am getting into the swing of things a little bit more now, and have been out and about doing things and meeting up with people. One thing I have noticed is that Ben doesn't do shopping. He's ok with supermarket shopping but if I take him in his pram into a small shop, he invariably starts to cry, and then as soon as we come out he cheers up. I thought it might be that he gets hot but even if I take off his blanket etc to make sure he is cooler he still grizzles. I think it's something his father has taught him to reduce my spending habits. grrrrr

Ben has really brightened up over the past 10 days and is noticing more, smiling and laughing and interacting with us. It really is brilliant and makes this parenting lark much more fun! He is settling down well in the evening, which means we now have some time to ourselves but unfortunatly this doesn't seem to continue through the night, so we're suffering from a severe lack of sleep. Still - it will pass and hopefully by the time he is 18 he will be sleeping through!