A tooth or two

Not content to simply pack up his life in London, visit a tropical island, attend his first wedding and start the move to the other side of the world - baby Alexander has also been busy growing not one but TWO brand new front teeth. He's very keen to use his newly discovered chompers at any opportunity, so much so that we're considering hanging a sign around his neck warning strangers not to leave their fingers unattended too close to his mouth.

The photo above was taken just before tooth number two made an appearance. The process has been relatively painless... from what we can tell. Possibly helped by the amber teething necklace kindly donated by Nanna B a few months ago.

Final Farewell

Our last few days in London saw more goodbyes. This time to people we'd only known a few months but would miss very much. It's strange to think that a snap decision to chose a particular anti natal class on a Tuesday evening meant we got to meet some fantastic people. It turned out that all the women in our NCT class were quite high flying career wise but we didn't find that out for several months, instead I discovered a group of incredibly open, sharing, generous and funny people and fantastic mothers.

I also got to spend time with their gorgeous bubbas and see them develop their own unique personalities, even though none are even 9 months old yet. As I sit in my hotel room in Bali, on our way to the next stage in our adventure with our own bubba I'm imagining what all these beautiful babies might become one day.

• Starting with Nicholas the feisty and flirty Italian, I'll have to say professional footballer, if only to keep his dad happy.
  
• The lovely Sarah with her calm considered nature and wise eyes, I'm sure it's not just because she's the oldest in out little group. Perhaps a psychologist, she seems like she'll be a good listener.
  
• Poppy with her always smiling face might put her inquisitiveness to good use a journalist or reporter maybe.
• Dilys is clearly the adventurer in the group, always wriggling, always on a mission somewhere, at this stage usually to knock down a stack of blocks her mum had just built.
  
• When I think of Tilly I think of her in the garden with the big lovable sheepdog Barclay by her side. Tilly will be the nature dwelling animal lover to me.

Of course the truth is they will probably be doing jobs that haven't even been invented yet but either way, I hope somehow we will still be in touch with everyone to find out.

Saying goodbye

We leave the UK in just one week... ONE WEEK! Can you believe it? I'm struggling a little especially as there feels like so much to do. Poor little bubba had to compete for his mum's attention this week in between conversations with estate agents, banks, ebay purchasers and several moments of stress and grumble.

We've also had to start saying goodbye to friends which I'm not very good at. Of course Alexander is blissfully unaware that when he's passed from hand to hand and kissed on the cheek by numerous people that this will be the last time he'll see many of them. I know with some friends it will just be a short while, for others it could be years but there are also other wonderful people we probably won't see again.

He probably won't know what's happening now but one day we will need to teach our boy how to cope with change... so now is a good a time as ever to figure it out for myself.

Dear Baby Alexander

There's something I need to tell you. I know you've only been in this world for 6 months and are getting comfortable in our little London flat, but soon it's all going to change again. You might have noticed a bit more mess around the place of late? lots of big brown boxes in front of your push chair, packing tape by your high chair, that sort of thing. Perhaps you've noticed that mum's been a little more frazzled than usual? Well... the thing is... we've decided to move to the other side of the world... Australia to be specific, with stops in Bali and New Zealand before we get there.

I really hope you'll like it there, the weather is warmer so that means more trips to the park, more trees to stare up at, more beaches to visit. Do you remember the beach in Florida? Well Australia is a bit like Florida, only not so...um... American.

I'm afraid you'll have to say goodbye to your wonderful little baby friends, Poppy, Tilly, Sarah, Nicholas and Dilys and their lovely mummy's. It brings a tear to my eye just thinking about it. I'm sure we will stay in touch and have a couple of skype reunions.

We will need to say goodbye, for now, to the baby whisperer Amy and lots of other lovely friends in the UK but I'm sure they will come to visit Australia in time. Mum and Dad will be working on them all!

Hopefully we can find a replacement for the swimming lessons and baby play classes you enjoy so much. And some replacement cafes and restaurants (ok, perhaps that's more for mum).

The good news is you will be able to spend more time with Amma and Nanna B and you'll meet uncle Adam, grandpa Beron and mean uncle hOb as well as lots of other lovely new people who will no doubt love you to bits and lavish you with affection... possibly while mum and dad nip off to aforementioned beach or cafe.

It's going to take a little while to get there, remember that flight to Miami? It's going to be a bit like that but about 3 times as long. Luckily we can use your new Australian passport where you look less like a baby criminal than you do in your British.

You're such a resilient, adaptable little man that I'm sure you will handle all the change with ease. I can't necessarily say the same for your parents.

Dear Health Visitor

Fishers Lane, Chiswick,

I understand you are very busy, you've seen a line of people before me and there is an equally long line after me. I realise that you are understaffed and part of an under-pressure NHS. I'm sorry that Alexander accidentally had a wee on your scales, but hey, he's a baby in a strange place, these things happen. I'm aware, as you say, he's quite pale with his big blue eyes and fair hair - people mention it a lot.

Despite all the above, I don't think it's OK to ask "are you actually his mother?" even if you are a bit embarrassed afterwards when I say "well, I'm pretty sure I saw him come out". I'm not really sure of a context where it is OK to ask a mother if her baby is actually her baby, but I'm certain this was not one of those situations.

Well, I would have been more annoyed if it hadn't given me a good story for the blog.

Kind regards,

Vanessa Arden-Wood
mother of Alexander Auberon Butler... really.

Ode to Nanna B

Well, Nanna B left us this morning after 6 months in the UK so it seemed appropriate to create a tribute post to little Alexander's super nanna.

It's been such a pleasure having Carol here (yes she has a name other than nanna) she's been a huge help around the house and with Alex but more than anything else it's been wonderful to have someone who manages to love and adore our little man as much as we do - totally unconditionally. Personally I couldn't ask for a better mother-in-law type person.

So here's a little photographic tribute to Nanna B.

Putting those big feet to good use

Alex and his NCT baby buddies have been taking baby swimming lessons for about 5 weeks now and while the little man with the big feet isn't challenging for the 100m backstroke record just yet he is getting more confident in the water with every lesson.

So far we've learned how to swim to the edge, hold on to the side, splash about, jump in from the edge, float on our backs (the babies not the mums) and sing lots of watery songs. We've even had a few dunks under the water which was much more terrifying for us mums than the babies. Alex has now started kicking under the water which must be a good sign, but his favourite activity seems to be splashing mum in the face.

Hammock Love

I have had a bit of an obsession with things than bounce and sway since I was a child, I've never been a fan of roller-coasters but those swingy chair rides that fly in the air were my favourite. Well having a bubby has just served to increase my obsession with baby bouncers of every shape and size, his gorgeous baby hammock bed and more I'm probably still to discover.

I've always been a fan of hammocks but when we visited some friends a few weeks ago and saw their lounge room with this amazing set-up I had to take lots of photos in the hope of one day re-creating it.



Keep in mind this is a central London apartment on a fairly busy road but the room was made so peaceful by the hammock and as you can see from the pictures Alex shares my love of all things bright and hammocky (is that a word?). I did suggest that Alex, Haydn and I could move into their lounge for a few months but with a baby of their own due at the end of the year they were less inclined to my suggestion. So I'm left to the photos and the dreams of finding a house with a bay window and a hammock of my own... I mean 'our' own of course :-)

Hindi Bubba

After spending time in Miami with the Indian/Guyanese side of the family we were all inspired when we came back to London to explore all things Indian. Mum, Alex and I took a trip to Southall. According to Wikipedia 'Southall has one of the largest concentrations of South Asian people outside of the Indian sub-continent'. Sounds like a good place to go.

We thought our little blue eyed, fair skinned bubba should get in touch with his Indian roots which meant a forehead tikka so no one could give him the 'evil eye'. I'm still not 100% sure what the evil eye is but sounds like something to be avoided.

The trip to Southall was a success, we came back with loads of Indian sweets, ice cream and a lovely bracelet for Alex from Amma.

Despite the complexion Alex could pass for a good Indian boy, don't you think?

bubbles bubbles bubbles everywhere...

How lovely is this little video of Alex enjoying the bubbles in our flat? It certainly helps that his dad knows what he's doing with a camera.

Not quite so fun was the sticky floor in our living room for several days afterwards...the price of art!

What now?

Now that Amma has gone home, Alex and I are just the tiniest bit at a loss for things to do. Initially I was nervous about venturing off to far flung places with a 3/4 month old bubby but now that it's all over and mum's gone back to Australia... well... I'm in need of diversion, entertainment, variety perhaps... our little West London flat just doesn't seem, I don't know, 'big' enough any more.

So I'm going to make a pledge to venture out with Alex more often, trying new things and making the most summer in the UK.

Oh dear, I've published the idea now so I'm going to prove it and actually document my adventures...

An afternoon at the museum

After overdosing on cafes, lunches in the park and baby cinema we decided on a bit of culture with a visit to the Natural History Museum in London. I'm not a huge museum person myself but how can you resist a building as amazing as this with a 105 foot long Diplodocus replica skeleton in the reception (you can kind of see it behind Alex in the photo). We saw lots of dinosaurs, animal foetuses in glass jars in the new Darwin centre walked around the huge blue whale in the mammals hall... every little boy's dream come true surely? Well, maybe we're a touch too little because he did sleep through most of it and grumbled through the rest but if he develops an enthusiasm for dinosaurs and large mammals in a few years time we'll know why.

Brunch Baby

Before the arrival of my darling dearest little bubby, I used to spend a lot of time in restaurants and cafes having brunch. A bit sad I know but that's the life of the baby free twenty and thirty something I guess.

Anyway, on my many outings I would inevitably happen upon some kind of gorgeous couple looking designer scruffy quaffing bircher muesli, blueberry pancakes and cappuccinos. After a while I notice a quiet little mini version of them snoozing peacefully next to their table, occasionally stirring to make a designer cooing sound before dropping back off to sleep.

Would I have a designer brunch baby?

Well, now I have my own theory and I suspect it's all about age... a little bubby at this age will mostly sleep and feed, no matter the sounds going on around them, which makes them the perfect brunch accompaniment. The only problem for me is managing to get out of the house in time for brunch. Hence my little darling is more of an afternoon tea baby!

The team from my area is better than the team from your area.

Show me a camera phone, and I will fill it with photos of our cute podgy baby. Show me some baby-sized sporting apparel, and I will fill it with our cute podgy baby, have a cuppa, then continue to fill the remainder of my camera phone with photos of the two in combination.

It's weird, I've always been against pointless photos of the same thing over and over again, especially the countless photos of babies that seem to make their way into the world, but I, like the wayward factory owner who refuses to diminish his bellowing CO2 emissions, am at present, quite simply adding to the problem. How can one go from objector to mega pixel-fuelled proponent in such a short time, I'm not sure, the only thing I do know is that after becoming a dad I now find myself in two roles-one as parent the other as baby documenter.

Oh, here are some photos, note podginess and cuteness.

The search for the Sasquatch is over...

At times it's hard to believe that Bigfoot (Alex), is only three weeks old . For people that haven't met him in the flesh, imagine Clint Eastwood as a baby- and you get the picture. He just looks old. In his future I see groups of babies huddled around the corner of Mothercare, willing him through the doors to buy their formula. He'd never get 'carded'.

To add to the situation, his beloved mother loves dressing him in what i term 'little worker mans clothes'.

Though utterly, completely cute- I swear that while she's fussing with the complicated combination of straps and buttons, I see him glance over her shoulder at me, his big blue eyes begging for me to intervene. Yep for the minute, this little man loves big comfort, no pomp of ceremony, just the simplicity of a cotton babygrow, and who can blame him.

First month in the world

Some photos from master Butler's first month exploring the world.


Bathtime... looking at mum! After initial reservations about bathtime, including a memorable incident involving pooping in the above bath we are now loving our massage and bath routine and our post bath cuddle with Dad in our cuddledry towel.




Here we have our extra special home made baby blanket from the lovely Amy, made especially special by the fact that Amy is probably our busiest friend, yet she took the time to knit this wonderful blanket. It now goes everywhere with us, in the pram, on the car seat, on the bouncy chair... and amazingly Alex hasn't been sick on it yet... clearly a blanket with extraordinary powers!




Trips out and the ever changing weather in London mean many costume changes for master Butler



Hanging out with NCT friends including Nicholas, Poppy, Dilys, Sarah, Tilly & of course Alex


A few visitors during the first month, already showing the love to Nanna B & enjoying a first picnic with the Comfort-Serbutts (Cordellia is running around in the background somewhere)