Lola Barbara Christine Child

As most of you may know by now, we have welcomed the arrival of our daughter, Lola Barbara Christine Child!  She is quite a character – the most beautiful little girl in the world, who can make some really funny faces but can also cry the house down.  She’s definitely not afraid to tell you when she’s annoyed!  Luckily, she doesn’t cry all the time and although she hates having her diaper/nappy changed, most of the time she’s a very happy baby.  She LOVES to stare at the Christmas tree lights at the moment.

She had a tough first week of life – she spent seven days in the Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) on a course of antibiotics and extra oxygen to boost her levels.  It was really scary to see her hooked up to so many wires and tubes, but each day another one came off and we came one step closer to having her come home.  Lola finally came home on Sunday, 12 December, and it was such an amazing feeling to have our little family finally all together at home.

Yesterday it snowed a little, so Lola got to see her very first snowfall.  She’s been meeting a few people over the past few days, and has even had a Skype video conference with Grandma Barbie as well as Grandpa Lee and Grandma Sharon.

Here are some photos from the past two weeks; we can’t wait to see her continue to grow and develop into a strong, healthy girl!

Lola in the incubator

naptime

Hearing test (she passed)

Cuddle with Daddy

leaving the SCBU!

first bath

Snow!

I’m sure everyone has seen the crazy weather we have been having here – it’s great!  The trains have actually been running okay up to London, so getting to work hasn’t been a problem.  So all the fun without the hassle, kind of like diet soda or fat-free ice cream.  Here is a picture of our street:

Snow on our street

Lara stayed home most of this past week, sick with the flu, or something crazy like that which is really annoying.  Sam went to watch the darts championship with some friends, so Lara was all alone – but it meant she could watch whatever she wanted on TV, even stupid shows like “Britain’s Fattest Family” or something like that.  The entire UK has been hit by all this snow, some worse than others.  There is a fantastic satellite image from NASA that I saw in the news, check this out!

Great Britain covered in snow and ice

Snow in London

Most of you might have seen on the news that we’ve had snow here in London!  It’s not too bad in Central London, but the further out you go the more there is.  We got a few inches where we live and it was so beautiful!  Sadly, the train companies were prepared so we were both still able to get to work on Friday – boo!

Sam and I also went with Sam’s friend, Mike, to see Avatar at the IMAX in 3-D (it’s the biggest screen in Britain, apparently).  It was a truly amazing experience, everyone should see it!  If you get motion sick easily, sit further back though.

We are really looking forward to Christmas, which we will be spending at Sam’s parents.  Only a few days of work left yet!

One last thing – Congratulations to Amy and Matt who are going to have a baby next year!  Woohoo!  We’re so happy for them and really excited for the Huff-n-Franck kid to enter the world.

Also congrats to Lara’s cousin, Denise, who is due in May (I think)

Sam and Mike at the IMAX

Friday snow

Snowing on Newman St (near Lara’s work)

Friday snow at South Croydon Station