The Holiday #2

Here we go again! It's been some time since I wrote but hey, I've been busy, it happens!

Here we are on the second Clarke family holiday, the first one was when Willow was only 9 weeks old, wow that seems like a lifetime ago, now she's 9 MONTHS old! Where has that gone?!

This time we have travelled roughly 400 miles over 9 hours to a quaint little bay in Hayle, Cornwall. What a lovely place it is! What's pretty cool is, I came here with my family when I was much much younger, so to come back to the exact spot with our own family now has been something I've really enjoyed. I've remembered little places and features that I had never really thought about before, I guess it's just being back in the place, the memories are coming back to me.

This time around Willow is a totally different child. When we went away when she was 9 weeks old, the only thing she could really do was lay there and take it all in. Now she's crawling, talking, laughing and generally being a much older baby, this time it's been much more special and memorable. Not to mention, we actually sleep more at night than we did all those months ago, not as much as the average person might sleep but it's good enough!

We've been to the local beach, the classic town St. Ives, the holiday park pool and arcade and even a farm to pick vegetables (Willow slept through that one, enjoyed the meal we made from them though!) And we're only now entering day 5, because Willow slept through all night last night for the first time in weeks, of course I naturally woke up at 4 am and found some tie to myself to ramble on here!

One thing we really enjoy about these little holidays is the escape feeling you get. Moving into a new home last month and now being introduced to a crawling baby to keep more of an eye on (she's unstoppable and getting into EVERYTHING!) mixed with the constant work stresses and busy nature of life itself. Things started to get a little overwhelming for us so a little break away from the real world was right on the menu for us. Sometimes you just need that refresh to go back with a clear mind and a new mindset. So that's what we're achieving down here, no thinking about this bill or that alarm to wake up for work, just a week of being a family and enjoying every last minute of it.

Despite the weather a little on the wet side while we've been down here, we've made it our own. With the couple of days we've enjoyed sunshine, we make the most of the outside, when it rains, enjoy the inside. Pretty simple!

Now as I prepare for another day to make memories, I'll sign off for now. I'm starting to get used to this relaxed life, if only I could do it full time!

Week 8!

So we're just over the 8 week mark, as of Wednesday, Willow will be a 2 month old, how crazy!




This week has been one of my favourite weeks as a new Dad. We've finally had our 6-8 week checks for Willow and Jodie and they are both doing fantastic! So much development this week! My little baby is growing up.

We have a now 11lb 4oz baby up from the 7lb 12oz at birth! And wow, let me tell you, our arms are feeling the difference! She's grown an incredible amount in length, over 4 inches, and is finally filling out in her clothes and not looking so dainty and fragile! I'm not freaking out so much holding her any more, not so worried that she'll somehow break if I move a muscle!

I spoke to Jodie last week about getting some 'me' time for herself this week. She's been the 24/7 parent since the birth and although she's doing the most amazing job, she definitely deserved a break. Instead of being focused purely on the basic survival and life of our new baby, she needed some time to catch up with friends and be in her own head for a bit. Plus, I've yet to experience one on one time with Willow so I was excited to take it on and bond with her a little more and have some Daddy-Daughter time.

We had a couple hours on Thursday night while Jodie went for a meal and Willow slept the majority of the time, waking for a little bit of play time and a feed and that was that. The time went quickly and I definitely remained confident I was good at this. The next day I booked a half day at work so Jodie could have her hair done for the first time since the birth and be pampered a bit at the salon, I took Willow for a Daddy date at Costa for some coffee and cuddles. Driving in the car alone with her for the first time had me nervous, we've always had one of us in the back seat! But I had a baby mirror so I could watch her like a hawk while I drove (awesome investment!) She actually stared back at me the entire time! 

This week was the first time I've looked back on old pictures to compare her from when she was still so new to this world. What an incredible change already! We have so many facial expressions to admire, plenty of smiles and Willow is constantly communicating with us. To start with she would make the odd noise or 'coo' when she got excited, now whenever we say Hiii (high pitch baby voice of course, I may sound like a wally but it's cute alright?) she gets so giddy and makes noises right back, anything ranging from ooOOoo to Ahhheeww and my favourite, the very close sounding "Hiiiiiiiaaa".

I'm truly obsessed by my daughter. every noise, expression and every sleeping snore astounds me in the biggest way. I'm proud of her for so many things as she develops into such a beautiful little girl. I'm also so proud of Jodie, she's the best team mate I could ever ask for in being parents. Even though she's learning just as much as I am in this whole journey, she's taking to it all so naturally and fills me with confidence that we're going to have an amazing adventure as new parents.

Something I'm looking forward to entering week 9 is our first family holiday! We're taking a trip up to Sherwood Forest in Nottingham on Thursday. I've never visited a Centreparcs retreat (surprisingly we actually live about 10 miles away from Elveden Forest and have never been) so I'm really excited to experience it all and take in all the natural scenery and stay in one of their awesome lodges. Who knows, we may even pay homage to Robin Hood himself and dress Willow up for the occasion while we visit the famous forest.

This week will of course bring more amazing memories and experiences, and more blogs from me as I have plenty of time off this week to catch up and get our memorable moments so far documented to save them forever, The only hard part of the week will be tomorrow when she has her first round of vaccinations! Although every injection so far has been simply ignored while she stares at the lighs on the ceiling without a care in the world. Lets hope she gets through these ones with the same gusto and we continue to have the happy baby we've become so used to this week.

7 (and a bit) weeks!

So this week Willow turned 7 weeks old!

I'm a couple days late with this one but it counts!

Now, as a new parents, it seems like any week 'milestone' is celebrated like it's the best thing ever. I think it's not only a celebration of her getting older but a high five to ourselves as parents for making it another week!

Willow really isn't much trouble. At 7 weeks, she's been sleeping most of the night, waking once for food and going straight back to sleep (we count ourselves as lucky for this!), she's got a good routine going with food too. Usually feeding every 4 hours, which gives us plenty of time to prepare her food so we don't get that hungry crying baby! Not every time anyway. We also have a baby who enjoys bath time (starting to splash!), doesn't mind being changed, whether it be a nappy or clothes. Especially those poos, after a poo she stares at you, almost in amazement that you are actually going down there and braving the mess.

In the development side of things, I've been pretty slack this week on reading stories to her (feeling like a terrible Dad already), which I'll make up for in the next few days, but she loves the sound of our voices still and is constantly smiling and coo-ing back at us when we speak! Also, her neck is getting stronger by the day, Willow has to be upright at all times now, she hates being laid down! Holding her up on our chests, she's holding her own head up and looking around all the time, not so much of the random drunk baby head bobbing we have had to deal with so far. Then there's tummy time, we've started her on a few basics to get her used to it all, Willow loves getting on her front and having a good look around, I can't wait to see her start playing with toys and more textures as she gets more used to those hands of hers.

On the most part, week 7 hasn't brought us many firsts, the week sort of flew by and we made it! But as parents, me and Jodie are becoming more and more confident in ourselves and each other. Even walking around the local shops I feel confident and proud to be a Dad and Jodie is doing an incredible job as Mum!

With week 8 now in progress we have a few big plans. There's a couple of photo shoot ideas to be done (depending on little ones mood that day) we're getting the play mats out for some tummy time upgrades too. I'll be reading a story every day to her when I finish work, that's the plan anyway.

Parenting is still a whole new ball game to us, even at 7 weeks in. It still feels like a big adjustment in every aspect, from sleep patterns to just popping out to the shops, it's all totally changed and we're slowly getting there. Willow is most definitely keeping us on our toes and teaching us new parental skills every day. But I wouldn't ever change it, not even for a minute

Week 8, I'm ready for you and expecting big things!

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