Chalk one up !

Fantastic news ! We managed one whole day without any form of medical contact or intervention. OK, I accept that the Health Visitor telephoned to make an appointment, but I don't think that really counts.

Molly continues to eat and sleep well. The only other thing that babies of this age do well, she seems to have mastered also. Our eco-friendly biodegradable disposable nappy supply is diminishing with some considerable rapidity. Not long before the eco-intimate (eco-overfriendly ?) washable nappies begin to pile up in the especially acquired bucket. Does anyone know a good supplier of industrial sized buckets ? I am not sure this one is going to be big enough. Perhaps it would be even more eco-friendly to convert the house to being run on methane - I am confident that Molly and I could keep the house going on our own.

We actually made a few steps towards tidying the house yesterday, although I suspect you might not think so to see it. Obviously we have not done anything rash like take down the Christmas decorations - they always go up on 1 December and sometimes stay up until the weather picks up in about March. The house always seems so dreary just after they have been taken down.

While tidying up yesterday I found the scrap of paper on which which Harry & Trudi had written the flight details for their return from Tunisia. For those who do not know, Harry & Trudi are my first wife's parents. Following Christine's death, they are technically no longer my in-laws, but they are far too nice to be referred to as "the outlaws" which might be the obvious term to adopt for this relationship. They have been incredibly supportive of us and even attended court on the day that Helen and I adopted the girls and were photographed with the judge. They have also become honorary grandparents to Molly. So, what is the relevance of their flight details ? They came to stay on New Year's Eve (the day that Helen went to hospital to be induced) and flew off from Heathrow on New Year's Day, not knowing the outcome. As usual they have left their car in our drive and we will pick them up from Heathrow on their return. That's why we needed the flight details. Charlotte wrote them down as I was at the hospital. She carefully wrote down the flight number, the time and the terminal. The only thing that none of us knows is the date that they are coming back ! Provisional inquiries within the family suggest that the best guess is 29 January, but anyone with better information, do feel free to get in touch !

We are also hoping that my mum and dad are going to come to see Molly soon. Well, one can live in hope.

Helen's parents are coming to stay for a few days - but so far their flight details remain a mystery even to them.

So with six grandparents in the race to be first to see Molly, will it actually be the ones who live the furthest (Wisconsin) who make it first ?