The weekend summary.

1. Big family gathering on Saturday, where we met my cousin's new baby.
   
   
2. He is absolutely beautiful. Delicate features, long pianist's fingers, and lovely colouring. He was a c/s baby though, which I think helps; my babies were all red and squished looking for the first while.
   
   
3. My cousin and her husband are completely in love with their son, albeit a little wild-eyed and frazzled. They haven't slept much this past week, and are already making slightly ominous noises about sleep-training and the importance of schedule and baby not ruling the roost.
   
   
4. I have sent them a copy of Elizabeth Pantley's The No-Cry Sleep Solution; maybe they will find something gentle in there that clicks for them, and so won't go down the Ferber path.
   
   
5. Personally I think they are nuts to invite a huge houseful of people around a week after they've had their first child. I think most new moms need peace and quiet as they get breastfeeding going and learn how to be a family.
   
   
6. And they've just moved house too.
   
   
7. And they have people coming to stay with them next week until after Easter.
   
   
8. I was interested to see that while I found the baby absolutely entrancing and wonderful and adorable, seeing him didn't make me want to have another myself.
   
   
9. It's Mother's Day here today.
   
   
10. On waking, I was presented with a beautifully glittery card. There's quite a lot of glitter in the bed still. Then, the girls asked if they could go jogging round the block. (They are trying to get fit again so that we can get back to climbing). A few minutes later, they reappeared - the jogging story had been a cover. In fact, they'd run to the corner store and used their money to buy me a very swish box of chocs.
    
    
11. They said the owner of the shop didn't seem annoyed that they'd paid for it mostly with 5p pieces. Sweethearts.
    
    
12. And dear Steve braved the rain a bit later to buy me the paper to read over breakfast.
    
    
13. After breakfast we went to the Blue Water mall - quite big and impressive - and everyone bought a much-needed new outfit. It was a lot of fun, except for the bits where I saw my ass in the change-room mirrors. Definitely time to start exercising again.
    

And the picture:




That is what my dad achieved with our floor-light, a mbira, and Sophie's jacket. Catch sight of that out of the corner of your eye and I tell you it will scare the crap out of you.