10 June 2009

It was a showery day for our drive to Mum's. We managed to be ready at 10, right on schedule, after a parting visit to Grandma and Grandad, who seemed to have really enjoyed having Emily around these few days.

Emily was occupied for the first half an hour with a raw carrot, then slept until we got to Bletchley. I had intended to stop there for lunch anyway, at the huge garden centre Mum and I had happened across last year when returning from taking 6 week old Emily to see her family. She was happy as a pig in muck, because she found their large display of wind chimes and a section devoted to outdoor games and toys. She and I shared a meal of plaice and chips, messily. After an hour and a half I was itching to be on our way, and felt bad to have to end her fun and bundle her into the car.

She was very patient and we got as far as Tewkesbury before I stopped again. We had a nice half an hour wandering around the Abbey grounds in light rain, before the final leg of the journey to Pandy. Halfway along the motorway I was horrified to discover that she had managed to get her arms free of the car seat straps, and immediately dropped my speed, terrified of crashing. It didn't help that she spent half the trip saying 'crash', which she thinks is really funny.

We arrived at Mum's to a peal of thunder and a downpour, so had to postpone an exploration of the garden. Emily seemed to settle in quickly, though still too nervous to let me out of her sight. At least she remembered 'ma-maa' and 'ga-ga'. I don't know if it was switching from her cot tent to a wooden cot, but at bedtime she was crying hysterically and trying to climb out, before finally giving in to slumber.