The Little Kat

2011-06-28T11:50:00.003Z

Bouncing baby

As you can see, Elodie is all squidgy and lovely. She's a happy little thing and is interested in everything.

2011-06-28T11:37:00.008Z

Cuddles, cuddles and more cuddles

These pictures were taken in February and March.

Katya is managing some pretty long walks these days. In this case, the hot chocolate and biscuits were a great incentive for us all to climb back up the hill from Ilam.

2011-06-08T11:27:00.001Z

Grandma & Grandad's three lovely girls

2011-06-08T11:16:00.006Z

December

The snow prevented Proud Dad from going to work for a few days, forcing him to have lots of fun with his girls instead!

Snuggling up in front of the fire.

Proud Dad whipped up a fabulous Xmas Day feast for us, Grandma & Grandad, Auntie Joanne, Uncle Kevin and Jodie.

It was all too much excitement for this little Santa!

2011-06-08T10:58:00.008Z

The arrival of Elodie Sky

A week after her due date, once Elodie decided it was time to come out, she didn't mess around - labour was just 4 hours from start to finish and the beautiful Miss Elodie Sky Wells joined us at 2:06am on 4th November.
Katya is delighted with her little sister and has proven to be the best big sister in the world. Proud Dad is, of course, overjoyed with his two girls:

Proud Mum's dream came true this time - she was able to keep her baby with her and they left the hospital together within hours of the birth. We even got to celebrate with pink champagne and cake later on at home with the family. Happy happy times.

Elodie has a fantastic appetite like the rest of the family - here she is having a little snack in the Bongo.

2011-06-08T10:50:00.005Z

October

Here's Proud Dad taking some time out from working on the house to have a snuggle with his little girl... always time for that!
And here's one of the Honey Monster chilling out... definitely plenty of time for that.

Kat dressed up as a panther for a jungle day at school. Proud Mum went along that day to join in the fun.
And here's a witch and the big fat baby momma.

2011-06-08T10:39:00.009Z

September

The big event in September was Katya starting school (which is handily located just across the road from our house). Here she is having her breakfast on her first morning. Kat being Kat, she took the whole experience in her stride and was really excited to wear her uniform.

2011-06-05T19:54:00.008Z

August

The highlight of August was the Just So Festival. We had a fantastic day making things, dancing, playing, eating, doing yoga in the woods and playing samba drums in a lantern parade.

Just a couple of photos of typical scenes in Katya's life: eating cake at a birthday party and walking it off in the fields and woods with Honey.

2010-10-19T11:40:00.011Z

May and June

Well, as you can imagine, life has been a bit hectic in recent months. We're slowly getting the house sorted though and Proud Dad has done an excellent job of making it lovely for his girls (with much-appreciated help from the family). Katya noticed that Proud Mum was getting a bit fat back in May, saying "Why is your tummy so fat? There might be a baby in there." And she wasn't wrong! There's now no missing my enormous bulk, which isn't surprising seeing as I'm just over a week from the due date. Needless to say, we're all very excited!

Shoey & John were our first overnight visitors in the new house. We had a lovely weekend and celebrated Shoey's birthday on the Sunday.
I love Katya & John's matching grins in this photo. They're holding the pre-school giraffe we had to look after for the weekend - quite a responsibility!

We had more visitors later in the month when Juana & Yann came over from France for a few days. It was Juana's first visit to England and she saw it in its best possible light. The weather was fabulous and we all enjoyed picnics and walking in the Peak District. We were having so much fun we forgot to take any photos, it seems.

Proud Dad, Mum and Katya had a great time at Dovedale Garden Party at the end of May. Highlights included a clown, singing by local school children, a bouncy castle and a "duck race". Here we are eating chips while listening to a folk group.

Kat had a lovely 4th birthday party in June. We all had a fab time playing party games in the garden and enjoyed an enormous feast.

2010-04-29T08:36:00.011Z

From Burton to Ipstones (via Cheddleton)

We've now settled into our new house and are all loving it! Still some decorating to do but Kat's bedroom is all done and looking very lovely indeedy... will put some photos on here soon. Also need to take some photos of the cows we now have in the field surrounding our garden. They're great fun to watch and like to stick their heads over the wall. Proud Mum is delighted with the new pad as she can watch the sunset from the comfort of the settee. Here we are enjoying the golden hour.

Here are Kat and Jodie having fun at the local pub where they've already got to know Kat's regular order of "a glass of milk with a straw, please bartender".

We recently had a fantastic day out at Alton Towers - there was so much to see and do.

Kat's not looking too sure about the giant bear on this one, but we were amazed she went anywhere near him at all.

Katya has settled into her new nursery well. She'll be starting school in September (which is opposite our house) with 10 of her friends from nursery (practically the whole class). We've already visited the school for an afternoon of activities and it all seemed very nice. Kat's looking forward to it, especially the school uniform.

2010-02-04T11:21:00.005Z

December

December highlights included: buying a lovely Xmas tree and it not trying to poison Proud Mum this year; Katya's nursery play, which was just fantastic; going to stay at Jodie's house for a night and, of course, Christmas itself.
Here's Kat making gingerbread ladies and animals. Santa was most generous:Honey was decidedly unimpressed with us trying to make her wear her Xmas scarf again this year.

2009-12-16T20:17:00.003Z

Kat and Hon compare gnashers.

2009-12-16T20:00:00.004Z

November

Kat saw her first ever bonfire at the beginning of November and loved it. She also enjoyed the fireworks this year (as opposed to last year when she hated them and had an asthma crisis). We went to the forestry centre we often go to and took a flask of mulled apple juice and some flapjack - perfect!
Later in the month Jodie and Auntie Joanne came to stay for a couple of days and we all had lots of fun.

And here's Kat enjoying a "cappuccino" (a little weekend ritual in the Wells household is daddy making cappuccinos for his girls - hoorah!).

2009-11-18T13:25:00.008Z

Horse riding

Katya and Jodie had a great time horse riding for Jodie's 3rd birthday at the beginning of October.

Later in the month Emma, Ceri, Martin & Jasper came to stay for the weekend and we all had lots of fun.

2009-10-05T20:05:00.011Z

Holiday to Germany - via France, Belgium and Holland!

We recently went on a little road trip to see Amy and family in Germany, camping and staying in hotels on the way there and back. We had fun exploring some new places and had a lovely day in the very beautiful Bruges. The second night we stayed on a quiet campsite next to a field of horses just outside a town called Helmond. Katya loved stroking the horses and feeding the chickens. Here she is enjoying her breakfast after an exciting Sunday evening in Helmond where there was some sort of techno extravaganza going on that involved the whole town!

It was great to stay with Amy, Ian, Frankie and Harry for a few days and we all had a lovely time.
Here are Frankie and Katya modelling the conker necklaces they made with their daddies.

Below is another of Kat's funny photo faces.

And some even funnier photo faces! This is Kat and Jodie sporting the masks they made at Sudbury Hall.

2009-10-05T19:43:00.006Z

August

We went camping near Mablethorpe at the beginning of August with Jodie and co. We camped a short walk from the beach and the weather was fab for the whole time. The girlies and the dogs had fun playing on the beach. Kat experienced her first wasp sting that weekend too, which she handled very well indeedy. Kat is still very much into dancing and is learning new moves all the time. She also loves yoga.

Here's Kat chilling with her "Honey Bunny" as she calls her.

Here's the gang on a lovely picnic near Rosliston Forestry Centre.

2009-08-06T21:03:00.007Z

More summer fun

Kat had a lovely time at Leek Show recently with Popops, Grauntie Sue, Grandma and Grandad. Here we all are having a picnic while being entertained by dogs and horses. Kat also enjoyed seeing the all the other animals and generally soaking up the atmos.
We've been getting out and about as usual taking the Honey Monster on walks. Kat loves wearing "pretty dresses" now - this lovely one was from Auntie Stevie.

Kat has also perfected a completely over-the-top camera smile, as demonstrated below. She was very pleased with the little monument she constructed with Proud Dad using the things she'd collected on the walk and carried all the way up a big hill.

We all had a lovely time at "baby Jacob's" christening in Oxford on Tuesday.

Here's Kat breathing a bit of life into the university!

2009-08-06T20:47:00.008Z

Kat's 3rd birthday celebrations

Katya and Proud Mum made a delicious cake to eat at Kat's birthday picnic at Calke Abbey with the family. We all had a fab time and Kat had fun with Jodie up in the Bongo roof.

The next day Freya and Ruby came for some paddling pool and BBQ fun.

Proud Mum and Dad bunked off work on Kat's birthday to take her to the safari park. Here's Katya wearing her lovely dress from Auntie Jana & Uncle Sammy.

We all loved seeing the animals up close and it was so boiling that we felt like we were actually on safari.

2009-08-06T20:22:00.008Z

Summer fun

There was a bit of a technical hitch as Proud Dad's computer broke so I couldn't access the photos. Fortunately he now has a shiny new one so here are some photos of all the fun we've been having so far this summer.

We went camping in Pembrokeshire for a few days in June to celebrate Proud Mum's birthday. We all had a lovely time playing on the beach and chilling out at the campsite with Proud Dad cooking us delicious meals on the open fire. Poor Honey forgot that it's not such a great idea to drink seawater so felt a bit dodgy for a few days.

On the way back we stopped off to see some "kite birds" (as Kat called them) and eat some cake.

2009-06-11T16:18:00.008Z

Lovely wedding

We all had a great time at Matty & Will's wedding in Eyam at the weekend. Katya was much admired in her special outfit made by Grandma Sandra and had lots of fun running around the gardens.

2009-06-05T15:32:00.010Z

Well dressing fun!

We've been getting our fair share of well dressings recently - the first was in a village near to Burton with Popops and Sue, the second in Endon with Grandma & Grandad, Jodie, Joanne & Kevin (& their new dog Boe!) and the third in Tissington with Uncle Sammy and Auntie Jana. Kat loved watching the Maypole and Morris dancing and revelled in the party atmos as usual.

Here she is showing off the lovely dress Auntie Stevie gave her.

Another great item of clothing is the T-shirt Uncle Sammy got her from San Francisco.
And here she is having fun with Uncle Sammy himself.

2009-05-04T19:12:00.015Z

Spring has sprung...

...so here are some photos of all the fun we've been having in the last few months.

Kat made some lovely pancakes back in February. Her outfit is a fine example of the sort of ensemble Kat puts together.
Here are Kat and Jodie when they went to watch Grandad doing a spot of falconry at Rosliston in March.

We celebrated Popops' 60th birthday in April with a huge party and ceilidh. Here's a picture of Proud Dad with Auntie Stevie, Uncle Theo and Uncle Sammy.

We danced the night away then got up early the next morning to go on a 10-mile bike ride with Auntie Joanne, Uncle Kevin, Jodie, Grandma and Grandad!?! Here are Jodie and Kat at the half-way point. Katya wasn't really impressed with being pulled along in a little truck behind the bike and Proud Mum and Dad and Grandad we not at all impressed with trying to manoeuvre a tandem down the Manifold Valley!
We all lived to tell the tale though and returned to Cheddleton for a lovely Easter egg hunt in grandma & grandad's garden.

Here are the girlies having some bedtime milk after all the fun.

We've been going out on our usual jaunts with Honey at the weekends. All this sunshine has meant Kat has had to have some cool new shades. Honey in a typical post-walk sunbathing pose.

We've also been on our first camping trip of the season with Auntie Joanne, Uncle Kevin, Jodie and John & Marilyn and had a fun-packed time. We flew the kite, built sandcastles, went swimming, played on the swings, boogied at the disco and visited a sea life centre - all in 24 hours!

2009-01-29T10:03:00.012Z

Earthship holiday

We've just got back from a fabulous few days in Normandy, celebrating Proud Dad's birthday.

We went to our old haunts in Honfleur and Deauville for crêpes and seaside fun.

We stayed in an "earthship" (an off-grid eco-house) in a small village in Normandy. It has a south-facing wall of glass with plants all the way along and the rest of it is built into the earth (with old tyres packed into it to retain the heat). We had a lovely log-burner to keep us cosy and loved the use of solar/wind power and rainwater.

The side view shows how it's built into the earth.

And here it is from the front. A bit of a shock when you first see it among the traditional village houses. This photo shows the solar panels along the front and the little wind turbine on the roof.

We spent a lot of time relaxing in the house but ventured out to a nearby waterfall...

... and to the playground of course.

Unfortunately Katya has inherited Proud Mum's seasickness and the ferry over to France was not much fun at all. The good news is that we managed to find some homeopathic medication she could take and it worked! The return trip was much more pleasant, aided by the fact that we got a cabin to hang out in. Here's Kat relaxing in the "café on a boat" - a concept she found most perplexing.

2009-01-28T16:52:00.008Z

Grandad's Birthday Cakes
Earlier this month it was Grandad's 70th birthday and Katya made two lovely birthday cakes with a little help from Proud Mum and Dad.

She was so enthusiastic about the mixing that Honey got covered in flour!

And here's Proud Mum with her two lovely girls having fun at the party.

2009-01-14T10:21:00.005Z

More photos...

Here's a couple of Katya having fun with her Auntie Stevie.

2009-01-05T14:05:00.008Z

Happy New Year!

We all had lovely Christmas and New Year and are just about recovering from all the excitement. Xmas morning was great fun when Katya discovered all the pressies and decided she quite liked Santa after all. We went for a lovely walk in the woods then Grandma and Grandad came in the afternoon to enjoy Proud Dad's scrumptious meal.

Boxing Day was spent at Grandma Pat and Fred's with Jodie, Auntie Joanne and Uncle Kevin and we all had a great time (especially Katya and Jodie who enjoyed riding their hobby horses around).
We then went to Grandma and Grandad's house for more festive fun and managed to fit in a freezing cold blast up the Roaches. Unfortunately Katya then got an ear and chest infection so was ill for a few days but Uncle Sammy and Auntie Jana came to cheer us up with Champagne - hoorah!

Here's a photo of Katya who has just finished decorating Grandma's Christmas cake.
One of her fave presents was a kettle as she loves making us all cups of tea.

2008-12-23T14:23:00.006Z

´Tis the season to be jolly!

Proud Mum & Dad kicked off the festivities by going to a ball with Auntie Joanne and Uncle Kevin. We all had a fabulous time eating, dancing and making the most of the free/very cheap drinks.

Meanwhile, Katya had a great time at Jodie's house with Grandma & Grandad.

We're all very much in the Christmas spirit now and Katya is loving all the lights and talk of presents and Santa. She's not so keen, however, on seeing Santa close up and tends to run in the opposite direction. She even made Daddy accept the present on her behalf at the premature baby group Xmas party!

Katya is saying more and more words and sentences every day now and is a complete chatterbox (what a surprise!). She is highly entertaining and fantastic company. She's also started to sing, which is really cute, and serenaded me with Jingle Bells in the car last night.

2008-10-29T15:06:00.003Z

Food glorious food!

Katya continues to have a very healthy appetite and is now getting involved in the preparation as well as the eating. Here she is mashing the bananas for Kat & Mummy's banana and blueberry cake.

And here she is enjoying an apple she picked off the special Grandpops apple tree in our garden. On Sunday Kat & Proud Dad made a delicious apple crumble while Mummy and Honey were out at agility training. As predicted, Honey is fab at agility when she manages to calm down enough to focus on what we're supposed to be doing. Katya is also getting quite good at spotting mushrooms and has been growing some with Daddy in the shed. Here we are looking at the ducks at the end of a recent fungi foray.

Our little girl is getting more entertaining by the day as she's coming out with new words and sentences all the time. Since the last post she's finally started saying "mummy" - hoorah! Her first proper sentence, I'm pleased to announce, was "I like dogs" on returning from walking the Honey Monster one day. Hoorah again!

Katya has been spending quite a lot of time with her little cousin Jodie recently. Here's a picture of Jodie at her 2nd birthday party with the card Katya made for her on the right.

2008-09-03T11:00:00.008Z

The Big Smoke

We took Kat to visit her great-grandma in London this weekend and all had a lovely time.

While we were there we spotted a monkey near G-G's house.

Kat enjoyed the dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum...

She also had a great time on Sunday night going out for a meal with her grandma and great-aunties while Proud Parents went to see Moby at the race event at Wembley Stadium with Uncle Sammy and Aunty Jana.

The weekend before that we met up with Kate, Darren and Rui for a picnic at Chatsworth. Here's Kat getting a cold hand in the fountain.

2008-09-03T10:36:00.006Z

Summer loving

Here are a couple of photos of typical Sunday morning scenes in the Wells residence.

We had a lovely weekend with Shoey and John at their new house in Brighouse at the beginning of July and went on some nice walks with the Honey Monster.

Matty and Will also came to see us in July and we rounded the month off with a camping extravaganza in Rushton with Jules, Martin & co.

2008-07-24T13:47:00.005Z

Katya's 2nd Birthday

The Little Kat celebrated her birthday in style with a party at grandma & grandad's house. She had lots of lovely presents and a delicious cake...mmmm...

Here she is trying out her new bike with Jodie and Grandad.

All is well in Kat land - she says lots of words now (still can't be bothered to say "mummy" though!) and is starting to string some together. She's still enjoying nursery and will soon be moving up to the 2-3yr group. Kat is jolly and easy-going most of the time and loves taking Honey for walks and "looking after" her.

2008-07-24T13:27:00.013Z

More holiday fun!

In June we Bongoed down to the Pyrenees to visit friends, camping and staying in hotels on the way. It was great to see Juani, Yann and Irène again and to meet the boys for the first time.We went for a lovely picnic in the mountains but the highlight for Katya was watching Irène perform in a dance show. Katya handled being spoken to in a mixture of French, Spanish and English very well, just replying to everything with an enthusiastic "yes!".

After Tarbes we headed to the Landes region (on the west coast) and camped next to the beach. Katya liked her bucket and spade and was most impressed with mummy & daddy's kite flying skills! We celebrated Proud Mum's birthday by swanning about in Biarritz and going for a lovely meal.

The whole holiday was just perfect and we all enjoyed every minute of it. Katya was her usual flexible jolly self and was very pleased to be back in the land of baguettes and crêpes!

2008-05-04T13:29:00.007Z

You can take the girl out of Staffordshire...

...but you can't stop her from eating cheesy oatcakes in the Lake District.

Just got back from a lovely holiday with Uncle Sammy, Aunty Jana and Grandpops. Kat had a fab time with everyone, saying "baaaa!" to all the sheep and lambs, hanging out with the peacocks and soaking up the sun on the beach (!?).

While I'm here, here are some photos from Easter, which Kat spent with her lovely cousin Jodie.

2008-02-24T13:28:00.007Z

Spring is in the air!

... or was for a while, anyway. Cousin Jodie came to stay for the weekend and we all had a lovely time in the sunshine.

Here's another picture of the Honey Monster - still our favourite dog in the world even after meeting all those huskies.And here's Kat entertaining us with one of her funny expressions!

2008-02-21T12:04:00.013Z

Lapland

Well, it's high time I got some photos of our lovely holiday to Lapland on here. Katya had a fantastic time with her cousin Jodie, although they much preferred the après-ski to the outdoor activities (and who can blame them when the temperature was -23ºC?!).

The highlights of the fabulous holiday for Proud Mum were the husky rides and seeing the Northern Lights. Grandma and Grandad thoroughly enjoyed the company of their two lovely grandchildren for the week (and also found time for huskies, reindeers and snowmobiles!) and Aunty Joanne and Uncle Kevin had a fab time skiing. Proud Dad did his James Bond impression by tearing about on a snowmobile for the day, and kept us all warm and cosy with his log fires.

2008-01-09T10:02:00.000Z

Happy New Year!

Kat had a fabulous festive season with friends and family. Here's a picture of our little Santa - good job she didn't look in the mirror or she would have been terrified! She was certainly not his number 1 fan but loved all the pressies he brought.

Uncle Sammy and Aunty Jana came to stay for a few days and Katya thoroughly enjoyed all the attention. Unfortunately she was a bit grumpy due to having a cold which triggered off her asthma again. It has since been tamed by the inhalers and she's back on top form now.

Back in November we had a lovely time helping Aunty Joanne, Uncle Kevin and Jodie to plant a tree in the National Forest and look forward to watching it grow. Kat also made her first batch of scones with Grandma.

2007-09-14T09:27:00.000Z

Vive La France!
Katya recently had a fabulous holiday in France - her first trip abroad. We had 2 nights in the Wellsmobile in Le Touquet and Mont St Michel before spending 4 glorious days in Carnac in Brittany. The campsite was lovely and just a 2-min walk from the beach, and it seems we had the best weather they'd had all summer!

Kat loved playing in the sand and paddling in the sea. Here she is having got ready for bed on the beach and wearing a hat daddy fashioned out of a serviette in a crêperie.

And here she is exploring Carnac's standing stones, nibbling on French bread and shivering in the swimming pool.

2007-08-12T10:17:00.000Z

Too busy having a great time to blog about it...

Well, a lot has happened since the last blog so here's a quick update.

Katya is delighted that her cousin Jodie has moved back to England from Germany. They've been having lots of fun together such as eating out and going to parties:

Kat has been to the beach a few times, although was not at all impressed when we put her feet in the freezing sea! She loves camping in the new van though and is looking forward to another holiday in September.Had a night in hospital a few months ago following a wheezing episode... two nebulisers and a few inhalers sorted her out though and she's been fine since (apart from needing a quick puff of the inhaler at Calke Abbey recently... must be a tree or something there she's allergic to). Apart from that she's on top form and even the reflux has disappeared. She has a very healthy appetite just like her mummy & daddy, and spends many an hour sitting at the dining table munching away and "chatting".

She now goes to nursery all day Wednesday and Thursday and Grandma & Grandad look after her on Mondays and Tuesdays. Mummy & daddy left her for the first time last week as they had a hot date with Prince in London. Katya had a great time with Grandma & Grandad and didn't even notice they weren't here! M&D had a fabulous time in London and are pleased to report that Prince has definitely still got it! The country mice also enjoyed catching up with Aunty Jana in the big smoke and even managed to squeeze in a bit of culture with a quick visit to the British Museum.

Here's a picture of Katya with her friends Freya and Harry at her birthday party at Grandma & Grandad's house. More pictures of the extravaganza will follow.

More exciting news is that Grandma Pat and Fred have moved back to England from Chicago and are renting Grandma & Grandad's flat across the road.

And here's our beautiful girl again.... ahhh!

2007-04-24T10:18:00.000Z

Parklife

As you can see, Kat has been enjoying the recent sunshine by going to the park with Grandma & Grandad.

On family countryside jaunts she loves watching Honey dashing about and gets all excited when she fetches a stick or goes swimming. Speaking of which, it's about time we had another photo of the Honey Monster, isn't it? (Looking like the crazed beast she is!)

Katya has now learnt how to roll over from her back to front (she could only roll from front to back for a while). She put on a special display for her "portage worker" (our lovely developmental specialist who comes to play every 2 weeks) prompting much cheering! Well done Kat!

2007-04-11T20:37:00.000Z

Darn! She got in before me...

Before all that happened we had a visit from someone who is very significant in The Little Kat's life, in fact without this person she probably wouldn't be here.

Aunty Jilly visited from Leeds to see the ba-ba for the first time. Jill introduced mummy and daddy by kicking us both out of a taxi and, in cahoots with her naughty sister, speeding away... and so it began :-)

I hope all of you out there are well, I know you still visit (big brother is watching).

signing off - proudDad

2007-04-09T20:38:00.000Z

Happy Easter!

Kat's Easter weekend kicked off with a lovely picnic helping Grandpops to celebrate his birthday. Here she is chilling out with her Uncle Theo.

And walking off the birthday cake.

The rest of the weekend was spent enjoying the sunshine, watching mummy & daddy gorging themselves on chocolate and playing in her new swing (Easter present from Grandma & Grandad).We took Kat for a development check at the hospital the other day... she's not as developed as a 'normal' 9-month-old baby but is doing just fine and apparently has very advanced social skills. Turns out I was a bit premature (must run in the family) in saying that the reflux problem had disappeared... it has unfortunately made quite a comeback so it's on with the Gaviscon and the huge amount of washing. Poor Katya has had the obligatory permanent cold since starting at nursery, which has made the problem worse. Despite the lurgy though, she's settled in well and has been having all sorts of fun. She even got her first certificate the other day - qualifications already!

2007-03-13T12:32:00.000Z

Already a month since the last post!

How did that happen?

Kat seems to be learning new things every day and her latest hobby is grabbing everything in sight and stuffing it in her mouth. As you can see from the picture, she now enjoys being on her front and has a strong neck. She's also very close to sitting up unsupported.

She's a real nosey parker (wonder who she gets that from?) which makes for some fun breastfeeding!

She had a lovely weekend with her Auntie Jana recently, unfortunately Uncle Sammy is away on business at the moment but here's a photo from when he was last here.

Oh and more news - she has a new playmate - little Ruby Ellis Goodfellow (born on 21st Feb) - congrats to Jules and Martin!

2007-02-12T10:10:00.000Z

Overdue update

As Proud Dad has retired from blogging in order to dedicate more time to making the Little Kat giggle, it has fallen to Proud Mum to post a few photos and a quick update.

All is going swimmingly in the Wells household. Katya is still growing at an unbelievable pace and learning new things every day. Her reflux problem has disappeared, making life loads easier (although Honey is a bit disappointed that she no longer gets her daily dose of regurgitated Janey juice - aren't dogs charming?!).

Katya had a lovely first Christmas, with the highlight being meeting her little cousin Jodie (born on 2nd October).

Proud Mum has started working again so Kat spends some of the week with Grandma & Grandad going out for walks, swanning about in cafés and playing in her gym.

Life for Kat is all about laughing at daddy, taking Honey for lovely walks in the countryside, dancing with mummy, having massages, socialising and, of course, eating:

Ain't life sweet when you're 7 months old?

(Part of the reason for abandoning the blog was the trouble we had trying to upload photos. This new version is far better so watch this space!)

2006-10-29T19:01:00.000Z

When you're smiling...

How the time flies, I noticed the other day that my last post was on 18th September. I don't know what's happened to the last month - it just vanished!

As you can see the little one has moved on quite considerably. Staring straight into her mummy's eyes in this photo, she apparently shares Janey's sense of humour (something I don't think I'll ever fully understand ;-) When she smiles it's indescribable...

The Little Kat met her Grandma Pat for the first time recently and had a fabulous time getting loads of cuddles; it was good to see Grandma Pat bonding with the Kat. Note the (empty) bottle of bubbly on the table - this shot is the day after I...drum roll please...wait for it...PASSED MY DRIVING TEST!!! I was beginning to think I'd never see the day, third time lucky as they say - only four minor errors this time so even if I do say so myself there were some colours flying that day :-)

Kat's been to her first wedding, our lovely friends Andy & Caroline got married a couple of weeks ago over the border in Wales so in fact Kat has had her first trip abroad too. Unfortunately no pictures survive of just how cute she looked in her little denim number as they wouldn't let us back across the border with any evidence of people having a good time over there.

Lots of walks have been had come fair weather or foul, obviously no pics of the foul, and there are not many of the fair either... it seems we've been enjoying ourselves far too much to think of taking photos all the time. Here's me and the Kat in the Peak District a few weeks ago.

The other news of course is the arrival of the Kat's baby cousin Jodie. She was born in Germany on 2nd October following a worrying spell of her mummy being poorly. Baby and family are now doing well and we're all looking forward to seeing them at Christmas - the photos are on Jane's PC which is off at the moment so I'll show her off next time.

Finally, there was a bit of a Wells family gathering a couple of weeks ago with Auntie Stevie and Uncle Theo putting in rare appearances - a great time was had by all! Picture upload is being a pain I'll try again later...

2006-09-18T17:40:00.000Z

Dog slobber and Baby puke.

Yes I know you've all been coming back to look for updates and there haven't been any but you try juggling a seven and a half pound baby, a 4 stone dog, a wife of unmentionable size and a new job and see how much time you have for frivilous web activity ;-) Having said that I thought if I left this any longer The Little Kat'd be a teenager by the time any more pictures of her made it onto the web. Blogger's playing up so I've uploaded some pictures to my Flickr account here.

As you can tell form the pictures the little one has been living a most full and active life as mummy insists she gets plenty of fresh air. Life is sweet on the whole - I can't handle the semi functioning Blogger interface though - I've been trying to post this for days - never mind, more soon.

2006-08-23T20:20:00.000Z

Time flies...

when you're cream-crackered.

The Little Kat is approaching two months old but is still a tiny thing. She has been to the doctors today for a check up and her first bout of vaccinations. She weighed in at 5 pounds and 5 ounces meaning she's gained 4.5 ounces in the last five days - packing it on!

We've been introducing her to the wider world over the last couple of weeks - she loves it in the car and really enjoyed dinner at the Italian cafe last week :-)

She's also starting to open her eyes and take in her surroundings a lot more (remember she's still not supposed to be here so development is not the same as a full-term baby) and making some friends as you can see from the photies.

("Daddy - sod off!")

2006-08-13T19:28:00.000Z

Life is sweet.

Getting on for a week with The Little Kat at home now and all is well with the Wellses. The baba is doing fine apart fro a bit of a reflux problem after meals but the main effect of that is to keep mummy and daddy awake longer than they might otherwise be for night-time feeds (she needs to be kept upright for at least half an hour after feeding).

So, pretty tired but obviously hugely happy to have her living amongst us. The Honey Monster is adjusting well to another pack member butting in to the middle of the hierarchy, she seems mostly unflustered, just occasionally wanting to play with the Kat which obviously results in a severe telling off.

Finished work at 'the old place' on Friday and, I have to say, that's the first time in my life I've left a job (and there's been a few) and actually felt sad. They're a great bunch of peeps and I'm going to miss working with them. Ah well - onwards and upwards (hopefully).

This blog will keep going but I'll probably only update it when there's something significant to report or some particularly juicy photos to show you all. I'm toying with the idea of starting a new blog to continue my therapy but I warn you it's likely to be just me mouthing off about all the things that do my head in in life and is likely to be an adult only affair as there seems to be quite a lot of stuff that makes me cuss these days...I'll keep you informed.

Here's some photies of The Kat at home:

This seems to be a common pose.

2006-08-08T10:23:00.000Z

Baby come back!

I'm at work but this needs to be broadcast from the rooftops immediately - The Little Kat is coming home - When? I hear you cry. TODAY - I scream in an excited yelping and possibly quite feminine voice.

I shall post again very soon with the first photos of the baba IN THE FAMILY HOME - when I've got over the shock of her being there and stopped being a quivering wreck.

A very happy Dad :-)

2006-08-06T12:23:00.000Z

I demand to be fed!

Here is a first look at my gorgeous daughter without any tubes or wires attached...

Today is a very exciting day in the Wells household (which extends a mile up the road and takes in a room at the hospital right now). The nasogastric tube which has been the main route to The Little Kat's stomach until now has been removed as has the god damn bleepy blood saturation monitor! Mind you this is just a trial to see how she goes on demand feeding, Jane and I will be staying in the flat which is part of the neonatal unit tonight so that mummy can get up and feed the baba in the night when she (hopefully) screams the place down.

I'm not making this a long one, I know you're all gagging for news and it's been a while, but there's a lot to do this arvo.

2006-07-31T20:25:00.000Z

Yo yo yo, tell me whatcha know about rap music!

Well we think she looks like she doing hand gestures from the 'hood anyway - can you see it? or are we just bonkers.

What can I tell you about the last week...it's been ups & downs - mainly not related to The Little Kat's condition but the state of mind of mum & dad. Yes we've been a bit stressed out by conflicting opinions & ideas about the best way to go about things in relation to breast feeding. You'd think that with all the professional training these people have there'd be some consistency in how they approach these situations, NOT! Four days and four different sets of 'instructions' as to how often and for how long the little mite should be 'put to the breast' (I still love the terminology). We ultimately had it out, in a calm and mature manner of course, and came to the conclusion that the baba herself should be the one giving the 'instruction'.

Soooooo, she's putting on weight nicely, last night coming in at 4lb 7oz (2.02kg). In the picture above she has 'nasal prongs' delivering the teeniest tiniest trickle of oxygen to help her along but she does have entire days of not needing it switched on at all, in fact today she's had the 'prongs' removed. I, for one, am not counting any chickens...

Katya would like to thank everyone for the most generous and lovely gifts and all the wonderful cards - especially the one and only Great Grandma Nan Hamilton, she's looking forward to coming to visit all you southern types when she busts outta there.

2006-07-26T19:50:00.000Z

a picture is worth a thousand words

nightnight

2006-07-25T19:55:00.000Z

Dear oh dear...

getting on for a week since that last post, many apa-lo-gees. On the right you see me baby girl hot of the press this evening. She ain't 'alf growing :-o

It's been an interesting few days for me building up over the weekend (with some faultless driving if I do say so myself), to my driving test yesterday morning then suddenly having my brain pop out of gear shortly into the test and absently mindedly neglecting to put it back into gear until sometime yesterday evening. You may or may not know to know I failed. Never mind - it was my first ever test, which is not something a lot of English 31 year old males can claim, and I'm not that suprised given the turmoil of recent times - there's always next time. I'm still confident that I'm a far better driver than half the twerps out there.

Any-cow...la petite bebe is doing fine, like I said she's putting on weight nicely. Still vaguely dependent on oxygen from time to time. Still struggling with acid indigestion. On the whole she's greatly improved over the the last week, getting stronger all the time and throwing herself into feeding from the source when she gets the chance although she's somewhat lacking in stamina.

Struggling to upload pictures tonight - this bloody internet is crap.

2006-07-20T20:31:00.000Z

So small!

As you can see she really is the little Kat - that's my hand she's holding - but she's growing fast, now weighing in at 3 pounds 11 (1.67Kg) she's gaining around 5 ounces (150g) a week.

She's getting good at the old sucking lark. I am reliably informed that she had a jolly good feed direct from the source this morning - a jolly happy good thing.

That's why she decided to wear the 'I love mummy' babygrow...

I have to say I agree with the sentiment whole-heartedly.

Also today she's had a 'full blood work-up' which has not turned up anything dodgy as yet - more good news.

Nothing more to report - short and to the point tonight.

2006-07-19T20:02:00.000Z

And relax...

I'll make this a quick one.

Yes it still took me two hours to get home instead of the usual one but you'll be pleased to hear that The Little Kat has been much better behaved today. She has finally been started on antacid medicine to help combat the reflux (doctor speak for heartburn) that everyone has been saying is the problem as it's common in preemies (see I'm getting to know the lingo). She only had a couple of desaturations during the day and they weren't as profound as they have been. Is this a result of the medication? Who knows and who cares! Cross everything and keep sending the positive energies.

The nurse who was just going off duty when I got there this evening (I won't mention names - it's not fair) suggested she have a nussle 'at the breast' this evening and Lo And Behold she had a damn good suck - milk was produced - milk was not dribbled! Proper feeding! Not much I admit but some, she got tired pretty quickly but it's still a breakthrough. HipHipHurray!

Thought I'd cheer you all up.

No pics again today, I'll do my best for tomorrow.

Thank you - and goodnight ;-)

2006-07-18T20:37:00.000Z

Work Shmerk.

Yes, I started back to work yesterday and wadda you know...the trains go to pieces. Yesterday it was a lorry crashing into a bridge just in front of my train on the way home. This evening it was 'too hot' for the train tracks so there were lots of delays and we stop-started all the way home. It makes me wonder how they manage to run trains in sub-tropical places like India without the tracks buckling or points welding - maybe they don't.

OK, rant over (or is it?), the result of the train crisis is that I've been late home and hence spent longer away from the little Kat than I would like, what a master of understatement I am, making me a tad stressed. Obviously the heat doesn't help but at least it's not humid.

The real cause of the stress is the fact that my baby girl is having a few more 'blood oxygen desaturations' in the last couple of days than she has been doing. This means that the oxygen isn't getting from the air into her bloodstream as efficiently as it should/could be. It's common in pre-term babies for them to have these short drops in blood oxygen levels but it's the fact that the frequency has increased is what is causing us to freak out a bit. Now it's pretty sure that there's absolutely nothing wrong with her - she's not going blue or such like - but there's no ready explanation for the change at present. The doctor examined her this evening and could find nothing wrong with her at all. Oh, and another thing, the stupid machines that they use to monitor the oxygen level - they're crap! Well, obviously they're good; they do a job that needs to be done. It's just that sometimes the alarm sounds because she's wiggled her foot (where the sensor is) and sometimes because she bloomin' fartin' - you get the picture.

To sum up, and I feel I should before the language deteriorates and I start SHOUTING, it's not bad news - just a hot and bovered Dad letting off some steam.

Finally, to finish on a lighter note at weigh in on Monday The Little Kat clocked a 110 gram increase bringing her in over her birth weight for the first time :-)

Sorry no photos - just not enough hours in the day...

I just couldn't do it - it looked so bare. An oldy but goody - day two, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

2006-07-16T12:51:00.000Z

In out, in out...

It's been an eventful few days, the little kat is, in fact, back in an incubator but before you all start freaking out she's fine. The reason she's back in the tank is because she needs to be on a slope so she can keep her food down and - surprisingly - you can't tilt a water bed!

Thanks to Grandad Neville for taking the smashing photo you see above, it's a stunner.

So, despite what at first appeared to be a set back in her progress but actually wasn't she was just trying to progress too quickly, the little Kat continues to go from strength to strength. She's coping much better with the three hourly feeds now she's back on a bit of a slope and is still relatively free of wires - she's even taken to wearing dresses!

The past couple of days have also seen the commencement of 'putting her to the breast', (to borrow the nurses' terminology as I can't think of a less clinical way of saying it), and she has managed to get a mouthful of milk on one occasion although she didn't really know what to do with it and dribbled it everywhere. Other instinctive things that full term babies do as a matter of course such as grabbing hold of things are also developing nicely.

A couple of things I need to say here:

Firstly sorry to uncle Sam and auntie Jana for not mentioning your whirlwind visit before, thank you so much for making the effort to charge up from London for the afternoon and giving us a much needed couple of hours of fun!

Thanks also to uncle Theo for visiting - I know how hectic your social calendar is ;-)

Finally a big shout out to Grandad Neville for completing the Sport's Relief mile on Saturday, I still can't believe a man of his long standing ran all the way.
He's relying on family & friends for sponsorship so if you still haven't made a donation do it now for Neville.

There's only so much you can do in terms of pictures of a baby in an incubator so forgive me if things start getting repetitious but I know you want more so here goes, a hand and a foot.

2006-07-12T21:30:00.000Z

Kat's cradle.

Big news today, my Little Kat has kissed goodbye to the goldfish bowl and is now residing in her very own cot. She's no longer on an ECG monitor; just a probe on her foot which measures the amount of oxygen in her blood and her pulse. So, officially Kat is no longer in intensive care; ok she's in the same room but only because there's no room for her anywhere else...HOORAH!!!!!!!! i think i can get away with the multiple !'s on this occasion :-p

My tiny girl is enjoying the delights of a heated water bed (I'm sooo I jealous ;-) , her feeds have gone down to every three hours and she's managing to keep it all down. She's wearing oversized sleep-suits and is sleeping under tiny tightly tucked blankets. we all adore alliteration.

Anyway, here she is again, my princess

Thank you and good night, proudDad has left the building.

2006-07-11T10:31:00.000Z

Long time no blog.

Blimey where does the time go, there just aren't enough hours in the day. The little Kat continues to make good progress; her feeds are now every two hours rather than hourly and she's getting 23mls at a time (you can see her little tummy swell as it goes down), she's had several days now without any piped oxygen in her incubator, she gained 110 grams (around 3.5 ounces) between Thursday last week and yesterday, she's the most gorgeous little thing ever.

I won't keep you long as we're about to head up to the hospital for the first visit of the day. I'd like to say a huge thank you to Granny Sandra & Grandpa Neville and also Pops Pete and autie/grandma Soo for all the practical help and support over the last couple of weeks. A big thanks also to all who've sent cards - there are loads and we're running out of space - I'm thinking of trying for a world record!

Here's some photos from yesterday:

(Me feeding my little girl.)

(To give you some idea of scale look at the socket behind her head)

2006-07-06T19:09:00.000Z

Blig Blag Blog!
(or 'I can't think of a title')

Sorry for leaving you all in suspense yesterday I was busy cleaning the poo off myself after my darling daughter squirted the stuff all over my hand and arm. At the same time she had a damn good stab at redecorating the inside of her incubator - a little taste of things to come me thinks!

To everyone that has sent messages to us saying that they've been crying over this blog - tell me about it, yesterday was a particularly bad day for tears but a few leak out every day, mostly when someone says or does something nice - what a wuss!

What's happened today??? Weeeeeell, the little Kat has gained 30 grams so she's going in the right direction. She continues to; produce dirty nappies at a pace, generally do without oxygen (not in an anaerobic stylee - just without the bottled stuff), be the most beautiful little thing I have ever laid my tired and jaded eyes upon.

The nursery funiture was purchased from the ubiquitous Swedish store and is well on its way to being constructed - some what typically there were no handles packed with the chest of drawers so I shall have to make what will probably turn out to be several phone calls and at least one return trip to said store t sort that out.

Is it me or are my sentences getting longer?

Better get on with dinner as the cow will be in from milking soon and in need of her fodder (translation - Janey's expressing milk and will soon be done). So I'll leave you with a few pics of the loves of my life.

(Well I had to get her in somewhere didn't I)

2006-07-04T21:48:00.000Z

Just a quick one.

Daddy changed his first nappy today - and it was a number two. Admittedly it was the tiniest poo I have ever seen in my life - apart from maybe a mouse...

mmmkay - maybe it won't be that quick.

Also in the news today...

- The phototherapy continues, although it should be all over by tomorrow. Her bilirubin level had dropped nicely at 4pm today so all is good on that front.

- Digestion and respiration continue to work as they should.

- And a biggy, Katya Lily Wells (roughly interpreted as Pure Blossoming Flower Wells) was officially recognised by the state today in a formal naming ceremony also known as 'a trip to the registrar' (conviniently located in the hospital). I proudly fulfilled the role asigned to me by my gender and signed the book, doing my best not to break the fountain pen.

A big hug and a thank you to our Neil and Steph for coming to see us bringing pressie and card and helping us to enjoy a luverly relaxing evening.

And another big thanks to our Shoeshine McGregor for doing her maidly duties ;-)

Sorry no other pictures for ya today :-(

2006-07-03T18:33:00.000Z

Sunbed-tastic!!!

Who'd've thunk it, my Kat on the sunbed already. I shall explain - Monday is blood work day, the little Kat had some blood taken this morning for a 'full blood work-up' as they say in the medical dramas. The results are in and on the whole positive; no infections, good blood counts etc. The only problem to show up was a high bilirubin level - otherwise known as jaundice. It's common in babies especially premature ones and generally doesn't cause any problems if treated (sorry if you know all this - I'm just being my usual know-it-all self). It seems the best way to sort this is light which breaks down the bilirubin that the liver can't cope with hence...sunbed!

Now all the boring medical stuff is out the way - I got a cuddle this afternoon :-) Excuse Dad's pastey skin, as you can tell it takes a very special event to get my top off - especially in public.

She felt sooooo tiny in my arms but I can't describe the feeling of being that close to her for the first time.

Mum got in on the action too - my beautiful girls!

Katya seems to be getting stronger all the time (touch wood). She off IV fluids and hasn't had any oxygen in the past 24 hours as far as we're aware.

I realised today that I haven't shown an overview shot of the set up in the neonatal unit so I'll leave you with a picture of K's bedroom and her latest close-up.

2006-07-02T13:57:00.000Z

Our little joey!

Today's big event is the first session of 'kangaroo care'. This involves the little Kat being held next to Mum's skin under her clothes so they have skin on skin contact.

Both Mum and baby really enjoyed the experience; Katya's O2 saturation stayed at 100% the whole time she was snuggled up to Jane who, of course, was incredibly happy to be so close to her sprog for the first time.

I kinda skipped over the whole labour/birth thing in the first post and I'm not going to go into any great detail now. Suffice it to say Jane had a pretty easy time of it (not all that surprising due to the Kat's size) and the entire process was very calm thanks to the wonderful midwife Jo - we couldn't have wished for a nicer third person in the room.

Again I'll sign off with some photos; a couple from yesterday and some more kangaroo shots from this morning.

2006-07-01T16:52:00.000Z

Well where to start...

On the morning of wednesday 28th June we were expecting our baby to arrive on 12th September, by thursday morning we were the parents of a three pound six ounce little girl. To say we were a tad shocked would be an under statement, we still are a bit but it is slowly sinking in. It doesn't help that we're at home but she isn't, it looks like she'll be in hospital for quite a few weeks. She is however doing well; breathing without assistance (sometimes with a little bit of oxygen in the mix but no ventilator), slowly absorbing the milk so generously provided by her mummy and squirted down a tube into her tiny tummy.

This intention of this blog is to keep everyone who wants to know how she's doing informed without being on the phone 24 hours a day. A big, big thank you to all who have sent there good wishes and positive thoughts so far, we really appreciate it.

For now I'll leave you with some pictures of the tiny bundle of joy in question!

About an hour old!

One day old.

Three days old and snoozing away.