Happy Birthday to me: the grand finale!

Well that year just flew, didn't it? Do they all go this fast? And what a year!

But first, a quick update on the last 6 weeks or so since my last blog. The big news of course is that I finally turned one last Monday -- yay! The photo here shows me with mom, dad and Ruth, dad's "other" god-daughter. Dad will post some more photos from my first, second and third first birthday parties here in the next while (yes, I had three parties -- one with each of my godparents, and one on the day!) I'll also try to persuade him to upload some new video clips. I'll get him to send an email when he does, so you know when they're there. Meanwhile, thanks for all your wishes, greeting and cards (both real and virtual).

Other news since I last posted: I'm now crawling (forwards -- backwards is for babies!), and have gotten pretty quick -- from the time I hear the sound of the dishwasher door opening, I can make it from the play room to the cutlery basket in five seconds flat! I love the freedom of being able to move around. I can even open some of the lower drawers in the kitchen, which mom and dad let me do, as long as I don't take too much stuff out of them. I'm even starting to stand up and hold on to the back of the couch (with lots of help, admittedly!). I can now drink my bottle all by myself (although when I'm tired, I still like to be held and fed!). I'm starting to eat some of the same food as mom and dad -- my favourite is mom's home-made queen cakes! The tooth count has risen to 7, and a couple of big rosy cheeks that suggest we're not finished yet! Both my godmother and godfather have been to visit in the past month or so, hence all the birthday parties! All in all, it's been a great few weeks.

Birthdays are, of course, a time for reflection, a time to look back on the past and ponder the future. As I look back over the last year, I have no regrets: ok, maybe I could have gone a little easier on mom and dad some nights, and there were a couple of MOANs (remember those?!!) -- some of which were sufficiently nasty to require emergency baths! -- where maybe I could have tried to keep it in a little. But overall, I've been a pretty good kid (Santa, take note!), and we have some great memories: the day I was born; my Christening day; meeting dad's entire family at the get-together in Carlow (thanks, uncle Noel!); my holidays to West Cork and Spain; my Thursdays with mom, and my Saturdays with dad; growing up fast!

Looking to the future, I've decided that this will be my last blog posting. (At least now you'll know I won't have blogged, instead of just assuming it!) Me and/or my dad will still send email to the family from time to time, but I simply can't keep up with my cousins' blogs! Anyway, it's been a blast, thanks for all your comments, especially the die-hards (in alphabetical order!) Fiona, Grace, Katie Noel and Sarah/Saz -- love you all! Take care, and see you back in the real world some time ...

David Matthew Keating, age 1

It's that time of year again ...

... when I really ought to blog. (Actually, when I say it's that time of year "again", I should point out that it's never actually been that time of year for me before!)

Anyway, I believe that Dad is Brother of the Month, and seems to be doing an appalling job (so far he's spoken only to Donal and Noel, both of whom rang him -- you can see where I got my timely blogging skills!). So by way of partly making up for his lack of communication, I'll do a quick blog post while they're downstairs and think that I'm asleep!

So the big news is, I'm nearly crawling! My latest trick is this: you put me on my back, I turn over onto my belly, push myself backwards a few feet, and then spread my legs so the next push backwards puts me in the sitting position. It doesn't sound like much, but it's enough to get mom and dad excited.

Also since my last blog, I've had my first haircut (this is me after it, you should have seen me before!). Dad has it on video, so I'm sure it'll be up on the website any month now (along with the crawling thang). And finally, I now have a total of four teeth, two top teeth having come down to complement the two on the bottom!

Other news: Dad's just back from America this weekend, having travelled over to California for some design workshops last week. He bought himself a new 5 megapixel digital camera, so expect to see more photos as he goes through the "enthusiastic" phase! He says to apologise to uncle Kieran and aunty Eileen for not phoning, but what with the timezone difference, he didn't get a chance to call. He will however be sure to get in touch with everyone over the course of the month.

No other news really, so I'll leave it at that for now ... love you all!

D.

Another three weeks, another tooth

I can't believe it's been three weeks since I blogged -- time flies when you're a baby, and I'm growing up fast! Since I last blogged, another tooth has broken the surface -- I now have two teeth! Count 'em, two! Plus, I've moved into my own room. Actually it seems that mom and dad couldn't wait to get me out of their room; the spare beds were barely cold after my cousins Grace, Aidan & Ainsley had gone home to America when dad had my cot taken apart and reassembled in there! (They've taken out one of the single beds to make more room for my cot.) It's great, we're all getting more sleep now!

Not much other news. Got to meet my cousins Ciaran and Liam at the weekend. Plus, we're off on holidays next week. After years of holidaying abroad, mom and dad have decided to stay in Ireland this summer, but forgot that you also have to book accomodation here -- how embarrassing! Looks like we might be staying with the in-laws!

Fun Facts and Figures about the Reunion

I don't know if anyone was watching Live8 at the weekend, but afterwards, there was lots of stuff on the web about how many people attended live (205,000 in Hyde Park, 1.1 million worldwide), how many people tuned in to TV, internet, etc. (an amazing 4.5 billion people, or two thirds of the planet's population, according to one article!), how much rubbish was collected in Hyde Park afterwards (150 tonnes!), etc. I thought it would be fun to put together a similar list for the family reunion, so here goes!

• 8 - the number of years since the last time my dad's brothers and sister were all together.
• 53 - the total number of people who attended on the day, by my count!
• 117 - my dad's favourite number, and also coincidentally the number of cups of tea made in uncle Noel's kitchen on the day!
• 20 - the number of cousins (including me, and also including cousins "once removed" -- hi, Shona!) who were in Carlow on the day. The remaining four are scattered across the globe -- in Australia, the USA, Scotland and deepest Waterford!
• 1979 - the year the Boomtown Rats released "I don't like Mondays". Also reputed to be the last time a family get-together was held at which Uncle Donal did not sing that song -- until this one! (According to a spokesperson, "no sweeping brushes were available.") I'll just have to wait for the next time, I guess! By the way, the lead singer with the Boomtown Rats was none other that Bob Geldof, organizer of the above mentioned Live 8. Spooky ...
• 2 - the number of my cousins who are engaged to be married. Congratulations to Aine and Ken, and to Matt and Jessica. Come on guys, let's get these weddings happening, we need another party! (But no pressure to invite any particular cute little cousins, of course! :-)
• 85 - the number of candles that should have been on my grand aunt Peggy's birthday cake! Peggy has been the Matriarch of the extended Gogarty family since forever, and it was great to meet her again. Looking forward to your 90th, Peggy!

Other suggestions welcome!

The Bloggers

OK, OK, I'm finally caving in to the pressure and putting some time aside to update my blog.

You will recall that the whole family was getting together in Carlow on June 27th. Well, it happened, and Uncle Noel must have done something right in this or a former life, because it was the best day of the summer so far!

Before I tell you about it though, I have to show you this photo of "the bloggers", an honorary club of which Saz is the latest member, and of which I like to think I'm the founding (if now least active) member. Katie is easily the most active, both in terms of blog updates, and, I would suggest, in life generally! (Just click on the photo to see a larger version.)

By the way, that's me in the middle!

As you can see, I've finally gotten to meet the whole family. The girls here are just five of my cousins; another thirteen cousins are hanging around just out of shot, while the other four couldn't make it! And as for the aunts and uncles, well they were all together for the first time in nearly eight years. I had met all of them before (although in the case of my aunt, only the day before!), but it's still pretty scary meeting all your family all at once like that, especially when your dad has nine siblings, and even more so if ... well, have you seen them?!! :-) Luckily, as you can see from my cousins, there's hope for my generation. Maybe we all take after the other side of the family! :-)

Anyway, I plan to write up some more about the day in a later blog, please do check back! (No, really! It'll be worth it!)

What? A new blog entry from David?

Not really, just a one-liner so you can't say I haven't blogged.

Childish? You bet. But then again, I'm a baby!

The creche, and other updates

Hi again! Once more, it's been a while -- too long -- since I've a chance to update my blog. I've been a busy little boy since we got back from holidays! Plus, just keeping up with my cousins' blogs has been a challenge.

The big news is, I've started in the creche. I have to say, it's not bad -- mom "broke me in" gently by dropping me off for a few hours a day for over a week before she went back to work. Now that she's back full time, dad has been dropping me off around 9:15 and one of mom or dad picks me up around 5, so it's not too long a day. Plus, they have a really cool big, bright room with lots of other babies and four girls who look after me (and you know how I like girls!) so I'm not complaining. They also have webcams so mom and dad can check in during the day to keep an eye on me!

Last weekend, we went to dad's cousin Liam's wedding in Co. Cavan. It was fun, I got to meet all my grand uncles & aunts etc. We even dropped in to Mullingar on the way to see my god-father and family (Fiona and Deirdre -- unfortunately we missed Jennifer who was at a class!); while on the way home we dropped in to see uncle Harry and his crew. Got to see his new house for the first time, it's lovely!

Stayed at home last weekend -- after the previous weekend's long journey to Cavan (the lowlight of which was a major spew on the outskirts of Nenagh on the way home!), being just back from Spain, and previous weekend visits to Galway, Dublin, Cork, Cahir, Baltimore and Mullingar, there will be no more long journeys for a while! (Well, at least until the end of June, when the Keating clan will be gathering in force in Carlow ...)

El Bloggo Espanol, parte dos

[Editing blog pages from a palm device is a little trickly, the previous posting was supposed to continue smething like this ...]


Got to meet Hugh & Ruth and their mom & dad on Saturday. They're staying nearby, in Estapona, so we met for dinner. I tell you, those guys are everywhere! You can run ... :-)

Overall I've been on my best behaviour, not just on the flight but around the hotel, in restaurants (I was laughing and giggling so much last night that dad had to take me out for a walk to try to get me to sleep -- I didn't!), on the promenade, everywhere. People seem to find me very cute! Been getting lots of attention from the pretty señoritas (but girls, I gotta warn you, avoid getting too much of that Spanish sun, I've seen your mothers!).

Also had my first babysitter, Eva, on Friday night, while mom & dad went to dinner. I was perfectly happy, although mom was a little nervous and came back early to find me fast asleep!

El Bloggo Espanol!

Hola! I'm writing today's blog from the balcony of our hotel room in sunny Marbella (via dad's palm, of course). Got here last Wed night after an uneventful flight, much to mom & dad's relief.

The weather's been good, mid 20s mostly, and sunny. Been spending lots of time by the pool, in the shade of a big brolly and a solid wall of factor 40. Dad tried to take me swimming today. This second attempt was no more successful than the yesterday's first; dad's description of it as "a tad chilly" doesn't even come close!

Long time no blog!

It's been a busy few weeks, haven't had time to scratch, let alone blog! Thought I'd better do a quick update before I forget what's been happening.

The main highlight is that I'm off on my holidays to Marbella Spain in a few hours time -- mom's last hurrah before going back to work in mid-May. It'll be my first time in a plane, and my first time out of Ireland! I'll let you know how I get on. Haven't decided yet whether I'm going to like it or not. If not, I plan on letting the whole plane know abut it. Wish mom and dad luck!

We've also been traveling for the past few weekends (again taking advantage of mom being off on Saturdays). Went to Galway last weekend to visit Mike, Mary and Aoibheann; the previous weekend we were in Dublin visiting Eamon, Edele, David (another one!) and Emily; as well as dropping in on uncle Donal and family. (Sorry for keeping you waiting Caroline! How did you get on with your Irish teacher since?!!) Got to see their new back garden, it's a beaut!

The week leading up to that I was in Cork with mom. And Granny Chris was up to mind me last week. Plus, when we get back from Spain, I'll be starting in the creche, and we have a wedding in Cavan (dad's cousing Liam) that weekend! It's all go, go, go.

Anyway, better head to the airport (gotta pick up dad from work on the way). I'll try to keep this blog updated at the weekends in future. Wish me a bon voyage...

The rest of the family ...

Meeting uncle Sean for the first time yesterday reminded me that I have yet to meet uncle Kieran and aunty Eileen and their families. Although I forgot to mention, back around the time of my Christening, that I did in fact get to meet most of them "virtually", via the magic of Instant Messaging -- I got to have some video conferences with Kieran, Linda, Grace, Aidan and Ainsley in RI, and with Eileen, Katie and Kieran (I missed Conor and Gerry) in NJ. Plus, both families are coming to Ireland in June and we'll all be getting together in Carlow, so I'll get to see them "in the flesh" and meet all the Keatings (and McShanes) at the one place and time -- I can't wait!

A visit to Cahir

Went to Cahir yesterday and met my uncle Sean for the very first time! Sean is the original Uncle "Traveling" Matt Fraggle (for those who remember Fraggle Rock!), having spent much of the last twenty years or so living in Lesotho, Jakarta, East Timor and, most recently, Bangkok. Anway he's home now and mom, dad and I went to visit him, and the family, yesterday. The other key thing to know about uncle Sean is that he has a beard which feels funny.

I also got to meet aunty Breda and cousin Sarah (both of whom I had met before at home and at my Christening), cousin Paul (how did your game with the seconds team go, Paul?), Sandy (the "new" dog), and uncle Michael, although I missed cousin Alissa, who was in Cashel, and aunty Carol, who was in a plane headed towards Spain!

Aunty Breda cooked a lovely lunch for mom and dad, while I enjoyed some pureed pear and carrot, washed down with a cheeky Chateau de Milupa '05 (white, of course). Mom and I then went for a short walk along the Clonmel Road while dad helped uncle Sean setup his wireless broadband router so he can use his Pocket PC and laptop from anywhere around the house. (Seems I've been born into a whole family of techno-geeks. Excellent!)

As Arnold Schwarzenegger would say ...

... I'm back! It's always a famine or a feast with these blog entries, eh?

Speaking of famines and feasts, I'm really starting to get the hang of these solid foods. Mom has made me a variety of pureed fruits and vegetables -- carrot, sweet potato, apple, pear (her shopping basket has never looked so healthy!) -- as well as the odd packet of "sunshine banana" and baby rice. And I have to tell you, in spite of my initial skepticism, I like it!

Another first this weekend: I went to Cahir for the first time! This is my dad's home town. (I've been to mom's home place lots, the first time being Christmas when I was less than four weeks old!) I also got to meet my uncle Sean, aunty Breda, and cousins Paul & Sarah, of which more in a later entry ...

So long, fat ass!

Those of you who have been following my blog (hi, cousin Katie; uncle Noel, you still with me? Anyone else?!!) will recall from an earlier posting that I've been in double nappies since I was three days old because of a potential case of congenital hip disorder. As I mentioned back then, I was due back for an X-ray when I was 4 months old. So, on Friday, I was back out to Croom for an X-ray and follow-up visit to the orthopaedic surgeon. The good news is, everything looks good, and I am no longer in double nappies. For me, this means I have lots more freedom to kick my legs; for mom and dad, this means no more fumbling with terry cloth nappies or stabbing themselves with nappy pins, and saves valuable minutes on every nappy change. As dad would say, woo hoo! Mom is also pretty excited about the prospect of being able to dress me in clothes which, to date, I haven't been able to fit in. So long, fat ass!

The other big news from this week is that I've started on solid food. In spite of all my giving out about the somewhat unvaried diet to date, I have to say I'm starting to think that milk ain't so bad. So far I've just tried baby rice, but I gotta tell you, give me milk any day! There are plans to feed me some freshly puréed apple, pear and/or banana over the coming days, but unless food starts to show some serious promise, it's gonna end up where most of the rice has so far -- on my chin, my bib, my clothes, anywhere but down my gullet!

Blogging frenzy

Just in case you missed any of my updates ... in a frenzy of back-dated blogging, I added entries today all the way back to Fiona's confirmation on 19 March. (Since I didn't write them up in order, I was afraid some of you might have missed some entries ...)

Songs from the Changing Mat

Dad's always singing and making up silly songs. The latest one is based on the old classic Allen Sherman song "Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh (A Letter From Camp)", although changed so that it's dad singing (not me).

Note: I've moved the lyrics to a comment since this was a pretty long (and somewhat silly) entry!

Easter in West Cork

Dad got to Ballincollig on Wednesday evening after work, and we headed to Inish Beg, described on its website as "a private island estate in beautiful West Cork Ireland -- just a few miles from the thriving market town of Skibbereen and the idyllic little port of Baltimore with its sailing, fishing and diving centres". We stayed there for the weekend with the Creatons. They had arrived a little before us and had lit a fire in the stove. We had a lovely few days. Ruth was great, helping mom and dad with changing me and feeding me, while she and Hugh both played with me a lot and generally kept me entertained.

Dad and the Creatons went swimming in the pool every day -- unfortunately mom and I didn't go, she because she was still just getting over the flu and me because I haven't had all my shots yet. On Thursday, we went for a walk around the island (Hugh and Ruth cycled), and then the boys went to Baltimore to find a restaurant (we also found a pub, funnily enough) while the women went shopping in Skibbereen.

On Good Friday, we went out to Sherkin Island. The weather was beautiful; we found a sheltered spot on the beach and even lay out under the sun for a while! We also walked for hours (poor dad was exhausted from pushing me around :-), before nearly getting stuck on the island overnight when the ferry didn't show. We had to wait around shivering for nearly an hour on the dock as the temperature fell and the wind picked up, huddled together with some other families sharing our last few mints, singing songs and playing "I Spy" to pass the time. Later, back at the house, and in a rare role reversal, the boys cooked (fish, of course -- although not to break with tradition, I stuck with the milk).

On Saturday, the boys (except me) went golfing for the morning. Hugh's highlight from the golf course was the dog pooh he spotted on one of the tee boxes. ("Imagine if someone thought it was a tee and put their ball on it and hit it with their golf club!" I can see where he's coming from.) After our swim and walk, we went to Skib for a meal.

Got back to Limerick last night, after a brief stopover in Ballincollig to meet Granny Chris and mom's friend Margaret, and to eat dinner (of course!). All in all, a very pleasant weekend!

Happy Easter!

Hi all, and a very happy Easter (my first!) to you all! Sorry about lack of any blog entries for over two weeks now, I have been berated by both my Uncle Noel and my cousin Katie and am suitably chastized. In my defence I can only point out that I've been a very busy baby; for example, I'm just back from my holidays in West Cork, and have even been in hospital since I last blogged! I'll tell you all about it in some "retrospective" entries tomorrow. Meanwhile, please keep checking back, this blog ain't dead yet! (And don't forget to look for some new entries below as well as after this.)

My first (unplanned) trip to the hospital

So, how did you end up in the hospital, I hear you ask? (Well, maybe you didn't, but you're reading this so I'm gonna tell you anyway!)

Well firstly, mom and I are in Cork, staying with Granny Chris for a night before heading down to west Cork later today (Wednesday) for the Easter weekend. Dad is meeting up with us here today after work -- he was away in Finland Monday night for a meeting yesterday, and just got back last night to Limerick.

Meanwhile, both mom and I have been a little sick since the weekend -- she has had the flu and is on antibiotics, I'm just a little off form (maybe a little constipated, if you must know). We were going to come to Cork on Monday but what with us both being sick and mom needing to pack for the weekend, GC came up to Limerick on the bus on Monday and we all travelled down yesterday instead.

So, just this morning, the constipation got a bit much and I decided to inform mom & GC of the situation, using the well known baby communications mechanism of crying at a volume and pitch that is guaranteed to focus the attention of adults. 30 minutes later, they seemed to realize this wasn't just the usual hunger or tiredness or general crankiness, and called the doctor, who said to bring me in. By then I had calmed down some, but given that I hadn't poohed in a day or so, and since he too had heard my crying on the phone, he decided to send me to the hospital. So, we were dispatched to the Bon Secours hospital whereupon -- sweet, blessed relief -- I poohed in the waiting room. (Well, in my nappy, which was on me, who was in the waiting room ... in the bog down in the valley-oh.) The doctor there wanted to keep me overnight, but given that the problem had passed (so to speak), mom decided to take me home.

In the end (no pun intended), I guess you could say it was a case of much adoo-doo about nothing ...

Fiona's Confirmation

Just got back from Mullingar, where we spent yesterday celebrating Fiona's confirmation. Fiona is now, I reckon, my double-godsister, based on the fact that not only is my dad her godfather, but as of my Christening, her dad is also my godfather!

Anyway, it was a beautiful day, and although neither mom nor I got to attend the ceremony -- the cathedral was full, since there were 150 kids being confirmed! -- dad says the ceremony was lovely too. The bishop even seemed to be practically on first-name terms with Fiona, recognising her as a regular altar-server at his masses. Dad and Colette (Fiona's godmother Colette and co-sponsor with dad, as distinct from my mum) were dead impressed.

Afterwards we retired to Beechlawns for tea and coffee (we also had a lovely* lunch there earlier -- thanks, aunty Deirdre!) and then to Tyrrellspass Castle for an excellent* meal.

________
*As usual this food rating is second hand, since -- and I don't mean to labour the point here -- all I got was milk. Again. (There, I'm glad I got tht off my chest.)

It's a biscuit, it's a quark ...

Dad's always trying to take photos and videos of me doing "cute" things -- smiling, or sucking my fist, or pulling the tail of the rhino on my baby gym. I like to make it difficult for him; as soon as I see the camera come out, I stop whatever I'm doing and just stare at him studiously.

Mom says I'm like the "kit kat baby" -- you know, like the panda in the kit kat ad who just sits in his enclosure for hours until the guy with the camera takes a break for his kit kat, and while he's not looking, the panda starts roller skating and waving in the background?

Dad, on the other hand, reckons I'm like a "quantum baby", because observing me changes my behaviour -- you know, like when you try to measure which of two slits a photon goes through, it actually causes the interference pattern to change to a bright spot? (No, actually, me neither. Apparently dad does, though.)

Anyway, I reckon this is pretty enlightening in terms of the difference between mom and dad. Dad is a geek. Mom just likes chocolate.

Mom's and Dad's jobs

It's been an eventful week. Firstly, I found out that my mom has a job other than looking after me -- how dare she! She had to go to work -- well, to something called a "meeting" -- on Tuesday afternoon. The only upside was, dad came home and minded me. We had a blast, apparently, although I slept through most of it (again). Seems mom works in a bookshop, which in retrospect I should have guessed -- I've been in there with her a few times, and she was pretty bossy!

Anyway, it seems my mom will be going back to this job thingy full time in just a few months, leaving me in something called a "creche". At least I'll have a big buddy there to mind me -- Frank. I met him at my party, and he seems pretty friendly. Energetic, too!

Also on the job front, I got to see where dad works this week. Although I use the term "work" loosely -- all I saw were a bunch of people smiling and cooing at me. (A lot like mom's shop, now that I think of it! This work lark seems pretty easy. I think I'll get a job.) At least now I know where dad keeps my laptop during the week!

Another day, another MOAN

Had another MOAN (Mother Of All Nappies, remember?) this evening. Every MOAN has its own special beauty, but this one was a real dinger. Using a technique known only to NASA scientists and babies, I managed to get the contents of my nappy to defy gravity by travelling both up my back -- an old favourite -- and around the front, in the same nappy! Impressive, huh? Well, mom and dad seemed to think so. It was so good, they had to wash my clothes, and give me a bath me afterwards. Woo hoo!

After the party's over ...

Me again, and on my 0.25th birthday -- 3 months today!

Sorry for the protracted radio silence, I had the usual lack of access to the PC during the week, followed by a very busy weekend; yes folks, I am now a paid-up, card-carrying member of the Catholic Church! Dad has uploaded the video of the Christening onto the website here; you can also always find a link to the latest video footage and photos from my profile on the top right of the blog. The hotel part of the day should be up soon too, plus some photos once I get them from Uncle Noel -- thanks, Noel! Thanks too to Uncle Michael for taking the video of the ceremony. And to everyone for coming along and helping to make it a very special day.

Sunday was great -- I had met almost everyone there before, but never all at the one time! There were uncles and aunts and their spouses, cousins on both mom's and dad's side, my grand-aunt Peggy, the odd second cousin (well they weren't that odd, but you know that Roscommon blood :-), a first cousin once removed, 3 godsisters-in-law (i.e. 2 of my dad's goddaughters and one of my mom's), plus lots of friends. And of course, most importantly, Ireland beat England in the Six Nations! It was amazing how many people got lost on their way to the bathroom and ended up in front of the telly in the lobby -- me and dad included, for a while! Plus we had a lovely meal (although guess who had the milk again? :-/), and the company of family and good friends. Who could ask for anything more? (Well, maybe some food ... soon enough ...)

Oh and by the way, after all the fuss about the dress, I didn't wear it in the end. Wore the Tommy Hilfiger outfit on its own. Talk about street cred! Just add a pair of wrap-around shades and a few scantily clad girl babies, and I could have been a white rapper, or something! Actually, now that I think of it, I did wear a white robe over my Tommy outfit after the pouring of the water, so I guess you could say, I was like a white rapper in a white wrapper ... I don't know which is worse, that joke or the fact that I've inherited my dad's "bad pun" gene!

One week to go ...

My Christening is just a week away! I'm pretty excited. The bad news is it looks like mom won the "what (not) to wear" battle, but the good news is, the dress is fabulous! (See, I'm becoming effeminate already! Next thing I'll be accessorizing ... speaking of which, it does come with matching booties, and the bodice has beautifully detailed sequins ... oh no ...) All I can say is, I'll be wearing Tommy Hilfigger dungarees underneath, which hopefully will give me some street cred, as I pick up whatever shreds of my dignity remain and pull my nappy back down from my ears after Rory & Ronan have finished giving me wedgies round the back.

I'm back!

I suppose I should be flattered that I've gotten some email bemoaning the absence of postings on my blog! By way of excuse, in addition to the lack of laptop during the week, this weekend we had visitors, so to avoid being anti-social, I was unable to sneak off to update my diary. I'll try to make up for it some now -- I'll add a few entries for earlier in the week that I've been jotting down on paper (how quaint!) while waiting for access to the computer. The bad news is, I was hiding the notes in my nappy, so they've become a bit illegible in places. In particular, I've had a few MOANs this week (dad's new acronym for "Mother Of All Nappies") ... really, you don't want to know ...

Visitors

We've had visitors since Thursday -- my cousins Reggie (5) and Claudia (3) and their mom (old :-) are on mid-term, so they've come up to see us. Their dad (even older :-) came up too, on Saturday morning.

On Saturday, dad and I went on our first outing without mom (who was, yet again, out shopping with Reggie's and Claudia's mom -- this is getting to be a bit of a habit!). Anyway, dad and my's first outing together was so exciting, I fell asleep as soon as I got in the car and didn't wake until we were back home, 2 hours later. Apparently though we met up with Reggie & Claudia and their dad in the park, and then went shopping to Smiths toy-shop (bummer, how did I miss that?!!) where R&C got bikes! Dad also met Hugh & Ruth with their mom in Smiths. Luckily, I got to meet them all later, when the 11 of us went out for a Chinese last night. Between us, we had prawn crackers, spare ribs, satay chicken, spring rolls, sweet & sour chicken, crispy beef, General Tso's chicken, and milk. (Guess who had the milk!) Afterwards, we all went back to my place, where the kids watched a movie (A Shark's Tale), the women chatted about clothes, and me and the men chatted about football and cars and drank brandy and milk. (Guess who had the milk!)

Valentine's day has come and gone ...

... and not a single card! I blame the scabby head. How sad :-(

On the whole though I'm a pretty happy baby. Sometimes I like to smile up at mom and dad when they're not expecting it. It seems to make them happy, and it makes them wonder what I've been up to! (Usually poohing, if you really want to know.)

Other updates: I've been eating like a horse (well, drinking like a fish). And sleeping like a baby (funnily enough) -- slept for over 7 hours in a row last night! Woo hoo!

The Hand that Rocks the Keyboard

There have been some allegations that I may not, in fact, be the original author of these posts, and that my father may in fact be the hand at the keyboard. I reject such scurilous innuendo, and direct you to the updated photo of me in my profile. Proof, if you ever needed it!

As to why most of my postings happen at the weekend, that's because I have to share a laptop with dad, who hogs it all week -- limiting my time online during the week.

So there!

Philosobaby

I don't know about you, but as an eleven-week old baby, I have a lot of time to think about life, a bit like the philosophers of Ancient Greece, or the Eastern Mystics, or the hippies of the '60s (but without the consciousness-altering substances).

Of course, being eleven weeks old, I'm not going to pretend my thoughts are as profound as those of the philosophers or mystics (maybe the hippies, once the LSD kicked in). Some things I have been pondering lately though:

• Isn't calling a children's character "Winnie the Pooh" just asking for trouble?
• How can an eleven-week-old baby, whose verbal skills regularly get mis-interpreted ("I said I'm hungry, not tired! Wah, dammit, not waah!"), get his thoughts onto a blog? (Hint: think wireless.)
• I spend a lot of time looking at the ceiling. You guys should really do something more interesting with your ceilings. Hang a few pictures, maybe. The lights are pretty fascinating though. (Dad calls me the "Human Moth".)

Diary Entry (a la "Bridget Jones Blog")

Weight: 12lb 7oz
Units of Milk: 25oz
Calories: 1200 (but threw up so 1000, effectively)
Dirty Nappies: 3 (one a real stinker!)

Seem to be developing some kind of rash on my scalp. And just in time for Valentine's day -- typical! Hopefully it'll have cleared up in time for Christening. That's all I need -- scabby head, and wearing a dress. Perfect!

Back Home!

Well, I'm back home (bakhome -- geddit?!!) from the People's Republic of Cork. It's great to be home! I had a great time with Granny Chris, who not only looked after me but also ironed lots of dad's shirts (dad says thanks!). Also spent time with my Godmother-to-be; she's coming up to see me again later this week, along with Reggie & Claudia. I can't wait!

On holidays!

I'm in Cork for a few days with mom. (Dad was supposed to be travelling this week but his trip got cancelled; however we had already made plans for our holidays to Cork, so I insisted we come anyway!) My cousins Reggie and Claudia minded me today while my mom and their mom went skiving off shopping. (Granny Chris helped out too.) We had great fun, although they couldn't seem to understand what I was saying. I blame it on their Cork accents :-).

At least yesterday I got taken shopping too, to the new Mahon shopping centre. All I got were a few vests though. Mom, if you're reading this: I need toys! And tech gadgets!

Still some debate about what to wear to the Christening. Mom still likes the "Christening robe" idea; dad still thinks "a dress by any other name", etc. etc. At the risk of sexual stereotyping from an early age, I'm on dad's side on this one!

Aside - How to comment on this blog

To make things easier, I've changed the settings so you can add comments without having an account with blogger.com or being logged in. Try it -- just click on the "COMMENTS" link after any posting, and then click "Post a Comment" to add your comments. (Please indicate who you are in the reply though so I know who's talking!)

Conflict

I've been hearing grumblings of complaint from some quarters that my Christening clashes with the Ireland/England rugby match. Speaking as a Limerick baby -- and for those who don't know, Limerick is the Home of Irish Rugby -- this is pretty shockingly bad planning from my parents! The Christening is at 1:15pm, which means we'll be back at the hotel and eating some time around 3pm; the game also starts at 3pm. We'll have to see how to handle this ...

Pre-Christening class

Mom and Dad took me to a pre-Christening "class" this evening. (Pre-marriage, ante-natal, and now pre-Christening!) Anyway, got to meet some of the other babies being christened this month, including two on the same day as me -- Ronan and Rory. They seem nice. In fact, I'm a bit jealous -- they have hair! Plus, they were telling me wht happens to baby boys who show up to their Christenings in dresses; apparently they get taken round the back of the sacristy and given a Nappy Wedgie. Ouch!

Rumours of a party ...

Word on the street is, Mom & Dad are throwing some kind of party for me. I think it's meant to be a surprise, but from what I've overheard, it sounds like some sort of Baby Stag Party -- they make me wear a dress, and some guy pours a drink over my head! Date is Sun 27 Feb. I'll keep you posted.

My first Christmas, and it's a white one!

Well how do you like that ... my first ever Christmas, and it's a white one! It started in the early afternoon of Christmas day, and snowed for a few hours. Later on Christmas day, and all day Stephen's day, everyplace was white. Cool!

We're in Cork for Christmas -- Mom, Dad and me, staying with Granny Chris for a few days and with my cousins Reggie & Claudia for another few days (my uncles threw me out of GC's!). My uncle Harry & auntie Ann came to visit Monday, while cousins Eoin, Caroline & Andrew came today with their mom and dad. Everyone's bringing me presents -- it's great! At this rate, I'll be able to retire at the age of 12!

Day 5 - Home at last!

Boy, what a few days I've had! I thought the first nine months were tough -- dividing my cells, growing my arms, legs, eyes, ears, fingers, toes, hair -- although I didn't worry too much about the hair, as you can see; dad says it's over-rated. In spite of the hard work though it was pretty cosy, although you wouldn't want to be claustrophobic. Anyway, there I was, last Sunday morning, hanging out in my mom's womb, alternating between kicking her in the ribs and bouncing on her bladder (little tricks I found to pass the time -- there's not a lot to do in there), when all of a sudden, these giant gloved hands came in and ripped me out, and cut the cord connecting me to the mother-ship. What's worse, there's no amniotic fluid out here, they expect you to breathe something called air -- whoever heard of that?!! Plus, it's freezing, coming from a toasty 38 degrees. Next thing they start weighing me and cleaning me off, checking me out, the works. I kicked up a bit of a racket until eventually they brought me back to mom and dad.

Spent the following few days in hospital with mom. In spite of what they say, the food is pretty good, and it comes in a really cool package, so I'm not complaining! Although I'm not crazy about the nappy changes -- those guys really have to learn to do that quicker, it's no fun lying around naked while they root around dampening cotton wool and searching for nappies, sudocrem, etc.! I also didn't like the Vitamin K injection, or the heel test, where they drew blood from the heel for various tests, etc. I brought down the house!

Just got home from the hospital yesterday. Rosemount seems like a pretty cool place, and they've been doing it up specially for me -- they painted my room, put in a fitted wardrobe, etc.

By the way, as dad may have mentioned to some of you, I had to go an orthopedic doctor today because the pediatrician thought my hips might be "dislocatable", a fairly common and correctable problem. The ortho guy reckons I'm fine, but will do a precautionary X-ray when I'm 4 months old. Meanwhile I'm in double nappies to keep my legs in the "frog" position -- how humiliating!

Well, gotta go to sleep, maybe do the three P's (pee, poop and puke) -- a baby's work is never done! Look forward to seeing my cousins, uncles & aunts and many soon-to-be friends over the coming days, weeks and months, and thanks again for everything. Later!

Just arrived!

Just checking in to let y'all know I arrived, about a minute ago. No time to write just now, there are a bunch of folks in gowns and masks poking and prodding me. I wonder if I got off at the wrong stop?!! We'll have to wait and see! Later ...