Tarmac-onium

It's a steep old learning curve but we're still in play. Maddie's feeding really well and as a result we've moved from meconium poo (think Exxon Valdez and pitiful guillemots covered in oil-spill) to more normal mushroom korma poo. Very pleased with that. We are churning our way through a vast number of nappies though and as there are three other new babies on the street, I think we should start a bit of healthy rivalry on Limley Grove, perhaps with large, red LED counters showing total daily nappy count. Maddie will defintely win. Oh my god, I've turned into competitive dad already - by the time we get to the first sports day, the egg and spoon race will be carnage.

Quick update on Mum. Last night was hard work as Maddie was feeding on an almost hourly basis (hence the constant blur of new nappies) but when not sucking with a ferocity that is truly eye-watering, Maddie's sleeping virtually all the time. In fact she's been a dream. Anne's managed to get a couple of hours kip this afternoon, which is fab, and the little 'un is dozing now, too, which makes life a little easier. In short, there's a fair dose of sleep deprivation, but nothing terminal.

As well as being a nobel laureate and prime minister in waiting, Maddie also does a fine line in gurning and I'm also pleased to report that she does quite a marvellous interrogative scowl. I've heard that some people claim you can 'sign' to babies and start communicating a lot earlier, from the look of that scowl, I think I'll wait until she's verbalising, thank you very much. All I'm thinking is Joe Pesci in Goodfellas.

A big shame is that the US grandparents have to rely on piccies and phone calls for the time being; a deeply, deeply cute I [heart] NY T-shirt arrived by Fed Ex ths morning but all three of us can't wait for April 14 when Ellen arrives. In the meantime the UK grandparent contingent have been bloody marvellous, my mum of course is cooking for England and did an amazing job of decorating the house, while Dad is in charge of cuddles. Nice.