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21st April 2007

Wow! What a great long weekend we've just had! For those of you who haven't ever been to the New Forest, we can all highly recommend it. Not only is it a place of amazing natural beauty, it is also packed with fabulous places to go and do things.

We've just come back from our trip away with the "Clan". Now, it's worth explaining that the "Clan" consists of various people whom we've been going away with for an annual long weekend trip away in the UK for the last few years. The "Clan" consists of (from left to right):

Colin, Peter, Dipti (with Mya), Clare, Rob, Candy (with Tomas), Malini (with Callum), Aftab, Teresa (with Aisha), John (with Maya), little Aadam in front and Lalitha.

As you can see, it is a pretty big bunch of people! This year we hired and stayed in Heywood Manor - a huge place with lots of grounds and space for the kids to play in, down in the New Forest. We went to the forest for a walk one day, then to Beaulieu the next day, followed by a trip to the zoo on the way home. Couple some great days out with great company (both for the kids and the adults!) and it resulted in a really fun weekend. We're already planning 2008!

9th April 2007

Hello everyone. Happy Easter! I hope you all got your fair share of chocolate eggs!

We've all just come back from a really fantastic few days away with Nan and Grandad Harris in Aunby, which is a tiny hamlet just outside of Stamford. A beautiful part of the countryside with lots to see and do. Nan and Grandad had lots of fun looking after Mya. Mya, of course, was a little angel, until she caught Daddy's cold and then she turned into a snot-machine. The underfloor heating of the cottage also seemed to have a dramatic effect on Mya - she only had to be sat down on it for a few minutes and she'd be parping off like a gooden'. By the end of the week, we were refering to her farts as Mya-Power - the next source of renewable energy!

We went to Barnsdale Gardens (famous for appearing on Gardeners World), Rutland Waters (a beautiful resevoir), Peterborough (shopping!), and the historical towns of Stamford and Oakham. Not to mention driving through miles and miles and miles of great twisty turny country roads, courtesy of the latest in-car navigation system - "Graham Graham".

Whilst we were away, Mya started showing definite signs of getting to grips with moving on all fours. She could do the legs, but hadn't quite worked out how to tie in the arms at the same time. However, since she's been back, she's mastered the art of crawling (much to Mummy and Daddy's joy) and can now be seen doing 30-40mph down the dining-room straight! Below is a link to a video clip - I'm not sure if it will work for all of you, but have a go and drop me an email and let me know if it works or not - it's 2.5mb so will be slow if you're on dialup.

2.5Mb clip of Mya Crawling

It's not long now until we join the "Clan" for our annual long weekend away - this year we're off to the New Forest. Four days away with a house full of people, kids, and babies may not sound like fun to some people, but believe me, none of us would miss it for the world. I can't remember exactly, but I think this will be our 6th or 7th trip away. It's always great to catch up and have some fun.

Speak soon!

18th March 2007

Priorities, priorities! HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!
Just a quick note to say a huge hello to all the Mums, Grans, and Great-Grans who might be reading this, and to with you a very happy day. Mya made Daddy pick up some flowers and a card for Mummy, who was very surprised to find them waiting for her in the kitchen this morning.

Can you believe it? Mya is now over 9 months old!

Well, it's fair to say we've had some dramas over the last couple of weeks, and we definitely have some news to report.

First of all the drama - Mya's first trip to the hospital A&E department! Just over a week ago Mummy and Mya went around to Grandma's house in East Ham to meet up with her cousins and aunties - a great time was had by all! However, later that evening when Daddy got home, Mya was just finishing and then puked the whole lot up - and my, my, there was a lot of puke! Mya wouldn't keep anything down - not even mummy's milk or plain water! We were so concerned we decided it would be safer to get her checked out and ran her down to the hospital. We were seen quite quickly and thankfully the doctors confirmed that there was a horrible bug going around and that as long as Mya seemed like herself in between throwing up, and was able to take some fluids, she'd be fine. Indeed, whilst we were there, at least 3 or 4 other worried mums and dads brought their kids along with exactly the same symptoms. Mya is very nearly back to her normal self, and is eating more and more each day.

Being the considerate and caring girl that she is, Mya was kind enough to pass the bug onto Mummy last weekend, and Daddy on Monday. Bless.

The other news to report is that we've been having a couple of sleepness nights. Nothing unusual with that, you might say, but it's because Mya is teething and has two little pegs popping out of her lower jaw. This, of course, makes breast feeding a little more interesting - Mummy has been yelping every now and then.

Mya is also just starting to work out that pushing herself back on her head is not the most efficient mode of transport, and that moving forward on all fours seems like quite a good idea. She's not fully there yet, but it's starting to happen.

25th February 2007

Hello everyone and a belated Happy New Year from Pete, Dips and Mya!

Firstly, I'd like to apologise to all of our regular visitors who have been without an update on Mya since before Christmas. I could claim that it was because we've swapped website hosting companies (which we have), but the simple truth is that we've just been to busy (read lazy) to update the site.

Well, Mya is certainly growing up fast. She's now well over 15lb, sitting up confidently on her own, and her personality is becoming clearer and clearer each day. She's been through the wars a little recently having had at least 5 colds and last week she was on anti-biotics for a nasty little bug that's doing the rounds which was making her throw up most of her meals. Thankfully the banana-flavoured medicine did the trick in a couple of days and she's back to eating with gusto!

Just before Christmas, Mya enjoyed a lovely evening out to celebrate Grandma Barbara's birthday. She was out cold most of the evening, but woke up later to look around and became the focus of attention.

Of course, one of the big things that happened since the last update is that Mya is now having proper food like sweet potato, carrots, peas, pear and pasta - all lovingly home-cooked by mummy. Mya seems to like most things, although she finds some fruits a little too tart. It's certainly fun at meal times now!

Christmas was a lovely family affair with Grandma Margaret and Grandad Graham coming down from Scotland tostay as well as regular visits from Grandma Barbara and Grandad Ian. Mya, not unsurprisingly, got the most presents...

Since Christmas, we've all been trying to get over one cold before then getting another, plus waiting for the iminent arrival of teeth! Everything goes in the mouth at the moment and Mya's tastes are expanding each day.

It wasn't long after Christmas that Mya got her first view of snow and, to be honest, she wasn't all that keen...

Now we're looking forward to the end of March when we're going to be going away on a short break with Grandma and Grandad from Scotland, then we'll have another long weekend away with the Clan to look forward to in the New Forest.

Speak to you all soon...

2nd December 2006

As soon as she got rid of her last cold, she's caught another! Mya has been a little unsettled over the last couple of days. It's possible that Daddy past on his germs, and as sods law would have it, Mummy is now coming down with it as well!

Christmas is fast looming, and to be honest, we can't wait. What with Grandma and Grandad Scotland coming down for Christmas Day and Grandma and Grandad Eltham booked for Boxing day, it is going to be a lovely family time.

Since the last update, Mya has continued to grow and develop. We think she is starting to teeth as she has periods when she cannot stop dribbling and as very aggistated. She loves being surprised (daddy saying BOO! usually does it) and can't get enough of kicking her legs and grabbing things with her hands.

The lovely Teresa came round not so long ago with Aadam and Aisha. I can remember craddling Aisha in my arms last Christmas, shortly after she was born and thinking then that it wouldn't be long until I'd be craddling my own son or daughter. Aisha is now nearly walking and has a fantastic personality. My friend Aadam continues to delight and entertain whenever we meet - he is a wonderful little boy!

There was a little family get together in East Ham last weekend where all the sisters and their kids met up. Whilst we didn't managed to get everyone in the room at the same time, it was somewhat of an achievement nevertheless.

12th November 2006

Well, Autumn has definitely set in; lower temperatures, darker days, and with leaves a falling! Mya has gotten rid of her cold and is back to her normal self. In fact, she's been quite remarkable over the last two weeks. She'll now start to snooze in the evening about 8 o'clock, wake up for a last feed sometime before midnight, we'll put her down in her cot and she'll sleep through till 7:30/8am the next morning. It is, as you can imagine, wonderful! Mummy and Daddy both being able to get at least 7/8 hours of sleep at night!

Mya experienced Halloween recently. We did the traditional thing (i.e spent £2 on a pumpkin we're not going to eat and then gave away half a hundred weight of chocolate to complete strangers at the front door). She also watched in mild amusement as Daddy ran back and forth in the back garden lighting fireworks for bonfire night.

Uncle Che came by recently to say hello and tell Mya the latest installment of funny stories that seem to make up his life (having to stand near naked in the street after a fire alarm went off whilst he was in the sauna, and finding his nice, clean, powdery passport in the washing machine just before he needed it for a trip to Jamaica, etc). We also had a visit one night from Rashni, Mark and little Maia who were at our NCT classes. Daddy used to go to school with Rashni, so we relived some old memories over some chicken fajitas!

We think (as do all parents) that Mya is intelligent for her age. The way she sits and talks to us in babytalk for hours on end. The way she's already started to scribble the technical plans of the next generation of wireless network she wants installed at home for her laptop (only kidding). But, she does appear to have a fascination with books. Here, caught on two different occasions is our Mya, engrossed, with Maisy by the Sea. Some might say it is simply the bright colours and high contrast printing, but Mummy and Daddy know different... ;-)

26th October 2006

Poor little Mya!
She's a little under the weather at the moment, suffering from a cold! Her little nose is all blocked up and she keeps on making the cutest snorting noises as she tries to breath through all the snot. Last night was certainly fun as she kept us up till late not wanting to settle, but Dips decided to sleep with her in the spare room and she ended up getting a relatively good nights rest after all.

Mya had a visit from Auntie Claire last week, all the way from Colchester, and we also met up with "the Clan" for Sunday lunch which was very pleasant (even if the weather wasn't!)

You know, I can't tell you how wonderful it is to be a dad. I always had high expectations of what it would be like, and how wonderful it would be to look after our first born child. Yet these first four and a bit months with our beautiful Mya have exceeded anything I could possibly have imagined.
I've never known such intense and unrelenting feelings of adoration. My love for Dips has been immeasurably augmented by the respect I have for the role she is seemingly effortlessly carrying out. But my feelings for Mya are something completely new. Something I've never experienced before. Something I don't think anyone can explain unless you've had the priceless pleasure of experiencing it. I'm sure every parent must feel like this. I'm sure there are plenty of people out there nodding their heads knowingly and with a gentle smile on their face. If only you could bottle this feeling and sell it, you'd be a multi-millionaire over night. Now I truly understand what people mean when they say they'd do anything for their kids - it's not just words, it is absolutely the truth.

16th October 2006

Well, I said it would be a while until the next update!

We had a great holiday in Scotland. Mya thoroughly enjoyed spending a week with her Nan and Grandad - she was spoilt rotton, and shown off to all of her Nan's friends. We all really enjoyed the fresh air and countryside, taking in plenty of walks, picnics next to lochs, and shopping trips to Inverness. Here are some pictures of the scenery we had to endure...

...and some of us and what we got up to...

Mya has taken a couple of important steps recently - she now regularly sleeps for six or more hours on the trot at night (much to mummy and daddy's delight) and she is also now sleeping in her big cot in her own room! With lots of toys and pictures to look at and musical mobiles and projectors to listen to, Mya is sleeping, ahem, like a baby.

She now weighs 11lb 9oz and is growing an average of 1cm in length a week, and 1oz in weight a day!

Mya also joined us on a trip down to Kent on Saturday, in memory of Great Grandad Jack and Great Grandma Ivy, who both passed away earlier this year. It was a true Streatfield clan get together with Grandad Ian, Grandma Barbara, Great Uncle Roger, Great Auntie Carol, Uncle Carl, Auntie Gillian, Cousin Jake and Dick and Audrey (I can't work out what relation they are!). Mya and Jake got on like a house on fire and we finished the day with a wander along the famous Tankerton beaches.

More soon...

26th September 2006

It's been a while since I last updated these pages. That's been for no other reason than pure laziness! We've really been enjoying Mya over the last few weeks. She never seems to stop smiling at us now, she even tries to smile and cry simultaneously without much success. She's also continuing to put on weight. Dipti had he weighed yesterday and she clocked in at 10lb 14oz. We're rapidly working our way through the different sizes of baby clothes and we're so grateful to Jigs for passing on so many of Ria's clothes for Mya to wear!

Both Dipti and I have been busy with the camera over the last couple of weeks. Dips has been able to capture some wonderful moments with Mya and has produced some absolutely fantastic photos...

Most recently, Dips took some black and white photos with our digital camera and the results were stunning. Two of my absolute favourites...

Dips and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary last week (thanks to those of you who sent cards!) and we marked the event by spending the day together with Mya. So what did we decide to do having booked a day off work? Well, it's obvious! We went to work!

Yes, we popped in to see Dipti's work mates who very kindly provided oodles of chocolate cake and plenty of adoring "ahhs" and "oohs" when they met Mya.

We're going to be taking Mya to see her Gran and Grandad in bonnie Scotland soon so there won't be any updates on here for a week or three. So to finish off, a few more photos (of mine, this time) which I found either cute, quite amusing, or simply proved Mya can be grumpy, as well as an Angel...

3rd September 2006

Mya has been charming the pants off Dipti and I this week becuase she's learnt how to smile! All you need to do is look her in the face, pull a big smile or coochie coo her and within moments she'll beam back at you with her beautiful gummy grin.

We had a lovely visit from Richard, Marie, Charlotte and William yesterday, along with Grandad Ian and Nanny Barbara. Dad and I used to work with Richard in British Steel days and he now lives up in Sheffield with his wife and two wonderful kids. Charlotte is about 18 months old and is fiercely independent, and William has just a month or so on Mya. It was great to see them all!

21st August 2006