Since coming back from holiday I had another week off work, and Heidi carried out her first bit of mischief. She had some more inoculations – her third lot being Diptheria, Tetanus, Whooping Cough, Polio Hib and Pneumococcal and Meningococcal. She was fine afterwards and seemed more settled than previous.

I’d put her in her inflatable ring chair and checked she was stowed away properly and wandered off in to the kitchen, leaving her to listen to some music on the television and to watch her fish swim around. After a few minutes she had gone quiet and then I her a faint “clunk” from the living room. Wandering in, I found her with the stem of the olive planet in her hand and the pot on its side. She looked quite innocent as if nothing had happened. Luckily the camera was nearby and she was later convicted.

She is doing well on her foods now, and has tried a variety of vegetables. Now about to be on three pureed meals a day she seems to be getting heavier and heavier to carry about. Her only bad days must when her gums hurt as she’s teething more consistently now. Lots of fingers in mouth and rosier cheeks than normal.

Her night time routine seems to have drift backwards in that she tends to wake at around midnight now for some more food, and then reawaken at around 0530h for some singing and her nappy change. Depending on how quickly one can deal with her before she wakes up, means she might get bright eyed and bushy-tailed in which it is a few hours of disruption before she nods off again.

Nearly 5 ½ months ago she was born – time flies by and she seems to be having fun.

Today I took delivery of a box of quartz clock mechanisms for the CLIC Sargent Coffee Morning that Rachel’s mum and her are organising in Chagford. The last two have raised somewhere in the region of £3000.00 and hopefully it will be a success again. The clocks will be made by me and will be some of my old gramophone records turned into working clocks. Hoepfully they’ll boost the coffers a little.

Today saw us visit Claire, one of Heidi’s godmothers, as it was her birthday. Heidi had some fun there playing the piano and with some of the toys. Lots of smiles in any case.

Friday 3rd October saw the Wills family head south west for Heidi’s first holiday, at Riviere Towans, Phillack near Hayle in Cornwall. We have been there before – a few years ago – and it is a great place most times of the year. Set at the mouth of the estuary are hundreds of little buildings amongst the dunes. Some are 1930’s and look like it, and others are brick built and have several bedrooms.

Its only a few minutes walk to the beach and our chalet was aptly named “Holiday Haunt.” All seem to have a name as well as a number and some are curiously named like “Av-a -Rest” or “As You Like It” or even “Y Worry.” Either way it is a really restful place to go.

Its been a while since we have all spent 24 hours a day in each others company and Heidi seemed to love this, as did we. Usually a leisurely breakfast, maybe bacon and eggs or just a mound of toast, before heading off to somewhere.

We visited Falmouth, Penzance, Truro plus a few attractions such as Goonhilly (Earth) Station or the Porthcurno Submarine Telegraph Museum which is actually an amazingly interesting place. I bought a pocket kite there for Heidi and we had fun flying that later on. We took a look at Boscastle as it had a food and craft festival there although that was one of the poorer days for weather.

Being skinflints we maintained our tradition of poking our noses in Wetherspoons pubs even just for a coffee or a quick pint whilst Heidi had her bum changed or took her lunch in there. The vouchers that came through the post were very useful and I managed to pick up a few more magazines featuring Fred as we went along. Heidi liked to look at him I think.

We visited some friends in Penzance on two occasions and had a meal with them which was lovely.

The weather was really good despite a crummy forecast, and it was quite warm a lot of the time. Heidi loved the evening or early morning strolls on the beach and watched with curiosity as Rachel flew the kite for her. It can be very windy down there; good for kites but not so good for little Heidi. She was papoosed up and triple wrapped so she could just about move.

I took my Nomadic Mat along which is a neoprene sheet that can be used as a blanket, or sunscreen or basha as it comes with bungee cords and tent pegs for securing to the ground. This time it was in use as a blanket for Heidi to roll around on in the chalet and keep her toys on. She loved lying by the heater and wriggling about.
Bath times were relegated to the kitchen sink, although she knew no different. Her daily ritual could not be altered as she seems to have the habit now and is part of her routine. Once settled and asleep we would have our dinner and watch the television or read, or peer out of the window at the waves or nearby residents.

The week soon went by and we headed home. Emily had been looking after the house whilst we were away and all was well. Emily, Rachel, Heidi and I went into town today for a breakfast and did some shopping, re-stocking our empty ‘fridge.

She is had become more alert now and handles her dummies with ease, looking for it when it has been moved, or finding it when she has dropped it. Pulling the blanket over her face is a repeated trick, although she has not worked out how to pull them back yet. Her music machine by the cot has been fairly mute until we operate but she has now found the button which activates, so it repeatedly starts up every now and then.

She has a fruity breakfast cereal now each morning which is cleared, followed by milk and is now on two largeish ice cubes of pureed food. Most vegetables seem to agree with her, although the sprouts may cause her wind and so we’ll monitor that one. She does like them though.