Mum/Nan flew back to Perth yesterday and we all miss her very very much. She had a little stowaway in her suitcase who thought she was heading off to a new life in the Hakea Road zoo, but luckily I intercepted her and convinced her to stay near the milk supply for a little while longer ;)

We had really great time together, Sophs got to know her Nan and was immediately very comfortable and happy to be with her, and I feel as though I have been very much loved and cared for - my mum has mothered me as the new mum! The time just flew by, as I knew it would, but it's our turn for a visit early next year :)

Sophs has really taken to 'Snooky' which I bought in France when I was there earlier in the year, she cuddles up to him every night firmly clasped in her hands and mouth (mmm, tasty bear)!

Do you think my swimming goggles might be a bit big for Sophs?? I'd just like to add that Stu was responsible for this!

Nan's here! Mum arrived last week and Sophs is thoroughly enjoying spending time with her Nan, and spends every morning smiling and 'talking' with her and tracking her around the room. I can't believe how much my little girl has grown, looking at someone else holding her I can appreciate just how much she has grown over the past 3 months (12 weeks on Monday next week). She smiles, gurgles, coos, comes out with new sounds almost every day (today was a weird growling type sound!), tries hard to roll over but hasn't quite got it yet, and just hates lying down - sitting propped up gives her her favourite view of the world!

Alas I am not one of those mums whose baby sleeps through from an early age. Sophs is just finishing another growth spurt which meant feeds at 1am, 3am, 5am and 7am for the best part of week. Good thing she coincided it with Mum's visit! I'd forgotten a little bit how debilitating the chronic sleep deprivation can be (she had been feeding 11pm, 3 then 6am, which I was finding very do-able) and my run of the mill cold turned into a nasty chest infection and cough, which Sophs now has a touch of (which didn't help her sleeping). Trying to give liquid painkiller medicine to a baby to calm her cough so she can sleep is an interesting experience involving an element of baby torment - you either hover the milk supply nearby so the mouth is open and then shove the medicine in and then give the milk (cue screwed up expression 'oh my god this tastes ICK Mum!') or you wait until the mouth is open mid cry and then tip it in. Either way doesn't feel good. Hopefully she'll be at full health again soon.

We're doing our first overseas trip in November to a wedding in Dublin. We are treating ourselves to 2 nights in a 5 star hotel as well (after the last 3 months we deserve treating!). It will be interesting to see how Sophs goes on the plane, and I've been doing loads of reading on how to help with the ear pressure on taking off and landing. Luckily it's only a short flight!

This is Soph's favourite mode of transport so she can check the world out and loves flashing grins at chosen passersby! It's also her snooze machine, and if she's grumpy towards the end of the day I am almost guaranteed a sleeping baby within 10 minutes of being put against the warmth and motion of my body. The places she can sleep in never cease to amaze me - noisy shopping centres, on the tube, loud cafes or restaurants, she can be quite impermeable to noise when she's ready for a sleep! As long as she doesn't get overtired, that's a whole different story!

We were in a cafe today with Mum and I put Sophs over my shoulder to burp her post-feed and heard several exclamations from people behind me who were watching her cute 'I'm being burped and concentrating quite hard' expression. When they realised how young she is, the elderly man from the West Indies dug into his pocket and said 'let me give her a blessing with silver' and pressed a 50 pence piece into her hand, which she promptly dropped. Apparently in the West Indies this is one of the ways of welcoming and blessing a new arrival; if the baby drops the coin they will be generous and kind, but if they clutch onto it they'll be selfish and miserly! An Irish couple looked on in astonishment before joining in the conversation to reveal that this is also an Irish tradition! They then each dug out a silver coin and pressed it into Soph's little palm, and she promptly dropped each of their coins as well, much to their delight. It was such a lovely unexpected encounter with strangers, filled with warmth and kindness of spirit.

Random musings of a still-new Mum...

I used to change my top every time I got baby chuck on it. Now I wipe it, see how much is left and whether it will be noticeable when it dries. I usually leave it on!

I have discovered a hitherto unrealised talent of song writing - I can make up a song about anything to entertain Sophs ('this is the way we put on your sock, put on your sock, to keep your little feet warm; sleep sophia, time for sleep, safe in mummy's arms, safe in daddy's arms, sleep now sleep; Mr Giraffe is saying hello HI to his little friend HI') - ok, so I won't be winning any Novellos!

I can now change a pooey nappy with less than 50 wet wipes and only one 'oh my god this is so gross!'.

I have reserves of patience when Sophs cries that I never knew existed. I am very lucky that she is not a colicky baby and generally only cries when she is hungry, hot/cold, bored or overtired.

I've become one of those people I used to hate. I met a dear friend for lunch in Picadilly today and we went to a lovely Italian restaurant filled with suits and business lunchings. Sophs was a perfect little darling winning over the waiting staff and fellow diners with her little coos and grins, until it all became a little too much stimulation. She goes from zero to IT'S ALL TOO MUCH I'M TIRED MAKE IT GO AWAY NOW in about 10 seconds and I could see it coming. Half the problem is she now finds the world such an interesting place she just doesn't want to sleep as much, even when I can see she is getting tired and should be taking a kip - she often won't have a bar of it and protests with a specific 'raaaar come and get me' yell! So in the restaurant she ramped it up to maximum volume and reached her crescendo in heart breaking sobs , which is when I know she's not far off sleep - she usually drops off to sleep almost mid-scream. I knew I had to wait it out and hope it was a short one. It was only 5 minutes, but I could feel the stares of the other patrons boring into my back (oh she's a BAD mother, she can't comfort her child). I felt sorry for them having to listen to Sophs for about a minute then thought sod them, Sophs isn't doing this to wind them up, and I got on with calmly trying to soothe her. Sure enough after about 5 long minutes she dropped into a deeeeeeep sleep in my arms. Bless.

We had a comedy moment on the train home. (Well, I had to find the humour in it!) I'd moved Sophs to the baby carrier as it was heading on for cactus hour and she's less grumpy if she can watch the world go by from the warmth of my body rather than in her stroller. About half way home I heard a familiar little grunting noise emanating from the little person strapped to my chest, and looked down to see a bright red face and look of intense concentration, which preceded the almighty noisy evacuation of her bowels. I couldn't get her back into her stroller fast enough!

Smiles, gurgles, coos, it's an exciting time with Sophs blossoming from newborn to little person more and more each day. Today she picked up her rattle for the first time, held onto it while waving it around, then let it go, and now that she knows how to hold onto things everything within range is being gripped!

Being a Mum is the hardest thing I have ever done, ever. I have so much respect for new Mums now and what they go through. The first few weeks are such a steep learning curve whilst being more exhausted than you knew was possible, but you do quickly build confidence e.g. you can change a nappy in under 5 minutes and no longer put it on back to front; you can dress your baby without feeling like you're going to break their arms in doing so; you remember to put the nappy on before putting the sleepsuit on; you can read a magazine whilst breastfeeding because you and your baby have worked out what to do now; you can get out of the house in under ten minutes with only one large bag full of baby stuff. I'm still learning how to be a mother, and I'm still not getting enough sleep, and I'm still working out who I am and how the pieces of my new life fit together. Some days I miss my old life, how comparatively easy it was being able to do what I wanted when I wanted how I wanted, not having to think about anyone other than me. But for now my life is in orbit around another precious little being and it has taken some major adjustments but I think we are getting there.

My daughter brings me so much joy. When she smiles because she has seen me it is such a wonderful moment. When we have a conversation of coos and aaahhhs it fills me with lightness and happiness and laughter. When she falls asleep in my arms and snuffles gently against my neck, I am filled with contentment. It might be the most difficult thing I've ever attempted, but it's also the most incredible and rewarding.