HOME AGAIN!

You may have guessed - we've been away.

We left home on Friday morning to visit Uncle W and Auntie J.

On the way we stopped off at K's, she hadn't meet Alice before so it was lovely to introduce them. Alice had a lovely time playing with different toys and exploring her family room. It was great to see K and her family, I've known her for over 20 years, it was lovely to catch up. Their household will be changing very soon when K has her third baby, congratulations K, we can't wait to meet the new baby 'B'.

The traffic was heavy all the way from K's to W and J's, the final 3 miles took over 90 minutes and was extremely frustrating to me - I gave Alice a sippy cup to play with, she got soaked, drank only a very little but enjoyed herself! She didn't mind the rug this time, but she cried every time I put her to down to sleep in the travel cot. The crying generally lasted less than a minute and then she slept soundly, more traumatic and worrying for Mummy than Alice.

On Saturday W and J had a belated housewarming BBQ, the reason for our visit. Alice coped very well with lots of people and small children around - I think it helped (a lot) that she was already familiar with her surroundings and that people came into that rather than being presented with a room of strangers. I kept her close or with familiar people (when I had to go and get things - her supper, muslin etc).

We had a quiet day on Sunday. Alice slept until nearly 8.30am, that would be a treat, except that I woke just after 7am and barely dozed beyond that, expecting Alice to wake soon!! She showed clearly how much she understands - she was told 'NO' when she approached a low level bookshelf, several times later in the morning she crawled to the same spot, put her hand close (but not touching) the books and shook her head at me!! After lunch I kept Alice awake until we went out for a walk, she slept in her pushchair and then admired the view of the river and passing boats.

On Monday we were up early to say 'Goodbye and thank you' to W and J before they went to work - we had a super time, but thank you doesn't seem an adequate expression of how grateful I am.

After we'd packed up we made our way across London to visit 3CMum and her lovely daughter A. The As had a great time playing in the same place - can't really say that they played TOGETHER! It was lovely to meet A and great to catch up with C. Alice relaxed very quickly in their home, I think that was mainly due to A's presence and Alice recognising another baby with familiar features, but I'm sure the friendly and welcoming atmosphere helped too! Her reaction to their dog was interesting. They have a lovely, youngish, chocolate Labrador (we have an elderly yellow one!), he was very well behaved but Alice was terrified - unlike her experience meeting our dogs, she didn't calm down, turning quickly to me for protection. I'm sad that she didn't relax with him (he is a lovely dog), I'm sad that she is less courageous in her attitude, I'm grateful that she accepted our dogs so quickly and easily and I'm especially pleased that she sought reassurance and protection from me (good sign of attachment).

Alice was very good through the day-times, but got very tired on Sunday and had a meltdown during tea and it lasted until bedtime. She travelled well but it seems like she isn't going to sleep through journeys, she will sleep in the car, but only for 30-40 minutes.

The most striking part of the trip was Alice's reaction to coming home. We drove into the drive, Alice smiled. She was pleased to be back in the playroom in her playpen of balls, but the major reaction came about 10 minutes after we got home, at teatime, waving, smiling, flapping, bouncing and giggling in her highchair, she was delighted, it was the food, it was the dogs but I think mostly it was the familiar environment. I love my home and I think that Alice does too. Her reaction to coming home almost makes me feel guilty for taking her away, but she needs to learn the permanence of home and we had fun!