Gregory Simon Allen

Born Friday 11th April 2014

Up to 1 week old

His life:  Birth ♠ Week 1 ♠ Weeks 2-3 ♠ Weeks 4-7 ♠ Weeks 8-13 ♠ Weeks 14-22 ♠ 5-7 months ♠ 7-8 months ♠ 1st Christmas ♠ 8-10 months ♠ 10-12 months ♠ 1st birthday party ♠ 12-15 months ♠ 15-18 months ♠ 18-21 months ♠ 21-24 months ♠ 2nd birthday ♠ 2-2½ years ♠ 2½-3 years ♠ 3rd birthday ♠ 3-3¼ years ♠ 3¼-3½ years ♠ 3½-3¾ years ♠ 3¾-4 years ♠ 4th birthday

In summary:  Index ♠ From birth to four years old ♠ Four years old onwards

Special features:  Gregory translator ♠ Gregory phrases ♠ Gregory cookery

Daisy and I chilled out back home during the afternoon while Avis & Graham took a visit to Stepping Hill.  After they left, Lynne texted me to say she was hopeful of getting discharged soon, so shortly after I headed down the A6 to (hopefully) pick her up.  I decided to take Daisy with me (not least because Avis & Graham didn't turn up for a while and so I had already psychologically built Daisy up to it - in any case, I felt that it was a nice thing to do: to return us all home as a family).

The all-clear was indeed given and at around 6pm (or perhaps a little earlier) we were out of there.  It might have been quicker but after taking some stuff to the car, I spent ten minutes trying to buzz my way back in.  And so, on the same day that Gregory was born, we were all back home.  Avis & Graham, aware that the house was fairly crowded, vanished swiftly.  For Daisy's birth, I had felt like I had lost a day; this time, it seemed like Friday would never end.  Later that evening, a fairly miserable-looking Gregory settled into his chair.

The next morning, proud sister Daisy was very keen to hold her baby brother, and who were we to deny her?

The Allens kept their visiting tinder dry until the weekend.  Here, on the Saturday morning, Nana Sue looks very proud to be a grandmother again.

They're doing the job lot of child minding here: Mum - holding Gregory; Kate - playing ducks with Daisy; Jordan - looking bored senseless and waiting for the next moment that he can justify looking at his phone (yes, I can talk).

After losing out to first cuddles, Aunty Katie was very happy to get a go herself.

It looks like Gregory is grasping her hand (well, finger) while he sleeps.  With the light coming through the window, here you can see how blond his hair is.  And that's before we've washed it.

He slept most of the time they were here, and indeed continued to sleep in the afternoon.

Louise broke the land speed record for present delivery, somehow getting us a flower delivery for the Saturday morning (I guess they can offer that service - seemed pretty sharp at the time, though.  Helps, I suppose, if you know your credit card number off by heart, as I suspect at least three out of four Schofields do).

Saturday evening, and it's time for me to remember how to hold a baby: one-handed with the other hand free to do what I want.  In this case, nothing.  Gregory curls up into a ball, which he tended to do quite a lot in the early days.

Most mornings weren't complete without Daisy requesting a hold.  Unfortunately, her holds tended to neglect the supporting of the head.  Whilst the prescription of folic acid to pregnant women has led (as I understand it) to a general strengthening of newborn babies' necks, it was felt that we needed to provide additional support in the form of a cushion if Daisy was taking control.

Matt (with Nic) saved his turn until the Sunday and applied his now-three-years-old baby-holding skills with aplomb.  He received no message from a bottom this time (as he did during his first interactions with Daisy) and seemed more comfortable without the harsh, critical gaze and running commentary of his mother.  (Matt, this is, not Gregory.)  However, Uncle Matt was, it must be said, much more at home gambolling around with three-year-old Daisy, this time involving creative uses of bubble wrap.

A cute picture of Gregory taken by Lynne.  He's looking a little orange here.

That evening, we readied ourselves for Gregory's first bath.  The merest hint of anticipation was enough to set Gregory off; meanwhile Daisy looked on.

And this is after this first bath.  He hated it as much as he suspected he would.  Don't ever do that again, he might have thought.  Ok, we won't, except for pretty much every other night for the next decade, we might have replied.

Three days old and someone has been messing around with Gregory.  I wonder who has been placing stickers on Gregory's head and outfit...

Three days old here (i.e. it's the Monday), this is a photo appearing in thank you letters near you soon.

It was pleasingly pleasant outside and so we decamped to the back garden (well most of us, Lynne maybe slept or bathed to help her rehabilitation).  This was Gregory's first excursion in the pram.  He is giving the tell-tale sign of being hungry here, by chewing his fist.  Occasionally he sucks on a finger, or even a thumb - it seems it's only a matter of time before he's mimicking Daisy's semi-permanent thumb-sucking.

And a final shot of Gregory sleeping (not hard to take these since he spends a lot of time doing this - for the avoidance of doubt, I am not complaining) for this little update.

And that's it for now.

Me again, bringing you more in the way of baby photos, tracking Gregory's first week in the outside world.  This intense stare at Lynne is reminiscent of one of Daisy's early looks (although I think captured that on video rather than photo), coming at a time in their lives when they are unlikely to be able to see very far as their focal point is quite short (thus they often go cross-eyed).

A great pose here, demonstrating an apparent feeling of being 'a bit fed up'.  Whilst asleep.

Much of Gregory's wardrobe is new, coming in shades of boyish blues, with pictures of cars and prominent "brother" insignias, but here is a definite hand-me-down (see here), coming as it does in genderless green.  Gregory looks pretty chuffed to be wearing it.  (Not.)

He was wearing the above outfit in readiness for getting his birth certificate from Stockport town hall.  And here it is in all its glory.

Coiled and ready to strike, Gregory occasionally gives violent indications of why his gestation inside his mother was so painful (for Lynne), thrashing his legs around and, here, appearing to put up his dukes (and that's to say nothing of his vicious headbutts, usually delivered whilst writhing around on one's shoulder).  Changing his nappy is fraught with danger due to the unpredictable timing of ill-directed wee.

Here's a close-up of The Boy, who is getting ever more alert.  There is a red line in his right eye (which cleared up after two or three weeks), no doubt the result of the physical stress of birth.  He also has the trademark Allen/Schofield baby red mark above the nose (see many of the early Daisy photos for a comparison).

Gregory looks quite a lot different in this shot - much more grown-up.  He also appears to be not completely asleep, peeking through his near-shut eyelids.

And here he looks very thoughtful.  Perhaps: "d'ya know, I think we should get some new curtains".

And, now that he is a week old, I must move to a new page...

Or you could head back to the Secret Portal.