Monday 26th May 2008

Well, I'm finally back in good old Blighty after my 2 week break to Austria. I had a lovely time and met lots of new people, but I must admit that it was all a bit unsettling for me, so I am very pleased to be back at home with all my things around me. Daddy completed his bike ride in 4 hours, 44 minutes and 28 seconds, so I was very proud of him. He's raised a whole lot of money for research into premature birth, so well done to him. You can still sponsor him by clicking on the link to the left. After he got back from Scotland, daddy flew out to be with us for a few days in Austria. We had a nice few days, and the weather got very nice and hot towards the end of our stay. On Thursday we went on the bus over to mummy's friend Susanne in Hörbranz. We went for a lovely long walk and I met some Austrian cows and horses face to face. Mummy tells me we saw some goats too, but I managed to sleep through that part! On Friday we went with Karin, Alissa and Aaron on a boat over to Lindau in Germany, as little medieval town just over the border. It was great fun. We sat and had 'Kaffee und Kuchen' on the harbour before getting the train back over to Austria. I must have gone back and forth across the borders with Switzerland and Germany at least 10 times during my stay - what a well travelled baby I am already! Whilst I was in Austria, I noticed on my boyfriend Oscar's blog that his mummy had started putting him on a potty, so I decided to try one as well. I didn’t do anything in it, but it was great fun to sit in it, and pretend to be a big girl. We flew back to England from Zurich yesterday evening. Alissa and Aaron's daddy drove us to Zurich airport and our flight left at 19.20. I was very good on the plane and slept on daddy's lap the whole way back. I enjoyed the airport. I even went down an escalator in my buggy. It was an extremely tall one, and it was very exciting. Daddy thinks I'm a thrillseeking baby! We got home late, but I was good and went to sleep in my cot straightaway. It was great to be back in my own bed, and to see all my cot pals again. I woke up at 6am this morning, but I can be forgiven, as it was 7am Austrian time! I miss Austria already, so I'm watching the Sound of Music on the TV this afternoon so I don't feel so bad. I taught my friend Alissa the song 'Edelweiss' when I was in Austria, as it was a song that mummy used to sing to me when I was in hospital, so I'm looking forward to hearing that one. Mummy has decided that she really needs to start talking to me in German now, as it's the best time for me to learn more languages. I heard a lot of German when I was in Austria, and I've started to try and make lots of new noises with my mouth. Maybe my first word will be a German one! Anyway, I've got daddy at home all week this week. He'll be babyproofing everything for me for when I start crawling, which I don't think will be far away now. I start nursery full time next week. Can you believe it? And then a week on Saturday I've got my first birthday party. I'm so excited. My friends Oscar, Gene, Harry and Isobel will be there, as well as my cousins Daniel, Georgie and Joseph. I can't wait. Lets keep our fingers crossed for good weather.

Friday 16th May 2008

Well hello from sunny Austria. Mummy and I arrived here on Saturday. Terminal 5 was very nice and new, and everything went very smoothly. It was my first time on a plane and I was very well behaved. Everyone thought I was very sweet and even the pilots came out to meet me. I was a bit of a flirt with them, I must admit! Mummy's friend Veronika came all the way to Zurich to pick us up from the airport and take us over the border into Austria to Bregenz. Bregenz is the main town in the province of Vorarlberg in Austria, and mummy lived there for 8 months during her degree, teaching English. We've spent the last week catching up with old friends, and meeting new ones too. My new best friends are Alissa and Aaron, who are the children of mummy's friends Emanuel and Diane. Emanuel is Veronika's brother.You can see Alissa with me in all the photos. You can also see a photo of Karin who is Emanuel and Veronika's mummy. Mummy lived in a flat in Karin's house when she lived in Austria. Whilst we are here, we're staying in a flat in the house next to their's, but we can go to Karin's to have our breakfast every morning, which is lovely. I can tuck into some freshly baked bread with my morning porridge, which is yummy. True to form though, I've become ill since I've arrived here. I've had an eye infection, diarrhoea, and now I've got a new cough, plus to top it all off I've now got nappy rash! I guess it's taken me a while to get used to being somewhere new, but I'm sure I'll be okay by the time daddy gets here. Talking of daddy, he's gone off to Scotland today with his bike ready for the big ride on Sunday. He's raised over £500 already, but wouldn't it be great if he could get to £1000? We'll see, but anyway we wish him lots of luck. Mummy and I are very much looking forward to seeing him on Tuesday, when he comes out to join us in Austria for a few days. Wir wünschen Dir eine gute Reise daddy. Bis bald. xxxxx

Wednesday 7th May 2008

Well I am all better finally. I was ill for a long time. I had a nasty virus, and then I got a tummy bug and to top it all off I then got an ear infection so had to have antibiotics last week. They did the trick though, and I feel loads better now. That’s more than I can say for mummy and daddy though, they are both still coughing away - I do feel sorry for them. Whilst I was ill I was sick all over the laptop, which means that some of the keys don’t work properly. This means that it takes ages to type, which is why I haven't updated my diary for such a long time. I ended up not seeing my friend Amy or going to see my cousins last week because of mummy and I being ill, but we did make it to Oscar's birthday bash on Saturday, which was great fun. I caught up with my mates and met a nice doggy in the pub too. I did think he was funny, but I don’t think he liked it when I poked him in the eye! I was feeling fit as a fiddle on Sunday, so I went over to my friend Nia's house for the day to help her daddy in the garden, or rather my daddy helped her daddy, and Nia and I had a jolly good time playing together. Yesterday I enjoyed a visit from granny and grandpa Meikle, my mate Isobel and her mummy Jayne, and today my good friend Poppy came to visit. I'll be thinking of my friend Ava tomorrow as she jet sets off to California. She'll be there for 3 years with her daddy's work. Good luck Ava - we'll miss you. Talking of jetsetting, we're off to Austria on Saturday. It will be my first time on an aeroplane outside of mummy's tummy. How exciting! By the way Daddy has raised £100 sponsorship so far, but needs more people to sponsor him to raise money for premature babies. There's still time to sponsor him by clicking on the link on the left. Go on, you know you want to!