the Emirates leg of the Champions League match against Liverpool. While it wasn't the best result for us with Liverpool scoring a crucial away goal, we had an absolutely marvellous time. I did feel like a bit had dropped off me at first. I did spend most of the time talking about Lola to our pub aquaintances (to be fair on me, they did ask) but it was really good to get out. And Nan and Granddad obviously relished the opportunity to have Lola to themselves for a couple of hours.