Aidan's now three weeks old. He's growing and developing, and we're getting used to him (although the much-repeated warning is certainly true: as soon as we think we know his routine, it changes). He can hold his head up by himself much better, he can grip a finger, and he's worked out how to get his thumb (and an additional finger for good measure) into his mouth! We're getting rather tired, but we've had some great help recently.

Carolyn's sister Elaine and her fiancé Chris stayed with us over the weekend, and her cousin Jill also visited. Aidan got on very well with all of them. He's also had a few other visitors, and today (Tuesday) his grandparents came again to visit (unable to resist his cute smile [or is it wind? (!)]).

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Image 0011-1525 Canon PowerShot S45 1/60 sec., f/2.8 2003:07:26 17:35:38 UTC

We inflated Aidan's playnest on Saturday (26th), and sat him in it for the first time. He loved it - he was spellbound by all the colours and shapes. He even tried to bat at the butterfly hanging from one side (you can see it at the back right of the picture) - he's obviously not yet coordinated enough to hit it, but he tried, and that's a definite developmental advance. Very exciting! It was all a bit much, though, especially with visitors as well, and afterwards he was quite irritable and overtired and didn't have a good night :-(.

Monday: three weeks old today! Since Aidan's been feeding so well, Carolyn decided on Sunday to express some milk, so Keith could feed him as well. It went very well (a great birthday present for Daddy!), but he unsurprisingly threw up afterwards because of the change in feeding routine. The next day, though, things began to settle down, and Keith and Aidan are getting quite good at it! It's good to give Carolyn a break.

Image 0011-1543 Canon PowerShot S45 1/60 sec., f/2.8 2003:07:28 08:12:35 UTC

Aidan having a bath. He really likes the bath; he relaxes and lets us look after his every need...

On Sunday, Keith turned 29; Jill, Elaine, and Chris were around on Saturday night and Jill baked him a surprise birthday cake, so we celebrated a day early.

Image 0011-1528 Canon PowerShot S45 1/60 sec., f/2.8 2003:07:26 20:26:13 UTC